Greetings from Shaun

Curriculum Day- Assessment and Reporting 

On Monday was our final Curriculum Day which the teachers devoted to assessment and reporting. This was dedicated time for the teachers to sort through assessment data and common assessment takes to begin to meticulously compile an individual academic report for every one of the students in their class. These reports are a celebration of both the achievements and areas for future development. As you would know, a lot of work goes into the making of a semester report. I know you will join me in thanking the teachers for their dedication to this process. 

Please note, reports will go live to parents via Compass on Friday the 15th of December.

Class Structure for 2024

As you will be aware, we are currently in the middle of planning for 2024 and so I thought now would be a good time to give you an update on the class structure we are predicting for next year. Based on the current projections of student numbers and movements, we are planning for 14 classes across the school and the class structure is likely to remain unchanged. This means that we will have two straight Prep classes, and then continue with our multi-age composite classes in Grade1/2 and Grade 3/4 and 5/6 with four classes at each level. 

We will also maintain our current Specialist program of Art, Music, PE and Italian. 

Assembly 

Just another reminder that next Monday is a really busy day here at Northcote PS and so we have postponed our whole-school assembly to the following week. This means that there is no Assembly on Monday 13th November. 

HOWEVER, the good news is that this means we will be having a double POW celebration on Monday the 20th of November, I can't wait!

If you have been following the "dates to remember" section, you will have seen that on Wednesday 20th December (the final day of Term 4) that assembly will be at 9am. It will follow the same format, but hopefully won't be in the heat of the day. Be sure to mark it down in your calendar!

Whilst we are talking about assemblies, those who have attended our assemblies recently will have noticed that the main sound system has been out of action, I am sorry that the temporary speaker is less than ideal. We are just waiting for the tradesmen to investigate and try and identify why it isn't working and replace the required parts. 

This work however is tied to some other work scheduled to be done. We are currently working to upgrade our whole school classroom speakers, PA and sound system. This means that we are working with tradesmen to do an audit of the current system and to assess the condition and location of the current indoor and outdoor speakers. This is not as simple as it first sounds, because we are working with a 150-year-old building it's not as simple as just moving speakers to a new location.  We are also looking to upgrade the 20-year-old sound system so that the music that plays in the morning, actually plays every morning, what a novelty! While this work is currently underway, the system is not likely to be updated until the January holidays. 

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding around this. 

Prep Transition 

This term has seen the commencement of our Prep 2024 Transition sessions. We have already had two very successful Storytime sessions and our next big event is the Parent Information Session scheduled for next Tuesday 14th at 7pm in the hall.

The Information session is followed by the Prep Orientation scheduled for Tuesday 21st of November, Tuesday 28th of November and concludes on Tuesday the 5th of December. These sessions will run from 9:15am-10:15am in the Prep classrooms. 

During our first two Ready, Set, Go transition sessions there will be a parent information session running in our school hall. This will be another opportunity to find out some more useful information about our school and to ask questions in preparation for your child starting school in 2024. 

We have also been hosting some very special visits from Batman Park Kinder. The different groups have been coming to school to see what school is like in Prep. It has been an absolute pleasure having them. 

3/4 Camp to Phillip Island

Our three/four students made the trek to Phillip Island this week for the school camp and I was fortunate enough to visit them yesterday to see how they were doing. Everyone was having an amazing, jam-packed time and dare say there will be some very tired children AND adults this weekend. I am sure there will be a further update and photos in our next newsletter, but I just wanted to say a very heartfelt thank-you to our parent volunteers and staff for giving up their time to ensure that the camp this week was an absolute success.  

Prep and 5/6 Swimming

It has certainly been a busy term and next week is no exception. Next week signals the commencement of the Prep and five/six swimming program. Both year levels will be heading off to the Collingwood Leasure Centre over the next two weeks. To co-ordinate swimming lessons and bus timetables, this will mean that we have an altered timetable for the next two weeks. 

On a separate note, if you are thinking about volunteering with the swimming in any capacity, please note that you will need a current Working with Children Check and this needs to be registered at the Office. It is preferable that you do this prior to the day you would like to help out. Please see Donna, Sarah or Caterina for help with this. 

Fundraising and Events

You will have seen on Compass that we received confirmation that the mango trays are due to be delivered on either Tuesday 14th November or Wednesday 15th November. 

We will keep you posted about the delivery day and time, and we will advise you on the pickup arrangements as soon as we know more.

Mangoes are a crowd favourite on the Northcote Primary fundraising calendar, and I am happy to report that this year we made just over $1,000.

The Trivia Night this year was another successful event, and I can now confirm that we raised just over $5,200. Could it have been because of the return of the Nits? 

Icy Poles are back again on Friday afternoons, available from the canteen from 3:30pm to 3:45pm. 

Working Bee- Saturday 2nd December

One last reminder from me, don't forget to put December the 2nd in your calendar for the final Working Bee for the year. We are concentrating on the area surrounding the Top Turf and the OSH yard this time around. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Take Care,

Shaun.