Principal's Report

Showcasing our School Values

It has been so wonderful to see our students build some continuity in their learning as Term 4 progresses. We are so proud of our students as they apply themselves daily to their learning. As you will see in Mr Forster’s report, we are keeping our focus firmly in 2021, however we are also starting to plan for the students to make a confident and positive transition to their new classes and Learning Communities in 2022. 

Arrival times

It has been pleasing to see that the number of students arriving too early has decreased over the past 2 weeks. The safety of our students is incredibly important to us here at Orchard Park Primary School. The outside areas of the school are supervised from 8:30am each morning so I please ask parents to continue to be mindful of this in the future. Before School Care services are available for our families if you require an earlier drop off with work commitments. Otherwise, please ensure that student drop offs are as close to 8:30am as possible. 

School Uniform

As was mentioned in our last newsletter, we understand the challenges around uniforms that families have encountered as we have  returned from lockdown. PSW, our uniform supplier is now back open and new uniform items are now available to be purchased. Maintaining high expectations around our school uniform is very important at Orchard Park Primary School.  As such, we will be monitoring this closely in the next week and notifications will be issued through Compass for unexplained uniform infringements. We want our students to be connected and proudly wear our full school uniform. 

I can’t emphasise enough the importance of making sure all uniform items, in particular hats, jumpers and jackets are clearly labelled with your child’s name. This assists in misplaced items being returned to the student. As we are in a Sun Smart period right now, a school hat is also a compulsory requirement. 

Some parents may begin purchasing new school shoes in the upcoming months. I just wanted to again remind our families also that the uniform policy clearly states that shoes need to be plain black. Please ensure this is considered with future purchases of shoes. This will be something we begin to enforce more strictly in the future.

OPPS Buy, Swap and Sell uniform Facebook page

With the support of School Council, we are excited to share with you the following option for being able to access second hand uniforms. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/oppsbuyswapsell

The group is public, however if you want to comment or post it must be approved by Admin and you have to read and agree to the group rules. As children grow out of uniforms so quickly, this might be a great way to pass on items and possibly purchase some items as well. 

Christmas Concert ‘Deck the Halls at Orchard Park’ – Wednesday 15th December

We are incredibly excited to be coming together as a school community once more to showcase the great talents of our students and to enjoy each other’s company. We invite all families to join us from 5:00pm for a family picnic dinner. Please bring along a packed dinner or some take away along with a blanket or seats to sit on. 

From 6pm onwards, we will invite each class and their families into the gym (one class at a time) to watch the students perform their Christmas item. Mrs Downie and the students have been rehearsing for their performances weekly and are looking forward to sharing their efforts with all of their families. Mrs Downie has also asked that to wear either full school uniform or Christmas themed attire. Christmas themed attire can include red, green or white clothes, Christmas T-shirts/shirts, shorts, dresses and skirts as well as Christmas themed accessories. As your child will be dancing during their class performance, it is important that they are wearing supportive footwear such as runners or sneakers.

In line with government and department regulations, any family members that are over the age of 12 will need to provide evidence of their double vaccination status to attend the gymnasium to watch the class perform. This is not a school expectation, but a government mandate that we must adhere to. 

Our School Council are also exploring some fundraising to take place on the night and we will share this with you as soon as this is finalised.  

Student illness

Whilst we are so grateful to be back at school, it is incredibly important that we continue to support our entire school community to be safe during this time. As part of this effort, we ask that any student who is exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 be kept at home. These symptoms include:

• Fever
• Dry cough
• Sore throat
• Diarrhea
• Conjunctivitis
• Headache
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

After so long away from school, we understand the desire of our students and families to be here at school. This is exactly the same of our staff. I have insisted that our staff also take a responsible and conservative approach (which they have) when they have been feeling unwell or have shown any of these symptoms.

We also recognise that hay fever season is well and truly upon us. If your child is a hay fever sufferer, please be proactive on these days they are exhibiting symptoms by administering medication in the morning. 

We have been very fortunate to not have any further isolations of groups or closures and I strongly believe this has been because of the responsible and respectful approach we have all taken as a school community. I appreciate your support and understanding around this. 

Nathan Jagoe

Principal