Principal's Message

As we approach the end of the term, it has been wonderful to see so many positive learning experiences across the school.

This week, our school community came together to celebrate Harmony Day, a special occasion that recognises the rich diversity of cultures that make up our community. Students participated in a whole school assembly and a range of activities that highlighted the importance of respect, inclusion, and belonging. It was wonderful to see students proudly sharing their cultures and learning more about the many backgrounds that make our school such a vibrant place.

To the families in our community who are celebrating, we extend our warmest wishes for a joyful and peaceful Eid. May this special time bring happiness, reflection, and connection with family and friends.

We would also like to congratulate our Year 3 and Year 5 students for their excellent effort and perseverance in completing the NAPLAN assessments. These assessments require focus and resilience, and we are very proud of the way our students approached them with maturity and determination. A big thank you also to our staff for their careful preparation and support of students throughout the process.

Next week, we look forward to welcoming staff from Williamstown North Primary School, who will visit to observe our routines, structures, and explicit instruction practices across the school. Opportunities like this allow schools to share effective practices and learn from one another. We are proud of the consistent and purposeful approaches our teachers use every day to support high-quality learning for all students.

Last Saturday, seven members of our Executive Leadership Team attended the ResearchED conference in Ballarat, the largest ResearchED event ever held in Australia. The conference featured keynote speaker David Didau, a leading British education thinker, author and former English teacher, well known for his influential blog The Learning Spy. ResearchED is a unique professional learning event that connects teachers with research and researchers. Attending events such as this allows our leaders to stay informed about the best available evidence and continue strengthening teaching practices across our school.

Each week as I engage in my higher education studies, I continue to learn more and more. This term, I am learning about the acquisition of oral language. Did you know that oral language development is what we call biologically primary? That means speaking and understanding language develop naturally in humans because our brains are biologically designed for it. In simple terms, children do not need formal teaching to learn how to talk. As long as they are surrounded by people speaking a language, they will usually learn to understand and speak it.

This week, I have added ‘communication milestones’ to the newsletter as a handy resource for families to monitor their children’s language development from ages 2-5. The resource is particularly helpful for monitoring when children may need extra support or intervention. 

2027 prep enrolments open next term. Tours are being conducted each week during term two only. If you have a prep child starting school next year, or know someone who does, please get enrolments in to the school during term two. More information will be available on the school’s website.

Thank you for your continued support as we work together to provide the very best learning opportunities for our students.

Nadia Bettio

Principal