A message from the Principal

With the end of August barrelling towards us, we are starting to see signs of the end of winter and the arrival of spring (although sadly not in the temperatures and weather this week).

This coming change of the seasons also seems to have brought an improved situation around student and staff sickness and absences - including a dramatic decline in reported COVID cases and the subsequent need to isolate at home for 7 days. 

The number of children and adults missing from school this winter has been higher than I have ever known it and class sizes have regularly been around 10-15 children each day across the school - representing huge numbers at home sick (or perhaps on foreign holidays...).

We now appear to be past the peak of the COVID and flu seasons and so can start to confidently look forward to lighter mornings and evenings, warmer weather and an incredible amount of school events and activities to look forward to.

With less than four months until the end of the school year,  we have a huge amount to pack in and it is great to be able to plan these activities with a confidence that they can go ahead face to face and bring our community together in person - something that still feels like a luxury after the frustrations and pain of COVID-19.

I thought I would provide details of a few upcoming highlights and I ask and encourage you all to put them into your calendars and get as involved as you possibly can. Their success depends on community support.

 School Walkathon

Our annual school Walkathon will be taking place in 2 weeks time on Thursday 8th September. Notices will be sent home today providing greater detail and asking for your support in collecting sponsors for your child for each lap of the oval they can complete.

We are aiming to raise $15,000 from this year's walkathon - funds that will be used to upgrade classroom technology and purchase additional iPads for students to use. 

Following the walkathon, we will continue with the tradition of a whole-school celebration with a sausage sizzle, cake stall and icy poles straight after school in the schoolyard. look out for ways that you can volunteer to help this take place and start collecting your gold coins now. 

Parent's Footy

This Saturday (27th August) at 1:30pm, our SKiPPS dads will be pulling on the red, white and black and taking part in the annual Bayside Dads' Footy Competition - now in its ninth year.

The team would love some support to cheer them on and there is a wide range of festivities happening in addition to the games. There will be a sausage sizzle and plenty for the kids to do including local Fire Trucks, Lob a Choc Chocolate game, an official Carlton FC Fan Van and Kids movies inside club rooms. For the grown ups, there will be a licensed bar from 1pm and a Live Band from 4.30pm to 8.30pm.

The event is taking place at J.L Murphy Reserve in Port Melbourne - we hope to see you there.

Footy Colours Day

Staying on a Footy theme, the final day of this term (Friday 16th September) will be our annual Footy Colours Day - the first in-person event since 2019.

On the day students, staff and parents are encouraged to show their colours and come dressed in the jerseys, scarves or colours of their favourite team (AFL or any other sport).

before school, SKiPPA will be running a bacon and egg rolls stall in the school yard and we will have a coffee cart in attendance. We encourage you to come down early to grab a breakfast at school before the start of the school day.

At assembly, we will have a parade to show our support for our teams.

School Camps

During term four both our Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 classes will be heading away on school camp. The Year 5/6 students will be going to Camp Rumbug in Gippsland at the start of term and then the Year 3/4 students will travel to Forest Edge (also in Gippsland) towards the end of term.

Further details have/will be sent home to families and we appreciate paperwork being returned promptly to allow us to confirm numbers and make plans.

Celebration of the Arts

Also in term four is Celebration of the Arts (COTA). We are beyond excited to be starting work on our 2022 Celebration of the Arts (COTA) - the first time we have been able to hold the event since 2019.

As so many of our families and students have joined the school in this time, we will have a large portion of our community who have never experienced the joys of a COTA. 

The event is the high point of our school year and is an amazing community event. Students are already working hard in their weekly Visual Arts and Performing Arts lessons to develop and create artwork and performances around a theme. this year, we are delving into the area of sustainability with the title of COTA being'No Planet Bee'.

The work comes together on the evening (5pm on Thursday 3rd November) and the school becomes a combined art show, performance space and community party. All classes, orchestras and choirs perform to the audience, all students display their artwork and there is food and drink for sale. 

The evening is always a great demonstration of the ability, confidence and creativity of our students and a lovely reminder of all of our school values. Please put the date into your diary now so you don't miss out.

School Fete

Last, but definitely not least, is our SKiPPS School fete - taking place on Saturday 19th November at the school (and in the surrounding park).

For those of you who have been to one of our previous fetes (we have previously held them in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020), you will know what to expect - a huge event with rides, live music, stalls, a silent auction, amazing food and drink, cake decorating competitions and the opportunity to dunk your favourite Principals, staff members and local politicians into a tank of freezing cold water.

For those of you who haven't, you are in for a treat - lock the date in now and start looking forward to it.

We will be sending out communications in the near future with further details, including ways that you can get involved and requesting donations for our silent auction.

It will be a huge and fun four months and I look forward to our community getting involved and making up for lost time.

Neil Scott

Principal