As we head into the final month of the school year there is pleanty happening in and out of the classroom. Please keep track of our Dates for your Diary page as the end of the year will be here before you know it.

It is always a busy time as we come towards the end of a school year with a keen focus on teaching and learning with a sprinkle of fun and engaging activities. We are aware that weekends are also busy for families with Christmas parties, family gatherings, special activities, sporting commitments, etc. It is important that we try to keep as much routine with our kids (and us adults), as possible, while enjoying this festive time of the year and of course getting plenty of sleep.

We will also be extra busy at Surfside over the coming weeks so please keep the following dates and events at the front of your mind. Here is a little overview of the final month of term 4 to help you out:

November

Thu 28th - Breakfast Club at 7:45am

Wed 27th - Foundation 2025 Transition Session 4 (9am-10:30am)

Fri 29th - Curriculum Day - No students at school

December

Tue 3rd - 2025 New Year Level Transition Sessions - 9am-11:00am)

Thu 5th - Breakfast Club at 7:45am (Last Breakfast Club of 2024 - Celebration)

Fri 6th - F-2 Sports Morning 8:45-10:45am

Mon 9th - Parent Helpers Morning Tea in the staffroom

Tue 10th - Year 6-7 Orientation Day (Government Based Secondary Schools)

Whole school Orientation Morning (new classes) 9am-11am)

School Council at 5:30pm (Finance at 5.00pm)

Wed 11th Final Day for Christmas Raffle tickets and Hamper Donations

Thu 12th - No Breakfast Club

Year 6 Graduation Ceremony

Fri 13th - End of 2024 Final Assembly @ 9am Christmas Hamper Winners drawn

Mon 16th - Year 6 Adventure Park Excursion

Tue 17th - F-2 Movie Celebration Day - Excursion

Thu 19th - No Breakfast Club

Fri 20th - Last Day of Term 4 - 2:30pm finish

Casual dress day - gold coin donation

Surfside Primary School Teaching Team 2025

The team at Surfside work really hard to support transition processes at our school from kinder to Foundation, year 6 to year 7 and through year levels. We have enjoyed meeting our 2024 Foundation students through an extended transition program and we look forward to beginning our school wide transition sessions across the school over the coming weeks to prepare our students and classes in preparation for the 2025 school year. The following transition sessions will happen during weeks 9 and 10:

Tuesday 3rd December (9-11am) (meeting all year level teachers if available)
Tuesday 10th December (9-11am) (meeting new teacher for 2025 if available) (Statewide Transition Day Year 6-Year 7 & Foundation 2024 students)

These sessions aim to assist our students in meeting our teaching team for 2025 (where possible) and providing our students a positive transition experience. Not all staff will be available to attend on these days but we will work toward them having a familiar face during those sessions. Transition can be a challenging time for young people and adults, especially as fatigue settles in towards the end of the year as well as the unkown ahead of them.

Please check our wellbeing page for supports to assist you and your child with a positive transition experience.

We are excited about our teams for 2025 and look forward to working toward our school goals and supporting our students to maximise their learning and engagement opportunities. We are still completing our recruitment process and will communicate with year levels once confirmed.

We updated our returning staff in our previous newsletter and we are now excited to announce our teams for the 2025 school year. Not all staff will be returning due to a number of reasons and we have a few changes that will be highlighted in our next newsletter.

FOUNDATION TEAM
Foundation	Emma McLaren
Foundation	Caitlin Foster
Foundation	Kristy Griffiths M T W Courtenay McLaughlin F

YEAR 1 TEAM
Year 1	Ande Santilli
Year 1	Jenny Holland
Year 1	Natalie Taylor
Year 1	Elli Moss M T W Th / Trina Charleston F

YEAR 2 TEAM
Year 2	Donna Queteschiner
Year 2	Sue Welsh
Year 2	Jamie-Lee McPherson

YEAR 3 TEAM
Year 3	Mel Lonergan
Year 3	Anita Mock
Year 3	Finlay Florence
Year 3	Zara Griffin

YEAR 4 TEAM
Year 4	Katrina McCredden M T W / Andrea Ried W Th F
Year 4	Brenton Barnes M T W /Rochelle Snowdon W Th F
Year 4	Olivia Smith
Year 4	Leah Canale

YEAR 5 TEAM
Year 5	Carrie Manning
Year 5	Mandy Lord
Year 5	Cam Marchbank

YEAR 6 TEAM
Year 6	Sally Catchlove M T W Th / Adrian Chapman F
Year 6	Brooke Henderson
Year 6	Shereen Wolfe

SPECIALIST TEAM
Visual Art	Di Mercer
Music	Justin Morzinek / Scott Fraser
Physical Education	Ryan Baker / Scott Fraser
Indonesian	Leanne Braddick / Sally McLaren

KITCHEN AND GARDEN TEAM
Kitchen Specialist	Fleur Kilpatrick
Garden Specialist	Clancey McKenzie

LEADERSHIP TEAM
Principal	Peter Walsh
Assistant Principal	Lynda Patterson
Learning Specialists	Adrian Chapman & Trina Charleston
Disability Inclusion & Support	Gill Hodgson
Mental Health & Wellbeing	Kellie Hewson

ADMINISTRATION TEAM
Ebony Anderson	Business Manager
Vicki Schomacker	Office Administration
Kerry Coghlan	Office Administration
Terry Howlett	Maintenance Support
Emily Walker	I.T Support

Victorian Schools Garden Awards 2024

This week the three kitchen garden captains, Clancy and Mr Walsh attended The Victorian School Garden Awards. This was an incredible experience for all of us. The first thing that happened when we arrived at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne was that we were part of a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony. They then moved on to the awards. It was great to see how many schools around Victoria have garden programs like us and hear about the great work they are doing. Surfside Primary School was fortunate enough to have won two awards. The first one being for Most Engaging Garden For Play award, and the second being 3rd place in the PP5 Recycling Champion Award. The first award came with a cheque of $1000 to use in our garden and the second award was $250 for the garden as well and we can use these at Van Looms nuersery. Overall an amazing day for Surfside. A big thank you to Clancy and Fleur for the great work they do in our Garden and Kitchen.

Written by Laura M, Valentina G & Lucan C (Kitchen & Garden captains 2024)

Connecting Community at Surfside

On Friday the 15th of November the year 6’s were very fortunate to have Jess and Kasey Tattersall, who are proud Wollithiga/Yorta Yorta woman, come to the school and teach us about how they do aboriginal art. They also talked about their childhood and how they felt different because they were aboriginal, but at the same time very proud to be. They gave us a sheet with some aboriginal symbols to use. We used the symbols to represent our family journey on paper feathers, we will put all of them onto a canvas with a drawing of Bunjil (eagle) on it.

Overall, it was an amazing experience for all the year 6’s to have Jess and Kasey visit and allow us to do aboriginal art for a beautiful mural for display. They were so proud of everyone’s amazing effort and work we put in and we are so grateful to learn from them.

From the Connections Captains

Costa Lands at Surfside

We were thrilled to welcome Costa from Gardening Australia Jnr to Surfside Primary! Costa began his visit by joining our whole-school assembly, where he captivated students with insights on pollination, sustainability, and the importance of protecting our environment.Following the assembly, Costa joined the Grade Threes in a garden class, where he shared tips and hands-on advice on caring for plants and understanding our ecosystem. To wrap up his visit, our enthusiastic Kitchen Garden Captains led Costa on a Pollinators Hunt across the school grounds, showcasing the wonderful work happening in our school garden.A huge thank you to Costa for inspiring our students and sharing his passion for the environment! His visit has certainly left a lasting impact on our Surfside community.

Student Voice & Agency - Fynn & Alison Marchant

Fynn from year 6 recently visited Parliament House as part of a year 6 excursion and he met and spoke with Alison Marchant. Fynn raised some issues that were affecting our local community and followed up when he arrived back by writing her a letter. It was great that Fynn received a response and that Alison has passed on his concerns to the Minister for Public and Active Transport. This is another great example of student voice and agency at Surfside.

School Council - December Meeting

Our next school council meeting will take place on Tuesday 10th December at 5:30pm with Finance meeting taking place at 5.00pm.

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What's happening in our classrooms

Each fortnight we will provide all of our parents a snapshot of what is happening in our classrooms:

Foundation

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6