Welcome Back!

A very warm welcome back to everyone in our school community! I hope you all had a relaxing break and enjoyed some quality family time. We were incredibly fortunate with the warm weather and sunshine and I hope families were able to take advantage of this. Whilst I recognise a three day school week to begin the term is difficult, I really appreciate seeing all our students return to our classrooms on Tuesday morning and I cannot wait to move into Term 2 with a full week of teaching and learning in our classrooms next week.

Thank you for taking a minute to read over an abbreviated newsletter to mark the beginning of Term 2.

Staffing News:

I welcome Aparna Alagaraman to our school as an education support (integration aide) in our prep classrooms. Aparna joins us four days per week and has made a great start this week. Yesterday, we farewelled Jenny Parkes from our school, Jenny has had 7 years with us at Caulfield Primary School and has taken up a teaching position at Langwarrin Park PS to be closer to her family and her two small children. We wish Jenny every success. The school looked to undertake a recruitment process over the holidays for this position and made no appointment, this position will be readvertised.

ANZAC Day

Today, the 25th April, marks the anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand forces landing at Gallipoli and is the day we remember the sacrifice of those who have died in war. Students were provided with learning tasks focused on ANZAC Day to assist them to connect with Australian history and understand the importance of this National Day of Remembrance. Yesterday, on Thursday 24th April, we held a whole school ANZAC commemoration service at 10.30am run by our student leaders. I anticipate many families may have this morning recognised ANZAC day with their attendance at a dawn service. ANZAC Day is a very significant day in Australian culture and it is great that our students were provided the opportunity to learn a little more about it this week.

Teaching Our Children About ANZAC Day

There are many ways that parents can get their children involved in the Anzac Day experience and enable them to gain an understanding of the important place Anzac holds in Australia’s history. Firstly, historical knowledge is important and there are many high quality, child friendly accounts of the Anzac story, and the Anzac characteristics that resonate with Australians. Many of these books are available at local libraries; they are also available through the Department of Veterans’ Affairs free of charge. These books make it clear that Anzac Day is not an event glorifying war, but exactly the opposite. It is a time of reflection and remembrance. Endurance, resourcefulness, courage, teamwork, loyalty and mateship are key attributes. These are virtues to be encouraged and emulated at any time and are a part of our national story we can focus on around Anzac Day.

Sun Smart - No Hat, No Play

Please be advised that our 'No hat, No play' policy is still in place for all students at school. Our policy states this is effective from the beginning of September until the end of April. Students will not be required to wear their hats from Thursday 1st May onwards until our policy kicks in again in September. Students can continue to wear their hats outside if they wish.

Open Day(s):

Would you believe it, Term 2 already has the school considering our 2026 enrolments. Two Prep Open Days are scheduled for this term on the 10th May and 14th June. These are a great opportunity for prospective parents and families to visit our school, meet some of our teaching staff and leaders and also speak with some of our students. Please encourage any families to come and visit us to learn a little more about our bilingual learning environment.

A big thanks to Yoko Baxter (mother of Sofia and Josh) for this fantastic graphic that was produced to promote our 2025 Open Days.

Election Day - PFC Event:

'Democracy sausages' and 'Constitution Cakes' will be on sale all next Saturday as the school becomes an Australian Electoral Commission polling place for the federal election. Thank you to our families that have offered to help on this day. If you are able to vote at our school on the Saturday and also support our PFC Fundraiser, it would be greatly appreciated.

CPS Calendar:

Thank you to our Office Team that continue to keep our calendar updated for our families, this term I will continue to provide a Sunday afternoon schoolstream reminder of dates and items of note. When I look at my own calendar, dates and items of note that raise my attention include:

School Council Meeting - 6th May
CPS Open Day - 10th May and 14th June
Principal Network Meeting - 15th May, 19th June
Prep - Year 2 - Open Classrooms - 19th May
Yr 3-6 Open Classrooms 20th May
Victorian State Principal Forum - 3 - 4 June
Caulfield PS School Review - 16, 17 June, 1st July
School Council Meeting - 10th June
Parent Teacher Interviews - 2-3rd July

I am also asked to work with Knox Gardens PS on the 26th May, 2nd and 10th June to support their school review. These dates sometimes mean I am out of the school and/or unavailable. In this instance, I am responsive via email or you may leave a phone message with the office.

School Photos

Our Whole School Photo Day is scheduled for Wednesday 30th April.

Personal Property:

Caulfield Primary School understands that staff and/or students may sometimes like to bring items of personal property to school. The Department of Education and Training does not have insurance for personal property of staff, students and visitors. Caulfield Primary School does not take responsibility for items of personal property that are lost, stolen or damaged at school or during school activities. Damage to personal property brought to school is the responsibility of the owner of that property.

It is not a nice experience when something is taken, misplaced or lost, in particular when this is a special item for a child. Whilst every step will be made to ensure items are not lost or stolen, the best way to avoid this is to ensure that special items or personal property are not taken to school. I have recently experienced this with my own daughter who unfortunately had something taken from her school bag, this was upsetting for her and we discussed why it might be best to not bring important items to school that may be lost or be highly sought after.

Thanks as always,

Edward Strain

Principal

Team Kids