Leadership Report

Dear Saltwater Families,

Welcome to an exciting new school year! I hope you had a wonderful and refreshing break and are ready to begin 2026 with enthusiasm. A warm welcome to all the new families and staff joining the Saltwater College community. We’re delighted to have you with us and look forward to getting to know you throughout the year.

This week, we had the absolute joy of welcoming our newest Prep students. It was heartwarming to see their bright smiles and excitement as they embarked on this new chapter. We also acknowledge that moments like these can bring mixed emotions for parents, it’s all part of the beautiful journey of schooling, and we’re here to support you every step of the way.

As we move into 2026, we continue to build upon the exceptional achievements of last year. Saltwater College remains committed to delivering outstanding outcomes in student learning, wellbeing, and engagement. Your ongoing support and partnership play a crucial role in these successes, and we’re grateful to be working alongside you.

This year we continue our exciting building works project. While this development will bring some operational changes, we will keep you informed every step of the way and ensure a smooth transition as we expand and enhance our facilities, expected to be ready by 2027.

School Growth

Our school community continues to grow, with approximately 2,180 students and 209 staff currently. We acknowledge that drop-off and pick-up times can be busy, and we encourage families to use our designated Drop-off and Pick-up Zones on Kirra Place to improve traffic flow and minimise congestion. We encourage families to consider walking, biking, or using public transport where possible. Carpooling with other families is another great way to reduce the number of vehicles arriving at school. 

We have also expanded the Kirra Place bike and scooter storage area to accommodate more students choosing to ride to school.

Leadership Structure 2026  

We are fortunate to continue our distributed leadership model this year with an Assistant Principal appointed to each cohort to oversee that cohort, and all parent communications/concerns will need to be directed to the relevant Assistant Principal. We also have two designated Wellbeing Assistant Principals.

The Assistant Principals, cohorts and additional leadership responsibility are: 

• Principal - Jackie Daniali 
• Prep – Taxia Katsouranis, Director of Teaching and Learning 

• Year One – Brent Syme, Attendance and Engagement

• Year Two – Matt Hart, Literacy 

• Year Three – David Vivoda, Numeracy 

• Year Four – Sarah O'Connor, Wellbeing

• Year Five -Mark McInerney, OH&S

• Year Six –Sarah Grenfell, Student Voice and Agency

• Year Seven - Hayley Mann, English

• Year Eight - Ryan Ma, Mathematics

• Year Nine - Danielle Colling, Coaching and Student Engagement

• Data, Assessment and Reporting and Specialist - Ryan Ma

• Wellbeing and Specialist - Amanda Palombi.

Every year level also has a designated Leading 

Teacher who supports their team in all areas of curriculum. Leading Teachers are in the classroom and are released for leadership duties for one/two days of the week. The Leading Teachers will support teachers in their cohort with coaching and mentoring as well as providing Intervention to our students.  

Our Leading Teachers/Learning Specialists are: 

Brittney Turner -Prep

James Peterson – Year One

Sarah Mason -Year Two

Kylie Puclai -Year Three

Denae Smith -Year Four

Natasha Palombi – Year Four

Amberly Morison - Year Five

Megan Jefford -Year Five

Deanna Kotevski- Year Six

Shaneece Kotevski - Year Six

Gramatiki Alexiou - Intervention

Chris Mernik - Secondary Leading Teacher

Sam Tolfo - Secondary Leading Teacher

Nesan Naidoo - Secondary Leading Teacher

Dylan Haeusler - Secondary Leading Teacher

Maria Nardo - Secondary Learning Specialist

Steph Fatouros - Secondary Learning Specialist

Our Leading Teachers/Learning Specialists have a deep knowledge and expertise in high quality teaching and learning. They have a range of responsibilities which include supporting students and teachers across the school.  

Respectful Behaviour in Our Local Community

We value our strong relationships with local families, businesses, and community members and expect our students to represent Saltwater P–9 School positively at all times.

We have recently been made aware of concerns regarding student behaviour in the Tribeca Point Cook area, particularly before and after school. While many students are simply socialising, behaviours such as inappropriate language, littering, or unsafe conduct in public spaces are not acceptable and do not align with our school values.

Our leadership and year level teams will be reinforcing clear expectations with students around respectful behaviour, appropriate language, and caring for shared community spaces. Where possible, staff supervise surrounding areas before and after school; however, we also remind families that students are expected to make responsible choices when moving through the community.

We appreciate the ongoing support of our local community and ask families to continue conversations at home about representing our school with pride and respect.

Thank you for your partnership in supporting positive behaviour beyond the school gates.

Meet and Greet Meetings

Primary (Prep–6) Meet & Greet Sessions wil be held on Tuesday 17 February at Saltwater P–9 College.

Important information for the day:

• Early dismissal: Students will finish at 12:00pm (midday)

• Meet & Greet sessions: 12:30pm – 7:30pm

These sessions provide a valuable opportunity to:

• Connect with your child’s teacher 

• Build strong home–school partnerships

• Discuss how your child has settled into the year

• Share information about your child’s social, emotional and learning needs

Bookings

Bookings can be made via the Xuno Family App under Parent-Teacher Interviews in the top menu. All booking and administrative arrangements remain the same as previous years.

 Specialist Teachers

This year, specialist teachers will not have a formal booking system. Families are warmly invited to drop in for a short, informal chat. Specialist teachers will be available in Mrs Crane’s Art Room, located in the main Prep building, throughout the afternoon and evening.

Big Child Care

Big Child Care will be operating on this day if care is required. Please contact them directly:

 saltwater@bigchildcare.com  1300 273 162 or 0413 258 139

Thank you for your support with the early dismissal, and we look forward to welcoming you to our Meet & Greet sessions.

Curriculum Days Approved by School Council. 

Please note our 2026 Curriculum days, which are student-free days. Curriculum days are days set aside by our school for teachers and staff to engage in various activities related to curriculum planning, development, and improvement. Students do not attend school on these days. 

Please observe the remaining dates of our curriculum days. 

• Monday 2 November Reporting Curriculum Day.  No students at school.

• Friday 18 December - Last day of 2025 year. No students at school.

Please mark these days in your 2026 diary as students do not attend school on these days. 

Term dates for 2026

Please note the 2026 term days and plan accordingly for vacations and other important events, by checking our Important Dates Tab.

Term One

• Thursday 2 April Term One ends at 2.30pm or a 2 week break

Term Two

• Monday 20 April Term Two begins

• Friday 26 June Term Two concludes 2.30pm for a 2 week break

Term Three

• Monday 13 July Term Three begins

• Friday 18 September Term Three concludes 2.30pm for a 2 week break

Term Four

• Monday 5 October Term Four begins

• Thursday 17 December, school ends 2.30pm

• Friday 18 December Curriculum Day

Congratulations

Congratulations to all our students for a fantastic start to school. Wishing all our students a fantastic school year filled with learning, growth and memorable moments. We can’t wait to watch you grow, learn and develop. Welcome to a year of endless possibilities!

Thank you, 

The Leadership Team