Year 6 Graduation 2025 – A Parent’s Perspective

Long before this place was known as Carlton North Primary School, Australia’s first peoples were teaching and learning here. Today, we acknowledge the traditional owners of this land. We acknowledge the respectful partnership that has allowed the people of this school to feel part of the oldest continuing cultures on earth.

During our time here, we have participated in smoking ceremonies, caring for indigenous gardens, cooking with native ingredients, NAIDOC week activities and the naming of buildings and learning areas after local indigenous plants and animals.

Thank you to the Wurundjeri people and community members who have shared their time with us and to the students, parents and grandparents who have shared their knowledge and traditions. First Australians’ language and culture is an essential part of our education, and we are better people for having those experiences.

Do you remember the start of 2019? That was seven years ago, and our kids were the little ones starting their Foundation year at Carlton North Primary School.

I can see their baby faces lining up at the doors on the deck, eyes bright with anticipation and hats too big, listening to their dedicated teachers and enjoying their learning activities. It didn’t take long for them to settle in to their new surroundings. They loved exploring the yard and play equipment and had hours of fun in the sandy area creating games and imagining worlds. There were new friendships for students and parents and a new community of people and projects.

For many parents, the beginning of school came with an amazing feeling of freedom. Suddenly there was more time! Some of us now had from nine until three-thirty when we were no longer a personal assistant to a mini-celebrity – no chef on-call duties, no wardrobe changes, no managing meltdowns or arranging guest appearances at the park. (Apologies to parents who had other littlies at home).

We could get on with things… like… work…, work… and more work. That’s right, that feeling of freedom didn’t last long and soon we were reminiscing about the golden era of toddler days when it took three hours to go down the street to get a loaf of bread. Everyone was growing up. Work and school routines became the new normal.

Then came 2020. Do you remember the news stories over the summer break about a dangerous virus? I’ll never forget the week before the fete, the principal at the time announcing that the fete was cancelled. It was unbelievable but that was just the beginning.

Suddenly our little darlings were at home again – twenty-four seven! And we, the parents, had to resume our personal assistant role and take on the new roles of Year One literacy teacher, writing and numeracy tutor, football coach, craft artisan, school counsellor and circus ringmaster.

The novelty of the “adult only” Jimmy Giggle videos soon wore off, and we found ourselves in dark times: concerned about the health and safety of our friends and families and trying to make things ok for the kids.

Working from home or on the front line, hiding in wardrobes and sneaking cocktails in our water bottles as we walked around the neighbourhood: for parents it was tough. The teachers and school staff did an amazing job online and in person at school - thank you so much. And mostly the kids managed well and some even loved it! Remember the park gatherings? Curtain Square had not seen that much action since the late nineteenth century.

During the lockdown phase, it was great to be involved in the Love Lee Street Cookbook fundraising project. Family recipes from a diverse range of cultures were generously shared via email and google docs and food was prepared in home kitchens and collected by mums in their cars for back-alley photo shoots. Despite the physical distance we had to keep, the Cookbook project helped the CNPS community remain close.

When we were finally allowed back to face-to-face learning people were excited to revive the Great Lee Street Fete. We certainly made up for the lost years, both in terms of money raised and the sense of people coming together to achieve a common goal. The 2023, 2024 and 2025 Fete Days were so much fun for everyone. As a parent I really want to thank all the students, parents, teachers, school staff and members of the wider community who worked so hard for the fetes and who were role models for the students. Best of luck to the new set of parents continuing the Great Lee Street Fete tradition.

Over the past seven years, many of the year sixes and their parents have also generously donated their time to setting up and attending Trivia nights, Art shows, performances, soirees, cultural events, story nights, book parades, Italian days, excursions, camps, sports days, working bees, BBQs, cake stalls and so much more. Many have been on school council and committees and coordinated initiatives such as the mural. Thank you for being involved – supporting public education is important work.

And thank you from the parents and students to the teachers, librarians and school staff for organising and supporting all these extra activities that take time but are so worth it. Special thanks to the staff who went on the “Spewing Camp” of 2023. The apocalyptic scenes of the students disembarking from the buses are etched into my memory forever!

We are really going to miss the assemblies. The sweet voices singing, the affirmation of the school values and the student of the week awards when the student’s name is warmly echoed by the other kids as they receive their certificate. That feeling of belonging to a great group of people boosts us up and makes us better individuals.

This year’s year sixes are magnificent. We are so proud of them. They are all stars who have worked so hard over the past seven years and become the fine young people wesee before us today. With all their individual talents and skills, and the way they care for one another and others – they can achieve anything.

We will miss the teachers. Thanks for the lesson planning and delivering, meetings and reports. But mostly for being positive role models for our children, turning up for them day after day and acknowledging their strengths and supporting them when they need it. And thank you to the principals, deputies, school support and wellbeing staff, and administration staff for answering questions, listening to the parents and students and solving our problems.

We are sad that we won’t get to be here for the new look buildings and playgrounds.But primary school isn’t just a place of bricks and mortar and sports courts, it is a feeling – a feeling of belonging, of learning together, of being able to rely on people and ask for help and being able to give help. Our children will remember that feeling for the rest of their lives.

When you have that foundation of a strong community then you can go out into the wider world and give more and learn more and help make the world a healthier, more equal, more peaceful and more compassionate place. And this is what our year six students will do.

Thank you and goodbye,

Jess Adam