Greetings from Shaun

Curriculum Overviews

In this issue, you’ll find our Term 4 Curriculum Overviews, which give a snapshot of what each year level will be learning this term. They’re a great way to see what’s happening in the classroom and to chat with your child about the topics and projects they’ll be exploring over the coming weeks.

ABC News Breakfast at NPS

Last Friday morning, a group of our Junior School Council and Green Team students took part in ABC News Breakfast’s live weather broadcast with meteorologist Nate Byrne. Our students represented Northcote Primary beautifully, confident, curious and full of energy, even in the early hours!

Nate was wonderful with the kids, taking the time to chat with them between takes and answering all their weather-related questions. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our school community on national television, and we’re so proud of how well our students spoke and participated throughout the morning.

Official Playground Opening

Last week we celebrated the official opening of our new playground, a beautiful space designed for play, connection and community. The day was filled with excitement as Lucia from Prep A cut the ribbon, and Riley from 2B and Ayden from 1C had the honour of being the first to officially go down the new slides. Amy was also the lucky teacher chosen to test the slide , much to the delight of the students. 

Since opening, both playgrounds have been incredibly well received. They have quickly become favourite spaces for students to play, explore and spend time together. The new landscaping has created a lovely, peaceful area with lots of little nooks and spaces for children to use their imagination, sit and talk, or simply enjoy being outdoors under the shade of a tree.

As part of the celebration, we also took time to remember a special friend, Eva Tuddenham, who was a student at Northcote Primary School. To honour Eva and acknowledge the impact she had on our lives, we planted a tree in her memory. It sits within a raised garden bed surrounded by seating, offering a peaceful space for reflection. This week, some of Eva's friends have left little rocks at the foot of the tree with some heartfelt messages as a lovely tribute to their friend.

We were also proud to raise our four new flags, the Australian National Flag, the Aboriginal Flag, the Torres Strait Islander Flag and the Intersex Progress Pride Flag. Together, these flags represent our shared commitment to respect, inclusion, reconciliation and belonging. They are a daily reminder of the diverse community that makes Northcote Primary School such a special place.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to all the parents and families who contributed to making our playground project possible over the years. Your generosity, fundraising efforts and ongoing support have helped create a space that will be enjoyed by generations of students to come.

Class Placements

As you can imagine, determining class placements is a lengthy and complex process. We will soon begin forming our classes for 2026 and will take great care to ensure that each student is placed where they can learn and thrive.

Several factors are considered when placing students in classes. These include academic progress, social development, learning needs, friendships, and the ratio of year levels within composite classes. With so many elements to balance, it’s important to understand that not every request can be accommodated.

As part of the process, each student will be asked to nominate five friends they work well with and would like to have in their class next year. The order of names or gender does not influence placements. We make every effort to ensure each student is placed with at least one of their nominated friends. In the rare event this isn’t possible, we will contact families to discuss the placement.

Teachers will also work closely with students to identify positive learning partners. Sometimes, good friends aren’t necessarily good learning friends, so we encourage you to talk with your child about who helps them learn best.

If you have a request for your child not to be placed with a specific student, please email it to northcote.ps@education.vic.gov.au by 4pm on Friday, the 31st of October 2025, so it can be considered during the placement process.

Please note:

-Any requests for teachers are not considered.

-It is very unlikely that changes can be accommodated in the new year, especially if no request was made during this period.

-If you have submitted a request in previous years and wish for it to be considered again, please resubmit it.

All requests must align with our Class Placements Policy, available on our website: https://northcoteps.vic.edu.au/policies

Lunch with the Principal Team

Many of our Prep students have been making wonderful choices and consistently demonstrating our school values in the classroom. Meg and Brigitte have been catching them doing the right thing, and as a result, they’ve been earning plenty of Burndapil Points.

At the end of the term, quite a few students decided to redeem their points and chose from the reward menu to enjoy a special lunch with the Principal Team.

We’re so proud of their positive attitude towards learning!

Mobile Phone AND Smart Watches

A reminder that all student mobile phones must be handed in at the office each morning and collected again at the end of the day.

As technology has evolved, many students now have smartwatches that function much like phones. For this reason, the same process now applies to smartwatches. Students can wear their watch to and from school, but they need to hand it in during the day, where it’s stored securely.

This change follows several incidents of watches being used inappropriately during class time. Teachers’ priority is to teach, not to monitor whether watches are in school mode, so this approach helps everyone stay focused on learning.

If you need to contact your child during the day, please call the office and we’ll pass on the message.

If you would like to read the full policy, it can be found on our school website here:

Northcote High Speech Competition

I’m pleased to share that our Grade 5/6 speech competition winners have been announced. These students will represent Northcote Primary School at Northcote High School on the 23rd of October 2025.

The standard this year was exceptional, and narrowing the field from around fifteen to just four finalists was no easy task.

Congratulations to Nina Costello, Jack Hawken, Ailsa Campbell Carr and Leni Gonis. Each of our representatives will now nominate three friends to join them at the event.

Regional Athletics

Congratulations and thank you to Leo, Harrison, Sabine, Finn, Arlo and Patrick, who represented Northcote Primary School at the Regional Athletics on Wednesday. Your efforts and sportsmanship were greatly appreciated.

Patrick achieved outstanding results, earning two silver medals in Long Jump and Hurdles, and will now go on to compete at the State Athletics event. Sabine also performed brilliantly, placing fourth in High Jump.

District Basketball

"On Tuesday the 14th October, seven of our Grade 5/6 students ( Sabine A, Olive.H, Poppy L, Elke M, Ebony H.W, Lenka H and Sofia A), went to Narrandgeri Stadium for girls 10-13 Division Basketball.

We played 3 teams in the Darebin League. They were Preston Sth, Reservoir East and Preston West.

But sadly we lost every game.

We still had an amazing time, even though we lost all our games. We celebrated that we got into the Division in the first place! We were very sportmen-like and had a great time."

-Olive H & Ebony H.W of Grade 5/6

Hats are back!

With the change of season, it’s time for our students to be SunSmart once again. From the 1st of September, all students are required to wear their broad-brimmed hats whenever they are outside at school. Wearing a hat helps protect children from harmful UV radiation, which can cause long-term skin damage.

Please remind your child to bring their hat each day and ensure they are making SunSmart clothing choices, with shoulders covered for extra protection.

Take care,

Shaun