Principal's Report

Dear Skye Families,

Staff Car Park Reminder

A friendly reminder to families utilising the Team Kids before and after school care program that all drop-offs and pick-ups must be made via the parent/visitor car park. As construction vehicles and contractor trucks are frequently accessing the staff car park entrance, this change is in place to manage congestion and keep our site safe for everyone. We appreciate your continued patience and understanding, and ask that you allow a few extra minutes during your commute to accommodate this arrangement.

Teacher Practice Framework

One of our ongoing priorities at Skye is investing in the quality of teaching across our school. This term, we introduced our Teacher Practice Framework, a practical and research-informed resource that describes what great teaching looks and feels like at Skye Primary School. It is embedded into our teachers' performance and development plans as a tool to support meaningful reflection and sustained improvement.

Structured around three core domains, Relationships and Engagement, Classroom Instruction, and Planning and Collaboration, the framework captures the everyday practices of our strongest teachers and aligns them with evidence-based approaches including the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0), Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction, and the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO). It brings coherence to the many great things already happening at Skye, connecting our Instructional Model, Instructional Playbook, and classroom management strategies under one clear framework.

Teachers can track their growth across five levels within each domain: Pre-Novice, Novice, Beginning Proficiency, Advanced Proficiency, and Exemplary. This shared language supports richer feedback conversations, more focused goal-setting, and a culture of professional growth that ultimately benefits every student at our school. The images below provide a snapshot from the framework.

School Council Elections

The nomination and election process for School Council has now been completed. As the number of nominees matched the number of vacancies, no formal election was required.

I'm delighted to welcome three new members to our School Council: Gemma Hardie, Sally Dawson, and Rachel Costello (staff). This is a wonderful addition to an already strong and dedicated group. We also extend our sincere gratitude to our continuing and renominated members, Amanda Harris, Nicoletta Bisbelis, Chantelle Richards, Ruth Gill, Samantha Gentle, Emily Barker, Gareth Snow (staff), Kim Weissenburger (staff), and Helen Hamill (staff), whose ongoing commitment to our school community is greatly appreciated. This diverse group brings a wealth of experience and insight that will continue to support the effective governance and improvement of our school.

NAPLAN – Year 3 & 5 Students

Best wishes to our Year 3 and Year 5 students as they prepare for the upcoming NAPLAN assessments. The schedule is set, and we have every confidence in our students' ability to give their very best. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to your child's classroom teacher. Head over to the Curriculum page on our website for the full schedule and more detailed information about NAPLAN.

Ramp Works Update

It was wonderful to see work begin this week on our long-awaited ramp upgrade, and we sincerely thank our community for their patience and flexibility with the extended temporary fencing.

To avoid any disruption during NAPLAN, works will pause and resume on Thursday 19 March. For the remainder of the term, the focus will be on constructing a two-way ramp, retaining wall, and stairs at the western end of the blue basketball court. During this time, the alternate pathway will remain in place and is recommended for families accessing the school via the back gate.

Have a great fortnight!

Warm regards,

Tim