Principal Report

Thank you to the community of Carlton Gardens Primary School for welcoming me as Acting Principal for Term 3 while Nathan Gage is on secondment within the Department of Education. Clearly, there has been a great effort by staff and families over time to build strong routines and high expectations for our students, leading to a term that began smoothly and purposefully.

Particular thanks to Pagen Williams for leading the school as Acting Principal during Term 2, and to Leah Gibson for stepping into the role of Acting Assistant Principal during Term 2 and the beginning of this term. We thank them both for their leadership during this time.

Term 3 began for staff with our Curriculum Day. Nathan returned to launch the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP), which details the school’s key improvement strategies to improve student learning and wellbeing. The AIP links to the School Strategic Plan which was set out following the School Review held during Term 1. As a staff we will be focusing on building teacher capacity to use the elements of teaching defined by the Victorian Teaching & Learning Model 2.0, and continuing to strengthen the school’s approach to implementing School-Wide Positive Behaviour Supports.

This term, we welcome a new member of staff, Emily Corcoran, to the role of Leading Teacher - Teaching & Learning. Emily brings a wealth of experience in Primary education, working most recently at the University of Melbourne in teacher education. Emily will be working with our teaching teams to ensure high quality lesson planning and teaching across all year levels.

Along with our regular classes, the term has also begun with two big events. Firstly congratulations to all students who participated in the Years 3-6 Athletics Day. It was great to hear so many stories of personal-bests, but even more so, it was great to hear how much the students supported and encouraged one another in their efforts. Thanks to Megan and Curtis for their organisation to ensure such a successful day for our students. Secondly, congratulations to all our Preps who celebrated their 100 Days of School, with many dressing as their future selves, in dream jobs, or as happily retired elders of the community! It was wonderful to see such a strong turn-out of family members who were able to attend the open classrooms and participate in the celebrations and activities during the morning.

Finally, thank you to all community members who were able to attend the Annual General Meeting presentation of the 2025 Annual Report. It was great that so many families were able to join both in-person and online and contribute so thoughtfully during the question time at the end. The 2025 Annual Report has now been published to the school website.

Tom Drummond

Acting Principal