Newport Lakes Primary School

Principal Report

Hello parents and carers, 

 

I hope you all got to enjoy the lovely, sunny long weekend and spent time with loved ones. Week 7 is a short, but busy, one here at NLPS, with our Year 3 and Year 5 students doing NAPLAN. We wish them all well. We also have our Open Classrooms afternoon for Years 1-6 on this evening, Thursday March 13th, from 3:15-3:45. I know how excited this year’s Foundation students were to show off their learning spaces and work they were proud of when they had their afternoon a couple of weeks ago.  I expect the older students will feel the same as our students have achieved a lot already these first seven weeks of the school year.

 

Remaining 2025 Pupil Free Days

After our School Council had its first meeting this week, I can confirm the following dates have now been approved.

  • Term 2 - Whole School PPD – NEWLY APPROVED - Wednesday, May 28th. Focus - Reporting / PL of choice
  • Term 3 - Curriculum Day #3 - NEWLY APPROVED - Monday, August 11th. Focus – CUST (Cultural Understanding & Safety Training) 
  • Term 4 - Curriculum Day #4 - NEWLY APPROVED - Monday, November 3rd. Focus - Report Writing

Very Successful Year 5 and Year 6 Camps 

Although hot, dry and dusty, much fun was had at Billabong Ranch during Week 5. The ‘split over one week’ option proved to work well and allowed for lower camp costs (due to 3 bus trips, not 4) and meant we could still fit into the facilities at a camp that has been a NLPS favourite for some time.  Having been part of the Year 6 camp, I was immensely proud of the way that our senior students managed themselves and the positive feedback we received from the camp staff.

 

A big thank you to Mat for helping to organise the logistics of the camp and the Year 5/6 teachers managing the tasks of groupings and cabins, dietary requirements and other admin. School camps are big things to organise and exhausting to run and supervise, so thank you to all the wonderful staff that went along across the 5 days to support the Year 5/6 students and help them to make some lasting happy memories of primary school. Thank you also to the parents that were able to be home on Thursday to supervise their sleeping / resting Year 6 child in order for the school to be able to pass on the required time in lieu to some of the teachers that went to camp as well.  Thank you also to the office staff for processing the School Saving Bonus allocations to allow for families to sort payment out for camp with ease.

 

It’s time for our Year 4 cohort to head off next week and the excitement is palpable! 

 

Every Day Counts!

I attended the Western Metropolitan Region Principal Forum late last month and a big focus for our area is improving attendance. Although our school is tracking relatively well, I’d like to remind you that a regular day away from school adds up. Please see the table below for what that means over the course of a child’s 13 years of school. As you can see, missing even just 5 days a term means that they miss the equivalent of 1.5 years of schooling, not to mention the fact they are regularly playing catch up on new learning and potentially impacting their social connections too.  Last year, NLPS averaged 16.1 days away from school for each child, which is equivalent to missing approx. 1 year of school over the 13 years.

You can help keep track of your child/ren’s attendance data, including the number and percentage of days, by clicking through on the ‘Attendance’ tab on their Compass profile page, noting that days away that are marked as red will mean that it may attract the attention of the Department. Days marked as orange means that they have been coded with a reason, which can and should be done by parents via the Compass app or you can call the school for assistance. Therefore, please be aware of the focus on attendance and the need to code absences accordingly. Thank you for your cooperation. If you are struggling to get your child to school, please let the school know and we can talk about ways we can support you and your child as every day counts.

 

Retirement News

Unfortunately for us, but happily for her, Carolyn Brien, our dedicated First Aid Officer, has decided to retire and has already planned a big European summer trip. We have begun the recruitment process and will look to have a two-week hand over at the beginning of Term 2 before Carolyn leaves us early May. We wish her and her husband George safe and happy travels. I know many of our families will feel the same way.

 

March 7th Curriculum Day

Whilst our students enjoyed time away from school, our dedicated staff were here on Friday to build their understanding of the Science of Learning that underpins our revised approach to teaching English and the Humanities (and some Science!) as part of our Knowledge Building units and updated Literacy Blocks. Pleasingly, our revised approach fits within the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0) that the Department has begun to roll out across the state. We spent most of the time delving into the ‘blue’ part (Elements of Learning) but also looked closely at Explicit Teaching (part of the orange ‘Elements of Teaching’).

 

 

School Council Update

As I forementioned in last fortnight’s newsletter, the 2025 NLPS School Council met last Tuesday evening. As part of their discussions, office bearers and subcommittee memberships were decided upon.

  • President - Steph Viljoen
  • Vice President - Anton Freischmidt 
  • Secretary - Anton Freischmidt 
  • Treasurer - Leah Campbell

Subcommittee Membership

  • Finance - Carly Bannon, Leah Campbell, Steph Viljoen
  • Policy - Priscilla Patterson, Mat Williamson, Anton Freischmidt, Denise Fry
  • Facilities Management - Ben Houkamau, Dean Marshall, community member
  • Outside School Hours Care - Brett Fairbank, Dean Marshall, Joseph Cavallaro

Please note that members from our school community are more than welcome to be a part of subcommittees. Subcommittee meetings occur one to two weeks prior to school council meetings and will be advertised via Compass. More information about our council members will be in our next newsletter. Our next School Council meeting will be Monday, March 31st at 6:30pm.

 

Looking forward to seeing many of you at our Open Classrooms event today.

 

Have a great fortnight, 

 

Carly Bannon

Proud NLPS Principal