From the Principal...

It is hard to believe that we have reached the final week of our school year. One that has presented like no other before! The challenges we have all endured throughout the course of 2020 were unimaginable, particularly back at the commencement of the year. Well done to the entire Ormond community for keeping each other safe. As many schools in Victoria were closed due to active cases, OPS soldiered on!

To all the parents and carers who worked tirelessly in hospitals and other essential service workers, we send our heartfelt thanks and gratitude. To my Year 6 cohort, you have demonstrated resilience and persistence, even when significant events and opportunities were taken away from you. Your graduation last night was indeed a true celebration of your fortitude against all odds. I am so delighted you had fun with each other and the staff truly enjoyed the event as well. Thanks to all the helpers on the night!

Thanks also needs to be expressed to our crossing supervisors Sue and Roz, Before and After care workers - April and Sharelle and other members of the school community who devote much time to supporting our children at OPS. I wanted to take the time to warmly thank the school council and wider community for the support you have shown me during a year of challenge and uncertainty. Thank you also to Jo Feather for leading our school council in 2020, mainly via Zoom. In your role as School Council President you have provided so much time to help others but to also guide and drive the work of our wonderful sub-committees. To Heather Hosken, Rachel and the work of the P&F team – we want to show how much we appreciate what you do for the school and the wider community.

I also wanted to thank both the teaching and ES staff for their commitment to their work and dedication during such unprecedented times. I particularly need to recognize the work of Lorrie Dell, my Assistant Principal and the work she does behind the scenes with wellbeing and supporting students with individual needs. The office staff (Jan Cassidy and Brodie Thomson) have also been incredibly supportive and I appreciate all the additional tasks they have taken on throughout 2020. Likewise, I need to acknowledge Courtney Mason who has worked as our Learning Specialist over the last few years. She will be missed as she transitions across to a new leadership role at another school.

Building Works Update

In 2021, we are fortunate enough to have two additional spaces to house our Korean program and Performing Arts. These specialist subjects will be conducted on Level 1 of the main school building. Building works are officially completed, although minor fix-ups will occur over the summer break. This includes joinery in the Art Room and minor repairs to areas damaged by recent wet weather. The school intends on moving forward with repairs to the turf and lines in the main yard. In 2021, we hope to raise funds to fully restore and reinvigorate this area. The students have been asked what lines and game spaces they would like to see included if we were to do a major overhaul of the main yard.

Staffing Allocations 2021

Foundation A – Amy Jones
Foundation B – Laura Cecil
Year 1/2A – Sally Berryman - This composite class has been strategically created to ensure all junior classrooms remain at lower numbers. The Year One and Two team will continue to pre and post test to determine exactly where all students should be working to achieve their personalised learning goals. There are many advantages to working in a composite class particularly if some or all students in the lower year level are already working way beyond expected levels.
Year 1B – Elly Wood
Year 1C – Angus Dickason (NEW)
Year 2B – Effie Liarakos
Year 2C – Margot Hudson (returning from leave)
Year 3A – Lorraine Bell
Year 3B – Kim Stewart
Year 3C – Justin Ward
Year 4A – Delia Robey (NEW)
Year 4B – Ryan Serpanchy
Year 4C – Carrie Tunnock (returning from family leave) & Sandra Johnson
Year 5A – Melissa Kah
Year 5B – Michael Pannam
Year 5C – Nicole Lichouradis (NEW)
Year 6A – Gregg Workman
Year 6B – Mary Thanos
Dorothy Markou will be a support & fully qualified classroom teacher in both 1&2 A and 2C. There will also be additional assistance provided to students who require catch-up after 2020 and remote learning. This comes with increased tutoring funding from the Department of Education in 2021.

Specialists

Visual Arts – Helen Kupfer
Korean – Anna Park
Health & PE – Emma Milliken
STEAM – Anna Bui (NEW)

Performing Arts will continue to be a specialist area and delivered by a team of ‘experts’ from each year level. We are very fortunate to have staff fully trained in Music and Performing Arts across all classes. With a brand new space for Performing Arts, these staff members will be able to run a specialized program which includes Music, Dance and Drama. There will also be opportunities to reinstate soirees and to plan a future whole school production.

Annual Implementation Plan – 2021

Last week, Stuart Andrews visited the school to speak with representatives from the leadership team. We reflected on the challenges of 2020 and the goals and targets we were unable to achieve from our Annual Implementation Plan. Stuart spoke about the state wide priorities that all schools need to address in 2021. The three main areas are catch up and extension after remote learning, wellbeing and school connectedness. This includes actively engaging with the wider community and improving communication and awareness. The community sub-committee of school council will play a critical role in this. I have presented the draft form of our 2021 AIP to the council in their final meeting which is now ready to be endorsed by our School Council President. This document will be included on our website as soon as possible.

The Attitudes to School Survey (ATSS) has been released and again Ormond PS has achieved remarkable results. The survey was conducted in Week 2 of Term 4 and students from Years 4 to 6 responded. The positive results centred on students feeling safe and happy after their return to school and recognising there were caring staff to support and re-engage them in their learning. The leadership team did notice an increase in cyber concerns that have significantly impacted our young people at OPS during remote learning. The school will continue to monitor this and take action heading in to 2021.

Final Note

Which brings me to the kids! The students at this school are the most amazing bunch of young people I have ever come across. When COVID threw us in to a whole new way of existing and learning, they adapted as best they could and rode out the storm. On so many levels – they were tested, cheated of things they loved doing and experiencing and now that we are back on site, I have not heard one negative thought around life being unfair. They may have expressed it at home and some may be yet to fully understand and express it, but they have come back with a determination to finish off this year as best they can. Which they have done!

I am so grateful we are moving on now together as a school community which promotes positivity and upholds all of the Ormond school values. In 2021, we have new staff, many new students and a new way of operating that allows for future planning, communication and understanding. Have a safe and wonderful break! We wish you well and hope to see you all again (minus our gorgeous Year Sixes) in the New Year!

We will conclude the year tomorrow with of End of Year Assembly outside (weather permitting) at 1:00pm. Students will then be dismissed at 1:30pm. We kindly remind parents of our Covid-19 restrictions and regulations limiting us to 500 people onsite keeping in mind that staff and students are included in this number. We will only be able to accommodate one parent of a Year 6 student for this event.

Parents of students in Foundation to Year 5 will be required to collect students from the school gates as normal at 1:30pm

Kerri McLeod,

Principal

Introducing Our New Staff

Hi my name is Nicole Lichoudaris and I am so excited to be joining the Ormond community in 2021! I have been teaching in Year 4 over the past two years and I am looking forward to joining Year 5 next year. In my spare time I like spending time with family, friends and my kitten Leelu. I value wellbeing and supporting a growth mindset, I look forward to getting to know everyone, and wish you all a safe and Merry Christmas.

Hello Ormond Primary School, My name is Angus Dickason, and I am tremendously excited to join your school community next year! After spending a few years teaching Foundation at Windsor Primary School, I am looking forward to engaging with your Year 1 cohort in 2021. I love outdoor activities, sports, painting and drawing, and of course, teaching and educating. Looking forward to meeting you all next year.

Hello everyone, my name is Anna Bui and I'm very excited to be joining Ormond Primary School in 2021 as a STEAM Specialist Teacher! I have been teaching STEAM for the past 2 years and love every minute of it. Starting a brand new STEAM program is such a privilege and I am looking forward to working with staff and students to create an open learning environment where all students are encouraged to practice growth mindset and embrace mistakes as a way to improve their learning. Outside of school, I love gardening, cooking, taking my dogs for a walk (or a swim during summer!), learning new technology trends and travelling to different countries and learning about different cultures. I can' wait to meet you all so please pop by the STEAM room in 2021 to say hello.

Hi, I’m Delia Robey and I’m very much looking forward to joining the fabulous team at Ormond PS. I’ve been teaching since 1999, but took a 5 year break to live in Denmark with my family where I spent a lot of time riding my bike and baking for the local café. My two children, Aiden 10yrs and Finn 8yrs, are at Coatesville PS and we enjoy riding our bikes as a family. Baseball is my sport of choice and I coach Little League for the Cheltenham Rustlers. I usually play myself but I’m out this season due to injury. Even though I’m a teacher, I have never stopped learning and I’m excited to continue this journey at Ormond PS.

Transitions

Over the last few Tuesday of December the entire school participated in a transition morning. Each class ‘stepped up’ to their 2021 year level participating in some wellbeing and values learning. It was a chance for the students to meet the teachers who will be teaching their year level in 2021. It was great to see lots of happy faces, hands on activities and excitement for the 2021 school year! By now all students should know their new teachers for next year, we hope the children are as excited as the teachers are.

Buddies

On Thursday 10th December the Year Five students helped their prep buddy to research some information about an animal. There was investigations into animals great and small including frogs, turtles, sharks, zebras, redback spiders, lizards whales, meerkats, lions and many more. Here are some photos of the students and their work.

Holiday Cheer

Some holiday elves have been hard at work around the school recently. The library is in full festive swing along with some very interesting classroom doors. It has become a tourist attraction with students going on a tour of the school to see all the creative doors. See some of the photos of our wonderful holiday creations.

Year 3 News

The children enjoyed time together playing board games, learning to do origami and one creative group set up a shop to sell their wares.

Each class designed and made a Christmas display for the door of their classroom.

Year 4 News

The ‘Year 4 Fun Arvo’ was a great success on Wednesday. Students brought in a range of personal hobby items, board games and card sets. It was really nice to see them engaging and enjoying each other’s company away from screens. The feast was of monumental proportions with an impressive array of home cooked dishes, fruit and vegetable platters and a sensible amount of sweets. The students behaved beautifully and courteously grazed and moved around the space and they all donned big smiles and lots of gratitude. That’s what we like!

The afternoon featured rotational games including, Rock Paper Scissor Battle, Capture the Flag and Memory tag. Spirits were high and everyone had a blast. Later in the week students participated in a whole school Festive Door Tour where the Year 4 wandered round to review the efforts put in by lots of other grades. Despite us being the clear creative masters. Teachers were very impressed with the maturity, resilience and excitement students displayed in transition. Everyone is ready for a fresh start ahead with 2021 looking like a productive and supportive year for all. Thanks to the support the community has given the Year 4 teachers and school this year!

Year 5 News

Our Year 5 Summer Sport Competition came to a conclusion last Friday. Up until the penultimate game of the season, any house still had a chance to make the Grand Final. Hollows and Chisholm went head to head in the final. Hollows had shown themselves to be the dominant team for the most of the season. Sport is a fickle game and that proved true in the Grand Final. Chisholm came from behind in a ‘Cinderella Story’ to clinch the summer trophy. Well done to all the teams for a very competitive season.

Students will have decided what sport they would like to compete with for the 2021 Inter-school Sport Competition. These teams will be finalised in the new year. There will be four sports Ormond Primary School will be competing in for the 2021 Inter-school Summer Friday Sport Competition….these are likely to be rounders, cricket, Hotshots and softball.

Visual Arts

Our whole school collaborative art piece ‘Together Again’ is on display at the stairs near the Foundation classrooms. It represents coming back together after Remote Learning. All students' individual pieces of art are joined together to create a wonderful, colourful harmony of collaboration!

Christmas/Holidays Card Competition.

With so many wonderful entries it must have been a mammoth task for Nick Staikos to select some winning entries from a range of local primary schools. I would like to congratulate Annabelle from Year 6 and Chaewon from Year 2 whose designs were chosen as the winners to represent OPS. Annabelle and Chaewon will be presented with their prizes at the final assembly for the year. Such exciting news!

Well done Ormond Artists for getting through the year 2020 ! Wishing everyone a wonderful Summer break and look forward to seeing you all in the Art Room in 2021.

Helen Kupfer

Virtual Assembly Library

Ormond Primary School

Issue 11 · 17 Dec 2020

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