Message from Principal Sarah

Transition Day and 2023 Classes

Our Whole School Transition Day will be held next week on Tuesday 13th December. This is an opportunity for students to spend time in their 2023 classes with their 2023 teachers. Classes have been formed by teachers, our wellbeing team and school leaders. We have a high level of confidence in our leadership and teaching teams to make decisions based on the best outcomes for all of our students and trust our students will settle well into their new classes in 2023.

NMPS currently has 790 confirmed student enrolments for 2023. Our class structure is as follows:

5 x Prep classes

4 x Year 1 classes

5 x Year 2 classes

5 x Year 3 classes

6 x Year 4 classes

5 x Year 5 classes

5 x Year 6 classes

While we were expecting our P-2 campus to open at the beginning of the school year, due to construction delays all classes will begin 2023 at our Errol Street Campus. More information on our new campus is included in this newsletter.

2023 Staffing

As always at the end of a school year, we have an opportunity to welcome new members to our team and say farewell to some of our current staff.

In 2023 we welcome the following teaching staff: Georgina Aquilina, Brad Morin, Georgie Maher, Paige Frazer, Tom Gosling, Hayley Pupetti, Kristy Saint-Clair, Caroline Bett, Tom Drummond, Nick Sell and Gladys Yun. We also welcome back Tess Vu who is returning from a period of leave. In addition to the teaching staff, we welcome Joanne Willison who will join our administration team. We look forward to welcoming these people to our NMPS team and working with them in 2023.

We farewell some amazing teachers who have contributed to our school and we thank them for their dedication and commitment to NMPS over the years. The following staff are taking leave for the 2023 school year: Rose Bisignano, Liam Moore, Jacquie Hogan, Kate Morris and Jane McCracken. We wish Eleanor Bennett and Josie Chan all the best as they begin their maternity leave in 2023. We also say farewell to Louise Ryan, Moira Peddie Trent Klowss, Fiona Livingstone, Eddie Alexander and Sandra Capito who are leaving NMPS to pursue other opportunities. We wish all staff members leaving NMPS the very best in their future endeavours.

A full staffing profile will be shared with families early next year.

2023 Timetable Changes

With the opening of the new campus in 2023 there will be some changes to our timetable both from the beginning of the year and when we move across to the Molesworth Street Campus. 

From the beginning of the year, we will be moving to an hour session timetable, instead of a 50 minute session timetable. This allows an extra 10 minutes for each session across the day so children have the opportunity to delve deeper into their learning each session. With the move to this timetable, eating time will now be indoors before break times. 

Please see the 2023 timetable below.

Starting and finishing times

Once our Prep-Year 2 students move across to the Molesworth Street Campus we will be running two timetables. For your preparation, please note the following starting and finishing times for each campus:

Prep – 2 Molesworth Street Campus

Classes begin at 9am and conclude at 3:30pm

Year 3 – Year 6 Errol Street Campus

Classes begin at 8:45am and conclude at 3:15pm

We recognise this will be a change for our families, however, believe this model will allow for families to drop off and pick up at each campus. 

Please note, this will not come into effect until the Molesworth Street Campus opens.

More information on the change of the timetable once both campuses are opened will be shared in Term 1, 2023.

2023 Curriculum Changes

As you may be aware, this year Victorian schools have seen a teacher shortage across the state and NMPS has unfortunately been no exception to this crisis. As a result, we have been unable to staff a LOTE program for 2023.

To ensure our students are still experiencing a range of specialist subjects, we will be running Science as an interim specialist subject in 2023. The other specialist subjects remain the same as 2022 and include Visual Arts, Performing Arts and Physical Education.

At NMPS, we are committed to running a LOTE program moving forward, and as such we will be consulting with the school community in 2023, regarding a new LOTE program for 2024.

Year 6 Farewell

On Thursday 15th December we will farewell our Year 6 students in their final school celebration - the Year 6 Farewell. Please refer to information sent out via Compass for further details around the farewell.

While leaving primary school may cause mixed emotions in some students, we are confident that over the seven years at North Melbourne Primary School, students have developed independence, resilience, and an enthusiasm for learning which will hold them in good stead to transition into secondary school.

Congratulations and all the very best to our 2022 Year 6 students.