Principal Report & School News
From the Principal...
Thank you and Welcome
I would like to personally thank some very important members of school council who have endured two challenging years. A big thank you to Rachel Marsden and Peter Barton who are leaving us this year. Both Rachel and Peter played key roles on the council as P&F rep and Treasurer respectively. A huge welcome to our new council members Vee Tan and Diana Bosanac. We appreciate your interest in school council and we know you will have a great deal to contribute to an already dynamic team.
New Website & Virtual Tour
We are excited to announce that the new website including the virtual tour is now live!
We truly appreciate the work behind the scenes which was facilitated and directed by our wonderful parents Margo and Kevin Campbell. It was a massive project and I personally believe it is one of the highest quality virtual tours I have seen. The children had a great time during filming.
Another huge thank you goes to Nerida Crake for all her hard work with updating the website. This has been a long and at times tedious project but the hard work definitely shows. The website is looking very fresh and showcases everything we are proud of at OPS.
We are so lucky to have such an amazing pool of skilled parents who are able to take on and assist the school with little side projects and all done while juggling fulltime jobs and busy households. We cannot thank you all enough, and hope the wider school community enjoys and shares our acknowledgments for your hard work.
Please visit our new website and watch our virtual tour here - https://ormondps.vic.edu.au/
Covid Updates
The school continues to receive updates regarding COVID regulations. There is a new operational guideline manual which has recently been distributed to all schools. The important mention is that parents and carers can be on the school grounds if they are appropriately vaccinated but they are still unable to enter corridors or classrooms without signing in at the office. Families are always able to connect with staff if they require a formal meeting which has been officially scheduled. The school will continue to inform and update the community when new information arises.
Facilities and Grounds
The school has continued to follow up on shade sail grants and our unsuccessful application to resurface the main play area. The school is attempting to source other options to ensure we can achieve our buildings and grounds’ targets and goals. The school continues to employ a maintenance person who has addressed immediate issues across the school. The shade sail application was successful, and we will be commencing works as soon as possible. These sails will be located outside the STEAM room and near the hall. This is to encourage more outdoor shaded learning time for STEAM, Science or Gardening Programs.
Staffing News
We have had some new staff members join us in 2022 and another staff member returned to OPS. Jess D, Joshua W and Emma Mc are currently working as class teachers across the school and Amelia D returned to take up a Year 6 class teaching position. Dorothy M has embraced the opportunity to work in the STEAM centre and Michael P has transitioned smoothly into the PE specialist role. Our PLC initiative has been officially launched and all staff members are keen to embrace the opportunity to focus on student learning and achievement through data analysis and structured professional conversations. We had two departmental facilitators attend the school today to work with our PLC leadership team. The inquiry process will commence in Term 2 in preparation for our mid-year reporting cycle. I will be working exclusively with the specialist team to address concerns around gaps that have presented over our COVID challenged years.
Air Purifiers
The school has recently received notice that 20 more air purifiers will be delivered to OPS. This is a significant increase and will ensure that all rooms including conference spaces, the staffroom, our library, and breakout spaces have adequate ventilation.
2022 Improvement Areas
Our focus areas for 2022 include:
Reading and Writing – sustaining the number of students in the top 2 bands of NAPLAN through consistency of practice and the analysing of student data which will be driven by the PLC initiative
Mathematics – enhancing student feedback and goal setting/ student agency
Resilience – maintaining our focus on wellbeing and student resilience (Respectful Relationships, Mindfulness, Cyber Safety etc.)
Harmony Day
It was lovely to see so many students dressed up in their cultural attire or wearing orange for Harmony Day this week. How lucky we are to have such a diverse mix of students sharing so many different backgrounds, traditions and cultures.
Kerri McLeod
Principal
Easter Raffle - Casual Dress 1st April
The OPS Annual Easter Raffle is now on! This year it is online, please scan the QR code below to purchase tickets.
Friday 1st April is a casual dress day for students. Instead of a gold coin donation, please supply an Easter item for the hampers.
Out of School Hours
The Autumn School Holiday Program is available below, on Compass and from the Program.
Holiday Program Bookings for Casual Families
Families who don’t attend the Before & After School Care on permanent basis must pay in advance for school holiday bookings. Submit your, booking form to the program or school office by Friday 1st April.
You will receive a text message informing you of the cost based on your child care subsidy by Tuesday 5th April.
To confirm your booking: payment for casual families must be received by Wednesday 6th April.
Holiday Program bookings for permanent Before & After School Care Children.
Please present your booking directly to the program & pay a 50% deposit based on the total. The remainder of the school holiday program fees will be included on your BASC account.
Last Day of Term Celebration
On the last day of school Friday 8th April the After School Care Program will operate from 2.30pm to accommodate the early school finishing time, we close at the usual time of 6.00pm. If your child is attending the After School Care Program on the last day of school please bring a party food donation for our end of term celebration, see the party food list displayed on parents table outside the hall.
April Kopitz
Out of School Hours Coordinator
Library News
OPS library would like to say a big thank you to the parents and carers of our students for their continued support of the school library. We managed to raise for the library $200, that will go towards new books in the coming months.
Our school also would like to remind the students that your library books need to be returned on time. At present we have 129 overdue books.
Next week we will email parents reminders so children can return the overdue books.
If possible please ask your child to return the books ASAP and not to wait for their library day. We have a library book chute so the children can drop off returns in the mornings before class.
PE/Sports News
Year 6 Interschool Sport
All teams feature in the top half of the district ladders which is great result so far.
Training for Hotshots is Thursday mornings starting at 8.15.
Rounders, T-Ball and T-20Blast training is on Friday mornings at 8.15.
All team members are expected to turn up for training. Training will not go ahead if it is raining or has been raining during the morning. Please don’t send your child if this has been the case.
Years 3 – 6 Cross Country Running Morning Sessions
A Year 3- 6 cross country running group will begin in week 7.
Sessions will be held Wednesday mornings from 8.15am
This is for students who are interested in possibly being part of the Ormond P.S. District Cross Country Team in Term 2.
Ormond will be having a Year 3- 6 cross country day at Karkarook Park on Tuesday 3rd May. This day will for the main part of the team selection criteria. The District Cross Country Carnival is for 10 to 13 year olds. Age groups are determined by the age students are turning this year. If you are turning 10 this year, you are 10 year old, etc,. There is no 9 year old age group in Victoria Sport Schools Association. However Year 3 students will still be part of Ormond’s cross country day.
Mr Pannam
PE/Sport Specialist
STEAM News
On Thursday the 24th March the Year 4 students exhibited their dream playgrounds in the hall. All the students from Foundation to Year 6 walked through and viewed these wonderful creations that were designed and created by Year 4 in STEAM over the past three weeks. It was fantastic to see the students interacting with the playgrounds and testing whether the Lego figures could actually swing on the swings, go down the slides and move across the zip lines! Well done to the students for putting on a wonderful exhibition!
