Assistant Principal's Message

Sue Gordon

A message from our Assistant Principal

Welcome to the start of the 2026 school year at Middle Park Primary School.

The dedication, professionalism and thoughtful preparation of our staff has ensured a positive and exciting start for all students. Our Preps are settling in extremely well and have already shown themselves to be a mature, enthusiastic and eager-to-learn group. Across the school, both new and returning students are enjoying their new classes, classrooms and teachers.

We are very much looking forward to a wonderful year ahead, built on strong relationships, high-quality teaching and a shared commitment to learning and wellbeing.

Our Teams for 2026

We are fortunate to have strong and collaborative teaching teams this year, with a mix of familiar faces and new staff joining the MPPS community.

Prep

• Prep A – Imogen Santamaria
• Prep B – Sally Peters

Year 1/2

• 1/2A – Emily Clarke & Sam Seconnino
• 1/2B – Lucy Holmes
• 1/2C – Phoebe Sheehan (new to MPPS)
• 1/2D – Shaun Brown

Year 3/4

• 3/4A – Karalyn Jones (new to MPPS)
• 3/4B – Kristen Logan
• 3/4C – Quentin Rule
• 3/4D – Sarah Lloyd
• 3/4E – Ti Phan (new to MPPS)

Year 5/6

• 5/6A – Fiona McNamara
• 5/6B – Lewis Mildenhall
• 5/6C – Sarah Salem
• 5/6D – Simone Pakavakis

Specialist Teachers

• Art – Tracey Black
• Performing Arts – Ferne Bachelor & Aliki Watson-Jones
• Physical Education – Jacqui Stephens
• French – Amy Pitcher

We are also very grateful for our amazing Education Support teams who unwaveringly support all of us each day.

Learning Support Team

• Gaby Doquile
• Charlei Hoad
• Craig Hansen
• Susan Kouretas

Office Team

• Naomi Hayes
• Debbie Bassal
• Georgina Morgan
• Emily Healey (School Nurse)

We warmly welcome our new staff members and thank all staff for their commitment to supporting every student to thrive.

Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) - School Improvement Focus for 2026

Learning Goal: Learning stretch for all – students and staff

Our focus remains on ensuring continued learning growth and consistently high learning outcomes across all classrooms and learning programs. 

This year our key implementation strategies include:

• Consistent teaching and learning practices across the school
• Strong professional knowledge of learning sequences for all staff
• Implementation of the MPPS Teaching Guide
  • Semester One: Engagement Pillar – Stretch to New Learning
    • Codified technique: Stretch It
  • Semester Two: Engagement Pillar – Sparking Curiosity
    • Codified technique: To be confirmed
• Implementation of our MPPS prioritised curriculum in Number and Reading and Writing
• Development of a world knowledge curriculum in 2026

Wellbeing Goal: Building the social and emotional capabilities of all students

Our wellbeing work continues to be a core priority at MPPS. In 2026, this includes:

• Real Schools – Restorative Practices 2.0 (RP 2.0)
  • A three-year partnership with Real Schools. We partnered with Real Schools back in 2015/2016 and it was very successful and worthwhile in building our restorative culture and practices. We thought 2026 was a wonderful opportunity to renew our partnership to refine our practices and to implement any reviewed approaches within RP 2.0.

  • We will be working with our Expert Facilitator, Daniel Vella. Daniel is an ex-Principal who has successfully implemented Real Schools in his previous school. He will be leading staff professional learning, connecting with School Council and parents, working directly with staff and students in classrooms and our teaching teams.

     

• DET initiative - Mental Health in Primary Schools 

   

  We have a new Mental Health Wellbeing Leader (MHWL) role this year at MPPS. This a DET initiative that has been funded and rolled out across the various regions over the last few years. Bayside schools are included in the roll out for this year. 

   

  We are very pleased to inform you that Mel Russell has accepted this role. Many families will know Mel through their work with her as a classroom teacher. Mel brings a wealth of professional expertise and knowledge to the role.

   

  Mel, our Wellbeing team members and I will be participating in a range of DET workshops and training this term which will support us to develop what the role looks like in our school. As with all new initiatives, we have been advised by DET to take it one step at a time and to approach the establishment of this role in a considered and informed manner.

   

  The Mental Health Wellbeing Leader role will include:

   

  • Leading implementation of whole school social and emotional wellbeing programs
  • Leading professional learning around student social and emotional wellbeing for staff
  • Strengthening partnerships with families

  • Supporting students through wellbeing plans, Student Support Groups (SSGs) and links to external agencies

     

We will continue to update you as this new MHWL evolves at MPPS.

• Continued implementation of:
  • School Wide Positive Behaviour Support
  • MPPS Values: Respect, Kindness and Gratitude
  • Statement of Expectations
  • Tiered approach to supporting student behaviour and wellbeing
  • A structured approach to support student wellbeing

Summer Fair 2026

We are looking forward to our major fundraiser the MPPS Summer Fair on Saturday February 21st. As we know, these events take a great deal of planning and preparation before the event. James and Charlei Spalding (Jess and Albie’s parents) are leading the team this year, and we would be very grateful for as many volunteers as possible. Please look out for the sign-up forms to offer your support in the lead up to the day, on the day and clean following the day. 

Sign up here to Volunteer

Buy Your MPPS Summer Fair Wrist Bands Here

We will conduct a working bee on Sunday February 15th from 9.00am – 12.00pm to prepare the school grounds for the Summer Fair. We would be very grateful to have many hands-on deck!

We are looking forward to a great year ahead!

Kind regards,

Sue Gordon