From the Principal 

Dear Families,

EDUCATION WEEK: The theme for this year is ‘Building Connections’ – celebrating the connections between schools and local communities and also strengthening bonds with families and carers. And what a fun week it’s been at OGPS! Thank you to the families that popped in for the open morning visits in classrooms and had morning tea on the oval. It’s certainly starting to feel like some normality is coming back for all of us to enjoy such occasions, even with COVID precautionary measures in place.

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK: Tomorrow is the beginning of National Reconciliation week, an opportunity for us as a community to reflect and celebrate the rich culture and history of Indigenous Australians. National Reconciliation Week is a time to build better relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians—and a time to come together to acknowledge the enormous contributions that Australia’s First Peoples have made to shape our nation. It is also an opportunity to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. 

This year’s theme is: More than a word. Reconciliation takes action!

Two dates are significant in the history of reconciliation.  The 27th of May is the anniversary of the date of the 1967 Referendum, which successfully removed from the Constitution clauses that discriminated against Indigenous Australians.  The 3rd of June is the anniversary of the High Court decision in the Eddie Mabo land rights case handed down in 1992.  Our students will engage in discussions and activities that will assist them in deepening their understanding about our country’s rich history and realise that our past goes way back before 1788. We encourage our families to use next week as an opportunity to reflect and celebrate the wonderful traditions and customs our Indigenous Australians have.

YEAR 4 CAMP: Thanks to the Year 4 teachers and other staff for taking nearly 100 kids away on camp! The challenges each child faces on an individual level are different and worked through sometimes with staff assistance and sometimes through the students own strategies. The kids looked exhausted on Friday and no doubt will return to their usual self soon! Thanks again Year 4 team. 

MEDICATIONS: If your child requires medication to be taken at school, please make sure all documentation is accurate with the admin team. Webster packs are great especially if we are going on camps. With more medications prevalent, we ask families to be diligent and organised so we can avoid any mix ups with meds. Thanks in advance.

FUNDRAISING COMMITEE: We Need You!!! As you know, the 2021 Apple Fair had to be cancelled for the year and School Council has approved a digital fundraiser. Less meetings, less set up, no pack up, no cleaning or cooking and overall, a great result for the students. Any money raised will be directed to the playground facilities. We will be having significant underground works done soon to improve drainage etc and this is the prime time to add a significant piece of equipment!

Mia Reece and some of the Year 6 students have started work on this but we just need a few more people to support (so Mia can concentrate on teaching!). If you have some IT skills or if you are a good communicator or even if you just want to make OGPS and even better place, please call or email the office so we can keep moving on this project. 

NETWORK MEETING: Last week, Kristy and I met with about 30 other Principal Class and engaged in many discussions and reflections about COVID and the readjustments from the previous 12 months. We are all busy again - sport, clubs, after school activities, work and relationships… we pivoted, we flexed, we adjusted and we coped. I encourage you all to take a few minutes and think about the last 12-18 months. Check in with your mates and make sure they are ok!!! 

FRIDAY NIGHT BBQ FOUNDATION: What a turn out and thanks to Nicola Hyde for organising the amazing weather - and all the bbq’s, sausages etc. There was a great vibe in the playground and I hope families were able to meet new families and potentially made new mates for life! To Nicola and her team, we greatly appreciate the work you put into this and strengthening our community. 

TUTOR UPDATE: Kate Greskie, Rebecca Bradbury, Donna Heffernan and Kate Arstall have continued to work with many students as part of the tutor initiative. Ocean Grove Primary School has made a financial commitment beyond the allocated funding to support our students the best we possibly can. Please feel free to contact your child’s classroom teacher or tutor if you would like further information.

DIVISION CROSS COUNTRY: No doubt Mr Hughes will enlighten us with a few more details but I’d like to congratulate all the runners that represented us yesterday at Eastern Gardens. Some great runners on show and some tremendous efforts by all involved. Thanks to families for taking your children in and supporting them.

CLASSROOM VISITS: Over the past 2 weeks both Kristy and myself have been invited into classrooms to observe SMART spelling in action. It’s times like this that make our job so rewarding and special. Observing the way our students have adapted to this new spelling approach, seeing their engagement levels, the pride in their work and the success they are achieving was just amazing. 

DISABILITY INCLUSION: Kristy and I attended a professional learning module on Monday that outlined the rollout of the funding commitment that has been made towards disability inclusion. A five year rollout will see $1.6 Billion invested into various disability supports. What this looks like for OGPS is still be seen. As we learn and move through the implementation, we will try to keep you updated as best as possible.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS GROUP: We have a great group of parents/carers that are eager to add value to our school in all different sorts of ways. Amongst a bit of socialising, they are also involved in events, projects and fundraising for OGPS. One such event was last Friday – the Prep sausage sizzle and get together which was enjoyed by all. If you would like to have some fun, meet new people and join this group, please contact Jenny in the office for details. 

INSTAGRAM: Are you following OGPS on Instagram? If not, please do so and check out our regular updates and photos (@oceangroveprimaryschool).

FIRST AID TRAINING: We had 12 staff members complete their First Aid and CPR training this week. These staff members volunteered to complete this training in their own time (over the weekend and after school). First Aid and CPR training is of paramount importance for both staff and students and I’m really grateful for the staff’s commitment to this.

Scott McCumber                    

Principal