Welcome back

Once again the holiday period has passed by very quickly and we have now started another school term. I hope that all families had a restful holiday break.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new students and families that have started at Ormiston this term. I wish each student all the best for a productive Semester Two and I look forward to working closely with them for rest of the year.

Our new Ormiston students from Foundation to Year 6 are:

Year 1
Sarah Luo & Sarah Zhou

Year 6
Selina Sun

 

Full S.T.E.A.M Ahead Program (Short Courses)

Foundation to Year 6 year students will continue to participate in a range of short courses exploring the S.T.E.A.M fields of study (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) that started in Term 2 this year. These courses will generally run for 4-5 weeks throughout each term and all classes have the opportunity to participate either in Term 3 and/or Term 4.

Classes and topics for Term 3 will be:

Year 3H    Elastic powered boats

Foundation    Floating boats

Year 1J    Dash and Dot educational robots

Year 1K    Lego

Year 4    Sphero robot navigation challenge

Year 2T    Dash and Dot educational robots

Year 2G    Lego marble run

Year 6G & 6C    Powered cars

 

Year 5 – Camp to Sovereign Hill Ballarat

This week our Year 5 students and staff ventured off to Sovereign Hill Ballarat for some exciting experiences learning about the 1850’s gold rush and what it would have been like to be a pupil at one of the school’s during this time. During the first day, the girls had the opportunity to see snow at near Ballarat. This was certainly an added bonus for everyone. Also during this time of year, Sovereign Hill organises a special celebration called the Winter Wonderlights, celebrating Christmas in July. This special event involves the main street shops and other near-by buildings all lit up in beautiful spectacular lighting. As a school group, we are very fortunate to have experienced this occasion this year. It was a very memorable experience for the girls and teachers. I would like to thank Kath Buckingham, Liz Ruffles, Nareen Robinson and Shane Maycock for all their work in organising such a successful camp.

More information in regards to the Year 5 camp will be shared within our next CamNews newsletter.

 

Year 6 Student Leadership Speeches

I would like to congratulate our Year 6G girls on their student leadership speeches for Semester Two this week. Many staff commented how confident the girls were in delivering their speeches in a loud and clear manner. The girls have been working on their speeches for an extended period of time and have been looking forward to these positions since the beginning of the year. Year 6G families will be notified of their daughter’s leadership position later this week and will be invited to attend our Student Leadership Induction Assembly next Wednesday starting at 8.45am.

Also, our new Semester Two Student Council representatives will also be inducted during this assembly and I look forward to seeing as many parents there as possible.

 

In Conversation Parent Workshops

Please be aware that we are continuing our Parent In Conversation Series this term. As a parent, if you are interested in joining us and learning more about the following topics, please sign up to attend. Principal Debbie Dunwoody will be attending the In Conversation event on Tuesday 9 August. More information will be communicated next week on how to sign up for these new events.

Date                                       In Conversation Topic                                          Presenters

Friday 29 July                        CyberSafety – Keeping safe online                      Emma Hinchliffe

Tuesday 9 August                More than ABC                                                       Kate Giles & Angela Follacchio

Tuesday 23 August              More than 123                                                        Kate Giles & Angela Follacchio

 

Junior School Assemblies

As mentioned throughout the year, all Ormiston families are very welcome to attend our weekly assemblies on a Wednesday from 8.45-9.15am. It is an excellent opportunity for the school community to see what is happening at Ormiston. A Positive Education theme will be the focus of each assembly and I look forward to seeing many more families attending these occasions.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Paul Donohue

Head of Junior School