Final Assembly

On Friday the 20th of December at 9am, we will hold our final whole-school assembly on the top turf to bid farewell to our Year 6 students. We have a special tradition here at Northcote which has been carefully prepared to give them a proper send off. As part of the celebration, our current Year 6 House Captains will be announcing who will be taking over the mantle for 2025.

For parents and families attending, the Henry Street and Hawthorn Road gates will open at 8:45am for entry. The weather forecast looks promising, it is looking like it could be warm, so we kindly ask that all visitors are sun smart.

The Project- Kids Chat

Some of you may not know that earlier this year, we had Susie Youssef and The Project visit our school to film a segment called KidsChat. Susie interviewed several of our younger students, and I’m thrilled to announce that the first part of the segment will air on Friday, 20th December, with the second part following on Friday the 10th of January.

I won’t spoil the surprise, but be sure to tune in and catch our young stars in action!

Staffing Updates

Farewells

Last fortnight we bid a fond farewell to Martin, who accepted an ongoing position teaching Music at a school in Dandenong. We wish him all the best in his new role and are confident he will continue to inspire students in his future endeavours.

As the year ends, we thank Angus for his hard work and the positive impact that he has made at Northcote Primary School. We wish him all the best for the future and know he will excel in his next chapter. Thank you, Angus!

We are also farewelling Luke, who has accepted a teaching position at Meadow Glen PS for 2024. We thank Luke for his contributions to Northcote Primary School and wish him all the best as he takes on this exciting new opportunity.

We are saying good-bye to Jules, one of our Education Support (ES) worker, who is heading to Greensborough SC in 2024. We thank Jules for her work and support during her time her at Northcote PS. We wish her all the best in this next chapter of her career.

Although we said goodbye to Gaynor last year, we missed her so much that we welcomed her back for the year. Once again, we thank Gaynor for her work in Italian with the Specialist team and wish her all the best.

Please be sure to say your farewells to Angus, Luke, Jules and Gaynor over the next little while (5 days but who is counting) and we look forward to hopefully seeing them all again in the near future.

Welcome

I am thrilled to announce that Anita will be returning to Northcote PS next year after her parental leave. She will rejoin the Specialist team and teach Music, just in time for the School Production! Welcome back Anita!

I want to extend a warm Northcote PS welcome to LeeAnn who will stepping in to the Specialist team and working with Rosa to teach Italian next year.

We are also welcoming a new staff member, Megan F, who many families may recognise from her time at TimeOut and her recent placement at Northcote PS last term. Megan will be joining the 3/4 team next year, and we are excited to have her back.

If you want to get to know Megan F and LeeAnn, they have kindly written a message in the “Meet our newest team members for 2025” section of this issue of the newsletter.

Announcing our 2025 Teaching Teams

We are very pleased to anounce our Teaching Teams for the 2025 school year.

Prep Team

Prep A Meg

Prep B Brigitte

Grade 1

Grade 1C Mia

Grade 1D Izzy

Grade 2

Grade 2A Eleanor

Grade 2B Sam

Grade 3/4

Grade 3/4A Nick

Grade 3/4B Stephanie

Grade 3/4C Matt

Grade 3/4 Megan F

Grade 5/6A Declan

Grade 5/6B Andrea & Meagan P

Grade 5/6C Emma

Grade 5/6D Steve

To help you find where everyone will be based next year, here is a map of the school. If you've ever searched an apartment building with a car park on realestae.com, this will be familiar, but just to clarify, please note that the Block and Uptown are not in their correct positions!

Meet the Teacher and Welcome Picnic

We want to give you advanced notice of some changes to the format of our Meet the Teacher conferences and Welcome Picnic for the start of next year.

Please mark Tuesday, February 4th in your calendar!

Over the past few months, we have been gathering feedback from both parents and teachers. The Meet the Teacher interviews at the start of the year provide an opportunity for parents to share valuable insights about their child, which will help guide the teacher’s approach. However, we recognise that families have different needs—some simply want to meet the teacher and put a face to a name, while others may have more specific information they wish to share.

To accommodate everyone and ensure a smooth start to the school year, we’re making the following adjustments:

Student dismissal: Students will be dismissed at 12pm so that interviews can begin at 12:30pm. OSH will be available on the day, and we will make arrangements to supervise children who need to stay at school for the day.
Booking interviews: Parents can book a 10-minute interview timeslot via Compass. We will send out information for booking during the week of January 20th, so please keep an eye out for that communication.
If you need flexible options to attend a conference, please reach out to your child’s teacher early in the year, and we will work with you to accommodate your needs.
If you don’t require a formal sit-down meeting, there’s no need to book a time. You are welcome to say hello to your child’s new teacher at the Welcome Picnic, which will take place from 5pm to 7pm.

To reassure you, the Mid-Year interviews will remain unchanged and will take place in Term 3 on July 30th from 12:30pm to 7pm. It’s a little early, but please add this date to your calendar as well!

Just a reminder, each year our classroom teachers complete a thorough handover to ensure important information is shared to support your child as they transition to the next year level. You will also have opportunities to book meetings with your child’s teacher throughout the year as needed.

We appreciate your understanding as we implement these changes and look forward to a fantastic start to the school year!

Save the Dates for 2025

We have been working hard to update key dates section of the newsletter and the calendar on our website.

Please be sure to check these for upcoming events in 2025.

Here are some important dates to note:

We will send out a Compass post during the week of Monday, January 20th, which will include details about the 2025 Parent Payment Arrangement (PPA) and instructions for booking a Meet-the-Teacher conference.
School Photo Day is scheduled for Tuesday, February 18th.
And, of course, our fete is confirmed for Saturday, March 22nd, from 11am. It’s hard to believe, but that means we have less than 100 days to go!

We are still looking for volunteers for the fete. Please remember, in line with the Victorian Government's Child Safe Standards, all fete volunteers are required to have a Working with Children Check. If you haven’t completed this already, it’s a quick, 15-minute process that can be done from your phone.

Thank you for your support, and we look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Changes to Assembly in 2025 (reminder)

Starting in 2025, our weekly whole-school assembly will move from Monday mornings to Friday afternoons at 2:50 pm. This change aims to maximise instructional time at the start of the week.

We will continue to notify families in advance when their child is receiving a Student of the Week award. We appreciate your understanding as we make this adjustment to enhance learning for out students and maintain community engagement.

Take care,

Shaun.

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