Caulfield Primary School Newsletter

Principal's News

What an incredible two weeks at Caulfield Primary School, we have left our mark overseas over the last two weeks whilst experiencing a host of highlights and achievements throughout the school back here in Caulfield. Welcome home to our travelling Japan Trip students and staff. There are plenty of highlight scattered throughout our classrooms and our school, some of these are detailed below. Thanks for taking a minute to read over our newsletter from the past fortnight. 

 

Japan Trip

 

As you read this, I am certain that there are 20 exhausted students (and 4 extremely exhausted staff) very happy to be back home having arrived back early on Friday morning, no doubt filled with memories and experiences that have will be discussed and shared over family dinners and catchups over the coming weekend. I have no doubt that Morioka sensei (Miharu) will share further updates in her newsletter in coming weeks but I wanted to update our school community and celebrate the commitment of our staff both abroad and back here in Melbourne to ensure that our trip was an amazing success. 

 

All the feedback provided to me over the last two weeks from our travelling staff have indicated how well our students represented themselves and our school. Their values on display throughout each experience, their willingness to have a go, attempt new things, engage with their language and support one another and our staff. Congratulations to our Year 5/6 2024 Japan Trip students, you have helped re-establish our overseas connections and supported the school to connect with an overseas learning opportunity that was last undertaken in 2019. I am thankful to the leadership and support of our teaching staff and assistant principal, Miss Molloy, Miss Guzman, Kurokawa sensei and Morika sensei. Thank you for providing our students with such an amazing experience. 

 

School Performance Report

 

The Department of Education has recently released the annual School Performance Reports which provides a yearly opportunity for schools to review outcomes, improvement cycles and importantly look to celebrate the work undertaken whilst importantly aligning improvement priorities for the coming year. 

School are categorised in of four domains – High, Improving, Medium and Developing (see image) comprising a 50% weighting on learning outcomes and 50% on wellbeing outcomes. 

Our school has achieved a High overall performance rating which is a wonderful achievement and a great credit to the work that occurs in our school from our teaching staff, education support, administration and leadership team. 

We were assessed as having a range of learning and wellbeing outcomes that were measured high, individual elements that contributed to this assessment include: 

  • % of students in strong or exceeding NAPLAN (Year 5 Reading)
  • % of students with High or Medium relative growth NAPLAN (Year 3 to Year 5)
  • % of students at or above expected growth in Teacher Judgement (Year 1-6)
  • % of students in strong or exceeding NAPLAN (Year 3 Numeracy)
  • % of students in strong or exceeding NAPLAN (Year 5 Numeracy)
  • % of positive endorsement in Emotional Awareness and regulation (Year 4-6) 
  • % of positive endorsement in school connectedness (Year 4-6)

Whilst the similar school comparison for us is really important, this similar school comparison is based on Student Family Occupational and Education Index (SFOE) status of families, it is not comparing our bilingual school with other bilingual schools. To that end, the data is even more impressive as we constantly measure our performance against not bilingual, singular language schools. 

I am proud of what we have achieved over the course of 2024 and I am greatly appreciative of our staff, their incredible efforts to support our students and deliver an exemplary bilingual education for every child. 

 

School Council Meeting

 

Our final school council meeting of the year occurs next Tuesday (26th November). I acknowledge and thank our school council members for their support and time commitment throughout this year. Participating in regular sub-committee meetings and leading valuable discussion and influence throughout the year. 

Our school council members will continue for our final meeting of our current team early in 2025 before our AGM towards the end of Term 1. I extend my sincere thanks to Emma Mattock, James Macky, Travis Ion, Kyoko Isono, Sara Ota, Krystal Ryan and Miharu Morioka. In particular, I extend my sincere thanks to Vicki Doust (Mother of Phoebe – Yr 6) who will conclude her role on school council at the conclusion of the year as her daughter begins secondary school. Vicki has voluntarily taken on the role of secretary at school council and completed this role for many years. I have greatly appreciated your support Vicki and for maintaining records, minutes and detailing these for many years.    

 

Important dates for 2024

 

The end to the school year is always busy, this year is no different. The following dates are of importance as we begin to work towards the end of the 2024 school year. 

  • Monday 9th December – Student Free Day (2025 Term 1 Planning for Teachers)
  • Tuesday 10th December – Statewide Transition Day for Yr 6 and Yr 6 Graduation
  • Wednesday, 11th December – Volunteers Morning Tea - Recess
  • Thursday, 12th December – Meet the (2025) Teacher Day and End of Year Christmas Concert
  • Monday, 16th December – Semester 2 Reports distributed
  • Friday, 20th December – End of School Year (1:30) and Final Assembly 

2025 Prep Transition 

 

We have now completed three out of four Prep transition sessions and we have had a fantastic time with our new students. The 2025 Prep students have been visiting the different Prep teachers and sharing their classroom experiences with new students each week.  Our transition sessions will conclude with the the final Prep transition on Wednesday 4th December. 

 

Are you Leaving in 2025?

 

We kindly ask that you let us know if you are considering moving or have enrolled at another school in 2025.  We require this information as soon as possible in order to establish grade structures for the start of the new school year. 

If your child is currently in Grades Prep to 5 and will not be at Caulfield Primary School in 2025, please notify the school office by email or making contact with Therese or Jess.   

 

Maintenance

 

Over the last week, we have confirmed our maintenance priorities over the summer holiday break. Work to be undertaken includes replacing all classroom carpets (6 classrooms) in our main building and painting the three prep classrooms and foyer area of the school. 

This work totals over $50,000 and could not be made possible without the significant support from and donations from school community and the fundraising efforts from our Parents and Friends Club. 

 

Leading Literacy

At the beginning of the week, I had the pleasure of working alongside Miss Ryan and Mrs Newman as they concluded their participation in the Leading Literacy 12 month professional learning course delivered by the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. This culminated in the presentation of a literacy inquiry project presented to other schools that worked alongside us this year. 

 

National Symposium of Japanese Language

 

I congratulate Morita sensei who was invited to attend and present at the National Symposium of Japanese Language Education in Sydney last weekend, this was a wonderful achievement and a terrific opportunity to advocate for our school and share her expertise in bilingual education. Morita sensei has written the following blurb below in a summary of her presentation. 

 

On November 16, Prof. Kadowaki and I had the exciting opportunity to present at the National Symposium of Japanese Language Education in Sydney. Our presentation focused on the experiences of Japanese heritage students, and it provided a valuable platform to discuss the benefits of bilingual education. I also used this opportunity to highlight the work being done at Caulfield Primary School, promoting its contributions to the broader Japanese language education community. The audience included representatives from the Japan Foundation, university researchers, and teachers from Japanese bilingual schools in Sydney, creating a great opportunity for future collaboration and sharing ideas. This trip was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Travel Grant from the Monash Japanese Language Education Centre, and I’m grateful for the chance to be part of such an enriching event.

 

It was a busy fortnight around the school, we have really appreciated working with you over the last two weeks. With some beautiful weather forecast for the coming weekend, enjoy the opportunity to be outside, I look forward to seeing you around the school next week. 

 

With Thanks,

Edward Strain

Principal