Principal's Report 

In Our Classrooms

Welcome back! After the summer break, it's fantastic to see our students return, full of energy and ready for an exciting year ahead. Our teaching and education support staff have worked hard to have learning spaces ready for students’ return and it’s been wonderful to visit classrooms this week and see students settling into their new classrooms and routines. 

Week 1, and 2 of this term are set aside for our Flying Start program. Students and teachers are working hard to define, practice and implement routines for productive, safe, and orderly learning environments for the year ahead. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing this at work in classrooms this week.

In Our Staffroom

This week, our staff engaged in two days of productive professional learning. A major focus was sharing our refined vision and our 2024 implementation plan. This year, we're honing in on two key areas. In terms of our learning focus, we’re enhancing student agency and feedback through learning ladders. In terms of wellbeing, we're excited to roll out the Proud Port Behaviours framework, aiming to boost consistency and quality in student behaviour and engagement in classrooms and the yard. This week teachers have introduced students to our new Proud Port Points system and refined classroom support continuum that will support all students to remain on-task and doing their best.

View our vision and goals for this year.

This year, we’re committed to accelerating student learning growth and continuously improving student learning outcomes. The Proud Port Behaviour Framework lays the foundation for this, while our Learning Ladders approach provides valuable feedback and buy-in for students in the learning process. Additionally, we're introducing our new Masterclass Subject focused on critical literacy and numeracy skills, ensuring each student receives this vital support. Underpinning all of this is our deepened commitment to student wellbeing, delivered by a dedicated team of mental health and wellbeing practitioners. This robust support structure is critical to our educational approach, ensuring each student is supported to grow, not only academically, but also emotionally and socially.

Welcome back to Selene, Alex P and Sasha who have all returned to our teaching team this year. Welcome too to Kate Plarre who joins our office team and Paisley Blank who joins our leadership team. It's incredibly positive that among widespread teacher shortages, we’re maintaining and retaining such a high-quality workforce at the school. You can see the complete Port Melbourne Primary School team in our organisation chart.

In Our Community

A warm welcome to all new PMPS families joining our community, especially our prep students and their families. I had the pleasure of attending the Prep's Boo Hoo Woo Hoo lunch this week, a fantastic display of the engaged and supportive community spirit at Port Melbourne Primary School.

I hope you each had a relaxing and enjoyable break, it’s been a pleasure to connect with new and familiar faces in the yard this week, and I’m looking forward to sharing a fantastic 2024 with you all.