Term 3 Wrap Up & Appreciations

As we wind up Term 3, we cannot reiterate how proud and thankful we are of the NMPS community that we are part of.

I am grateful for our staff, whether working on-site or working remotely for their passion, flexibility and open mindset. To the students who we greet each morning on-site and those that we see in the weekly assemblies, I thank them for their enthusiasm. To our community of parents who have had to manage not only the day-to-day practicalities of life in lockdown, but also support their children’s learning while working full time from home – we could not have done this without you and are so appreciative of all that you do.

While this term was not what we expected, we were able to pull together to ensure we maintained a clear focus on student learning, wellbeing and connections. Students and teachers reconnected through our daily live teaching WebEx sessions, participated in virtual incursions and engaged in ‘fun’ WebEx sessions such as cooking and craft time. As the term progressed more students engaged with our specialist teachers and learning tasks, including the live morning fitness sessions with Mark and Ben.

This afternoon students, parents and teachers have an opportunity to come together for our 3 Way Conference Check-Ins. This is an opportunity to share learning from the term, celebrate successes and plan for future goals. While these ‘check-ins’ will look a little different from previous years, we do hope that everyone enjoys the opportunity to touch base.

At this stage, we still don’t know what term 4 will look like and whether we will be returning to face-to-face learning from the beginning of term. What we do know is, that whatever happens, we will get through it together as we always do.

Oval Works to Commence

We are very excited to announce that the upgrade to our north oval wall has commenced. This work will continue over the school holidays and into term 4. This will impact some of the playing space on the oval in the short term, but we are sure the finished product will create a new, inviting area for students to play and learn with outdoor decking and landscaped play area.

New Campus Update

As Term 3 draws to a close we are really excited to bring you a surprise.

Here is a video animation (also known as a fly-through) of our new campus so you can enjoy a virtual tour.

As you know, the campus is being built on Molesworth Street, around 350 metres away from our school on Errol Street and will open in Term 1, 2023.

You can also explore the campus level by level in the following sectional diagram:

One of the many special things you’ll notice about the campus design is that each of the levels has a special Indigenous name, a translation and colour - to reflect the location of our campus in Boon Wurrung country.

Campus levels: Indigenous themes, meaning and colour

Lower ground: Teerrendeerr Emu’s egg (blue)

Ground: Wominjeka Welcome(green)

Level 1: Wilam Home (pink)

Level 2: Wurneet Waterways (green)

Level 3 Biik Biik Land (ochre)

Level 4 Wurru Sky (blue)

Level 5 Bundjil Eagle (orange)

We also think the names of the levels will help to make is easier for you to find your way around the campus. For example places you can meet your friends, find your teachers, put your bags, play four square, basketball or netball, where the canteen area is or simply to find a quiet spot to sit and read.

We look forward to sharing news about the building's progress and revealing more about the exciting learning and play environments inside and outside next term.

Happy Holidays

A reminder that school finishes at 1:30 pm this coming Friday. I hope everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable break away from the screens. We look forward to seeing everyone return next term (either face-to-face or virtually).

From the EAL Classroom