Greetings from Shaun

Another great, but busy term here at Northcote Primary. A term that has been full of plenty of learning and lots of special events. We celebrated our 150th Anniversary, the 5/6 cohort went on Camp, we particpated in the National Simultaneous Storytime, the 3/4 cohort went swimming, we've had digital safety sessions and sports gala day's and everything else in between!

On top of all that, our teachers are currently hard at work finalising reports so that they can go live in the middle of next week. These reports provide families with an opportunity to see their child’s progress against the Victorian Curriculum. If you've been following the newsletter you will know that Mathematics will look different this Semester, if that is news to you, check out the newsletter archive on the website for more information: 

(https://northcoteps.vic.edu.au/parent-information#newsletter) 

In Week 2, on Wednesday the 24th of July - Parent-Teacher Conferences will be happening. Don't forget that this means an early dismissal aty 12pm for all students. Bookings will open early next week, so keep an eye on Compass for the notification.

Staffing Update

As many of you know, Natalie, who teaches in Prep A, is expecting a baby. She will be finishing up with us here at Northcote PS at the end of the term, before commencing her maternity leave.  We wish Natalie and her family all the best during this very exciting time and can't wait to meet her new bundle of joy when the time comes.

I am very excited to welcome Mia to the Northcote Primary school community. Mia will be replacing Natalie in Prep A for the rest of the school year and will be popping in to meet the class next week. 

Hello Northcote families! 

My name is Mia & I will be taking over from Natalie in Prep A as she prepares for the very exciting arrival of her baby. I have recently moved to the area from the Mornington Peninsula and am loving exploring all the new exciting places to see and eat around the city area. My favourite things to do in my spare time are cooking, yoga & going on walks to the beach with my spoodle Frankie. 

I’m very much looking forward to getting to know all of you and being a part of the Northcote Primary community. 

Curriculum Day

On our recent Curriculum Day, teachers worked with our numeracy consultant, Carmel O’Beirne, to unpack the Big Idea of Partitioning. Partitioning refers fractions and decimals, and the idea that numbers can be divided to create new numbers.

Fractions is often one of those areas of maths that students feel worried about, and to use one of the quotes from our day “No area of elementary mathematics is as mathematically rich, cognitively complicated, and difficult to teach as fractions, ratios, and proportionality.” Smith 2002.

We unpacked the idea that part of the challenge of fractions is that they are relative and can take on different meanings in different contexts. For example fractions as a part whole idea, fractions as a measure, as a quotient, as an operator  and as a ratio.

Staff worked through key ideas and content knowledge in fractions and decimals, unpacked effective learning tasks and looked at assessment data. It was an extremely productive day and very timely, as our teachers have been planning for Term 3 this week.

Maths Olympiad

This year a group of our Grade 5/6 students are participating in the Maths Olympiad which is an annual competition run by the Australasian Problem-Solving Mathematical Olympiads.

The main aims of the competition are to:

• Introduce students to important mathematical concepts
• Teach major strategies and develop flexibility for problem solving.
• Foster creativity and ingenuity and strengthen intuition.
• Stimulate enthusiasm and enjoyment of mathematics.
• Provide for the satisfaction, joy and thrill of meeting challenges.

Students participate in 4 different competitions across two terms, and each time, have 30 minutes to solve 5 challenging problems. The most recent competition, Olympiad #2, was held on Wednesday of last week and already students have shown growth in their results and their use of strategies from the first competition. 

Bikes, Scooters, Skateboards etc.

Also a reminder that once inside the school gates, children and adults are required to dismount off their bikes, scooters etc and walk them to the storage areas. Drop-off and pick-up are very busy time with a large number of students and their families out in the yard and it is important that we maintain a safe an orderly environment to protect the safety of our community.

2025 Prep Enrolments

Do you or someone you know have a child starting school in 2025? We are now accepting enrolments for next year, with school tours being held fortnightly on Tuesday mornings at 9:15am.

As this is the last newsletter for the term, please let me take this oppurtunity to wish everyone a safe and restful break and I am looking forward to seeing you all on the other side, on Monday the 15th of July.

Take Care,

Shaun.