Dear Families,

Welcome back to the 2025 school year. We hope that all of our families had a safe and happy holiday.

Before our students returned, we had two great professional learning days with staff setting the scene for the 2025 school year. The main focus of the days was on reading and student and staff wellbeing.

All teachers have worked hard to create welcoming and engaging environments, ensuring that students feel supported and inspired to reach their full potential.

It is great to welcome our Foundation students. Our classrooms have been very settled and calm, but also full of excitement and enthusiasm as students reconnect with friends and meet new ones.

As students have settled into their new classes, they have engaged in our Start Up program. This program helps build relationships, collaborate with new teachers and classmates, and establish clear expectations for their learning.

A warm welcome to the new families joining our school community this year. Starting at a new school can be both exciting and a little daunting, but please know we are here to support you every step of the way. We look forward to working together to ensure a positive and rewarding experience for your child.

Thank you to all of our parents/carers, you have all been an important part of this positive start at SHNPS. It was so lovely to see so many community members attend our shared lunch and open classrooms. We also had so many parents attend our Student/Parent and teacher chats . These chats are so important to establishing the home/school partnership. We believe the partnership between home and school is stronger than ever, and this collaboration will continue to help our students thrive.

Staffing

I want to warmly welcome Louise Kupper and Paige Warburton to our teaching staff in 2025. Natasha Anderson and Mikayla O'Meara also join our Education Support team.

Aleisha Pye and Ellen Brose, who joined us halfway through last year will continue to work with us.

Welcome back to Ash Healey, Jess Sanders (Weaver), and Tayla Bennett who will be returning from Family leave.

2025 Student Leaders

Congratulations to all of our students who obtained a Student Leader role in 2025.

School Council 2025

Please find some information below about our School Council and its purpose.

Nominations are now open for new School Council members. We have four parent positions available.

Information about nominations and elections was emailed to all parents earlier this week.

Our AGM is on March 31st at 5 pm. All parents are welcome to attend this meeting where the Annual report is presented.

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally constituted bodies that are given powers to set the broad direction of a school, in accordance with Ministerial Order 1280 Constitution of Government School Councils, and the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. In doing this, a school council may directly influence the quality of education for students.

Who is on the school council?

For most primary school councils, there are several possible categories of membership:

A mandated elected parent member category –members of this category generally comprise more than one-third of the council’s total membership.

Department employees can be parent members at their child’s school providing that they are not engaged in work at the school. A mandated elected school employee member category – members of this category make up no more than one-third of the membership.

The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

An optional community member category – members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experience. Department employees are not eligible to be community members.

Generally, the term of office for all members is two years. The term of office of half the members expires each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.

Why is parent membership so important? Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills and a range of experiences and knowledge that can help inform and shape the direction of the school. Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

Do I need special experience to be on school council?

Each member brings their own valuable skills and knowledge to the role, however, in order to successfully perform their duties, councillors may need to gain some new skills and knowledge. It is important to have an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future.

If you are interested in being on the School Council please reach out to me and we can discuss the positions we will have this year further.

School Saving Bonus

As shared with you previously, parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025 will receive the one-off School Saving Bonus $400 support. Parents have received emails about this.

Families can choose how they allocate and spend the School Saving Bonus funds using the online system. The School Saving Bonus can be used towards 2025 school costs, which may include:

camps, trips, excursions and incursions
swimming and sporting programs
outdoor education programs
graduations
school uniforms
textbooks (Please note stationery is not considered to be a textbook).

Please see our Facebook page if you need further support on how to access this funding.

2025 Enrolments

If you know any families who are looking at enrolling at SHNPS, please encourage them to contact the school.

Kind Regards

Brea