Term 2 Week 1

Principal's Report

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 2, which is already building to be an exciting 10 weeks for the kids and community alike, with the first half boasting an Athletics Carnival, Mother’s Day events, a library monitor excursion, the start of Winter inter school sport, Vision screening and a Swim Scheme... we have most certainly hit the ground running!

We have also started our Term 2 learning programs that are already proving to be engaging for the students and teachers.

Next week, in our first official newsletter for the term, we will provide overviews of those learning programs, while the following newsletter provides a few reminders and updates.

Election

As you know, the Federal Election will be held this Saturday and Vardys Road will have the privilege of being one of the polling booths.

This provides a great opportunity for our P&C and community to host an important community event and raise some money for the school along the way.

As mentioned in a recent email, the P&C will be providing some sweet and savoury treats for those turning up to vote, with a BBQ and cake stall. 

Any help you can provide would be very much appreciated.

If you are available, please sign up via Sign up using the link here. 

It is a fun way to support the school while connecting with other members of the community... everyone loves a chat on an election day.

Looking forward to seeing you there... voting, volunteering or just getting a sneaky election sausage sandwich!

Arriving Early

The beginning of the term provides us an opportunity to remind the community of our responsibilities in regards to supervising our kids before 8:30am.

The school has noticed an increasing number of students regularly arriving at school prior to supervision beginning.

The School's supervision roster starts from 8:30am. There are no staff available to supervise your child in the playground prior to this time.

We understand that many parents/carers may have commitments at work which require them to start early. To assist with this issue, there is a Before and After School Care service which operates within the school from 6:30am every school morning. As an alternative, you may be able to make arrangements with friends or neighbours for the supervision of your children before school. Some families in our School who have working parents/carers take turns to take each other's children to school.

If your work commitments are making it difficult to fulfil your responsibilities prior to 8:30am, please contact me at school so we can discuss some of the above options.

P&C Secretary

Following our P&C AGM last term, the secretary position remains open.

If you are considering taking on this role, the following role description summary may assist in your deliberations.

While it is a role that needs a level of commitment each month, it is an opportunity to work with the school to improve the school’s programming and resources.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss this option.

P&C Role Description Summary

The P&C Secretary is a member of the P&C Executive. The Secretary is the principal administrative officer of the P&C and has overall responsibility for accurate record keeping of the P&C’s operations.

The Secretary’s role includes:

• Preparing and circulating  meeting agendas in consultation with Executive Committee members
• Collating and distributing agenda papers for each meeting
• Receiving and presenting incoming correspondence at meetings, and draft replies as required
• Attending P&C meetings and Executive Committee meetings
• Communicating information about the P&C, meetings and events to parents and the community.
  

Easter Raffle

What a huge success!

Many thanks to the P&C and our community for the generous donations and the tireless efforts in organising this year’s Easter Raffle. There were a lot of happy families carrying home a very tasty prize on the last day of school last term.

What a great way to celebrate an important cultural event and a very supportive community.

Mother’s Day

Our traditional Mother’s Day breakfast is fast approaching with Friday 9^th May being the big day.

With the celebrations starting at 8:00am and finishing by 8:45am, we are hoping all our mothers and special members of our families can join us for this celebration.

With a flowery craft activity and tasty treats, we are looking forward to another big crowd!

AND... a warm welcome to Vardys Road Public School, Ben Sterland, our new Community Wellbeing Officer!

Enjoy your families,

Ian Short 
Principal

Mum's Help Us Bloom

Join us on Friday morning, May 9th at 8:00am, as we celebrate our wonderful Mums and Mother-Figures!

Packs will be containing a muffin and juice for $8.00 per pack.

Please RSVP by Monday 5th May so we can finalise and pay for the muffins and juice. We apologise for the short notice and appreciate your understanding.

Term 2 K-6 Assemblies and Class Items

Term 1 marked the exciting return of class assembly items, with standout performances by 2 Palm and 6 Cobalt. We’re thrilled to continue these class presentations during our K-6 Assemblies in Term 2.

Assemblies will be held at 2:10pm on Mondays in Weeks 3, 6, and 9.

Participating in a class item helps students build self-confidence, fosters a strong sense of belonging, and gives them the opportunity to showcase a glimpse of their learning to peers and family members.

Our Term 2 Program:

• Week 3 – 2 Palm and 6 Navy 
• Week 6 – 6 Turquoise 
• Week 9 – 1/2 Apple and 5 Aqua 

MobilEyes Optometry Comes to You!

Mobileyes has partnered with us to bring its fully equipped Mobile Optometry Clinic and AHPRA registered optometrists to our school to conduct eye check-ups throughout this Term in Week 5 - between 26th May to 30th May 2025.
The comprehensive eye check-up program is bulk billed (no gap) to Medicare.

The examination includes:

• Clarity of vision assessment for Distance and Near
• Internal and external eye health assessment
• Eye co-ordination, binocular vision, Depth perception and colour vision assessment
• Testing Report sent to parents/carers.

One in five Australian children suffers from an undetected vision problem, or requires ongoing assessment. Good vision is important for a child’s educational, behavioural and social development and to help them reach their full learning potential. Many children continue to experience undetected and unnecessary vision problems and often they assume that how they see is normal.

If you would like your child to undertake this great service at our school, please complete the online form here.

Alternatively, you may print and complete the attached form and return to the front office.

We would really like for our students to benefit from this service, so parents/carers please take the time to fill in the form. Please submit your form by Friday 16th May 2025.

P&C News

Uniform Shop Updates:

This term, the shop will be open during the following days and times:

• Mondays: 8:30am - 9:30am
• Tuesdays: 2:15pm - 3:15pm
• Thursdays: 9:00am - 10:00am
• Fridays: 2:20pm - 3:20pm

Special event hours include:

• Super Saturday on Saturday, May 3: 2:00pm - 4:00pm
• Term 2 Tuesday evening on May 6: 3:00pm - 6:00pm

Online ordering is always available! Orders typically arrive in your child’s classroom within one to two days. Just be sure to add your child's name and class in the Notes section during checkout: Order here

Events / Fundraising

Election Day BBQ & Cake Stall

The Vardys Road Public School Parents & Citizens Association operates entirely through the dedication of volunteers, and this week we're reaching out to the school community for support with our Election Day BBQ and Cake Stall happening on Saturday.

We are incredibly thankful for the fantastic support received during the Easter Raffle last term, which allowed us to distribute an impressive 38 raffle prizes, all thanks to your generous contributions!

To ensure that our Election Day BBQ and Cake Stall is a success, we need your support once more. We would greatly appreciate any donations of time on the day, delicious baked goods, or supplies for running the BBQ. For more details on how you can contribute, please refer to the Events/Fundraising section below.

Additionally, we are seeking volunteers to fill our two currently vacant positions: Secretary and Planning & Projects Coordinator. If you are interested in making a meaningful contribution to our school community, please check out our Roles and Responsibilities document and the P&C Role Vacancies section below for more information.

Vardys Road Public School will be a polling location for the Federal Election being held on Saturday 3rd May, 2025.

The P&C will be using this exciting opportunity to raise funds for classroom resources, as well as provide some sweet and savoury treats for those turning up to vote, with a BBQ and cake stall.

We need many volunteers to make this day a success. We will be running the BBQ and cake stall between 8am-3pm. Any help you can provide is very much appreciated. If you're unable to donate time, but would like to donate items to assist with the BBQ (e.g. napkins, sauce), please email us here and we can advise you of our list of required items. 

We have split the day into 2 hour shifts, however you are more than welcome to stay longer if you’d like.

Please sign up via Sign up link here.

We are also asking for donations of delicious treats to sell at the cake stall. Please include a note with the ingredient list to assist us in advising customers with allergies.

These donations can be dropped off at the school canteen at the following times:

• Friday 2nd May 2025 2:30pm-3:30pm
• Saturday 3rd May 2025 7:45am-8:30am

Come and support us! 

Mother’s Day Stall

Mother’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday May 11^th, and our traditional P&C Mother’s Day stall will again be providing your children with an opportunity to shop for a gift.

In recognition of this special day, we have organised a range of gifts that students can purchase.

The children are always excited and have a feeling of independence when choosing something special for their loved one(s).

Date: Wednesday 7th May 2025

Second Chance Date: Thursday 8th May 2025

Cost: $5 per gift, $1 for cards, $1 for gift bags.

*We are also looking for volunteers to assist with the stall on Wednesday 7th May 2025
Please fill out the link below by Friday 2nd May 2025

The volunteer sign up link is here.

We love welcoming new members, or welcoming back old ones, so if you’ve been meaning to join or rejoin we’d love to have you! Send through your membership form or get in touch with any questions via email: team@vrpspc.org.au , or check out our website: https://www.vrpspc.org.au for further information. 

P&C Role Vacancies

Following the Term 1 Week 8 AGM, we now have a couple of role vacancies, so please consider whether you'd be able to take on one of these important volunteer roles. See the Roles & Responsibilities document for more details, but here's a summary of what's involved:

• Secretary – are you highly organised (e.g. love ticking tasks off lists!)? - this could be the role for you!! Responsible for the day to day organisation of the P&C, including checking the Team email account, following the meeting papers schedule for requesting agenda items, preparing meeting papers, and recording the minutes, maintaining the member register and volunteer register, and assisting other P&C roles with documentation if needed, e.g. to notify our insurance company in preparation for P&C events.

• Planning & Projects Coordinator - this role works closely with the President and has a longer-term focus, coordinating the planning process with the P&C Executive, and is involved in running any major projects that come out of the planning process.

Please contact team@vrpspc.org.au to express interest or to ask questions.

Recipe of the Week

3-ingredient Lamington Balls

Ingredients

• 300g packet McVitie’s Milk Chocolate Digestive biscuits
• 395g can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups desiccated coconut
  

Method

Step 1
Place the biscuits in the bowl of a food processor. Process until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the condensed milk and 1 1/2 cups coconut. Mix well to combine.

Step 2

Working in batches, roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Toss in remaining coconut to coat. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place in the fridge for at least 3 hours or until firm.

Thought of the Week