Principal Report

Hello families,

I hope you all enjoyed some fun family time together over this week’s public holiday. For our Foundation and Year 2 students, I hope they had a chance to get extra rest after participating in the intensive swimming program over the past two weeks. A special thank you to everyone who helped the program run smoothly again this year - parents included!

Speaking of parents, it's been so wonderful to see the amount of family members that have volunteered to help be part of the organisation and running of our Twilight Fete next week. Thank you so much in advance for your time and support.

Celebrating World Teachers' Day 

A big thank you to our wonderful parent community for helping us celebrate World Teachers’ Day on Friday 31st October, with a delicious morning tea. Our teaching staff were deeply appreciative of the sweet and savoury treats generously prepared by many members of our school community.

Teaching is truly a vocation - it comes with great rewards but also significant challenges. Many schools have faced difficulties in recent years due to factors such as workload, burnout, and limited support. Here at Newport Lakes Primary School, we are fortunate to experience incredible support from our parent community, which reflects the professional care and dedication our teachers show to students every day.

A special thank you to the NLPS Parents' Club for helping to organise this event, and to Anna Klova for the beautiful styling!

Child Safe Standards

The Victorian Department of Education is committed to ensuring that every child and young person feels safe, respected, and supported in all educational settings. The 11 Child Safe Standards are a vital part of this commitment, providing schools and early childhood services with clear guidelines to create and maintain safe environments for children. These standards focus on promoting child wellbeing, preventing abuse, and empowering children to have a voice in decisions that affect them. They require organisations to have strong policies, staff training, and procedures in place to identify and respond to potential risks. By embedding these standards in everyday practice, the Department reinforces that child safety is everyone’s responsibility - ensuring that educational settings remain places where all children can learn, grow, and thrive, without fear of harm.

At the school level, ensuring child safety means putting the Child Safe Standards into action every day. We develop and regularly review a comprehensive Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy that outlines how we protect students from harm and respond to any concerns. Staff receive ongoing training to recognise the signs of abuse and understand their legal obligations as mandatory reporters. We also have clear codes of conduct that set expectations for appropriate behaviour between staff, volunteers, and students, and provide training for our School Council members and volunteers. To further support a culture of safety, our school actively encourages student voice and participation, giving children the confidence to speak up if they ever feel unsafe. Through these actions, NLPS ensures that the wellbeing of every student remains our highest priority.

2026 School Organisation

Although there may still be some changes between now and the beginning of the new school year, based on our current enrolments and available funding, we are planning to have 24 classes in 2026, with straight classes at all year levels for the first time in many years. With 24 classes (our most ever) this means that some specialist subjects will be offered slightly differently in 2026, due to the number of classes and part time staff. Our confirmed enrolment for 2026 is currently 554 students, but the uncertainty of enrolments makes it difficult to confirm final staffing and class structures at this stage.

Proposed School Organisation:

Leadership Team

• Principal 
• Assistant Principal
• Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader

• Learning Specialists

   

24 classrooms (F-6)

Specialist programs

• Physical Education (PE) - once a week, all year
• Visual Art - once a week, all year
• STEM - once a week, all year
• LOTE (Auslan) - once a fortnight, all year
• Library (F-4) - once a fortnight, all year
• Drama (Year 5 & 6) - once a fortnight, all year
• Music (F-6) - once a fortnight, all year

Victorian state schools are primarily self-managed, and staffing decisions - including how many teachers a school employs, what areas they teach, and which programs are offered (specialist subjects, intervention programs, extra-curricular activities, etc.) - are made by the principal in consultation with staff.

Each school receives annual funding, and it is the principal’s role to ensure the school operates within its budget. Funding is based on a formula involving the number of students enrolled on Census Day (28th February 2026), along with additional funding for specific needs, such as socio-economic background, English as an Additional Language (EAL), and location. Much of this information is collected from families during enrolment. Here at Newport Lakes Primary School, we are classified as ‘high’ in socio-economic level and ‘low’ in EAL, meaning we qualify for very little additional funding.

When determining class sizes, the Department’s funding formula generally allows for one classroom teacher for every 25 students. Once this is established, we explore different models - straight classes, composites, or a combination of both. It is also a Department expectation that Foundation - Year 2 classes have smaller average sizes than the upper grades. Further details about class sizes and specialist programs will be provided later in the year as these arrangements are finalised.

2025 Classes - Learning Buddy Lists

Thank you to all the parents who have reached out regarding separations. As mentioned in previous communications, during the middle of Term 4, each student is invited to nominate up to five peers for their Learning Buddy List. These buddies can come from across the entire year level. Prior to this process, students participate in a range of activities designed to help them connect with different classmates through games and collaborative learning tasks, giving them a broader understanding of who they work well with.

Teachers remind students that a good learning buddy is someone who helps them feel safe, comfortable, and focused - someone they can learn alongside effectively, not just a friend they enjoy playing with at recess or lunch.

Each student’s list is entered into Class Creator, the program we use to support balanced class placements. We ensure that every child has at least one of their nominated learning buddies in their new class. In some cases, students may have more than one of their listed peers, depending on the overall balance of classes. If you believe your child may not have been placed with any of their nominated peers, please check with the school, as children sometimes forget some or all of the names that they submitted.

Morning Arrivals and School Ground Supervision 

Please remember that playground supervision is provided by NLPS staff before school from 8:45–9:00am and after school from 3:15–3:30pm.

Students are encouraged to arrive between 8:45 and 8:55am, allowing them time to catch up with friends or enjoy a short play, before classes begin at 9:00am.

For safety reasons, children should not be on school grounds before 8:45am, as there is no staff supervision prior to this time. Of course, if you wish to supervise your own child before 8:45am, you are very welcome to do so - please enter through the office, as gates to the main yard remain locked until 8:45am.

Have a wonderful fortnight! I look forward to seeing many of you at our Twilight Fete.

Carly Bannon

NLPS Principal