Term 2 includes the scheduling of swimming lessons for Prep and Years 4, 5 and 6, as well as Winter interschool sport for Year 6 students. Of course, dates for these and any other incursions and excursions can be found on our Event Calendar (which is the most accessed page on our website) as soon as we confirm them. Please be aware that there is a deadline for each activity/excursion on Sentral, which allows our teachers enough time to complete the necessary organisation before each event.

Increased enrolment restrictions for LPS 2026 Foundation (Prep) students 
LPS has had enrolment restrictions for at least ten years, assisting principals to successfully reduce our enrolments over that time. Last term, the Department advised that we have a new Enrolment Management Implementation Plan (EMIP), with a limit on Prep enrolments for 2026. The plan aims to support us in maintaining our preferred and projected school size.

This means that families wishing to enrol Preps for 2026 should let us know as soon as possible, to allow their child/ren to be considered for enrolment offers as part of the 'pool' of applications. Please see the 2026 Prep Enrolment page. Following the Department's timeline, 2026 enrolment offers have already been made this week.

Enrolling your child as early as possible also allows us to plan our classroom sizes, staffing and transition activities, ensuring your child has the best start to school.

Year 6 - 7 transition process also starts this term, using the similar online enrolment system.

Reminders:
We have two student-free days this term, on Thursday 8 May and Friday 9 May. 

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute 

ANZAC Day as we know it was first observed on 25 April 1916, as people came together to commemorate the landing of Australian and New Zealand  forces at Gallipoli, Türkiye, on 25 April 1915.

This important tradition has now become an opportunity to stop and reflect on the sacrifice and dedication of all veterans and the service community, and the families who support them. 

LPS students across the school have been learning about ANZAC Day in the lead up to the commemoration this week.

On Wednesday, our Year 6 leaders were given the opportunity to increase their understanding of the ANZAC story by attending the ANZAC Day service for Primary and Secondary school students at Box Hill Gardens.

We also thank our School Captains, Freddy, Elmie, Jesse and Ruby for leading the ANZAC DAY commemorative assembly at school this morning.

'Lest we forget'

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Hello Laburnum Primary School community! My name is Niyati Robson and I am the new Assistant Principal at Laburnum PS.

It has been such a pleasure to join the LPS school community. I have been fortunate to meet so many of the students and teachers and am overwhelmed by the positive, enthusiastic approach to learning within the school. The school’s vision of Learn, Thrive, Contribute shines through in the classrooms, the yard, and the wider community; and the students are beacons of hard work and energy.

Prior to joining the LPS community, I worked at Serpell Primary School in Templestowe and then Regency Park Primary School in Wantirna. Through my roles as a Level leader, PLC leader, Learning Specialist in Numeracy, and member of the School Improvement Team, I facilitated data analysis; curriculum development, assessment and reporting; Professional Learning Communities; and professional learning schoolwide as well as to schools within the Knox Region.

My most heartfelt thanks to those of you who have already introduced yourselves to me and welcomed me so warmly. I look forward to meeting you all, and for the opportunity to thrive in my time at Laburnum Primary School.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Welcome to our school. As we know that effective school communication relies on parents' engagement with clear information, the following is essential reading for new families.

For information about how the school operates, please see our 'Starting at Laburnum Primary School' page, which includes the A - Z of Useful Information for Parents. This important document was updated in December, and can also be located on our website under the Enrolment tab. Everything on our website can be translated into your home language.

To regularly communicate important information, we use both LPS eNews (our electronic newsletter) and Sentral (for most emails to and from parents). Please ensure you read any messages sent by the school. LPS eNews is emailed to all parents/carers fortnightly and contains essential information about important dates and events. The eNews archive is found on our website here.

A reminder to all our new families to create their Sentral Parent Portal accounts as soon as possible, as this is the school's main avenue for  communications to specific families, as well as excursions, student reports and parent-teacher meetings.  You can also email your child's teacher about non-urgent matters through Sentral.

Instructions and access codes have been sent home with your children. The Sentral Parent Portal is also used to upload documents, and includes the 2025 School Map and Parents Group minutes each month.

LPS eNews usually contains a combination of these pages:

• Principal's Message
• School Council Update from the School Council President
• What's Happening? from the Assistant Principals 
• Learn, about academic news
• Thrive, for wellbeing news
• Contribute: Parents Group news
• Contribute: Community information
• Thrive: Superstars, recognising those who have wonderful achievements to share
• Parenting Ideas
• Next Generation Learning, updating families on our capital works program and playground upgrade

As well, all year levels and specialists regularly share their news in these pages:

• Prep
• Junior School - Years 1 & 2
• Middle School - Years 3 & 4
• Senior School - Years 5 & 6
• Specialists

We hope that you'll be using these resources to become more familiar with our school.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Details of our Extracurricular activities for Term 2 are listed below, with a weekly schedule further down this page. 

As teachers will organise the school-based activities and remind students about these, there is no need for parents to register, unless there is a cost for the activity.

Events marked with an asterix* require registration. These are led by external providers and will be also supervised by teachers. There is a cost involved if you would like your child to participate in these activities. 

Joggers Club
Joggers Club is supervised by our House Captains. Students from Years 1 - 6 can run, walk or jog laps of the athletics track. 

Chess Club*
The Chess Club at Laburnum P.S. is run by “Chess Ideas”. There is always a free trial session at the beginning of each term. The children are instructed in two small groups, where a new skill or strategy is introduced, followed by a game and is supervised at all times by a teacher from the school.
Please see the Contribute page for further information.

Junior School Council
The Junior School Council provides an avenue for 'student voice' and to contribute positively to the school community. It allows students the opportunity to experience leadership at Laburnum Primary School and consists of two student representatives from each class in Years 1 to 6. Through active involvement, the Junior School Council encourages student participation within the decision making processes for fundraising, presentations, school events, charity focuses and school recommendations. 

Library
The library is open for students to return and borrow books. They also have the opportunity to read quietly, share a story, choose an activity including craft, chess, puzzles, construction blocks and board games. Our friendly Year 6 library captains are always on hand to assist students.

Minecraft Club
Minecraft Club is an opportunity for children to build, create and collaborate together through coding, using the Department-provided Minecraft Education. During Term 2, this club is open to interested students in Years 3-6. 

Guitar Club 
Guitar Club will be open to all students interested in playing acoustic guitar. In Term 2 we will practise basic chord shapes and simple riffs. All skill levels are welcome. Guitars will be provided or students may bring their own.

Culture Club: Connecting through Traditions
The Culture Club is an inclusive, student-led club where children come together to explore, celebrate, and share the rich diversity of cultural traditions found within the LPS community and from around the world. Guided by teachers, students will engage in hands-on activities, performances, and discussions that highlight various cultures' customs, art, music, dance, traditional stories, geography, and language.

The main goal of the Culture Club is to foster an appreciation for the similarities and differences among us, building a sense of community and belonging. It provides a safe, supportive space for students to express themselves, and learn from one another as global citizens who embrace diversity and discover similarities.

The Laburnum Primary School Choir is open to all students in Years 4-6 who enjoy singing. While the choir is a predominately singing one, elements of dance and drama will also be included. The choir rehearses once a week at lunchtimes in the Performing Arts room. Aural and performance skills are enhanced as students develop an understanding of: various music genres, what it means to perform in a group and how to collaborate to create harmonious sound.

It is important that students commit to being a choir member and consistently attend weekly rehearsals. Extra rehearsals may be required when preparing for performances.

Extra-Curricular Timetable - Term 2 2025

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Year 1
Year 1 have recently finished a fantastic unit on recount writing. Before the holidays, we had many fun experiences to help us practise our recount writing skills.

Can you believe that a pirate left a map and a letter in our classrooms? Captain Danny Swashbuckle told us that his treasure was hidden somewhere in the school, but he had forgotten where! Students had to check the wooden boat and the Prep-2 playground before finally finding the treasure under a large tree. What an adventure! Our published recounts are now on display outside our classrooms if you would like to learn more.

Our next recount was presented as a challenge. Could Year 1 find living things around Laburnum Primary School? First, we brainstormed where we could search. Maybe in the gardens? Around the oval? Underneath some rocks? We spotted bees, rainbow lorikeets, cockatoos, and lots of little crawling bugs. It was wonderful to include so many interesting verbs in our writing, such as discovered, explored, squawked, and spied.

In Maths, we used hands-on materials to measure the length of various objects in our classroom. First, we used direct comparison by placing objects beside each other. Next, we used informal units, such as unifix blocks, paddlepop sticks, and counters to indirectly measure objects. We loved exploring this topic and sharing what we learned!

Year 2
Writing Update 
Year 2 recently completed their All About Me project, where they used adjectival phrases and connective words to write sentences about themselves. You can view their creative work on the interactive display outside their classrooms.

Mathematics
Over the past few weeks, students have been engaged in exciting, hands-on learning tasks in Mathematics. The focus has been on building a solid foundation in essential mathematical skills, with an emphasis on both fluency and understanding.

The students began their learning each day with fluency games designed to make the content engaging and interactive. They have thoroughly enjoyed playing "Get Out of My House," an addition and subtraction game, as well as "Go Fish," where they match number pairs to make the sum of 10. The most recent game, "Knock Out," which focuses on skip counting, has quickly become a class favourite. These tasks not only reinforce key mathematical concepts but also encourage teamwork and collaborative learning.

If you're looking for a fun and educational way to support your child's learning at home, encourage them to teach you one of these games. It’s a great way to make mathematics a family activity!

During measurement lessons, explored the concept of measuring time using seconds, minutes, hours and days. In these pictures you will see they enjoyed timing their friends to see how long it took them to complete various exercises. This provided an excellent opportunity to practise measuring time in seconds.

As part of strengthening their number sense, students have been 
focusing on number order and identifying which numbers come before or after a given number. They built number jigsaws, which helped reinforce their skills in number recognition and sequencing. 

Another learning area has been number patterns. The students have been learning to identify and describe number pattern rules, using number charts and number lines to spot and continue patterns. From skip counting by twos, fives, and tens, the students are gaining confidence in identifying the pattern rules, such as adding 2 each time, or recognising how numbers follow specific patterns, like how skip counting by tens goes straight down a number chart.

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

from Glenda Kelly (Learning Specialist - Literacy) and Jayde Fielding - Learning Specialist (Teaching and Learning)

To ensure shared understandings and consistent approaches to Reading, we are offering a ‘Classroom Helpers’ workshop. This parents/carers workshop will be held on Wednesday 7 May at 9:15 am in the Staff Community Centre.

This workshop aims to extend parents' and carers' understandings and knowledge about how children learn to read. The outcomes for children are improved when the link between home and school is strengthened.

The workshop will:

• provide a background on how children learn to read
• provide information about ways to support children in becoming strategic readers

If you wish to assist in the classroom literacy program, teachers are only able to invite parents/helpers who have completed the training in the last three years.

If you would like to attend, click here to complete the online registration form by Friday 2 May.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Year 3
Year 3 have been learning all about money! We can represent amounts using different combinations of coins and have learnt how to count collections efficiently by adding highest values first. To make our learning even more fun, we created items to sell in our own class shop. We set prices and practised giving change to our classmates. There was even some haggling along the way to score a bargain!

In Science, students learnt how night and day happen. They investigated shadows and had lots of fun playing shadow tag. They also explored how the sun appears to move across the sky and how shadows change throughout the day using a stick experiment.

In inquiry, students shared the emotions they might feel and the choices they may face when encountering challenging situations. They explored stereotypes in books and discussed how these can affect themselves and others. Students also designed their own board game to help others understand different emotions.

Year 4
At the end of last term, Year 4 students used Maths estimating and rounding skills to create their own 'Wonders of the World'. Working together in groups to problem solve, they created a free-standing replica.

 

Term 2 has begun with daily swimming sessions at Aqualink. The students will participate in a range of aquatic activities, including water safety, over the next two weeks. 

  

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

Culture Club

Okan, our Spanish Captain and a group of Year 5 and 6 Students met each week during Term 1 and came up with an idea to expand the Spanish Club to meet the needs of the LPS students. That club will be known as the ‘Culture Club’ and will be held once a week and open to all students.

Culture Club: Connecting through Traditions

The Culture Club is an inclusive, student-led club where children come together to explore, celebrate, and share the rich diversity of cultural traditions found within the LPS community and from around the world. Guided by teachers, students will engage in hands-on activities, performances, and discussions that highlight various cultures' customs, art, music, dance, traditional stories, geography, and language.

The main goal of the Culture Club is to foster a curiosity and appreciation for the similarities among us, building a sense of community and belonging. It provides a safe, supportive space for students to express themselves, and learn from one another as global citizens who embrace diversity and discover similarities.

Save the date

On Thursday July 3rd, 2025, it will be Cultural Day" at LPS

This event is organised by a group of Year 6 students, who encourage all students to wear clothes that represent their culture. They may be traditional clothes, clothes that represent the colours of a flag, or something to show where your family comes from.

Last but not least: The newly formed ‘Culture Club’ will attempt to build a Multilingual section in our school library. We are asking for donations of pre-loved age-appropriate picture storybooks and other Just Right Books in different languages for our students to be able to check out and share with others. It is a big task, but with your help, we can make it happen!

Your child can bring their books into class and give them to their classroom teacher to forward to a club member, also a box will be made available in Room 11 for collections. We are looking forward to this whole school endeavour to be a great success. Remember, ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow.’ 
                                     

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

¡Hola!

What a wonderful start to 2025! There has been a lot of excitement around the school with the completed construction of the ‘new building’ and the relocation of the Spanish Classroom from Room 17 to Room 11.

A special welcome to Spanish Prep students and families. It was great to see so many faces at the Prep Orientation.

 ¡ Felicitaciones Okan! Okan, Spanish Captain for 2025, ran his first assembly in Term 1, alongside Sameeha, where both students demonstrated organisation, upheld the values of curiosity, respect, integrity and resilience whilst leading and working with other LPS students.  Also, a big congratulations to all the Year 1 and 2 students for performing el canción ‘Los días de la semana’ on that day!

Our Spanish Program at LPS

The goal of the Spanish program is to introduce elements of language learning and culture to our students. Each class meets once a week for a thirty-minute session. The program is designed with topics introduced in early years, then revisited and built upon each year, allowing for students to incorporate new concepts while feeling confident about what they can already do with the language.

 

We have certainly been busy in Spanish so far this year! Below you´ll find information about what each grade has been learning.

¿Qué hemos aprendido? What have we learned? - Term 1                                              
   
  

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

There’s lots happening in Term 2, and we are seeking parent volunteers/helpers for several events. Please see details below and help out where you can!

Any questions, please email: parentsgroup.lps@gmail.com - Thank you!

Election Day Cake Stall – Saturday May 3rd 

There’s an election coming up on Saturday May 3rd which means… the LPS Election Day cake stall is back!

LPS Parents Group are asking the LPS community to bake for our school!

Plate packs are available to collect from the office. You can drop baked goods off on Friday 2nd of May 3-4pm, or in the morning on Saturday 3rd of May.

This is a great opportunity to fundraise for our school! We appreciate any and all baked items. Thank you!!






Volunteers Needed on Election Day

We are seeking a number of parent helpers on Election Day (Saturday 3rd of May) to help run the cake stall (price cakes, serve customers etc). If you can help for an hour or 2, please sign up here: https://signup.com/go/WtOgssJ

Mothers Day Stall – Tuesday May 6th  

The annual Mother’s Day stall is fast approaching - on Tuesday May 6th!

Items for sale will be on display in the school office from this week.  Children can peruse and form an idea of what they might like to buy for Mum
(or Aunty / Grandma).

Items will cost between $3-$7.

On the day we suggest children bring a purse/ zip lock bag with their money. Bring up to $10 to spend on your gorgeous mum or special person.

Children will get a chance in class to decorate their shopping bag prior to the Stall. 

If you can spare an hour on the day to help on the stall, please sign up... https://signup.com/go/smzjMob  

We encourage and love having Dads / special persons to help too.  It’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face.  Note helpers will need a valid working with children check which needs to be shown to the office on the day or prior.         

Lunch Orders – More Helpers Needed!

We are seeking lots of parent volunteers to help pack and distribute lunch orders in term 2.  If you can spare about 1 hour on a Wednesday
or a Friday at 11.15am, please sign up here: https://signup.com/go/CNbQDJF

We rely on parent helpers for lunch orders to run, so please consider volunteering if you can.

Please note you must have a valid working with children’s check (WWCC) to volunteer at school.

Trivia Night Wrap Up!

The Trivia Night held in March was a huge success and lots of fun – thank you to everyone who attended and a big thanks to Nat L and Nadia H for running the event. The night raised approximately $3000 which will go to improvements in the school playgrounds.
A couple of additional sponsors we’d like to thank from the night also:

Surrey Park Swimming School and Verve Portraits.

LABURNUM PRIMARY SCHOOL SECOND-HAND UNIFORM SHOP

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

Please click here to view information for Open Week and here to scan QR code and map.




Please click here to view information for Open Day.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute 

 Click on these links  below for Community News or information:         

Click on the OSHClub logo to read this week's OSHClub news. OSHClub Registration - please register your child - it's free to register and you'll always have that option for childcare, even in unexpected circumstances.

Please click Chess Club image for registration

Please click here to view information and registration for Digimaker.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute