Principal's News

Dear Clayton North Primary School Community

We are well into the second half of Term 3 with Spring around the corner, and hopefully, warmer temperatures! 

I want to begin my section with an update on staffing:

The EAL Centre is now established with a new team - Manpreet, Naomi, and Herlina.

Leannder is the full-time teacher for 3/4A for the remainder of 2025.

We welcomed Tiffany to the school last week as the 1/2C classroom teacher. Please make time to meet and get to know Tiffany as your child's homeroom teacher.

The Victorian Teaching and Learning Model - VTLM 2.0

All schools are expected to use the VTLM 2.0 to inform and refine the planning of their teaching and learning programs from this year. The VTLM 2.0 is informed by contemporary evidence about the way students learn and the most effective teaching practices and approaches to achieve strong learning outcomes for students, including priority cohorts, and has explicit teaching at its core. 

As a staff, we are engaging in professional learning and workshops to understand and apply the strategies and practices in planning for teaching and in the classroom.

The VTLM 2.0 reminds us that real learning is more than just knowing something for a short time — it’s about making knowledge last. For children, this means:

• Memory – learning is stored when students connect new ideas with what they already know.
• Retention – students need time and practice to keep knowledge in their long-term memory.
• Recall – regularly bringing ideas back helps strengthen understanding and confidence.

At school, teachers design learning that gives students these opportunities so knowledge “sticks” and can be applied in new situations.

How can parents help?

• Ask your child to explain what they learned in their own words.

• Encourage short, regular practice (e.g., reading, number facts).

• Make connections to real life — cooking, shopping, nature walks.

• Celebrate effort and persistence, not just correct answers.

These small, everyday actions help strengthen your child’s memory and make learning last.

Food, Mood and Learning

It is well known that fuelling children with the appropriate foods helps support their growth and development. But did you know there is a growing body of research showing that what children eat can also affect their mood, mental health and learning?

Eating a healthy and nutritious diet can improve mental health, enhance cognitive skills like concentration and memory, and improve academic performance.

Eating too many nutritionally-poor foods and drinks that are high in added fats, sugars and salt, such as lollies, chips and fried foods has been linked to emotional and behavioural problems in children and adolescents. 

Schools can play a key role in influencing healthy eating habits, as students can consume on average 37% of their energy intake for the day during school hours alone!

When I shared this with students at this week's assembly, children were able to identify the ways that we promote healthy eating habits at Clayton North PS: 10am fruit break, fruit trees and vegetable garden, Thursday Nude Food Day, and the fact that we don't run a school canteen, which is often the source of salty, fried foods.

It’s never too late to begin healthier eating habits – childhood and adolescence is a key time to build lifelong habits and learn how to enjoy healthy eating. Involve your children in preparing healthy meals at home, and encourage them to prepare and pack their lunchboxes the night before. The attachment offers great ideas to help with packing a healthy lunchbox.

2025 Parent Opinion Survey

Each year, schools conduct an opinion survey with the school community. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. I invite all families (one parent per family) in the Clayton North community to provide us with your feedback as your opinion is important to us, and will contribute in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.

The online survey is available in English and 10 other languages and will take about 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential and the school never sees your responses. 

The Parent Opinion Survey is now open and will be available online until Friday 19 September 2025.

Please use the following link to complete the survey:

https://research.orima.com/parent

and the PIN 310188

School Name: Clayton North Primary School

Campus Name: Clayton North Primary School

School Communication 

Channels of communication between school and home is vital, and we want to ensure that we are reaching all families with the current communcation platforms - Compass, Seesaw and the newsletters. If you do not have access or are unable to access any one of the three platforms, please contact the office for assistance. Key information and messages go out to families on a regular basis, so it is important to have your notifications switched on for both Compass and Seesaw. 

Early Pick-up

A reminder that whole school PA announcements are limited to emergencies only. As such, we seek parent support with any early pick-ups, and ask that the office be informed earlier in the day so that children can be ready and waiting at the office to be collected. 

Having said that, I want to point out that picking children up before the end of the school day means that they are missing out on learning time. When this occurs regularly, the hours accumulate, and the impact is the same as for absence from school. Whenever possible, parents are encouraged to organise appointments outside of school hours.

Thank you for your support.

Victorian State Schools Spectacular

The 2025 Victorian State Schools Spectacular theme is "On Air", celebrating the universal element of air and exploring themes of confronting fears, embracing self-belief, and sharing tales carried on the wind. This event combines music, dance, and circus arts, featuring students as performers and in various behind-the-scenes roles.

As you would know, Jenny and our students have been practising in earnest to present their dancing skills on the 13th of September, in the John Cain Arena. They will be performing two shows at 1.00pm and 6.30pm. Tickets can be purchased via the link below.

Wishing Jenny and our 17 Year 5/6 students, including Keenan, who will be centrestage as part of the core performing company, the very best as they prepare to represent Clayton North Primary School!

Sue Simadri