Principal's News

Prinicipal's News

ICAS

I was honoured to attend the ICAS Awards Ceremony in Melbourne last Saturday to see Year 4 student, Ryan Li, receive his ICAS Medal for Digital Technologies. Ryan was the highest performing Year student in this category in Victoria and to receive a medal in this competition is an incredible achievement. Congratulations Ryan - we are very proud of you.

Working Bee thanks

Thank-you once again to everyone involved in our Working Bee last Friday. The painting that was completed has made an enormous difference to the presentation of our school and we plan to continue this work in 2020.

Student Leader Elections

Elections for the 2020 student leaders are currently underway. This is a very thorough process involving a written application, a speech and an interview for those students being considered for School Captain or Vice Captain. I never cease to be amazed by the calibre of our students and their confidence in presenting their thoughts - as parents, you should be extremely proud of them.

I am delighted to announce that our School Captains for 2020 are: Kien Nguyen & Abbey Gallagher

Our school Vice Captains are: Ryan Kotsiakos, Mitchell Culpitt, Bella Haag & Issy Neilson.

Netball Presentation

The Old Orchard Netball Club conducted its Presentation Evening last week. The Netball Club provides wonderful opportunities for our students to participate in one of Australia’s most popular sports and we have a very high participation rate from our students. A feature of the Presentation Night was the confident manner in which the coaches spoke - many of the coaches are young teenagers who attended Old Orchard and it is rewarding to see them embrace the coaching opportunities available to them and presenting so confidently and articulately.

Awards Assembly

On Monday, we celebrate the achievements of many of our Year 5 & 6 students at our annual Awards Assembly. As well as acknowledging the contribution of Student Leaders and Peer Mediators, we will be presenting a number of special awards in the following categories: Physical Education, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Mandarin, Academic Excellence, Citizenship and the Principal’s Award. Award recipients will be announced in next week’s newsletter.

School Council

Our final School Council meeting for 2019 was held this week. One of the major items of business was approving the 2020 Budget and related matters. I would like to acknowledge the staff members and parents who have served on Council throughout 2019 and in particular, our Council President, Deb Gray for her leadership and guidance. School Council plays an important role in shaping school policies, monitoring school finances and performance against the School Strategic Plan.

Farewell Vaudreys & Lehans & Larkins

Our best wishes to Will & Lucy Vaudrey, and Oliver, Emmett & Kate Lehan, and Sophia Larkin on their final day at Old Orchard. Both families are making significant moves and we wish them every success and happiness for the future.

What's in the Bag campaign

Jenny Stout has asked me to pass on her appreciation to the many parents who donated to the What’s in the Bag Campaign. Jenny was able to deliver 54 handbags packed with goodies, along with a further 4 shopping bags of additional toiletries - an amazing result!

Warm regards

Duncan