Assistant Principal's News

Hello to all Clayton North Primary families and friends,

I hope that you all had a wonderful school holiday break, and you enjoyed the extended opportunity to spend time with friends and loved ones.

I am Jake Uwland and I am thrilled to be joining your school community as Assistant Principal and be a part of such a wonderful school that embraces diversity, inclusion and forming strong connections with the local community. 

I would like to take this opportunity to extend a sincere thank you for making me feel so welcome. It has been a pleasure meeting those of you who have been able to stop and take the time to say hello and have a quick conversation with me in the courtyard and around the school. Your children have also made me feel very welcome with the countless, “Hello Jake”, “Good morning, Jake” and “How are you, Jake?” greetings each day. I have moved from a large primary school in Wantirna, and the positive, friendly and welcoming nature of Clayton North Primary really stood out to me in my initial days.  It is a lovely place to come and work each day! 

In my first few weeks, it has been a whirlwind of getting to know staff, students, families and the daily operation of our school. With Sue having the fantastic opportunity to visit India as part of her professional learning that she is undertaking, it has been an exciting challenge to take on further roles in my early time at Clayton North. Learning all student names as quickly as possible is perhaps my biggest challenge!

Start Right Program

I have thoroughly enjoyed spending some time in classrooms and meeting the students during our Start Right program. This focus on student wellbeing at the beginning of the year is crucial and has enabled teachers to establish daily classroom routines to aid with the transition into a new year level, familiarize students with their new classmates and set high expectations for student learning and behaviour. Most importantly, it has supported teachers to establish the positive and engaging classroom environments that will support your children to achieve their personal best throughout the year. 

Teaching and learning at Clayton North Primary

We set high expectations for our students' learning, and take the same approach with our staff, setting high expectations for how we plan and deliver our teaching and learning programs. Recent research into how students learn best clearly shows that using evidence-based teaching strategies, programs and assessment support students to achieve their best. During the year, staff will continue strengthening their practices in these areas in line with the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0) and our CNPS Instructional Model.

Mathletics and Reading Eggs

This year we will be continuing with the Mathletics and Reading Eggs programs to support our students in developing their English and Mathematical understanding. The Reading Eggs program has undergone some welcome changes with their new feature, ‘Fast Phonics’, reflecting an evidence-based approach to supporting students to build their understanding of letters and sounds. Families are now able to make payment via Compass to access these programs and student login details will be made available once payment has been received.

Parent Meet & Greet

It was fantastic to see so many families in attendance for our Meet & Greets. Our teachers appreciate the opportunity to meet with parents and learn key information about the children that enables them to best support students at school. Creating a positive partnership between school and home is a very important factor in supporting students to achieve their best. These positive partnerships are something that we place great emphasis on and we encourage parents to keep up to date with key information provided via Compass. If you have any concerns about your child’s learning and/or wellbeing throughout the year, please contact their classroom teacher. 

Compass parent information session

Thank you to those Foundation families who were able to attend the information session on Thursday 12th February. It was a great opportunity for these families to explore the Compass platform and learn how the features of our school communication platform work. I will also share the presentation slides so that families who were unable to attend can access this information as well. If you have further questions related to Compass, please see Linda or Gaya in the office.

Learners of the Week

Congratulations to all of our first Learners of the Week for 2026. You have all set a great example for your classmates to follow this year and should be proud of yourselves! A special mention must go to Austin for receiving two Learner of the Week awards in the same week! 

I look forward to getting to know all families and students better as the year progresses. lease come and say hello at any time.

Jake Uwland