Principal's Report & School News

From the Principal...

Surveys

The school will be distributing a series of surveys over the next few weeks. These include the parent, staff and student attitudes to school surveys. The information collected will provide useful feedback to the school, which will help to inform our planning for 2021. I encourage all families to take the time to respond as the greater the response rate, the more useful the information is for our school. The students will complete the attitudes to school survey in the next few weeks and this will be conducted in their classrooms.

All households were invited to complete this year's Parent Opinion Survey which can be accessed on Compass. The Parent Survey is open until 13th November.

Capital Works

Our capital works project is almost complete with just some general fix-ups and alterations to occur. The lift has proven useful when relocating heavy ICT trolleys and furniture upstairs. Now that our school is looking so picture perfect, we will create a virtual tour for new families which will help to promote the new aspects of our school on the website. The STEAM furniture is due to arrive next week which will complete that part of the project and will allow students to make use of this exciting and innovative space. The students have thoroughly enjoyed coming back on site to discover all the new elements of our school, including refurbished classrooms, breakout spaces, fresh paint, new carpets and greater opportunities to engage in flexible learning.

Staffing Update

The school recently advertised one ongoing position after a staff member on leave relinquished her position. The successful candidate was Ryan Serpanchy who currently teaches Year 6. Other contract positions have been advertised, including a STEAM specialist teacher. The school is carefully structuring a staffing profile that will best cater for all students at the school. This includes carefully considering the impacts of remote learning in 2020 and how best to address the needs of all students after such challenging times.

2021 Planning & Preparation

Ormond PS will still offer a range of specialist subjects in 2021. The only addition being a STEAM specialist teacher who will be required to deliver STEAM-oriented instruction through project-based learning methods. They will be encouraged to attend professional development and training related to STEAM programs and methodologies, staying abreast of current research.

At OPS the STEAM specialist staff member will:

Demonstrate the ability to model, deliver, and craft rich student-centered learning experiences around Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths.
Demonstrate the ability to create and implement strategies for weaving STEAM experiences into multi-disciplinary curricula from Foundation through to Year 6.
Work in partnership with teachers and staff, modelling consistent effective teaching incorporating technology and online tools.
Organize, develop and coordinate special STEAM events & activities.
Coach teachers on STEAM initiatives and instructional best practice.

Facilities & Grounds

I just wanted to let the community know that we have been very busy beautifying our school grounds. This includes installing our outdoor chess tables, painting the portables to align with the new colour scheme, replacing the sand in the sandpit and blowing in fresh mulch. Our maintenance man, Jerry has also helped to install whiteboards in each classroom, repair damaged property and clear up the abundance of leaves and sticks in the yard. The staff are making a concerted effort to remind students about looking after their belongings, including hats, containers and jumpers. After such a long period in remote learning, students need to reacquaint themselves with school routines and processes. Parents are reminded to please ensure all of their child's belongings (including food/drink containers) are clearly marked with their names.

Book Week

Like many significant educational activities that are due to occur in Term Four, the school has had to modify plans for Book Week. There will not be a dress up parade, although the students can participate in our Art project which encourages them to design and create a curious mythical creature. Some of these are already on display in our library cabinet. Every child has also been introduced to the stories and books that are the finalists for this year. The children have enjoyed discussing their favourites with their teachers.

2021 Enrolments

We are still accepting enrolments for 2021 Foundation. Any families who have a child that is due to start their schooling in 2021 is asked to please contact the office to collect and enrolment pack as soon as possible.

To assist us as we embark on our 2021 planning, if any families in Foundation to Year 5 know that your child/ren will not be returning to OPS in 2021 could you please formally let the office know your child's final day at OPS as well as the name of the new school via email as soon as possible.

2020 Payments - Credits and Refunds

Notification was sent out to all school families last term regarding refunds and credits for 2020 Excursion Payment Scheme and the School Magazine.

In line the Department and Education and Training advice we will be refunding any unused payments made in 2020 for the Excursion Payment Scheme and School Magazine to all parents of Year 6 students. Please complete the refund request form attached to your Compass message and return it to Jan Cassidy as soon as possible. Please contact the office if you have any questions.

Students in Foundation to Year 5 will receive credits that they can use against their 2021 Parent Payments. Families will be notified in term 4 of their credit amounts via Compass email. Any families with students in Foundation to Year 5 who will not be returning to OPS in 2021, please contact the office to discuss other arrangements.

All refunds and credits are currently being processed. Families with credits that will be able to be used against 2021 payments will be notified their amounts in the coming weeks.

Water Bottles

Students are required to bring their own water bottle for use at school. Drinking fountains are no longer available and have been replaced with taps to refill water bottles. Please ensure water bottles are clearly labeled with your child's name.

Staggered Dismissal Times

Please see the new times as below with 5 minutes between each dismissal.

3:20pm DISMISSAL Surnames from A - K
3:25pm DISMISSAL Surnames from L - R
3:30pm DISMISSAL Surnames from S - Z & bikes/scooters

We encourage parents to have a conversation with their children to decide on a designated pick up point/gate that all members of the family will use to avoid siblings using different gates. All three gates are now accessible. A reminder that all students with bikes/scooters are to use the Murray Rd gate.

Return To School

Finally, I just wanted to thank the school community, staff and students for such a smooth transition back to onsite learning. Adults continue to follow the guidelines around drop offs and pickups by wearing masks, not coming on to the school premises and social distancing when waiting outside the grounds. It has been so wonderful to see, hear and interact with students this week. They are incredibly happy to be back with their friends and their teachers. I admire the entire community for their resilience and patience during the recent challenging times. Term Four will certainly be different but the school is making every effort for all students to reconnect with their learning and we will provide experiences and opportunities that are fun and engaging. Just a friendly reminder that all students need to bring a hat to school and apply sunscreen before leaving home. This is part of our Sunsmart policy and staff will remind students before heading out to the yard. The school will continue to put out a newsletter every second week on a Friday and we will conduct assemblies via our speaker system until further notice. If any of you need additional information or you would like to discuss anything please contact the school or your class teacher.

Keep Safe and have a wonderful weekend!

Kerri McLeod,

Principal

Out of School Hours Care

We are so happy to be back, with children in the service. This week we have had bookings from Foundation to Year 4. The children currently attending the program would really like some of their Before & After School Care friend’s to join them at the program.

We are accepting casual or permanent bookings for Before & After School Care. Please text your child’s name, date & session type. (0439 111 026)

January School Holiday Program 2021

The January School Holiday Program schedule will be available on compass from Wednesday 4th November.

Basic Covid Safe Practice in the Service

If you require more extensive information about our Covid Safe Procedure please text the service your email address for a copy of our procedures .(0439111026)

Children hand sanitise on arrival & leaving the service.

Children are required to use hand sanitiser before and after play or when sharing equipment.

All equipment, toys & drawing material is cleaned & sanitised after use.

Parents remain outside the hall when dropping off & collecting children from the service.

Staff ensure, high touch surfaces in the service are wiped down and disinfected regularly (e.g. door handles, bathrooms, devices used by adults and children, tables, chairs).

This is in addition to our regular practise guided by the services regulatory authority the Department of Education and Training and the Public Health Unit of Glen Eira Council which the kitchen is certified with.

There is some useful information available at https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/what-you-need-to-know-about-coronavirus-covid-19#symptoms

April Kopitz

Out of School Hours Coordinator

Library News

Please return all library books, as well as classroom library books that were borrowed during remote learning as soon as possible please.

Foundation News

This week in Foundation we celebrated our 100th day of school. Even though the actual day was during remote learning, we still wanted to acknowledge the day.

Students were able to make special t-shirts to wear for the day. In the morning we made 100 day crowns and then paraded around the school. After recess we got inventive and made creations out of 100 straws, 100 icy pole sticks, 100 matchsticks and 100 Unifix blocks. What a fun day!

Congratulations Foundation students on a wonderful achievement!

Year 4 News

Year 4 students created Korean signs indicating places such as toilets, office, science room, staff room, etc. at school during remote learning. Their beautiful work will be displayed in front of each of theses places around the school to educate the Ormond Community about the names of these places in the Korean language.

Year Four students are off to a bang in science as they share their knowledge of forces in mixed Year Four groups. They will work in these groups for the next 5 weeks designing and building a ‘Marble Run Machine’ in the style of Rube Goldberg, and utilise their understanding of the forces of magnetism, push and pull, friction and gravity to keep a marble in motion for the longest duration. What a fun project it will be!

Year 5 News

The Year 5 students are getting back into the swing of things and reestablishing routines. Our Year 6 uniforms for 2021 have been ordered, we are spending some time with our Foundation buddies and Year 5 house sport is beginning again each Friday. We are sure there will be some tired students by the end of the week!

Next week students will be completing some Book Week activities, including a scavenger hunt and creating a round robin story. It should be a lot of fun!

Year 6 News

Year 6's have been engaged in their remote Art lessons. They drew their own creatures following the Book Week theme 'Curious Creatures, Wild Minds', and are looking forward to the reading activities in Week 3.

Monster picture by Charlie in 6A

Students Vs Teacher Fun

Today some Year 6 students played a game of Rounders against an elite selection of OPS staff. The game was a great way to reconnect with each other and have some fun. It was a nail biting finish with the teachers winning by one run! The final scores were:

Year 6 students 11

Teachers 12

We are all looking forward to next Friday when we do it all again! GO STAFF!

2020 Buddie's

The Year 5 and Foundation buddy program is up and running again after a long break. All the students were thrilled to see each other and catch up. We have been reading books together, drawing and playing some outdoor games. It has been wonderful to see smiling, happy faces!