Oakleigh South Primary School
NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 41
20th December, 2024
“Don’t let what you can’t do stop you from doing what you can do.” – John Wooden
IMPORTANT DATES
Issue 41 – 20th December 2024
Thursday 19th December
– Whole School Assembly – Year 6 Farewell
– Last Day Term 4 (Dismissal 3:30pm)
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
We made it through another exceptional year at OSPS!!
I would like to thank everyone who has contributed in any way to our school over the course of 2024. A big THANK YOU must go out to our hardworking children, our dedicated staff, and our amazing families.
We have several staff members who will be leaving us for other adventures. Thank you to Hayley MacAlinden, Joel Downey, Lakesha James, and Kate Shanahan for their service to our school, and we wish them all the best for the future.
Di Roussos, Siobhan Le, Melissa Toth, and Nicola Ellery have left on family leave. Best wishes to you all as you enjoy a very different life as full-time mums!
We would also like to once again wish Anthony Rowe all the best as he continues his Acting Principal role at Huntingdale Primary School in 2025.
We will also be welcoming several new staff members starting next year.
The Year 6 students enjoyed their final week of primary school by coming together for a graduation lunch on Tuesday, organised by the parent group. This was followed by the Graduation Night, where all Year 6 students were celebrated in front of their proud parents.
A big thank you to the Year 6 team, their parent helpers, and the OSPS Parent Group for working so hard to make both these events happen for our Year 6 students.
Please remember to keep reading over the holiday break. Whether it’s a book or accessing Reading Eggs, it’s so important to keep practising your reading. Don’t forget to log in to Mathletics too to keep your maths skills up to date!
Lastly, I’d like to wish all our OSPS community an enjoyable festive season and a happy and safe New Year. Enjoy this holiday period with family and friends, and I look forward to welcoming you all in 2025.
Enjoy the holidays!
Nikki Virtuoso
Acting Principal
SCHOOL MATTERS
MANAGING SCREEN TIME OVER THE HOLIDAY SEASON
As a result of the global pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift in the amount of time people spend on screen-based devices. Families are transitioning back to pre-COVID routines but many are still struggling to re-establish the boundaries and rules around screen use. Some continue to deal with digital conflict and tech-tantrums on a daily basis. The latest research found that 77% of teenagers spend more than five hours on screens per day, but it is important to note that not all screen time is considered equal.
Parents play a crucial role in modelling a positive and healthy approach to using screens and assisting children to navigate the content they watch. It is better to model and mentor screen use, rather than monitor it. Children tend to do more of what they see us do, and less of what we tell them to do. However, it is still important to outline the risks and highlight the benefits of screen use to ensure you keep a balanced attitude. Encourage discussions around the issues that people experience in monitoring their screen time and be honest about your own difficulties.
Parents need to remain firm in their approach to managing screen time. Excessive screen time can be detrimental to a child’s overall wellbeing. Ensuring the correct privacy settings are in place is vital to prevent children from being inadvertently exposed to inappropriate content or online predators. Parents need to also be mindful of the potential impact screen time can have on a child’s social, emotional, educational, behavioural, and even physical domains.
In this edition of SchoolTV, care-givers will be provided with a range of guidelines and strategies to help manage screen time at home.
Here is the link to your Edition: https://oakleighsouthps.vic.schooltv.me/newsletter/managing-screen-time
Our new House t-shirt designs.
Our 2024 School and Vice School Captains – Masaki, Deanna, Evelina, and Prayag – wearing our new House t-shirts.
Merindah-Gunya (Bayley)
NEW HOUSE T-SHIRTS FOR 2025
During Term 3, Mr Albers organised an Aboriginal Artist that lived in the local area to visit the school to re-design Oakleigh South Primary School’s House t-shirts to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
The artist Mr Albers engaged with was Bayley Mifsud, a proud Peek Whurrong woman of the Maar nation, from southwest Victoria (Warrnambool). Her Aboriginal name is Merindah-Gunya which means ‘Beautiful Spirit’ in Peek Whurrong language, chosen by her Elders and parents.
Merindah-Gunya (Bayley) now lives on Wurundjeri Country in Naarm (Melbourne) and has lived a large portion of her life here, attending Primary and Secondary School in the Bayside area.
Merindah-Gunya (Bayley) had a particular interest and talent in art and continued to learn through the guidance and encouragement of her Elders. Creating stories using sacred symbols is something she has always had a strong connection with.
Merindah-Gunya (Bayley) worked with our school captains and vice captains to design the artwork for our new House t-shirts through her gift of storytelling. She had a ‘yarn’ with our captains and asked many questions about Oakleigh South Primary School’s diverse community, the local environment that the school was built on, the school’s values, history, learning opportunities for students, and aspects of the school that were important to them. Our captains shared their story, thoughts and insights with Bayley where she created artwork that was unique to Oakleigh South Primary School, that represented our story.
The school is thrilled to present our new House t-shirts to the school community that will be available at PSW Cheltenham from the beginning of 2025. These will be available for purchase as an option for all students, Prep to Year 6, they are not compulsory. Students will be permitted to wear their house t-shirt of their day of PE classes or any other special sports activity. Classroom teachers will send home information about the day your child has PE and any other special times during the year. House t-shirts can also be worn by Year 3 – 6 (some selected year 2s) for house athletics, house swimming and house cross country events. We are encouraging Year 5 and year 6 students to purchase a house top as this will assist the Year 5 and Year 6 PE lessons and OSPS sport program. The regular Year 6 interschool sport uniforms for the various teams will still be in place and information will be distributed to Year 6 families next year.
The school would like to sincerely thank Bayley for her amazing artwork and working with the school to create our story. Bayley is extremely passionate about educating people on the beauty of her culture through her artwork.
Please read our House t-shirts story created by Merindah-Gunya (Bayley):
‘This artwork shows Oakleigh South Primary School’s commitment to reconciliation with Australia’s First Peoples. The artwork features four connected meeting places, each representing one of the school’s four houses. These meeting places are linked together, symbolising unity.
On the right side, there’s a larger meeting place that represents the school itself, including its seven-year levels. Throughout the artwork water and bird symbols are seen to show the ongoing connection to Country and the contributions from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The piece shows people symbols in different sizes and shapes. These represent the diversity within the school, highlighting that everyone is different and that these differences are valued.’
If you’d like to read more about Merindah-Gunya (Bayley), please visit her website: About the Artist – Merindah-Gunya Art
2025 AFTER SCHOOL NETBALL AT OSPS
We are delighted to announce that Oakleigh South Netball Club teams will be practicing at our netball courts Friday afterschool in 2025!
At our school, we believe that education goes beyond the classroom. As I shared in The Age newspaper last weekend, extracurricular activities are an integral part of shaping well-rounded, confident, and passionate young people. Whether it’s sports, arts, or community involvement, these experiences teach invaluable life skills such as teamwork, discipline, resilience, and leadership.
That’s why we encourage and support all families to consider enrolling your children to this club, where children – boys and girls in the 11 & under teams – will practice afterschool at Oakleigh South Primary School on Fridays, followed by club competition games afterwards at Duncan McKinnon Netball Courts. It only costs $260 for Term 1 and 2 (less than $10 per practice and game).
This club isn’t just another extracurricular —it’s an extension of our school community. It’s a chance for your child to build lifelong friendships, stay active, and grow their self-esteem and foster a deep sense of belonging to our school, which can positively impact their attitude towards school and life – all while having fun!
We’ve seen firsthand how extracurricular participation at the school can grow our future community leaders. Tamsin is one of our former students who still plays in the club and is also Assistant Coach to one of the junior teams, with her dad as Coach. Her team, together with her former Oakleigh South primary school classmates, won the 15 & under competition against other clubs, this Season. Maisie Nankiwell, Melbourne Mavericks pro player, visited the team last Friday to inspire the best from our junior teams.
Enrolment period is open until end of Term 4, Thursday 19 December. Let’s continue to inspire a passion for growth and excellence outside of school, together.
For more details or to sign up, email osnc2011@gmail.com or check out Oakleigh South Netball on Facebook for more information.
STUDENT SHOWCASE
CELEBRATING SUSTAINABILITY AT OSPS
Our Sustainability Captains have done an incredible job this year, leading the charge to promote sustainability across our school! They’ve been involved in a variety of initiatives, including Clean Up Australia Day, 10c plastic recycling, wrap-free lunch days, and teaching their peers about our amazing local wildlife.
To recognise their hard work, Naomi Ryan, a Biodiversity and Recycling Educator from Monash Council – and a proud former student of Oakleigh South Primary School – presented our captains with a special certificate and award. What a fantastic achievement!
Earlier this year, OSPS alumni Naomi Ryan also joined our Year 3 students for an incursion, where they learned about the importance of reducing, reusing, recycling, and proper rubbish disposal to keep our environment healthy for future generations. A big thank you to Naomi and the Monash Council for their support and partnership with our school throughout the year.
Be sure to check out the photos from the Year 3 incursion and the award presentation as part of Monash Council’s Actions for Earth Challenge! You can read more about this program here: Actions for Earth Challenge
Well done to our Sustainability Captains – we’re so proud of you!
PARENT GROUP
PARENT GROUP WRAP UP…
What a year it’s been for our Parent Group. We’ve held many successful events throughout the year, some being:
- Prep Welcome BBQ
- Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas Stalls
- Meet the Parent morning tea and uniform sale
- Special food days every term
- Movie Night
- School Disco
- Year 6 Graduation Lunch
One of our main motivations for holding these events each year is that our students truly enjoy them. However, we have noticed a decline in parent volunteers. We understand that many parents are working and may be unavailable during the day. We invite anyone who has availability to join us next year so we can continue hosting these events throughout the year.
We would like to pass on a huge thank you to all the parents & carers who volunteered their time throughout the year, especially our Parent Group volunteers who played a pivotal role in organising and coordinating these events. Lastly, we pass on our gratitude and the biggest thank you of all to our longest-serving Parent Group member, Nina Malovic. Nina first joined our Parent Group in 2018 and has been an invaluable team member. Now that Nina’s youngest has graduated her time volunteering at OSPS has come to an end. Thank you for everything you’ve contributed to the school community, Nina!
LUNCH ORDER PROVIDERS
After a term trialling a new lunch order provider, based on feedback received from some of our families we have decided going forward we will offer TK Tuckshop and Classroom Cuisine on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday while Subway will be available on Tuesday and Thursday.
Classroom Cuisine deliver Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Register and order at www.classroomcuisine.com.au
All orders must be placed by 8:30am the morning of delivery.
TK Tuckshop deliver Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Register at https://app.spriggyschools.com.au/login
Download the Spriggy Schools app from your app store.
All orders need to be placed by 7pm for the full menu or 8:00am the morning of delivery for a restricted menu.
Subway deliver Tuesday and Thursday
Register and place your order at https://app.canteenhub.com.au
All orders need to be placed by 8.00am the day of delivery.
Thank you to everyone that took the time to provide feedback.
Kind regards,
Oakleigh South Parent Group
OSPS FETE SPONSORS
COMMUNITY NEWS
Disclaimer: The organisations advertised in this newsletter are not affiliated with and have no relationship to Oakleigh South Primary School. The publishing of these advertisements does not imply endorsement or recommendation of these products or services by the school. They are provided as a community service.
