T.O.P. News
Every Child Matters Every Day
At Officer Primary School we hold the following values – the four “R’s” for all members of the
school community.

RESPONSIBILITY

RESPECT

RESILIENCE

RELATIONSHIPS
As a staff, we make a commitment in 2014 to make these core values part of our explicit
teaching on a routine basis.
We invite parents as well to engage in teaching and living by these values.
Date: Friday 30 January, 2015
PRINCIPAL’S REPORT
WELCOME BACK!
I hope that you have all enjoyed your holiday break and are ready to embark on an exciting new school year!
We had a smooth start yesterday with many smiling faces as children greeted their teachers and classmates.
The staff have worked very hard over the last week to prepare their classrooms and other areas of the
school for our students and as a result both the buildings and grounds looked at their best for our first day.
We also welcomed four new teaching staff to our OPS team; Lynda Harris who is the leader of our Early
Years Team and a P/1 class teacher, Julian DeZilva who is teaching a P/1 class, John Paterson who is teaching
Year 2 and Emily Christodoulou who is our Phys. Ed teacher. In addition Luara Beck is returning from Family
Leave to take on the position of Library teacher. Each of these teachers is very excited to be joining our
team and they are looking forward to meeting and working with the OPS families.
On a personal note, I am also very pleased to have the opportunity to continue working with such a great
school community. I will be in the Acting Principal role until the end of this term, during which time the
Principal Position will be advertised so that a substantive Principal can be in place from Term 2 onwards.
BOOK PACKS
Thank you to all families who have visited the school to pick up the ‘book packs’ for their children and pay
their fees. The students were all very excited to unpack the items in their packs and stow them away in their
lockers today. We still have a few book packs left if there are families who have not yet provided books and
supplies for their child to use at school. Please come and see me if you would like to make special
arrangements regarding payment for these items.
CURRICULUM DAYS
Families are reminded to mark the dates for the School Council approved Curriculum Days in their calendars
and diaries:
 Term 1 – Monday 9th February
 Term 2 – Wednesday 15th April
 Term 4 – Monday 2nd November
T.O.P. News
The first of these days, Monday 9th February, is coming up very soon and will be utilised to deliver
training to both our ES and teaching staff in the implementation of the CAFÉ Reading Program. The CAFE
Reading Program encourages and motivates students to read.
In 2015 this program will be implemented across the school with the goals being to develop consistency in
the way in which reading is taught at all year levels and lift student performance.
CAFÉ stands for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary. These are four areas of
reading skills that our students will work on throughout the year.
During CAFÉ Reading teachers will teach whole class lessons, small group lessons and lessons with individuals
to work on these reading skills. This initial training will be supported through additional after school training
sessions, in class support, and a second Curriculum Day on Wednesday 15th April.
As we proceed with the program we will provide more detailed information for parents.
Lynne Brenner
Acting Principal
SUBWAY LUNCHES
Wednesday February 11th is the next Subway lunch day. Please have your orders in before
the bell on Wednesday morning.