Principal's News

Dear Clayton North Primary School Community

Welcome to Term 4!

It has been a busy start to the final quarter of the school year, managing key projects and planning for 2026. Parents have been requested to inform the school of your child/ren’s continued enrolment, or not, for next year. If you are taking your child elsewhere, we are very sorry to see you go. If it has something to do with the school that you are unhappy about, please let us know so that we can address the issues for other students and families. We welcome feedback, both positive and otherwise.

The annual CNPS Art Show commences next week, with an official opening at 2.30pm on Monday. Thank you to Bronwyn and the many staff, who helped to transform the hall into an exhibition centre displaying the most colourful and creative artworks by our talented students! We are looking forward to presenting our in-house CNPS teacher and artist, Ms P, at the opening on Monday afternoon, and showcasing some of her art pieces. The Art Show will be open to parents and families from 8.30 to 9am and 3.30 to 4pm, next Tuesday through to Friday. Please come along and share in the celebration of your children’s artwork.  

Our involvement in the 2025 Actions for Earth - School Sustainability Challenge, has once again resulted in a positive outcome this year - the actions our students were able to complete placed us in the top 6 participating schools! Monash Council Sustainability representatives will be attending next Tuesday’s assembly to present our school with a participation prize. We were recognised for the work we already do in this space with the weekly Nude Food awards, reuse and upcycling paper & stationery, looking after the chickens, participating in Clean Up Australia, and engaging with Monash's sustainability seminars. Congratulations and well done to Precious, Radhika, Jenny and Kathie for leading and facilitating sustainability at Clayton North!

Construction of the covered walkway leading to the 3/4 A&B classrooms was completed during the Term 3 holidays, providing a safer path across the playgrounds. We are also addressing the rubber matting on the playgrounds which has not fared as well as expected since it was laid two years ago. Once this has been sorted, we will explore options that will not result in an overflow of the tan back onto the footpaths.

Late last term, we received the Victorian School Building Authority’s approval to move forward with the school-funded construction of the Covered Outdoor Learning Area (COLA) over the tennis courts. This is an excellent first step, but there are a number of hoops we still need to jump through before the project commencement.

Parent Opinion Survey

Thank you to the families who completed the survey last term; results are very positive once again this year. The majority of positive responses are between 75 and 96%. 

High expectations for success, respect for diversity, and school connectedness – have each come in at 90% once again this year, which is very positive.

The areas highlighted to address are: teaching organisational skills and time management, building children’s skills and confidence to address bullying, and supporting parents in understanding how their children are assessed.   

The target areas for improvement from last year’s survey – Stimulating learning environment dropped from 84% to 79%; Parent participation and involvement dropped from 90% to 86%. Although there has been a slight decline in some areas, the overall results are very positive indeed.

It is reassuring to know that parents are generally satisfied with the care and learning opportunities that the school offers. We will continue building on the high expectations and standards, and academic rigour we have achieved this year. An area that has been identified to renew our efforts and focus upon is that of Parent and Community Engagement. We want to work together to identify meaningful ways to engage with families. The multicultural aspect of our school provides immense potential for involvement and connection. Opportunities to engage in discussions will be offered in the coming weeks. Home-school partnership is vital for children's success; we seek your support in enabling positive outcomes for your children.

Attached are the results of the 2025 Parent opinion Survey:

Sue Simadri