PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

Sports Carnival

We are fast approaching the 2025 whole school Sports Carnival, which will be held at Plenty Parklands on Wednesday 19th November. Last year’s carnival was the first time we’ve held this event, and we are looking forward to an even bigger day of fun and fitness for our school community in a couple of weeks’ time. 

Students will participate in track, field, team and novelty events across the day, representing their house colour.  An award ceremony will take place for the winning team at 3pm. 

All parents are welcome to attend as spectators on the day. We are also looking for parent volunteers to assist with the running of events or the cooking of the BBQ. Please call Laura in our office if you can lend a hand.

Principal Area Forum

Yesterday I attended the Principal Forum at Plenty Ranges in South Morang where the Department shared a number of changes for 2026. One change that has received a fair amount of publicity has been the directive that Victorian Government Primary Schools can no longer expect parents to pay for student digital devices, nor can they ask students to bring their own device. Whilst this has caused a fair bit of angst amongst fellow Principals, we are fortunate here at Plenty Parklands that we will have no change to our current system as we have never expected our families to fund our IT Program.

Values Lunch

Last week we concluded our celebration of the school values, in which close to 100 students and staff were nominated for their deeds around the school. In our lucky draw, Ali from Year 4 was chosen as the winner and he has selected two students to join him in a lunch with the Principal, which will be held today. 

As Ali is from the Green Grasshopper House, those students in green will receive a zooper dooper and an extended lunch break next Friday.

Interviewing Staff

As we near the end of the school year, we look likely to have staff changes in both our teaching and education support teams. We are currently finalising recruitment via interview processes and are confident that we will be ready to name our 2026 staffing profile by the end of November. 

I will soon be able to announce several staff that have received promotion to leadership in other schools, and more than one staff member who has let me know that they will be taking maternity leave in the new year. More news to come in the next newsletter. 

Student Behaviour

Unfortunately, we have had a rise in instances where students have not been following our school values during the learning process in classrooms. Examples include students refusing to follow directions and distracting the learning of other students around them. 

Please note that the high expectations of Plenty Parklands means that students will be exited from classrooms if they cannot follow expectations. If you are struggling at home with your children and need to speak to senior staff about ways that we can work closely together to support your child, please make contact with me via the office.

Students Out and About

It is a really busy time as we get to the middle of the term, with lots of exciting excursions and outings planned for the next couple of weeks. 

Some of the highlights include trips to Bundoora Secondary College, Year 4 Camp to Phillip Island and Year 2 Day Camp to Fern Gully Lodge. This is on top of students attending gymnastics, swimming and representative sports days every week!

Have a great weekend,

David Whewell | Principal