Principal's Report

Basketball Court Upgrades

Our Colour Fun Run put colour on the ground – literally! 

Our new line markings around the school, especially on the basketball court, look fantastic. They make these areas more functional and visually appealing. Thank you for your fundraising efforts – they make a real difference for our students.

Planned Maintenance Works

We have now been assigned a Project Design Consultant for our Planned Maintenance Works. This is an exciting step forward and will allow the Victorian School Building Authority to determine a solution to either fix or replace the roofs on our buildings.

As part of this work, the Junior Unit and both buildings in our Specialist Hub are key priorities. Improving these learning environments will significantly lift the quality of our indoor spaces and create opportunities for further upgrades in the future. We will continue to keep our community updated as timelines become clearer.

Curriculum Days

To support our School Improvement Plan, the School Council has approved the following student-free days for 2026. These days allow us to meet Department of Education requirements, complete reporting and assessment tasks, and participate in targeted professional learning aligned with our school’s goals. 

We have done our best to choose dates that support both our improvement priorities and the varied working commitments of our parent and guardian community.

Student-Free Days for 2026:

• Tuesday 27 January – State-wide mandatory student-free day
• Friday 6 March – Staff professional learning
• Thursday 21 May – Teacher Professional Practice Day
• Wednesday 3 June – Staff professional learning
• Monday 23 November – Department of Education mandated report-writing day

Our Berry Street professional learning focuses on building strong, predictable, and trauma-aware practices that support student wellbeing and engagement. This work underpins our whole-school approach to creating safe, calm, and purposeful learning environments.

First Day Back

For Grade 1–6 students, the first day of school will be Wednesday 28 January. For our new Foundation students, the first day will be Thursday 29 January.

Wednesday, 28 January, will be used for the Department of Education Foundation interviews (assessments). Bookings for these interview times are available through Compass.

Our 2026 Student Leaders

During assembly this Friday, we will announce our Grade 6 leaders for 2026. This is always a special moment in our school year, and we look forward to celebrating our new student leaders.

Final Assembly

Friday 19 December will be our final assembly for the year, and the final Marlborough moment for our departing Grade 6 students. We will begin at 12:50pm, and we hope you can join us to celebrate the end of the school year.

Happy Holidays

As excited as I am about 2026, I am also looking forward to some slower days with family. I wish you all a happy and safe holiday period. Thank you for the support you have provided your child, your classroom teacher, and our school throughout the year.

See you in 2026!

Warmly,

Tim Mulhall

Principal