Principal's Desk
Welcome Back to an Exciting New School Year!
Welcome back to our wonderful Park Ridge Primary School community and to what promises to be another fantastic year of learning, growth and connection. We hope you and your families enjoyed a restful and enjoyable holiday break. It has been a joy to see our students return with big smiles, ready to reconnect with friends and embrace the year ahead.
Over the holidays, the school was a hive of activity, with a number of maintenance and improvement projects completed to ensure our learning spaces are safe, fresh and welcoming for everyone. These upgrades are an important part of creating an environment where students can thrive. Mr Garvey has included a detailed overview of the works completed during the break on his page in this newsletter.
A Strong Start to 2026
Last week, we proudly launched our Start Right approach, which sets the tone for the year by focusing on building a strong, inclusive learning community where our school values are explicitly taught and lived each day. As we’ve walked through classrooms, it has been wonderful to see students engaged in hands-on learning, participating in rich discussions and building positive relationships with their teachers and peers. Out in the yard, the laughter and energy of our students has been a welcome sign that Park Ridge is truly back in full swing.
Our staff also began the year with two Curriculum Days, dedicated to professional learning aligned with the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. This research-informed framework supports our refined approach to teaching and learning, with a strong focus on explicit instruction and creating an optimal climate for learning. These key elements play a vital role in supporting student engagement, confidence and success. Time was also allocated to our collective approach to School-Wide Positive Behaviours. During these two days, we spent developing a shared understanding of our new school values, how expectations will be explicitly taught, and how we will consistently support students to build and sustain a positive learning culture.
With such a strong start already underway, we are excited about the opportunities that 2026 will bring. Thank you for your continued support and partnership - we look forward to sharing another great year of learning and achievement with our Park Ridge Primary School community.
Annual privacy reminder for our school community
Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice.
Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy (available on our website), describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.
For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in eleven community languages:
Amharic
Arabic
Chinese
Dari
Gujarati
Mandarin
Somali
Sudanese
Turkish
Urdu
Vietnamese
Please feel free to pop in for a chat with either Carrie, Brendan or I, should you wish to discuss anything.
Our doors are always open!
Take care,
Mr. Dale Blythman