Principal Report

Good afternoon families,

As we head into our mid-year/winter school holiday break, it's been great to reflect on what has been achieved over the past (almost!) 20 school weeks. These include; setting up our students for success at the beginning of the year through creating strong connections and routines, as well as setting high expectations; an enthusiastic bunch of new student leaders; sharing our learning with families through open classrooms; our beloved Tabloid Sports and School Athletics Day (and the great weather we were blessed with!); another fun Year 4 camp, albeit at a new location; another year of improved results in our Attitudes to School Survey (AToSS) and many areas of NAPLAN; lots of professional learning and discussions with our wonderful collegiate staff; and completing our School Review and the creation of a new School Strategic Plan (currently undergoing quality assurance, so it will be shared soon).

Here’s hoping for another 21 great weeks to finish the year!

Semester One Reports & Parent/Teacher Interviews

With the end of semester almost upon us, please note that the student Semester One reports will be available to parents via Compass from 3pm on Friday 26th June, via the ‘View Academic Reports’ option on your child/ren’s home page or the ‘Reports’ tab on their profile page. If you need assistance in accessing the report, please contact our school office.

As per my last newsletter piece, Parent Teacher Interviews (and Student Led Conferences in Years 4, 5 and 6) will take place in the second week of Term 3 during our Curriculum Day, Wednesday 22nd July between 8:45am-4:30 pm. Details on how to book a time to meet with classroom and specialist teachers will be sent out via Compass tomorrow, Thursday 25th June. The interviews will be conducted via WebEx as the default option for Foundation - Year 3 and specialists but we request that the Years 4-6 is to be onsite to allow for a more effective Student Led Conferences. Teachers will send out their WebEx details on the Monday of Week 2 via Compass.

Term 3 Trial of Earlier Eating Time - Wednesdays from Week 3

Many of our teachers have noticed that students are getting tired and/or dysregulated and disengaged during the fourth hour of learning (between 12:30-1:30pm) and so we began to look more closely at just how students were eating during the 11:00-11:30am recess break. In many cases, students spend a minimal amount of time sitting and eating in their designated eating areas as they were keen to make the most of the break to play with friends. Through the NLPS Consultative Committee, it was proposed that students may benefit from being given their set eating time at the end of recess 11:30 - 11:40am, instead of the current eating time at 1:30-1:40pm. Therefore, we will trial an earlier supervised eating time for one day a week (Wednesdays) from Week 3.

That is:

RECESS - 11:00-11:30am
SUPERVISED EATING TIME - 11:30-11:40am
Then two hour learning block begins at 11:40am, with change over 12:40pm
LUNCH - 1:40-2:15pm

Please note that there will be no change to the actual length of break times, just to timings. Teachers will monitor students' engagement levels during the fourth and fifth hours throughout the Wednesday trials of Term 3, and feed this information back to the Consultative Committee.

As always, we recommend to pack enough food for two substantial meals during the energy-intensive school day.

2025 Annual Report

As mentioned in my last newsletter piece, the 2025 Annual Report was presented to the community in last Monday’s School Council meeting and is now available for the school community to read through on the school’s website - please click here to view the report. If you have any questions about the report, please feel free to send them through to me via the school email (newport.lakes.ps@education.vic.gov.au) and I will get back to you.

2026 Student Attitude to School Survey - Preliminary Results

The Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS) is a student survey offered by the Department of Education every year to help schools and the Department understand students' experiences of school. It asks Year 4 - Year 12 students about their thoughts and feelings about their school, their learning, relationships with other students, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. The deidentified data is used by the Department and the school to track a school’s performance in the priority area of student wellbeing and engagement.

After completing the survey here at NLPS over the past few weeks, we have received preliminary data for 2026. Pleasingly, it’s been another year of clear improvements in some key areas that are departmental and school priorities, as well as a number of standout results. We will share further details about these with our community once we receive comparison data from similar schools.

Foundation 2027 - Enrolments Due 31st July

We’d like to remind families that enrolment applications are due by 31st July, which helps us plan for 2027 - although submissions are also welcome at any time before then. If you have a child already attending the school and a sibling due to start, please ensure your enrolment is completed by the deadline so that we can plan with confidence.

End of Term – Early Dismissal

Friday 26th June is the last day of Term 2. There will be an early dismissal on this day and students will be dismissed from their classes at 2.15pm.

We will hold our end of term assembly early on this day at 9:10am, to allow students to be able to watch the Socceroos play later in the day.

If you need after school care that day or vacation care, please contact TeamKids via https://www.teamkids.com.au/before-and-after-school-care/

Please note: Crossing supervisors are unable to commence work before 2:30pm. Therefore, they are not allowed to support schools on the last day of each term. Please be aware of this and help to keep our community safe when crossing the roads on these days.

May you and your child/ren enjoy a safe and restful school holiday break.

Carly Bannon

NLPS Principal