Principals Report 

At Port Melbourne Primary School, we are fortunate to have a community who are incredibly giving of their time and energies for the betterment of our school and our students. I wanted to profile some of this voluntary work today as part of a huge thank you to our community. As a flow-on effect, I also hope it opens some discussion and opportunity for continuing support of our school programs. Our school is great in significant part because of the broad range of contributors we have and it will continue to thrive with this engagement and support. This support and the additional funds directly benefit the students educational outcomes, whether it be by giving them fantastic facilities to learn in or by supporting the teachers with extra resources.

A couple of weekends ago, starting in the driving rain, approximately thirty of our families attended a working bee. Led by parents Anthony Moran and Melinda Williams, we regenerated and mulched the garden beds along Graham Street and around our oval, as well as filling the sand-pits. With further support and expertise from the likes of Ben Bulpit (who organised a drop-off of sand and ferried goods with his trailer) and our sustainability committee leader Megan Drysdale, we hope to see these events continue on a per-term basis.  Additionally, Anthony and Melinda have been instrumental in developing the school veggie garden which is looking amazing and provides many children with a great green experience. 

There is nothing more important than the safety of our students and, at the behest of a keen and proactive group of families, we have formed a ‘traffic safety working group’ that has developed a long-term plan for improving the road safety conditions around our school. This group, with significant contributions from School Councilor Troy Richardson, alongside Spiros Savva, Garrath Cadness, Rohan Bentley, Ross Hill, Donna Wright, Kerry and Levent Balci and Susana Ferreira, is working to raise awareness and drive change. We have recently met with state and local level members of parliament to share the traffic safety plan we have developed and we will continue to advocate for appropriate measures to support the safety of our students and families on their daily trip to and from school. 

Our ‘Port Dad’s’ group continue to support our school and the broader local community. With a huge thanks to a team including Michael Button, Chris Bott, Steve Schreuder, Adam Carr, Dave Rodda, Gareth Lewis and Trent Bekis, our ‘Dad’s Footy Match’ and related social events (including the weekend’s successful Melbourne Cup event) continue to bring people together and contribute significantly to the school’s fundraising efforts. Just as importantly, the group advocate for strengthening men’s mental health care and act as a strong support base for our local community. 

Our PFA, led by President Annalie Darlington, are tireless in their efforts to support our school. I could write for pages and pages regarding their initiatives and contributions, however I’ve highlighted a few of the more current projects, including:

• Bre McGrath and Thea Kogler leading an outstanding group of volunteers to put on our first school fete since 2019 (Saturday 19th November). 
• Priyanka Mittal leading a group putting on our ‘Diwali Festival’ (this Saturday from 2:00pm).
• Icy-poles and hot chocolate fundraisers, led by Annalie and Bre. 
• Per term fun food day lunches, led by Asher Fielding. 
• The annual school ‘Trivia Night’, led by Victoria Mackey.
• Mother’s day lunch, led by Kate Esam & Kate Ross.
• Mother’s and Father’s day stalls, led by Kylie Schiller.
• Second Hand uniform shop, led by Cindy Lau & Jean Sonneveld.
• School Disco & Movie night, led by Tamzine Walshe.

As you can see, our school community contribute greatly to the success of our school. Contributions come in a variety of forms and it is great to see a broad range of volunteers at our school-endorsed events. Whilst I have been able to highlight a broad range of people in our school who contribute (and I certainly didn’t capture them all), there is always room for more. If you haven’t yet volunteered to help out at our upcoming school fete, please click the link here to find a variety of opportunities to contribute. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and keep doing your best.

Rohan.