WELCOME BACK

Welcome back to what I am sure is going to be an action packed and fun filled term here at Orchard Park PS. We hope all of our families had a restful and enjoyable holiday break. What a way to finish the holidays, with the mighty Magpies winning a cliffhanger grand final!!! (you can tell Mr. Jagoe wrote this part of the newsletter). The term has started extremely positively here for all of the staff and students.

SCHOOL SPRING CARNIVAL

Parents and Friends, staff and students are in full preparation mode for our very first Spring Carnival here at OPPS. This is going to be a day of fun and activities for the whole family. There will be a huge range of activities and stalls here at the school, running from 10am-3pm. One of the highlights for all of the kids (and maybe the adults, haha) will be our ride attractions. There is a QR code on the poster within this newsletter where you can pre-purchase an unlimited wristband for the rides. Wristbands purchased before the day come at a discounted price, so it might pay to do this.

The Carnival is for our whole community, so we encourage our families to bring their extended families, neighbours and friends along to enjoy the festivities.

A massive shout out and acknowledgement to Shadbolt Group, a major sponsor of this event. We are incredibly grateful for their financial support in bringing this event to life.

We are also a polling location for the Referendum, so adults can get this done whilst attending the day. We look forward to seeing you all here next Saturday.

FOOTY DAY

On the last day of term, OPPS celebrated Footy Day. It was so awesome to see everyone dressing in their team colours and representing all of the football codes that are played in Australia. We had a whole school assembly in the morning to show off the students dressed in their favourite footy teams and walked the parade, with the highlight definitely being a brilliant rendition of ‘Up There Cazaly’ from Mr Hayes and Mrs Barley where everyone hit the dance floor!!! Our very first staff vs Year 6 students football match was played in great spirit, with the staff coming out the victors in a close battle.

The cherry on top of making the day such a great experience for everyone was the footy lunch day that our Parents & Friends organised. The pies and hot dogs were just delicious, and we thank them for all of their great support.

ART SHOW

At the end of last term, we celebrated our Art Show, which showcased contributions from all our students. Many community members were in attendance and left incredibly impressed by the high quality of the displayed artwork. The students have been learning to work with clay and oil pastels to create their fantastic masterpieces for the show. The Preps crafted some amazing under-the-sea items and beehives, while the 1/2 students put together delightful clay food treats and also created mouthwatering paper burgers. The 3/4 class got creative with clay as well, fashioning delicious-looking food items. The 5/6 students painted incredible turtles in a sea-themed display. We'd like to extend a huge shout-out to Mrs. McEachern for her efforts in putting together this amazing art show to showcase the students' incredible work over the year.

STATE SCHOOL SPECTACULAR:

On Saturday, September 9th, 25 of our students performed at the Victorian State Schools Spectacular at John Cain Arena. These students did an outstanding job presenting the songs they had been diligently rehearsing and perfecting throughout the term. We couldn't be prouder of their incredible performance. A special thanks goes to Mrs Downie and Mrs Banfield for their tremendous efforts in making this event possible for our students.

3/4 CAMP:

This week, our Year 3/4 students have been having a fabulous time at their camp at Woorabinda. They've been actively participating in various activities, including high ropes, the zip line, billy cart building, and exploring the natural environment surrounding the campsite. All the students have thoroughly enjoyed themselves, stepped out of their comfort zones, formed new friendships, and we are certain they are eagerly anticipating a well-deserved sleep-in tomorrow morning after an exhausting but fun-filled week!