Principal Report

Hello families,

It was so lovely seeing so many of your faces here last Friday for our beloved Twilight Fete! These events are such a special way to strengthen the vital parent/community–school partnership, as well as build connections between families. And, of course, they become core memories for many of our students. One of my favourite parts of school fetes is seeing our current students’ smiles and also speaking with former students who come back to visit - reminiscing about their time here and previous primary school events. (The wild weather of the 2018 Fete was a big topic!)

With four weeks of school to go, and five weeks until Christmas, it was a lovely way to begin the end-of-year festivities.

Community Engagement – Lots to Celebrate!

Twilight Fete

A huge THANK YOU to the whole school community for coming out in force last Friday evening and helping make our much-anticipated biannual Fete another great success! I also want to thank the mighty Parents Club team that put this year’s event together: Shaun Gomes, Jackie & Kevin Donnelly, Tiffany Turner, Kanada Earles, Karli James, Tarjei Kirkesaether and Chris Tabone.

I’d also like to acknowledge the important pre-work done by Kellie and Brodie in our office to ensure that Parents Club could coordinate everything so well, as well as the amazing parent and teacher volunteers on the day who helped ensure all stalls ran smoothly.

Working Bee

Thank you to the brave few who showed up and worked through the wind and rain on Saturday, November 8. The weather certainly made it easier to pull out the multitude of weeds. The yard looked wonderfully tidy afterwards, and we are so grateful for the efforts and time of this dedicated group of volunteers. A big thank you also to the School Council’s Facilities Subcommittee for coordinating the event.

Coffee Morning

Our termly coffee mornings are a lovely way to welcome parents into our school (and into the staff room!). Our Wellbeing Leader, Samantha Meddis, established these gatherings to help bring in new parents as well as families from culturally diverse backgrounds. They’ve attracted a small but connected group who enjoy a chat, a sweet treat and a laugh—along with a delicious Turkish-style coffee made by one of our wonderful volunteers.

Open Afternoon

As part of a now well-established tradition, families are invited into classrooms next week -Thursday, November 27th - to explore students’ learning spaces and celebrate the wonderful work being done before we begin packing down classrooms for the year.

Transition Begins – Pre-school to Foundation / Primary to Secondary

Today we welcomed our 2026 Foundation students and their families to Newport Lakes Primary School for the second of three pre-school-to-Prep transition sessions. In 2026, we will have 78 new children beginning in our Foundation classes across four classrooms. It was lovely to chat with parents at our Transition Information Session and to speak about the important role of Parents Club and our holiday care program.

Later this term, our Year 6 students will visit their new state secondary schools on Tuesday 9th December 2025, the state-wide Year 6–7 transition day for all Victorian government secondary schools.

Please note that some Independent and Catholic secondary colleges may run transition days on alternate dates, and parents will need to check directly with those schools for details.

Out of Hours Care in 2026 – Team Kids Information

A reminder that Team Kids, our new Out of School Hours Care provider, will begin their service on Tuesday, January 6th, 2026. Families wishing to learn more about their programs will have two opportunities next week:

• Online Parent Information Session – Tuesday, November 25th @ 6:30pm (registration required)

• Free Coffee Morning – Friday, November 28th from 7:00am (at our regular coffee van spot near Gate B)

   

School Charges 2026

You should have received the Compass notification sent earlier this week regarding the 2026 Student Charges and the parent payment agreement letter. This information is provided at the end of each year to notify families of the fee schedule for the upcoming school year.

NLPS will publish the student charges in December on Compass, and they will need to be paid in full by 30 January 2026. Alternatively, families may choose a split-payment option:

• First instalment due by 30 January 2026
• Second instalment due by 30 April 2026

Please see Compass for further details.

Have a brilliant fortnight everyone!

Carly Bannon

NLPS Principal