Dear Families,

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself to the Zuccoli Primary School community. My name is Ben McCasker and I am delighted to be leading such a strong and vibrant school. I look forward to working collaboratively with all members of our community to foster student learning through our core school values: Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Integrity and Curiosity.

A warm welcome to all our new students, families, and staff who have joined the Zuccoli Primary School community. For over five years, Zuccoli has been a place of excellence where children engage, grow and achieve. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all staff—past and present—who have played a significant role in shaping the school into what it is today.

I am also pleased to welcome back Elizabeth Andrade, who will be our Assistant Principal – Early Years (Preschool to Year 2). She will work alongside Mrs Gardner, our Assistant Principal – Primary (Years 3 to 6). We also farewell Mrs Hood, who has moved on to a new workplace. She will be greatly missed by our school community. Please join me in thanking Mrs Hood for her contributions and in wishing her all the best in her future endeavours.

The importance of student attendance cannot be overstated. Every lesson, every day, provides valuable opportunities for growth and development. I encourage all students and families to actively engage in learning and take a leading role in the vital three-way partnership between the school, students and families. If your child is unable to attend, please ensure the school is notified.

I look forward to meeting and getting to know each of you throughout the school year.

Kind regards

Ben McCasker

✨ The magic hat... it moves like this, it moves like that! ✨

In Transition Politis, we’ve been diving into the magical world of The Magic Hat — exploring rhyming words that dance and bounce just like the hat itself!

Our clever creators have been hard at work, turning words into wonders and imagination into art. From silly rhymes to swirling designs, each piece on display shows just how much fun learning can be when magic is involved! 

This artwork focused on 2025 NAIDOC Week celebrated 6^th-13^th July.

2025 theme The Next generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy.

Students learnt about our own personal strength, what we are good at. Our vision, what we may become when we get older. Our legacy, what is something that we can be involved in at school that can leave a footprint of our past.

2025 theme artwork showed an elder, parent and child. Students have drawn their own family generation and showed different cultural backgrounds of who they are. Students talked about what family history they have learnt from their grandparents or parents.

Uluru Painting Project with Mrs Juls

Over the last few weeks during After School Care, the children have been working on a beautiful group project with Mrs Juls – painting Uluru.

It’s been such a lovely and calming activity, with the kids really taking their time and putting so much care into each part of the painting. Along the way, they’ve also had some great chats about the importance of Uluru and why it’s such a special place.

Zuccoli OSHC Enrolment Information – We are at capacity

Zuccoli OSHC opened in 2021, originally licensed for 135 children. In 2023, we expanded our space to include the stage area, library and music room increasing our licensed capacity to 208 children.

We currently support 256 enrolments, including casual placements and operate at full capacity daily. While we are proud to be one of the largest OSHC Primary School providers in the region, we are unable to exceed our licensed limit and no further physical expansion is possible at this time.

There is a waitlist for new enrolments, however:

• It can take longer than six months for a placement to become available
• Being on the waitlist does not guarantee a placement within the year

If you would like your child to be added to the waitlist, please fill in the form below:

Waitlist form: https://www.owna.com.au/waitlist.aspx?c=zuccolipsoshc

For any questions regarding our service please fill in the form below:

Enquiry form: https://www.owna.com.au/enquiry.aspx?c=zuccolipsoshc

This challenge is shared across the Palmerston area, with many OSHC services also at capacity. Despite rapid growth, our team continues to deliver exceptional care, supported by ongoing staff training aligned with National Quality Standards. We now employ 23 dedicated Educators to meet staff-to-child ratio requirements.

For Vacation Care, placements have increased from 80 to 110 this year to better support our families.

Looking ahead to 2026, siblings of currently enrolled children will be given priority for enrolment.

We thank our families for their continued support and understanding as we do all we can to meet the needs of our growing community.

Date: Wednesday, 27th August (Week 7)
Time: 5:00–6:00 PM
Location: Preschool

Join us for a colourful evening celebrating our preschoolers' creativity!

Tickets: $5 each (available from the front office)
Includes:

• Entry for one
• 1x sausage in bread ?

Parents will have the opportunity to purchase their child’s artwork with a donation to the Preschool.
Drinks will also be available for purchase.

We can’t wait to see you there!

AUGUST

7 - School Council Meeting

13 - School Assembly

18-25 - Book Fair

22 - Book Costume Parade

SEPTEMBER

18 - The Big Splash