From the Principal
Dear Families,
Extras: Last week we had so many extra events on across the school that I couldn’t get to them all! Thanks to all staff who were involved in them from the Puberty Ed information session, Healthy heroes through to the Disco and Athletics.
Disco: What an event! Another thank you to the P&F and staff who assisted with the disco last Thursday and into the evening. The 5/6 students had a great night in their 80's gear - check out the photos in this week's newsletter. Thanks to all involved.
Athletics: The house athletics was held on a glorious day last Friday. No wind, sunshine and we nearly finished 8 out of 8 planned events…then the buses rolled in! It was a great day with all Year 3-6 students competing in at least 7 events. We had a great bunch of parent helpers raking, measuring, timing etc and without them, we couldn’t do this major event. THANKS! Congrats to Mr Armstrong on your first event in the new role and thanks to Mia Reece for all the work in the lead up to this day, also Mia’s final day. Looking forward to hearing the results soon.
Parent Teacher Meetings: I hope you have all enjoyed catching up with teachers this week (and possibly over the next few weeks for some) and have a clear understanding of where your child is at with their learning. I hope there was some celebrations of achievements and some great discussions of the next phase of learning. Thanks for taking the time to enhance our partnerships and relationships. Staff, thanks to you too! You are all amazing!
COVID: Last week I sent an email from DET to all families and thanks to those who have assisted in following the health recommendations, especially on bus travel. Staff have moved back to ‘bubbles’ for their break times to mitigate the risks and will continue to ventilate rooms, have air purifiers on and generally encourage the students to keep up the hygiene and masks when indoors.
Year 6 camp: The weather has been amazing in preparation for this camp and there should be optimal ski conditions by the time we hit the slopes. PLEASE keep an eye on the requirements from the Year 6 team about permission forms, medications, covid plans, etc that will be distributed in a flurry soon!
Uniform: Just a reminder to families to let staff know if your child is out of uniform, please. Staff have an ‘out of uniform’ note that may be sent home to remind families. We know sometimes the washing doesn’t dry as quickly at this time of the year, but we hope families make the effort to have their child in correct uniform as much as possible. We have a massive amount of second hand clothes available if you are a little short in certain items – all for a gold coin donation.
John Hendry OAM: Andy McNeilly met with John yesterday to prepare the parent information session around Relationship based Education on Tuesday 9th August. Book your spot via the newsletter and come long to engage with John and Andy about how we can continue the great work we have in place and ensure our students/children can grow into strong and lasting relationships as young adults and into later life too.
2023: I know it’s only midyear-ish, but we will soon start planning for next year and knowing who is coming and who is leaving certainly helps us plan better. If you know you are leaving OGPS at the end of 2022, please reach out and let us know and likewise, if you have siblings to enrol, please contact us too! We will explore a range of options for classes and sizes for next year as we do every other year and confirm these towards mid-December.
Safe Play: Just a reminder that we have a no tackle rule for football at school – like most other schools do! Can you please remind your children to play safely as we do not want injuries or torn/stretched clothes. Staff will be extra vigilant around tackling and students may be instructed to leave the oval area if it continues. Staff have spoken with the footballers about this and want all students to be injury free, ready to play on the weekend.
Network Conference: Kristy and I will be at our Network Principal Conference on Thursday and Friday this week. A great opportunity to get to know so many new Principals and AP’s but also hear from our Senior Education Improvement Leaders and more. Ann, Kerryn, Andy and James will be around if you require something from the school leadership team.
Have a great week everyone.
Scott McCumber
Principal
