Principal's Report

Welcome Back 

Our students have made a really positive start, returning with great energy and enthusiasm. This week has also marked the beginning of our swimming program, and it’s been terrific to see students participating so confidently and representing themselves and Marlborough Primary School with pride.

Early Drop Offs 

We’ve noticed an increasing number of students being dropped off well before the school day begins, as well as some being picked up significantly after 3:45pm. A reminder to all families that school supervision begins at 8:45am and finishes at 3:45pm. If students are on-site before this time or remain onsite after this time, they must be supervised by a parent or guardian, unless they are enrolled with TheirCare in the before or after school care program.

Supervising students outside of these times places additional pressure on teaching and school staff, who already have many commitments and duties beyond the classroom. It also creates challenges around our duty of care, as we are not funded or staffed to provide unscheduled supervision outside of contracted hours.

We ask for your support in ensuring that students are not left unsupervised on site outside of school hours. For those needing care outside of these times, please make use of our out of school hours care program, which is designed to provide a safe and structured environment for students.

Annual Report 

Our 2024 Annual Report has now been finalised and is available on our school website. The Annual Report provides an overview of Marlborough Primary School’s performance and progress over the past year, including academic achievement, engagement, wellbeing, and financial performance. It also outlines our school’s priorities, highlights our successes, and identifies areas for future improvement.

This report is an important part of our accountability to the community and supports ongoing reflection and planning. If you’re interested in learning more, I encourage you to take a moment to read through the report. As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Education Week

Education Week 2025 will be celebrated from Monday 19th of May to Friday 23rd of May, and this year’s theme is “Celebration of Cultures.” This theme highlights the diversity of our communities and the importance of every child feeling safe, seen, and welcome at school.

As part of Education Week, we have traditionally run an Open Night during this week. This year, we’ll also be changing from an Open Night to an Open Morning. We want our families to get a feel for what our classrooms are really like ‘in action’ on a regular school day. During Education Week, we warmly invite families to visit any time between 9:00am and 11:00am on Wednesday, 21st of May. We hope this provides a more authentic window into the learning experiences that take place each day at Marlborough.

More details will follow soon, but we hope to see you during this special week of celebration.

Muffins for Mums and Special Guardians/Friends

As part of our celebrations around Mother’s Day, we invite all Mums and Special Guardians/Friends—anyone your child might choose to recognise at this time—to join us for a special morning together.

On Friday 16 May at 8:30am, we’ll be hosting Muffins for Mum’s and Special Guardians/Friends in the Library. Come along for a hot drink and a muffin, then join your child/ren for the first hour of the day to take part in a special activity together.

It’s a lovely way to share in your child’s learning and spend some meaningful time in the school environment. Feel free to join us for part or all of the experience. We hope to see you there!

Shop For Your Schools Announcement 

We have some news to share about the Shop for Your School Competition at Eastland. Be the first to hear the news at assembly this Friday.

Simone Baby News

We’re thrilled to share some wonderful news—Simone Ryan and her family have welcomed a beautiful baby boy, James, into the world! On behalf of the Marlborough Primary School community, we send our warmest congratulations and well wishes to Simone and her family. 

School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support 

As a school, we are continually working on how we can teach and reinforce the positive behaviours we value in our students. Over the past term, we have been investigating current research, working with experts, and action planning together to strengthen our behaviour expectations, the way we teach them, and how we acknowledge and respond to them consistently across the school.

Across this term, we will be looking for opportunities to engage both our students and our wider community in this work. Keep you eye out for upcoming communications that will have more information about how you can get involved. 

Cyber Safety – Socialising online

We’ve recently had a number of incidents involving students using messaging apps and social platforms outside of school. While these platforms are not accessed during school hours, the impact of messages exchanged outside of school can carry over into the classroom and affect relationships, wellbeing, and learning.

We strongly encourage all parents and carers to take an active role in monitoring their child’s online activity. 

The Safe Socials campaign from the Victorian Government provides practical advice and tools for families to help children use messaging platforms safely and responsibly. It includes information on age-appropriate use, supervision, and how to have meaningful conversations with your child about online behaviour.

You can find the resource here: https://www.vic.gov.au/safe-socials-parents-and-carers-primary

Together, we can support our students to navigate online spaces safely and respectfully.

Warmly,

Tim Mulhall

Principal