Principal's Message

Wawa, Wominjika. 

Here at Old Orchard Primary School, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we visit each day, the Wurrunguri and Woiwurrung people of the Kulin nation. We acknowledge and respect the elders and leaders past and present and the elders and leaders of all of the cultures and nationalities that are part of the Old Orchard Primary School community. We express our gratitude towards the orchards that were kept in place by the peoples on this land before us. We thank the traditional owners for sharing this beautiful land that we all love, and for keeping the land, sky, waterways and animals all in great condition for thousands of years, not only for themselves but for all the generations to come.

Remembrance Day

Earlier this week, on November 11th, we conducted a brief Remembrance Day ceremony to acknowledge and honour the nearly 100,000 Australian men and women who have lost their lives fighting for the nation. Additionally, tens of thousands of Australians have suffered debilitating injuries that have significantly affected their lives.

At a time when we see devastating and ongoing conflict in other parts of the world, it is timely to reflect on how fortunate we are to be living in a relatively safe and secure country, and we should always be thankful for this.

Cyber Safety Workshop

As you would have seen in a recent email, we have been very fortunate to access a free Parent & Student Interactive Workshop designed to build safer, smarter habits with Apple technology. The workshop is a joint venture between the Cyber Safety Project and Apple. Old Orchard has worked with the Cyber Safety Project for many years and has also worked closely with Apple Education to enhance the quality of our digital technologies program.

We hear regularly from school families about challenges with technology and the online world; as adults we are often one step behind our children and often unaware of how best to safely navigate the online world. This workshop provides a fantastic opportunity to hear from experts in the field and to engage with your children around this topic. There is no cost to attend the workshop, and it has relevance to all primary school families.

Please refer to the flyer included in this edition of the Harvest for further information. To assist with logistics, we ask that you register for the workshop via this Try Booking link. https://www.trybooking.com/DHK...

Prep - Year 6 Swimming Program

Our whole school 10 day swimming program commences on Monday at Aquanation in Ringwood. The swimming program is an important opportunity for our students to develop water safety and more advanced swimming skills and it is fantastic to see that we again have a very high participation rate. A massive thank you to Sheree Knight for her exceptional organisational and coordination skills; we are incredibly fortunate to have Sheree in this role. Thanks also to our teachers and other staff members as well as parent and carer helpers who will be assisting across the next two weeks.

Year 1 Dinner & Prep Breakfast

This week’s Year 1 Dinner and Prep Breakfast were very successful. The engagement and behaviour of our students was outstanding and their feedback was very positive and enthusiastic! We are very appreciative of the extensive support of our staff, parents & carers and various other helpers. In particular, we should acknowledge Year 1 teachers, Jen Males and Kate Redfern and Prep teachers, Beth Fletcher, Nan Ternai, and Milly Bridges.

Oscar Allen SSV softball

Our very best wishes to Year 5 student, Oscar Allen, who will be representing Victoria in the School Sports Australia Boys 12U Softball Championships to be held in New South Wales next week. This is a fantastic achievement, reflecting Oscar’s hard work and commitment and we look forward to following the progress of Oscar and his team.

Student Leadership Selection

The student leadership selection process for 2026 is continuing, with a small group of students being interviewed next week for the school captain or vice captain roles. The experience is a great one for the students, and we love the opportunity to listen to their thoughts and ideas and their passion for our school.

Warm regards,

Duncan