Northcote Primary School Newsletter

Greetings from Shaun

Italian Day- Save the date

Get ready for a fantastic celebration of all things Italian! 

 

Italian Day is happening on Friday the 25th of July, and it’s set to be a day full of energy, colour, and culture. Students will dive into exciting, hands-on activities and enjoy delicious Italian food as they explore the rich traditions of Italy. With music, movement, and creativity at every turn, it’s an experience not to be missed! Buon divertimento!

Semester 1 Reporting Update for Families

As we draw closer to the end of Term 2, here are the key dates for Semester reports and Parent teacher conferences, as well as information about the revisions to the Victorian Curriculum, which began last year.

 

 Semester One reports will be available on Compass on Tuesday 1st July (Week 11). 

Parent teacher conferences will take place in Term 3 - Wednesday 30th July (Week 2). Bookings for conferences will open on Monday the 23rd of June. 

 

Mathematics – 2024 Curriculum Changes

Just a reminder that with the introduction of the revised Victorian Mathematics Curriculum last year, schools moved to reporting a single overall mark for Mathematics, rather than separate marks for each of the three strands. You will notice that in Mathematics this semester, reports will include a growth point to highlight each child’s progress since Semester 2 of last year.

 

Changes to English in the Victorian Curriculum

This year, teachers will be using the updated Victorian Curriculum for English when reporting and assessing student progress. You will still see separate results for Reading, Writing, and Speaking & Listening on your child’s report—so the format you’re familiar with remains the same.

 

However, there have been some key updates to the content of the curriculum. 

Here are some of the main changes within the English 2.0 curriculum:

  • The curriculum now provides clearer and more specific content descriptors (skills and knowledge), helping students build skills step by step from one year level to the next.
  • A new focus area called Building Fluency and Making Meaning has been introduced.
  • The Phonics and Word Knowledge area has been updated to better reflect current best practices in how children learn to read.
  • The achievement standards have been revised to clearly show the key skills students are expected to develop in each of the language areas.
  • Content is no longer divided into Reading, Writing, and Speaking & Listening. Instead, these areas are more connected, and teachers will look at how students apply skills across all modes of communication.

The updated curriculum highlights just how rich and engaging English learning is. It reflects the deep learning happening in classrooms and gives students many opportunities to revisit important skills and content in different ways—through reading, writing, and speaking and listening.

 

When changes to the curriculum occur, it can be possible for some students, while still making growth, to need more time to consolidate their learning. Our teachers have been working hard to assess student learning and moderate results within teams to ensure consistency across our school.

Maths Olympiad and Maths Explorer

This year we have a group of selected students participating in the Maths Olympiad (Grades 5/6) and Maths Explorer (Grade 3/4). These are annual contests run by the Australasian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympiads, with students across Australia taking part.

 

The contest aims to build students’ enthusiasm for mathematics by introducing key concepts, developing flexible problem-solving strategies, and encouraging creativity, intuition, and the enjoyment of tackling mathematical challenges.

 

Students participate in 4 different contests across two terms, and each time, have 30 minutes to solve 5 challenging problems. The Grade 5/6 students complete the questions individually, whereas the Grade 3/4 students work together in teams.  The most recent contest was held on Wednesday this week and already students have shown growth in their results and their use of strategies from the first competition. The third contest will be in Week 2 of Term 3.

Prep Enrolments- 2026 

Do you or someone you know have a child starting school in 2026? 

 

We are now accepting enrolments for next year. Weekly tours have already commenced, alternating between Tuesdays and Thursdays, the specific dates are on the website and can be found here: 

Take care,

 

Shaun.