Principal's Report
& School News
From the Principal...
I trust everyone had a wonderful long weekend and enjoyed some sunny breaks. The students returned to onsite learning last Friday and the transition back seemed very smooth and well-managed. Restrictions are set to ease at the end of this week but for now we are abiding by the current operational guidelines. This includes mask wearing for all adults both indoors and outdoors, unless teaching. Also, all parents and carers need to collect their children from outside the school gates. Visitors to the school are signing in and out at the office so that we can track who comes on site at any given point.
Collectible Cards
At this time of the year, I like to remind everyone at Ormond, and especially the younger students and their parents, about our ‘Collectible Card Rules’ so that all children can enjoy this activity throughout the season. During the winter season many children will begin to collect footy or Pokémon cards and they will want to bring them along to school. Collecting cards and trading them with friends is a wonderful pastime which helps to promote an understanding of value as well as providing experience in trading and negotiating. However, the enjoyment of these activities needs structure and a few simple rules.
- Children need to trade cards only with children of a similar age. It would be unfair for a child in Year 3 to attempt to trade cards with a Prep or Year 1 student as they would often have a different understanding of the relative value of various cards. This is a potential source of conflict which can easily be avoided by trading only with age group peers.
- Cards should not become a distraction in class. Children who bring cards to school must put them in their tub, locker or bag during class time.
- Responsibility for the cards rests with the child who owns them. If a child drops their cards in the yard, puts them down or misplaces them it is their responsibility.
- Keep your special cards separate from your trading cards. Your special cards are mementos that you will want to keep. Your trading cards are ones showing players from your least favourite teams or cards which you already have.
Parents could discuss these rules with their children so that they enter into collecting and trading with a clear idea about how best to enjoy the activity.
Traffic Safety and Awareness
Just a reminder for all students and families to keep discussions around traffic safety a priority. The Bentleigh, Ormond and McKinnon areas have become overly congested with traffic and therefore everyone needs to be extra cautious. Unfortunately, we have had reports of concerning near misses and students not adhering to traffic expectations and ignoring crossing signals etc. Students in younger grade levels are advised not to travel to school on their own. As a community, we need to ensure the safety of all of our students. The school will continue to provide traffic safety education and reminders on a regular basis.
Buildings and Grounds - Working Bee
There was to be a scheduled working bee this Saturday to complete a number of general maintenance and yard tasks. Due to the uncertainty around changes to COVID restrictions, we will have to postpone this event till further notice. I thank the community engagement sub-committee for their efforts to hold these type of events in such challenging times.
AToSS – Attitudes to School Survey
The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist your child’s school to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships and life in general.
There are also some questions about student health and wellbeing.
Understanding health and wellbeing needs is important to support students to learn and thrive at school. The Department is providing this addition to the core survey to allow your child’s school to capture this information to support students. Students will be asked about resilience, community connections, mental health and physical activity.
This year, the AtoSS will be conducted at OPS over the period commencing Friday June 11th to Friday June 18th.
Kerri McLeod
Principal
Out of School Hours Care
Please find attached the booking confirmation and schedule for the upcoming School Holiday Program. Bookings close Tuesday 22nd June unless booked out earlier.
Families must be enrolled in the OSHC Program to be eligible to attend, if you are new to the program please also complete the 2021 OSHC Enrolment Form which is also attached. Please contact April or Sharelle at the program on 03 9578 5826 if you have any questions.
April Kopitz
Out of School Hours Coordinator
Library News
Please ensure that all library books that are out on loan are returned by Wednesday 23rd June.
Working Bee Saturday June 19th - POSTPONED
Due to the uncertainty around the ongoing Covid restrictions, we have decided to postpone the Working Bee scheduled for this coming Saturday. Once we know when we will be permitted to go ahead again we will update the school community with a new date.
Year 2 News
The year 2 students learnt about the amazing diversity of marine life in our bays and oceans, how humans impact upon the marine environment, and importantly how they can help contribute toward a better future for all!
Year 3 News
During home learning last fortnight, the Year 3s learned to create and interpret simple grid maps to show positions using coordinates and pathways using a compass.
"I like my map because it has lots of detail in it and it looks pretty. I learned how to read the points of a compass." - Lily
"I know how to read a compass now." - Yeshwanth
"I got to use the coordinates for people to find things on my map." - Finn
"I really enjoyed making my map because I got to put all the colours and detail on for my friends to find different locations by using the coordinates." - Scarlett
Year 6 News
In Week 8, students have eagerly returned to school and gotten straight back into the swing of face to face learning. Debating teams will go head-to-head over the next two weeks to test their persuasive talents. Drawing from a range of techniques such as, emotive language, repetition, expert opinion, direct address, imperatives and rhetorical questions, students will fight to become the winning team from within both 6A and 6B.
Some of the topics include; ‘Only students with high grades can play video games’, ‘Digital money should replace cash’ and ‘Personal devices should be ban banned in schools’.
PE & Sport News
Division Cross Country
With all of the uncertainty School Sport Victoria has decided to cancel ALL Division Cross Country events.
Therefore, the decision has been made is that if your child finished in the top 3 at Dendy Park for our Moorabbin District event they will progress straight through to the Southern Metro Region event on Tuesday July 20th.
The information flyer is attached. Students who placed 4th - 8th will unfortunately not progress. Congratulations and good luck to:
- Sophie A 1st
- Gigi W 2nd
I am very sorry to those students who finished 4th - 8th. I know everyone has been training very hard and this is not the result that anyone wanted, me included! Covid strikes again :(
Emma Milliken
PE/Sport Specialist