Principal's News

It is now only two weeks until the 2018 Old Orchard Fete. The Fete is a huge event on our calendar, an opportunity for the immediate and extended school communities to come together for a day of fun and connecting with friends, as well as a significant fundraiser for the school. Thank-you in advance to all those who are supporting the Fete, either as a helper or by attending on the day. If it’s not already there, please mark November 17th on your calendar.

Congratulations to Jenny Ferris and our extremely talented students on the success of last night’s Soiree. The Soiree features students on a variety of instruments, from beginner to advanced and is a wonderful opportunity for them to perform in front of a large, if somewhat biased, audience.

The Old Orchard Public Speaking Competition has been a regular feature on our school program for many years now. Students from Prep to Year 4 present to their own class before finalists are chosen for the main competition. The capacity of our students to speak so eloquently and to entertain a large audience never ceases to amaze us. Congratulations to all of yesterday’s finalists, with special mention to the 2018 winners highlighted in bold:

The Old Orchard community is a culturally diverse one. A festival that is special to many of our families is Diwali. Diwali, also known as the "Festival of Lights," is the biggest festival in the Hindu Calendar. Spiritually, it symbolises the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance. As the term "Festival of Lights" suggests, the celebration involves millions of lights illuminated from rooftops, doorways, and windows in thousands of temples and buildings all over the countries where the festival is observed. The festival extends over a five-day period, but the main festival occurs on Diwali night. To all members of the school community, I wish you a happy Diwali.

Please note that next Tuesday is Melbourne Cup Day and is a public holiday - school will be closed.

School will operate as normal on Monday, however some classes may be combined depending on the numbers of students in attendance.

Warm regards

Duncan