At a time of continuing teacher shortages, we recognise everything our teachers do to educate, inspire and empower learners.

Celebrating and recognising the important role and impact of our teachers is as simple as saying thank you. We are so fortunate to have dedicated and caring teachers at LPS. Please join us by simply saying thank you to them on 31 October. 

Semester 2 parent-teacher meetings will be available in weeks 9 and 10 of this term, between December 4 and 12. These will be online; staggered during school hours and throughout that week to allow us to meet industrial obligations, as we cannot repay time in lieu for teachers in the final week of term. Further details will be published in eNews later this term.

Parents of students in 5D and 6P: As Mrs Dedes and Mrs Purcell have returned from leave, their Term 2 parent-teacher meetings have been re-scheduled for Tuesday 21 October. Registrations for these open on Sentral on Monday 13 October. If you have a child in one of these classes and need an EAL meeting with our interpreter and the teacher, please email our office by Wednesday 15 October.

Finally a reminder that, if your child is leaving LPS this year (except for Year 6 students), please email our office, as this information affects our staffing and class organisation for 2026. 

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Reminder - Requests for 2026 class placements

Many factors are taken into account when placing students in class groups for the following year. Underlying this process are our school values and, as Resilience is something we aim for all students to develop, mixing with different students each year is both desirable and carefully planned.

During Term 4, all students have an opportunity to nominate other children they would like to have in their class. We can usually guarantee that one of these requests is met. This process is undertaken with their class teacher at school, so parents do not need to make requests on behalf of their child.

If parents have a particular request that is separate to your child's own preferences, these should be made in writing by email to laburnum.ps@education.vic.gov.au and addressed to the Principal (not your child’s teacher). They must be received by Wednesday 5 November. These are then considered along with those of other families, teachers and students. 

As in previous years, please do not ask for specific teachers, or make friend requests on behalf of your child, as these requests will not be considered. We also respectfully ask that your requests are reasonable. If necessary, please limit these to one or two requests per child so they can be manageable as we try to juggle competing and often conflicting priorities.

Due to the complex process involved, late requests cannot be accepted.

Thunderstorm asthma season
There is an increased risk of seasonal asthma, hay fever, and thunderstorm asthma during seasons with increased grass pollen levels. In Victoria, this is typically from October to December.           

Thunderstorm asthma is triggered by a combination of higher grass pollen levels and a certain type of thunderstorm. Under these conditions, people with a history of asthma, or whose asthma or hay fever is poorly treated, are at higher risk of a sudden and serious asthma attack.

                 

Thunderstorm asthma can occur even in people who have never had asthma before. If anyone has wheezing, shortness of breath or chest tightness, apply asthma first aid and get emergency help.

The best way to reduce and prevent symptoms of asthma or hay fever and reduce absences from school is to follow an up-to-date asthma action plan or hay fever treatment plan, provided by a GP or specialist.

You can download the VicEmergency app and create a ‘watch zone’ to receive thunderstorm asthma advice and warnings.


Year 6 Smile Squad
In the middle of November Laburnum Primary School will host the 'Smile Squad', a free dental check up and treatment program for our Year 6 students. Details and information on how to register will be in the next eNews.

Smile Squad will return in 2026 for other year levels.

LPS Snack Club
Welcome to Term 4. Spring is starting to show itself, but as we live in Melbourne we are prepared for all four seasons daily!

Check out these delicious seasonal muffins for a healthy and tasty family treat.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Over the holidays, Dulux Australia worked on the Performing Arts Centre roof, completing the upgrade of this building. Over 5000 roofing screws were replaced and the roof was leak-tested before coating with a new product, Dulux Acratex Roof Membrane. This process was filmed for Dulux training purposes and has certainly renewed this heritage building!



Thank you to School Council President Matt Hall, who made an on-camera appearance in the Dulux video of this project. Matt expressed our community's gratitude for the support of Dulux with this project. 

We extend our heartfelt thanks to former parent Georgina R, who arranged this partnership with Dulux. Georgina's contributions to the school have extended way beyond the time when her children attended LPS. 

Over the break we also saw more works undertaken on the Sensory Garden Priority Project (above), funded by our Parents Group. The blue rubberised surface and rubber domes were laid and this project only has two more components to be added before it will be completed.

Finally, we have opened the 'top section' of the Northern playground, the last component of our Capital Works project. This will provide quiet areas for children to play passive games, as it previously did prior to the recent extension and beautification. The lower section will remain fenced off until the newly-planted grass is established. 

 

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 has been recently updated, 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.

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

At the end of last term, the Preps visited Chesterfield Farm. We were very excited to see and touch all the different animals.

We patted baby farm animals including lambs, rabbits, a kid (baby goat) and guinea pigs.

We got to feed lots of the animals that live on the farm, such as goats, kangaroos, sheep, horses and deer.

   
We learnt about what kinds of things are grown and produced on the farm such as vegetables, grains, milk and wool. We even milked one of the cows!  

We enjoyed watching a very clever dog round up the sheep and the tractor ride was also a highlight. What a fun day!

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

The Year 5s had a big finish to Term 3 with our three day camp. Despite a forecast of rain, the weather held out so students could complete all the exciting activities without getting too soggy!  We were very impressed with the student’s behaviour, independence, and resilience. Some activities saw students (and some teachers) soaring above our heads on the giant swing, the zipline, and the leap of faith; while other, more down-to-Earth activities included orienteering, a low ropes course and hut building. Overall it was a very successful camp, and the students can’t wait to do it all again on the Year 6 camp!

‘Everything about it was fun. I love how the giant swing challenged me.’ - Nancy 5K

‘I enjoyed the movie night because it was fun.’ - Wilson 5R

‘It was interesting; it was better than I expected!’ - Evangeline 5D

‘The camp staff were very nice and helped me complete most of the tasks.’ -  Ella 5P

In Term 4, the Year 5s will be developing their leadership skills in preparation for being in Year 6 next year. In inquiry we will be learning about scientific discovery, important scientists in history and how to run a fair experiment. For Maths we are learning about fractions and decimals, and in Writing we are developing our descriptive narrative skills. It is shaping up to be another big term!

Year 6
Being Safe, Respectful, and Honest in the Digital World
In Year 6, we’ve been revisiting cyber safety expectations. We discussed how to use the internet and technology in a way that keeps us safe, respectful and honest. When we spend time online, it’s really important to understand how to be responsible in the digital world.

We have reviewed the following:

Stay Safe Online
We know it’s important not to share personal information like our full name, address, phone number or passwords. This helps protect us from people who might want to harm us. We also learned to be careful about clicking on links or downloading things and to always talk to an adult if something online makes us feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

Be Respectful to Others
Even though we might not see the people we talk to online, they have feelings just like us. We should always use kind words and never say or share anything mean or hurtful. Being respectful means treating others how we want to be treated, whether it’s in person or online.

Show Integrity by Being Honest
It’s important to be honest when we’re online. That means not copying other people’s work and giving credit if we use someone else’s ideas or pictures. It also means being truthful in what we say and share by not pretending to be someone else.

Speak Up if Something’s Wrong
If we ever see bullying, mean comments, or anything that feels wrong online, we’ve learned that the best thing to do is tell a trusted adult.

We’re excited to use what we’ve learned to help make the internet a safer and friendlier place for everyone!

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

Details of our Extracurricular Activities for Term 4 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.

Please note that Chess Club requires registration. Chess Club is led by external providers, with a cost involved, if you would like your child to participate. Please see the Contribute page for further information.

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.

Art Club
Students can come to share a project with friends, work on a personal task, or find out about competitions and exhibitions to enter. Art Captains will be in attendance to talk to students about their work and will sometimes provide activities. This is a quiet space for creative industry and thinking, or  reading about art and artists.

Culture Club
Culture Club is a fun and inclusive space where students come together to explore and celebrate the many cultures that make up our school community. 

Extracurricular Timetable - Term 4 2025

Instrumental Lessons
If you would like to register an Expression of Interest for Instrumental lessons at LPS (Years 1-6) please see the Forms page for further information.

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

BOOK FAIR IS COMING!!
We are starting to count down, because our fabulous annual Book Fair is arriving soon. The library will be open on the following days for students and their parents to purchase items from our Book Fair.  Payment can be made with cash or card.

MONDAY OCTOBER  27TH (3.35 pm – 4.15 pm)

TUESDAY OCTOBER  28TH (3.35 pm – 4.15 pm)

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER  29TH (3.35 pm – 4.15 pm)

THURSDAY OCTOBER  30TH (3.35 pm – 4.15 pm)

There will be one week of browsing during library sessions before the Book Fair officially opens. During this time students will have the opportunity to look at the wonderful books on display and write their wish lists.

During the Book Fair the library will be closed before school and at lunchtimes.

Volunteers needed
If you can help with the Book Fair on any of the above dates your assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Please come and see Mrs Keogh in the library to add your name to the roster.

What we are learning
Prep

This term our Prep students will learn how to reserve books from the New Arrival Area. We add approximately 25 new books in the library each week. These books are displayed on the New Arrival shelves for one week to allow all students to view them.

During this time students can reserve a book and then borrow it once all students have seen it. It is always an exciting time when the new book the students have reserved is ready for borrowing.

Our Prep students will also enjoy story time this term. Our wonderful library captains will share their favourite picture books with the Prep cohort during lunch eating time on Wednesdays.

Year 1-2

This term Year 1-2 will be studying some of our favourite authors. The students will delve into an author’s life and body of work evaluating the author's themes, characters and writing style. In particular we will focus on :

• identifying recurring themes, characters, plots and settings and literary styles of that author.
• making connections between characters, settings, and events across the author's different books. 
• investigating the author's life, including their background, significant life events, and experiences.

Year 3-6

This term Year 3-6 will be exploring different genres of books and where to find them in the library.

We will be focusing on the elements of each genre which will involve students reading and analysing multiple books within a specific genre, to understand its defining characteristics

Before returning your library books, please check that they belong to our library. We have had several books belonging to the Whitehorse Library returned to us.

We have also recently received several emails regarding our library books being returned to other libraries.

Thank you so much to our wonderful parent volunteers, Megan, Yee, Kim and Lisa and our fantastic library captains Mia, An, Nina, Riya, Isadora, Alyssa, Alisha, Sharyn, Shalini, Eva, Alexia and Nicole who assist in the library each week. I am so grateful for all you do and appreciate your effort and hard work that keeps our library running smoothly.

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

LPS Mango Fundraiser

It’s Mango time again! Get your orders in for a tray of delicious, sweet and juicy mangoes fresh from the farm – all while helping raise funds for the new Sensory Garden at LPS! Ask family and friends if they would like to order a tray as well!

Mangoes will be delivered in early to mid December and orders close Monday 27th October.

Please order here: www.trybooking.com/DFEUE


   

LPS Colour Fun Run 1st of December!

2 weeks to go until we launch the most exciting event our school has seen in many years!! Parents and carers – you’ll want to take a few hours off work for this one - it’s going to be so much fun!!

What is it all about?

This year LPS Parents Group holding a major fundraising event will be held on Monday 1st December in the form of a Colour Fun Run. As students run/walk around our oval they will be covered in coloured non toxic, gluten free powders. Wear a white at the start line… and finish doused in all the colours of the rainbow!

Do we need to buy a white t-shirt?

Yes you will need to bring your own white t-shirt. Kmart sell them for under $4.

When do we start fundraising?

We will be sending information out later in October to get you started in your fundraising. We will ask you to set up an online profile which you can then send to your family and friends to ask them to donate.

Are there prizes?

Yes there are prizes you can choose online as you reach each fundraising milestone.

For any questions about the colour fun run, please email parentsgroup.lps@gmail.com

    
Lunch Orders in Term 4

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help with lunch orders in Term 4 - we appreciate every single volunteer that keeps our lunch order service going!

There are just a couple of spots remaining that we need to fill – such as Friday 28^th November!

If you are able to help, please sign up here.

Please note you will need a working with children's check which is a safety card that shows you are allowed to help or work with children in Australia - so if you haven't got one it is very straight forward and only takes 10 minutes online here. 

Container Deposit Scheme – Raise Money for Laburnum Primary School!

Just a reminder that Laburnum Primary Scheme is a Donation Partner of the Container Deposit Scheme.  Next time you are getting your container refunds please consider donating to Laburnum Primary School as part of the school's fundraising efforts. 

How to Donate:

Step 1: Collect your cans and bottles, please refer to the poster below for acceptable containers.

Step 2: Take your containers to your preferred refund point (reverse vending machine, over the counter or collection depot).

Step 3: Download the CDS North Zone app (if you do not have it already)

Step 4: Select 'Donations and choose Laburnum Primary School.

If you do not have the CDS app, the assistant at the collection depot can also search for Laburnum Primary School on their device.

For more information on the Container Deposit Scheme please visit the website at  https://cdsvic.org.au/

Currently we are still fundraising for the new Sensory Garden.
Thank you for choosing Laburnum Primary School to receive your refund.

LABURNUM PRIMARY SCHOOL 
SECOND-HAND UNIFORM SHOP

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

Click on these links  below for Community News or information:         

TeamKids Out of School Hours Care  Please register your child here - it's free to register and you'll always have that option for childcare, even in unexpected circumstances.  More information is on our website here.

Please click Chess Club image for T4 registration

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute