Dear parents and carers,

It’s hard to believe we have less just over a week left of Term 1. As we near the end of this term, a reminder that we finish next Friday 4th April at 2:30pm. School will resume for Term 2 on Tuesday 22nd April.

Staffing Update

At the end of this term we farewell Nia Syrbopoulos who has been at Clifton Hill Primary School for over 16 years. Nia has taken up the Business Manager role at Fairfield Primary School. We thank Nia for her contributions to Clifton Hill Primary School and wish her all the best with her new position.

Kate Hare will commence maternity leave at the beginning of term 2. Good luck to Kate, Josh and Hugo. We look forward to meeting their new addition.

NAPLAN Testing

The annual National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy for students in Years 3 and 5 has been completed. During such times, students can display some increased anxiety. To support students, our approach at Clifton Hill Primary School is to ensure students are aware of all their great attributes that make them who they are. Many of these attributes cannot be measured in a NAPLAN test, so ensuring students view NAPLAN as just a small part of what they do at school is important.

Teaching and Learning Reforms

This year, government schools need to continue to work towards implementing two significant and interrelated teaching and learning reforms, the new Victorian Curriculum F-10 2.0 (the ‘what’) and the new Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (the ‘how’). Following work undertaken by staff over the last 12 months, the full implementation of the new Victorian Curriculum F-10 2.0 for Mathematics and English began from the beginning of this year. The full implementation for all other subjects will take place in 2026.

This year, staff will also be reviewing our teaching practice and instruction models against the key elements of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. This revised teaching model is informed by contemporary evidence about the way students learn and the most effective teaching practices and approaches to achieve strong learning outcomes for students. It has explicit teaching at its core.

Colour Fun Run

An explosion of colour and smiles across all faces was seen as students raced around the colour fun run course last Tuesday. Students also enjoyed participating in other activities which included a disco and circus skills. And let’s not forget the much-anticipated sliming of different staff members as momentum was built leading up to our colour fun run day.

Thank you to all families who fundraised for this event. Money raised will be put towards carpet replacement in classrooms in the main building. This process began last year and is still an ongoing focus for the school. A special thank you to those staff members who were slimed.

Hats/Sunscreen

As we enter Autumn and the sun continues to shine, it is important that students have a hat to wear during recess and lunch. Broadbrimmed or legionnaire hats need to be worn until the last day in April. We ask parents to remind their child to pack their hat every day until that date. We also ask that families ensure students apply sunscreen at home before attending school.

Road Safety Reminder

A week rarely passes without multiple examples of worrying behaviour from motorists during the busy drop off and pick up times. The rush to do so often leads to students being put at risk by being encouraged to walk between double parked cars and crossing streets away from the pedestrian crossing. We can all recall the road accident tragedy that occurred at a Melbourne primary school last year. No one wants to see a similar experience at CHPS.

Thanks and have a great break,

Gareth Buck

Clifton Hill Primary School acknowledges the Wurundjeri people as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we come together to learn, and we pay our respects to Elders of the Kulin Nation past and present.

Writing: Colour Fun Run