From the Principal

Dear Families,

Professional Learning: Last Friday was all about maths for our staff. We engaged in learning with staff from Montpellier Primary School who have great results in Numeracy, and we listened to their story of improvement. We engaged in professional readings and learnt more about learning dispositions. This is the attitude we (adults and students) bring to the lesson and our beliefs if we are good or not so good at it! I wonder how many times we as parents have said “Oh yeah, they’re like me and I wasn’t very good at maths!” 

We want to challenge this disposition and encourage all our learners that they can and will improve and with a positive attitude and approach, from all of us. We will help them improve and just maybe, these students may not have that negative disposition in later life and develop a passion for mathematics.

Review: Yesterday we met our reviewer, Julie Myers. Julie has helped map out the 4 days that she will be at school to observe, talk and review documentation about how our school is going, to ultimately help us shape the direction for the next 4 years in the Strategic Plan. As part of the process staff, students and families will have an opportunity to share their thoughts about our school. Families that are interested in participating can register for a session on Wednesday 24th May @ 2.45pm or Friday 9th June @ 2.45pm via this google form. This will be hosted in the staffroom by the panel of reviewers.

Cobwebs: Have you got an extraordinary number of cobwebs at home? We have them here at school too. If anyone has a few minutes (or hours) that they’d like to put in at school and help rid us of cobwebs, please let us know in the office and we will happily welcome you in – just bring your WWCC if you haven’t already done the volunteer training! 

Preps at school Wednesday: We look forward to seeing our Prep students this Wednesday and each Wednesday from here on in! They have settled in so well this year which is a real credit to the solid partnerships of our families and Prep teaching team. 

NAPLAN: Our wonderful Year 3 and Year 5 students began NAPLAN today with writing. Chatting with the Year 5’s yesterday afternoon, I reminded them that it is also important to remember that the sportspeople, scientists, artists etc among us are not having the opportunity to show their strengths in this National testing. NAPLAN doesn’t get to highlight the kind, caring and compassionate students either. We will celebrate all of their achievements in NAPLAN upon completion and look forward to seeing their results but we know there is so much more these great kids.

Ocean Grove Library: Great to have so many of our classes visiting the library with Prep and Year 2’s leading the way so far. Literacy is so important in functioning in society, and we hope these extra sessions continue to add value to the strong literacy focus we have at OGPS. Thanks to the helpers who have joined in too! 

Camps: Working through the new EBA has been challenging for many of us and our staff do not want students to miss out on camps and have collaborated on a Time in Lieu plan with me since July last year. We think we can manage all camps but will be requiring more parental volunteers to attend and take on various roles while on camp. Each year level that attends camps will be reaching out soon for volunteers. We will need to prioritise who goes by Doctor/Nurse/paramedic/First aid trained, etc and of course, WWCC! Please liaise with the year level camp coordinator when the messages come out via Seesaw. 

Swimmers: Congratulations to our representatives that attended Kardinia Park pool yesterday. We hope you had a great day, tried your best and we look forward to hearing more about your achievements throughout the week.

Bike Ed:  Year 4’s begin Bike Ed this week so make sure helmets are on and bikes are safe! Please bring a bike lock to school and secure it to prevent the heartbreak of having it stolen! As stated in previous newsletters, DE (not DET anymore) do not cover loss or theft of personal items.

Surfing:  Year 6’s will hopefully be in the water soon either learning to surf or enhancing their surfing ability. It is such a great time to be in the water and an amazing experience with all their friends. Feel free to visit them at the beach or be a helper. Chat with the Year 6 teachers to see what you can do.

School Council: We met our new councillors last night and elected office bearers. Congratulations to Simone Shanahan who was elected as School Council President again and a special welcome to our new members – Ross Gibson, Simon Brommeyer, and Anita Mullick. And to our returning Councillors – thanks – we can’t do it without you!  Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for an opportunity to attend our Annual General Meeting (AGM) where we share the work from 2022. The document will also be published on the school website once endorsed by School Council and Regional Office.

Sleep: We know sleep is essential for good health. Research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows that many children and young people are not getting enough sleep on school nights. This can affect thinking, concentration, memory, reaction times and mood. The promotion of sleep health coincides with World Sleep Day on Friday 17 March. 

For more information on sleep health for students, refer to: Sleep tips for children and Facts about sleep for parents and school staff, from the Sleep Health Foundation, Why sleep is so important, from the Kids Helpline, Sleep explained, from the Better Health Channel. For further enquiries, contact the Health Promotion, Prevention and Advice team by email: health.advice@education.vic.gov.au

Have a great week everyone.

Scott McCumber

Principal