Principal's Report

School Fair is getting closer - don't forget to keep an eye on all the news and updates!

2026 Classes

Teachers will shortly begin planning classes for the 2026 school year. Class placement is one of the most complex processes we undertake each year, with each teacher and team spending many hours attempting to achieve a balance of academic skills and wellbeing needs across each year level. Friendships are considered as a strong priority, with each student being asked to nominate up to four preferences of students they would like to be with in 2026.

While we acknowledge that in some cases they are necessary, requests for specific pairings or separations add a further layer of complexity to this task, often being the most difficult part of the process to achieve while maintaining class balance.

As such, we ask that any such requests be as the result of significant concerns only. We also need to state the we can very rarely guarantee the outcome of these requests - particularly when conflicting requests are received from more than one family.

If you do have a significant request that you would like to be considered, please email peter.watson@education.vic.gov.au by the end of Friday 7th November.

Please note that due to potential teacher movement between year levels and a number of other considerations, requests for (or separations from) specific teachers are rarely able to be considered, except for the most significant circumstances.

A gentle reminder also that we would greatly appreciate early notification if your family will be moving on from Roberts McCubbin PS for the 2026 school year.

Young Leaders Forum

As part of our role as a Lead School in the Respectful Relationships program, our RRRR leadership team created the idea of hosting a Young Leaders Forum for selected Year 5 students from local schools to come together to learn about leadership and inclusion.

Over three days, students will come to our school and have a variety of conversations and experiences, culminating in each school presenting the results of a project around the theme of inclusion relevant to their school context.

The first day was held last week, with various guest speakers and activities, such as a session of Martial Arts Therapy with Rodrigo, as seen in the photo below.

The forum is a wonderful idea and a fantastic opportunity to showcase our school - congratulations to Nick Kong, Mollie Trounson, Margie Strickland, Steve Roche and all the team for your work in putting the program together.

(I also took great delight while ushering some students from an un-named school to the hall when one of them looked around and exclaimed, "This school is SO much nicer than ours"!)

Respectful Relationships Film Stars

While on the topic of Respectful Relationships and also linked to our role as a Lead School, this week saw a film crew attend our school to film Nick Kong and many of our FNK Superstars doing a Respectful Relationships lesson and their reflections afterwards. FNK will participate in further filming in the coming weeks, alongside Mollie Trounson and members of our Year 6 cohort.

The videos created from this filming won't be seen by the general public, but instead will be stored behind Department of Education security for use as training material for teachers and schools new to some of the Respectful Relationships curriculum.

This is again great recognition of our Wellbeing and Inclusion teams, as well as all of our staff and our wonderfully supportive student and parent/carer community.

Changes to digital device use 

Information from the Department of Education regarding upcoming changes to digital device use in Victorian Government Primary Schools:

From 2027, the Victorian Government is introducing changes to the use of digital devices for students from Prep to Grade 6. Under the new guidelines, schools:

• will no longer invite families to purchase or bring their own digital devices to use at school for Prep to Grade 6

• will follow new recommended digital device times, including minimal device time for Prep to Grade 2; and a maximum of 90 minutes per day for grades 3 to 6.

These changes are intended to support families by reducing cost-of-living pressures. They will also support students by reducing screen-time which can reduce the risk of eye strain, sedentary behaviour, and reduced peer interaction. These reforms complement Victoria’s nation-leading mobile phone restrictions, ensuring an integrated approach to addressing digital distraction and the inappropriate use of technology.

Students with disability who use a digital device as a reasonable adjustment are exempt from these changes. 

We had previously communicated to families via this newsletter that, for similar reasons, we had already made the decision to phase out the 'Bring Your Own Device' program at Roberts McCubbin PS. We will continue this phase out as planned, with students from F-2 already utilising school-owned devices and students currently in years 3-6 still able to continue bringing personal devices optionally. School-owned laptops will incrementally be purchased and implemented into the Year 3-6 learning programs.

SunSmart Reminder – Hats Required Throughout Term 4

As part of our school’s SunSmart policy, the official SunSmart period is now active. We expect that all students will begin wearing their hats, with our 'no hat, no play' system currently in place. Please ensure your child’s hat is clearly labelled and brought to school each day. Spartan Uniforms have hats in stock for purchase if needed. Thank you for helping us keep our students safe in the sun.

Peter Watson

Principal