Principal's Report

It was wonderful to welcome our students and families back and 2022 will no doubt be another wonderful year of learning.

We have had many new students start at Ultimo this week so I would like to warmly welcome them and their families to our school: Claire H Wahoos, Isabella B Nautilus, Charles H Lobster, Mohammed A Lobster, Nina O Jellyfish, Caleb D Jellyfish, Taha H Tiger Sharks and Isaac W Vaquita. I have no doubt they've made some new friends and are feeling right at home in their new school.

Yesterday started early for our school leaders, Isabella, Evan, Patrick and Kathleen (photo above), who were lucky enough to meet the Premier, Minster for Health and Minister for Education. Unfortunately the planned official opening was cancelled at last notice but it was replaced with a press conference in the slide playground. If you missed watching it on the news, you can view our highlight reel here. Thank you to Mr Lavender who filmed it for us to share. I was incredibly proud of our school leaders who hit the ground running with their first official job in their new role. Well done to you all.

Staffing Update

I would like to warmly welcome our newest staff members to the Ultimo School Community: Miss Ashlee Wilson (Whale Sharks), Miss Emma Hutchinson (Humpback Whales & Assistant Principal for Stage 1), Ms Raelle Tatarynowicz (Tiger Sharks), Miss Melissa Mui (Marine), Mr Peter Lavender (Lobster and Assistant Principal for Stage 3), Miss Kim Nguyen (Nautilis), Miss Lisa West (Wahoos), Miss Cassandra Pentney (Pufferfish), Miss Evelyn Xu (Mandarin Teacher), Miss Zaynab Ali (School Administration Officer) and Ms Maryam Hopkin (School Counsellor). All of our new staff have been inducted to our school and are thrilled to be a part of the Ultimo community.

Extra-Curricular Activities

I'm excited to announce that I have given the green light to the music program and lunch time dance club for this term. The Department has eased further restrictions and this means we can now allow tutors onto our site. Please contact the providers directly for further information.

Download the Ultimo Public School APP

Download the NEW Ultimo Public School App from the App Store: iPhone / iPad and Android: Press the App Store or Play Store icon on your device, search for "Ultimo Public School".

This new app replaces the ENEWS app. Once you have downloaded this new app, you can delete the Enews App from your devices.

Make sure you stay up to date by turning on and updating your notifications for 2022. Enews is the main communication method used at our school.

2022 Classes

As previously communicated, we were able to form our 2022 classes yesterday. The theme for this years classes came from the United Nations 2022 International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture.

I have received a number of emails requesting a change to their child's class overnight. The class formation process is complex and our teachers are well placed to make education decisions about student groups in the formation of classes. We provide our families with an opportunity to apply for a special consideration of circumstances during the class formation process but this application is not a guarantee. In the allocation of students to a particular class, the following factors will primarily guide the decision-making process: an effective distribution of student’s abilities and genders across classes, social, intellectual, emotional or physical needs; current interventions and support provided; and student and peer relationships.

I understand that starting a new class with new peers and a new teacher can be challenging for some children but I have confidence in all of our teaching staff and have no doubt that given time, every student will flourish and be happy with their new placements.

Swimming Carnival

We are moving forward with our plans to hold our swimming carnival on Thursday 10th February. This year we have had to move our carnival to an outdoor pool and have sole use of the facilities in order to meet the COVID safe measures as outlined by the Department of Education. We have booked Drummoyne Swimming Centre as the grandstand is large enough to maintain cohorting throughout the day. Only those students who are turning 8 this year and older will be attending. A permission note will be sent out as soon as possible.