Principal's Report

2026 Foundation Orientation

We have held two of our Foundation orientation sessions, welcome morning tea, and the parent information session for our 2026 students. There is always a mixture of excitement and nerves for everyone when the children have their first opportunity to walk through the classroom doors.

We have all been extremely impressed by how well prepared the future students have been for these days. They confidently waved their parents goodbye and entered the classrooms ‘ready to go’. They are gradually becoming more familiar with the surroundings, the people and the routines – all important elements for transitioning successfully to school.

Thank you to the staff who have coordinated these sessions. Congratulations also to our current Foundation students who have vacated their classrooms during these sessions.

Next year we will be running three Foundation grades (the same as 2025). We have introduced our 2026 Foundation teachers to students and families. They are:

Jayde Brownhill
Katie Hickey
Lucy Papaioannou

We are also finalising our workforce for 2025 with the intention to communicate grade structures in the next newsletter (published Tuesday 25 November), and teacher placements in the final newsletter (published Tuesday 9 December).

How we Learn at FPS

Taking into account the great work that we are doing in the area of learning, the school is redesigning how we communicate this work to families, so that you feel informed about the content the students are learning and how we are teaching. One of our short term goals is to update our website so that it reflects current practice. Below is a snapshot of what will be placed onto the new website, which we aim to have released at the start of next year.

*We will include the Literacy, Numeracy and Wellbeing sections in later newsletters.

How we Learn at FPS

At Fairfield Primary School we are committed to optimising the learning outcomes of every student, every day. As a staff we ensure that learning experiences are challenging, meaningful, and engaging. We recognise that all students are at different stages in their learning, and by analysing student data, setting goals, and implementing effective teaching strategies, we are dedicated to ensuring that all students continually improve their learning outcomes.

Each classroom has their daily schedule displayed. The schedule will typically include a morning that has a two-hour ‘Literacy Block’ (incorporating Reading, Writing and Phonics), and a one-hour Maths lesson.

Planning the Learning

Effective curriculum planning is at the heart of our teaching program. The sequence of learning in all curriculum areas is developed in our learning scope and sequences, which break down the knowledge to be taught and assessed; this ensures that teachers are teaching all curriculum areas in a developmental order that builds on previous learning.

We have agreed planning and teaching models, ensuring that all grades within a year level experience the same learning intentions.

Effective Elements of Teaching

To ensure that we maximise every lesson, we implement the following elements into our daily practice:

Lessons have clear learning intentions with goals that clarify what success looks like.
Explicit teaching that builds background knowledge, activates prior knowledge, provides clear explanations of new knowledge in manageable ‘chunks’.
Multiple exposures to a concept or skill, providing time for students to apply this by revisiting.
Differentiated teaching to lift the performance of all students, including those who are falling behind and those ahead of year level expectations.
Challenging tasks which set high and realistic expectations for all students. This can include open-ended tasks that allow students to work at different levels and paces.

The Learning Environment

To enable students to progress in their learning, teachers establish a learning-focused environment where the students have a strong sense of belonging, are actively involved, and where they have multiple opportunities to respond (e.g., calling out the answer to a question), written (e.g., writing a response on a whiteboard and holding it up), or non-verbal (e.g., thumbs up if you agree).

Connecting the Learning

At Fairfield PS we recognise the importance of students seeing a purpose to their learning. We relate the learning to real-life events and experiences, and also ensure that new learning is related to previous learning. Revisiting knowledge at increasing intervals strengthens connections in long-term memory and makes the knowledge easier to recall and apply.

World Teacher's Day – Thank You!

On Friday 31 October, our staff were treated to a wonderful morning tea, in recognition of World Teacher’s Day. We felt very grateful to have members of our wonderful community go to the effort of providing a range of tasty delights.

As principal, I am thankful everyday for the efforts of our wonderful staff – their commitment, professionalism and care. It is wonderful to see the parent community put together this morning tea to show your gratitude.

Curriculum Days for 2026

As we near the end of the school year, it is worth sharing a reminder about our curriculum days next year; please note that we will have two curriculum days at the start of the year.

Students will start school on Thursday 29 January 2026.

Tuesday 27 January (term 1, first week of school)
Wednesday 28 January (term 1, first week of school)
Friday 29 May (term 2, mid-term)
Monday 13 July (first day of term 3)
Monday 2 November (term 4, before Cup Day)

Limited Number of Mangos Trays Available

As our mango fundraiser order had to be placed in multiples of eight, we have a few extra trays available for purchase.

If you are keen on getting a 7kg tray, please indicate it here.

The office will reach out to you for payment.

Mid-Term Assembly – This Friday

A reminder that we have our mid-term assembly at the fig tree courtyard on Friday 14 November at 9am.

All our community are invited to attend.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

~ Paul Wallace, Principal