Out and about with Mr Walsh

Feeling Festive at Surfside

As we enter December we head into the festive part of 2020 and It has been amazing to see our students, staff and community return to some normality and have the opportunity to celebrate this special time of the year. Things are still a little different but over the past fortnight we have increased our parent interaction, participated in inter-school sport, engaged in our Foundation transition sessions and  we have also been playing some Christmas tunes for our school music. There are a number of activities taking place over the coming weeks and life is starting to get a little busier so please take care of yourselves and others over the next fortnight as we aim to finish 2020 on a positive and engaging level.

Victorian Schools Garden Awards 2020

The Victorian Schools Garden Awards looked very different in 2020 as it was a virtual event but the field was very strong and Surfside were again amongst the award winners in 2020. Congratulations Surfside Primary School for being awarded the Nursery and Garden Industry of Victoria - Best School Garden Exhibiting Biodiversity. This award recognises gardens that encourage a variety of plant and animal life found within their specified geographical location. A big well done and thank you to Camille Mewett, our Surfside Kitchen and Garden Captains and all of the Surfside community for this magnificent effort. A special shout out to our neighbours Our Lady Star of the Sea who were the recipients of a regional and state award - great work Ocean Grove!! You can watch the event below (11 minutes 12 seconds to see Costas award Surfside)

Inter-School Sport Lightning Premiership

Our year 6 crew ventured out into the community to participate in an inter-school sport lightning premiership against Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads PS. The students participated in cricket, volley catch, basketball, soccer and netball. It was great to see our students having fun and interacting with other schools as this is what some kids enjoy most about year 6. I also want to commend the behaviour of our students who displayed Respect, Honesty, Teamwork and Achievement at the highest level. Thank you to all of the staff from Surfside, Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads for allowing this experience to happen. A special shout out to Mr Fraser for his organisation and soccer prowess on the pitch. Go Surfside!!!

Surfside Christmas Windows

Mrs Mercer and our Surfside students have been hard at work in art, creating some festive cheer for our school displays and created the Surfside Christmas Windows. Please feel free to browse our Christmas Windows below on a virtual tour.

Surfside Teaching Staff 2021

It feels like only yesterday that we were bounding through the doors for the start of 2020 and looking forward to an exciting year ahead...well 2020 went in a different direction than we expected . So it is now time to hit the reset button and look forward to an amazing 2021 at Surfside PS. We are excited to announce our teaching teams for 2021 and we all look forward to an engaging and productive year ahead - after a well earned rest of course!

Foundation Team

Donna Queteschiner, Stephanie Gillies, Emma McLaren and Elli Moss/Katie Heenan

Year 1 Team

Sue Welsh, Jamie-Lee McPherson, Carrie Manning and Brenton Barnes

Year 2 Team

 Judy Fletcher/Leanne Braddick, Cam Marchbank and Olivia Smith

Year 3 Team

Adrian Chapman, Andrea Hickey and Sally McLarren

Year 4 Team

 Katrina McCredden, Laura Repusic, Jenny Holland and Diana Wright

Year 5 Team

Rochelle Clark/Laura Myers, Brooke Henderson and Tom Roberts

Year 6 Team

Tilli Hopkins, Tara Hudgell and Jake Wilkie

Specialist Team

Visual Art - Di Mercer, Music - Michael Murphy & Justin Morzinek, PE - Geoff Cunningham & Tom Roberts, Kitchen and Garden - Camille Mewett and Indonesian - Justin Morzinek & Leanne Braddick

Staffing Updates

• Leanne Moorfoot - Leanne has let us know that she will retire during term 1 and we will be very sad to farewell Leanne and her extensive knowledge and thank her for the overwhelming support she provides to the students at Surfside in her Literacy support role.
• Lisa Pechotsch - Lisa and her family are relocating to Camperdown and Lisa has been successful at picking up a position at Camperdown College. We will miss the engagement and learning experiences that Lisa provides for our students, staff and community.
• Lynda Patterson - Lynda Patterson is expecting her 2nd child and will farewell us during early term 1 but we look forward to her expected return in term 4 of 2021.
• Alison Giurician - Alison has been a wonderful addition to the Surfside administration team in 2020 but her talents and personable nature have been recognised by Newtown PS where Alison will undertake the role of Business Manager.

We wish all of the above staff members all the best over the coming weeks and we are sad to see them depart but we know that they will continue to be part of the Surfside family and use their experiences here to support a new school community. We look forward to saying farewell in style during our end of year assembly.

School Program Updates

Year 6 Graduation - The year 6 Graduation is booked in for Thursday 10th December. With the current easing of restrictions we are able to have restricted community involvement. More details will be available via the Year 6 team.

Year 6-7 Transition Program - It has been advised that year 6 students will be able to visit secondary schools as part of the transition program in preparation for 2021. These events are planned by the secondary schools and will be communicated to families.

Foundation Transition Program - The Foundation team and Surfside are excited to welcome all of our 2021 Foundation students for our transition morning next Tuesday 8th December. Our students will be in larger groups of 20 and will give the teachers a chance to meet the students as a whole cohort.

School Wide Transition Sessions - We look forward to our upcoming transition sessions during the final 2 weeks for our students to begin their collaboration as a new cohort and classes. Tuesday 8/12 will be in groupings and they will meet all of the year level teachers in a rotation and  week 11 will be an opportunity  for the students to meet their teacher for 2021. Considerable work has gone into class placements for 2021 and we understand that transition for students can always be a challenge but this is where we provide the support as parents to ease that transition and allow our new groups to grow together throughout the school year.

Health & Safety at Surfside Primary School

The Victorian Government, Department of Health and Human Services and The Department of Education have introduced new restrictions and measures for all schools in the state of Victoria in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The move to remote and flexible learning is in place to support these measures and we continue to run an on-site program for applicable families. We can all do our part in the following ways:

• Please inform the school immediately if you or your family are notified as a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 or are identified as a close contact of a confirmed case, so we can take the necessary precautions.
• Continue good health and hygiene practice by washing hands regularly, coughing or sneezing into our elbow, using hand sanitiser regularly and limiting the sharing of equipment.
• When unwell it essential that you remain home, seek medical advice and not return to school until well again. Please contact the office at any stage if you are unsure.
• It is advised that students still bring their own drink bottle clearly labelled.
• If parents/carers need to attend the school please check in via the administration office and complete our check in procedures.
• Adults are to wear face coverings when inside school buildings.

We are aware that situations and information changes very quickly so we will update our school community via Compass and email with important updates if required. Please make sure that your contact details are up to date.

Surfside Primary School Virtual Tour

Due to current restrictions we are unable to run our school tours for prospective families. To enable our prospective families to gain a valuable experience of the school we have put together a Virtual Tour. Please feel free to pass this on to families and share via Facebook and we look forward to welcoming our new families in 2021. We are planning to have small Q&A sessions with new families in the coming weeks. In the meantime sit back and enjoy the show. A big thank you to our Surfside parent, Eamon Urtone who has done a great job in putting this together and Layla, Ava and staff for providing some special guest appearances.