Principal's report 

In our classrooms

I’m proud to announce that over 8,000 Proud Port Points have been awarded this term in our new behaviour system. A big thank you to all staff for their work in launching this framework and to our students for their wonderful engagement and behaviour that have earned them so many points. We have been impressed with how students across the school have responded to this new framework and how well they've built and maintained productive learning behaviours in their classrooms. 

Given the large number of points being awarded, we are going to shift to a new way of managing Proud Port Points next term using a platform called Class Dojo to collect, analyse, and share the number of points achieved by students, classes, and year levels. We'll keep our community updated on this shift next term.

In our staff room

Laura Steel has secured a new position at a non-government primary school and will transition to her new role at the beginning of Term 3. While we are sad to see Laura go, as she is a valued and positive member of our team, we wish her all the best in her new role. 

I'm pleased to share that Emma Kovacev will take on Laura's teaching duties from the beginning of Term 3. Emma will be well known to many of you, including students and families in Year 1, as she was part of our Prep teaching team last year. Emma has already made a significant contribution to our school community this year, leading work on our Prep Transition programs, including visiting feeder Early Learning Centres and leading our Open Morning. She has also played a crucial role in supporting the transition of our new Prep students throughout Term 1 as a 5th teacher supporting students across our four Prep classes. I know that Emma will be a valuable addition to the Year 1 team.

In our community

It's been a big couple of weeks in our school community. Last Friday, we hosted our first-ever Open Morning for prospective families. We welcomed over 50 families to this event, which included a presentation, a panel question and answer session, and a tour of the school. Thank you to the staff, parents, and school leaders who helped lead this event. It was wonderful to share with new families some of what makes our school so special.

On Monday of this week, school leaders from our school met at Port Melbourne Secondary College for our School Improvement Team Day. This was a positive and productive day involving strategic planning and problem-solving to reflect on and refine major school improvement initiatives currently underway. I'd like to thank our school leadership team for their dedication and professionalism on this day. Thank you too to Anne and the team at Port Melbourne Secondary College for hosting us for the day.

On Tuesday, we were fortunate enough to host a visit from the Member for Albert Park, Nina Taylor, and the Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll. Ms Taylor and Deputy Premier Carroll experienced a tour of the school, met students, and answered questions from some of our Year 4 students. As we toured the school, it was impressive to see how settled our classes were and how well our students and teachers engaged with and welcomed our visitors. We have a wonderful school, complete with first-rate facilities and grounds and well-practised routines and processes in our classrooms. Being able to show it off to such significant guests genuinely made me feel Proud to be at Port 💙❤️.

As Term 1 comes to a close, I want to thank our teachers, families, and volunteers for their contributions to making this term a success. Your collective efforts have made a significant impact on our school community. I hope each of you has a safe, relaxing and enjoyable break, and I look forward to seeing you in Term 2.