Year Level News

Upcoming Excursions and Incursions

Please ensure you have processed all consents and payments on your Compass portal to guarantee your child's participation in all upcoming incursions and excursions. 

Please also ensure 2026 Permissions and Agreements have been processed to include permission for local excursion, photography permission, and ICT agreements. 

If your child is unable to attend any of the events, please notify the office via email - here.

Foundation News

Hello Foundation families,

We are so pleased to share that the transition from half days to full days has been smooth and positive. It has been wonderful to see our students arriving at school each day with big smiles, feeling happy, eager to learn, curious to explore, and excited to make new friends and socialise.

We are incredibly proud of how well our Foundation students have settled into daily routines. They have been doing an amazing job remembering their roll order, lining up safely, walking into the classroom with their bags, placing them neatly in their lockers with the zip side facing out, and putting their water bottles in the classroom water tub. There is a lot to remember, but our 'Foundies' are already becoming experts, and we’re not even two weeks into the school year yet!

Our students have been actively involved in a range of daily learning activities, and it has been so rewarding to see how well they work together, especially when packing up and helping one another at the end of sessions. We have also included plenty of brain breaks throughout the day to help students recharge, stay focused, and keep going, as full days can be tiring for some.

We have begun exploring the Zones of Regulation, talking about moods and feelings and learning strategies to help us return to the green zone. Each classroom has a calm corner that students can use when they need support to regulate their emotions.

In Numeracy, the students have enjoyed counting and keeping track of how many days they have been at school. We have been counting forwards and backwards, playing counting games, enjoying Sit Down Sunday, using actions to represent numbers, practising subitising, and finding numbers in our environment, such as counting the letters in our names.

We have also unpacked how to use our school grounds safely and which areas are appropriate for play. It has been amazing to see students already applying these expectations during playtime.

Our fruit platter has been a big hit this week! Thank you to our parents for organising the colourful fruit and vegetable stick platters; it has been lovely to see students enjoying and munching on their fruit.

A huge congratulations to our Foundation students for such a positive and smooth start to their first year of school, and to our families for being brave and supporting this transition so wonderfully. We look forward to seeing what the next two weeks have in store for us.

Warm regards,

The Foundation Team 

Year 3 News

The Year 3 students have kicked into learning with gusto this year. We have settled into routines really well, caught up with old friends, made some new ones, and we are launching into our learning journey with enthusiasm.

All classes have been loving reading and writing about Brindabella, our Term 1 novel study. Brindabella is a story about a boy called Pender and a kangaroo called Brindabella, how they became friends, and all the things that happened to them because of it. We are using Brindabella to explore reading comprehension strategies, such as visualising, making inferences, understanding text features, and applying this knowledge into our writing to build beautiful, creative pieces.

This week we started exploring our knowledge building unit of rocks and minerals with some exploration of different types of rocks. We switched on our scientific brains and observed how rocks react differently to water, vinegar, heat, light, scratching, and magnets. We also put on our lab coats and goggles to visit Dr Loz to explore the properties of different rocks and minerals in more detail and under some cooler conditions. The glow in the dark rocks and minerals really wowed us all!

Year 6 News

Beach Program at Williamstown

Our Beach Program at Williamstown was one to remember, landing right in the middle of a 34‑degree scorcher. Students arrived armed with hats, water bottles, and plenty of sunscreen! 

Despite the heat, the day was packed with energy. Students rotated through a series of activities designed to build confidence and essential water‑safety skills. CPR and first aid training gave everyone a chance to learn life‑saving techniques, while the water sessions - boogie boarding, practising with life jackets, and using rescue boards and tubes - offered a refreshing break from the sun. On the sand, beach flags brought out some friendly competition and plenty of laughs.

There was also time for free play and games in the pool, which quickly became the most popular spot of the day to escape the heat. Whether cooling off, playing with friends, or simply floating in the water, everyone made the most of it.

All in all, it was a fantastic day of learning, teamwork, and fun. We owe a huge thank you to the team at Williamstown Life Saving Club for facilitating a brilliant day for the NLPS students. And, a huge well done to all the students for their enthusiasm and for proving that no amount of heat can stop a great day at the beach!

Library News

Help in the Library

Once or twice a term we would greatly appreciate help in covering books. Boxes of new books (with contact supplied) are made up and left just outside the library. Covering can be done at home at your discretion. If you can help out with this, we would love to hear from you. 

If you are able to assist, please email Sharon - HERE

Also, please keep an eye out next term for details of parent assistance requested for the book fair in Term 3.

Auslan News

Auslan Storytime with David Grant – Year 5 Excursion

On Friday 13th February, our Year 5 students enjoyed a wonderful Auslan Storytime session at Newport Library with Deaf presenter David Grant.

David signed two engaging stories, A Visit to the Zoo and Monster, bringing the characters to life through expressive Auslan storytelling. Students were thoroughly engaged by his facial expressions, movement, and visual language to create humour and emotion.

Following the stories, students participated in a thoughtful Q&A session. They asked insightful questions about sign names and how Deaf people think — whether in Auslan or in an internal 'talking voice'. It was wonderful to see their curiosity, respect, and growing understanding of the Deaf community and language.

Newport Library also shared information about their Auslan resource kits, which are available for families to borrow. These kits are a fantastic way to continue learning at home and further explore Auslan together.

Experiences like this help students deepen their appreciation of Auslan as a rich, expressive language and strengthen their understanding of Deaf culture. 

We are very grateful to Newport Library, Hobsons Bay Council, and David for providing such an engaging and memorable session.

Thank you to our Year 5 students and teachers for representing Newport Lakes Primary School so positively in the community.

Priscilla

Auslan Teacher