Only two weeks to go until the end of the school year, and there is still so much happening here at Fitzroy Primary School. I need to begin my report this time with a huge thank you to all the staff and parent helpers who have been working hard for the school and for the students this term. We’ve had working bees, fundraising barbecues and cake stalls, rehearsals for the school musical and school concert, cleaning out of store rooms, swimming lessons at the local pools and engagement with local artists to have students create a giant temporary mosaic behind our George Street building! All the while teachers have continued to teach classes, assess students and prepare their end-of-year school reports. None of this would be possible without parents offering to help, without School Council members generously giving up their time, without local artists and businesses wishing to partner with Fitzroy Primary and without teachers putting in long hours at school and volunteering their time on weekends. School communities are amazing when everyone comes together to help out.

The George Street building refurbishment continue and the main structural components have been completed. It is now easy to see how the staff spaces and the parent and visitor waiting spaces will appear when finished. Delightfully, the original fireplace has been revealed and will now become a decorative feature in the new waiting space.

Fitzroy Primary School was a voting location for the recent state election and we held a barbecue and cake stall to fund raise for the school. A large number of parents and School Council members turned out to assist with the cooking of sausages and the selling of cakes and we were accompanied by parents and staff from the French Bilingual Association. Many of the cakes and pastries sold were prepared and donated by parents of the school or members of the French Bilingual Association. We raised close to three thousand dollars towards the school, which will go towards some building and grounds projects planned for next year. Aprons with school logos emblazoned upon them were donated by Yell Design. Thank you to everyone who helped out on the day, especially to those teachers who came in early to set up and remained back late to pack up.

Recently, Julia and Nick attended the orientation day for the extended School Improvement Partnership. This year the school has been working with Specimen Hill Primary School in Bendigo to look at teacher classroom practice and effective literacy learning. Next year the partnership will continue and expand to include Richmond West Primary School. We are looking forward to working with both schools to support one another analyse our professional practice to help improve student outcomes.

I had the pleasure of accompanying students to the swimming pool over the past two weeks. While the weather has been mild on some of the days, this hasn’t cooled the enthusiasm of students who actively participated in their swimming lessons. It was great to see students developing their water safety skills. Thank you to the staff and the parents who assisted with this program, and thank you to Fitzroy Pool instructors who were friendly and patient with our students.

A big thank you to George who has worked to garner grant funding to rejuvenate the school’s ‘harmony garden’ space. With the assistance of parents and students the area has now been planted with local native plants and the concrete pipe containers have been moved about. Students will be painting the concrete pipes to create a vibrant play and learning space.

I look forward to reporting to you in our final newsletter for the year in a two weeks’ time. Until then, please come along to the school production of Aladdin and drop by to celebrate our students at the school concert. As always, the school appreciates your support.

Ben Forbes

Principal

Fitzroy Primary School

Kitchen/Garden

Garden Volunteers Needed