Principal's

Message

WALKATHON

After a pretty miserable day on Monday, we were thrilled to wake up to clear skies, ready for the big event on Tuesday. Our Student Representative Council (SRC) chose the Disney/Magic theme and lots of kids enjoyed dressing up! A HUGE thank you to Amanda McConaghy for another beautifully managed event. It was so lovely seeing so many parent volunteers and families there to cheer the kids on. I’m not sure if you were donating by the lap but some of our kids did manage to run an amazing 26 laps!! Others took a more leisurely approach which was equally fun! 

Payments can now be made via the Qkr app - Fundraising tab or via EFT at the Office. Reminder: STRICTLY NO CASH PAYMENTS.

FUNDRAISING FOR 2023 AND 2024

As you know, last year we were fundraising for the playground and air conditioning. The playground is now fully paid off and with donations from families to the Buildings and Grounds fund, we have managed to install 10 split system air conditioners. School Council were very keen to continue with the air conditioner rollout however we have received an exceptionally expensive quote for the ground floor of the discovery building. There are multiple complexities with installation on the ground floor which has significantly driven up the cost. With that in mind, the School Council have passed a motion for expenditure of our 2023 and 2024 school raised funds:

Enhance play spaces to promote student engagement: 

*Synthetic grass soccer pitch with draw nets (between the gym and the playground) 

*Junior sensory inclusion space (gym end of Prep terrace) 

In addition:

*Research bike rack solutions during 2023 and raise funds for this in 2024/25 as the need for spaces increases

*Early 2024, seek personal donations, building fund donations or alternative methods to fund 3 or 4 portable air conditioning units for the ground floor of the Discovery Building.

With a growing school population, our kids will really benefit from some more targeted play spaces. Our wonderful Families and Friends managed to raise $50,000 last year. Let’s see what we can achieve in 2023!!

3-6 ATHLETICS

We had a fantastic time over at Lakeside Stadium on Tuesday, participating in track and field events. Can Osman did an amazing job coordinating the carnival, which ran very smoothly! This year, we shared the day with Albert Park Primary School. Our kids were telling me how nice it was meeting up with friends from their community and having APPS cheer them on. Congratulations to all the kids who had a go and pushed themselves beyond their comfort zone. It certainly didn’t matter whether ribbons were won or not. In fact, my favourite story of the day came from Evie Rutecki, who received two ribbons awarded for ‘having a go’, ‘being resilient’, ‘being a good sport’, etc. Evie gave away one of her ‘well done’ ribbons (worth more points than a first ribbon) to her friend from an opposing house who hadn’t scored a ribbon all day. Our South Melbourne Park spirit was certainly alive and well on the day with some great sportsmanship shown! Thank you to Can Osman, our parent volunteers and staff for giving our kids a wonderful day of Athletics.

FAREWELL MR DOBNEY

Paul Dobney has been at South Melbourne Park Primary School since 2020. He has not only provided a wonderful education for many children but has also driven Numeracy improvement as a Learning Specialist at SMPPS. I am proud to announce that Paul has been appointed as an Education Improvement Leader (Numeracy), working across networks of schools, for the Department of Education. This appointment acknowledges Paul’s outstanding achievements to date. On behalf of the students, staff and broader school community, I would sincerely like to thank Paul for his incredible contribution to our school. We hope to see Paul in the future and wish him the best of luck in his new role. In Paul's absence, we welcome back to SMPPS, Nick Lovett, who will be teaching the Grade Twos.

Nicole Arnold

Principal