Principal's Report

Dear Skye Families,

Book Week Celebrations

Last Friday, we celebrated Book Week 2025 in true Skye style with a spectacular parade in the Gym, showcasing incredible creativity and expression from students and staff alike. It was fantastic to see so many families in attendance, turning the event into another memorable community celebration. A special thank you goes to our wonderful Librarian, Tarnia Mathieson, who extended the festivities by transforming Book Week into Book Month With a wide range of engaging activities, Tarnia captivated the whole school community and ignited a love of reading that will last far beyond August.

Open Wellbeing Afternoon – Next Week!

We’re thrilled to welcome families into classrooms next week for our Wellbeing Open Afternoon. Wellbeing sits at the heart of everything we do at Skye—when children feel safe, supported, and valued, they are best placed to embrace learning and thrive.

This session will focus on Emotional Awareness and Regulation—skills we believe are essential for both learning and life. Students are guided to recognise emotions (their own and others’) and learn strategies to manage feelings in constructive ways. The benefits are wide-ranging: stronger mental health, healthier relationships, better decision-making, and improved learning outcomes.

When you visit, you’ll gain firsthand insight into how we teach these skills in age-appropriate ways across all year levels. 

Father’s Day Breakfast – Next Friday!

Mark your calendars for next Friday’s Father’s Day Breakfast, where we’ll celebrate the incredible dads, grandfathers, uncles, and father figures who play such an important role in our Skye Primary family.

Join us from 7:30am for a hearty breakfast and some precious moments with your children before classes start. There will also be exciting raffle prizes on offer! This event is always a highlight of our school calendar and a wonderful way to show appreciation for the special men in our students’ lives.

Bayside Peninsula Principal Forum

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Bayside Peninsula Principal’s Forum at Caulfield Racecourse, where I shared Skye’s school improvement journey.

At the heart of this journey has been our commitment to the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM 2.0). While we recognised that our academic results required improvement, our strong culture and dedicated staff gave us the perfect platform for meaningful change. By adopting a unified instructional model, we’ve ensured that every student has access to excellent teaching every day, while still allowing for each teacher’s individual style.

The results so far have been inspiring:

• Classrooms are more consistent and structured.
• Students report feeling more confident, connected, and engaged.
• Teachers feel more supported with clear, evidence-based frameworks.

While it’s still early days, the trends in our data—and the excitement about learning across our community—suggest we are on a very positive path forward.

Parent Opinion Survey

If you have received an email with information and a personalised code for the Parent Opinion Survey, please ensure you complete it. Your feedback provides valuable insights into school climate, student behaviour, and engagement, and helps us continue to grow as a community.

Whole-School Attendance Update – Term 3

At Skye Primary, we know that every school day counts. Regular attendance is one of the most important factors in helping children achieve academic success and maintain strong social and emotional wellbeing.

We’re very pleased to share that 91.4% of our students currently have an attendance rate at or above 90% for Term 3. This is something to celebrate, as the Department of Education sets 90% as the benchmark for regular school attendance. Thank you to families for your continued support in ensuring students are at school, on time, every day.

To learn more about what 90% attendance really means, why even small absences can add up, and how we can work together, please visit our Wellbeing Page, where we’ve provided additional details and helpful reminders.

Gymnastics Success

On Tuesday, our schoolGymnastics Team proudly represented Skye at the Victorian GymStars Competition for Primary Schools.

We had 46 students compete (including 11 boys) from Years 3–6, many of whom dedicated time before school, at recess, and at lunch to practise routines on apparatus including uneven bars, balance beam, vault, rings, acrobatics, and floor.

Some outstanding team results included:

• 🥇 Grade 5 Girls (Comets)
• 🥇 Grade 4 Girls (Galaxy)
• 🥈 Grade 3 Girls (Meteors)
• 🥉 Grade 6 Girls (Stars)
• 4th – Grade 6 Girls (Galactic)

The highlight of the day was Skye Primary receiving the School Spirit Award – recognising our students’ encouragement of one another, respectful interactions with judges, and the positive way they represented our school. This award embodies the values we hold most dear, and we are incredibly proud of every single participant.

A heartfelt thank you  to Mr J as always and to the parents who gave their time to assist with supervision. Without your support, some of our teams wouldn’t have been able to compete.

Have a great fortnight!

Warm regards,

Tim