Greetings from Shaun

It is hard to believe that this will be the second last newsletter for the year! 

The past two weeks have been yet another celebration of amazing learning at Northcote Primary. The highlights continue to mount and I just love being able to see and hear about the learning and growth across all of our classrooms. I have particualrly enjoyed speaking with the students out in the yard this week about their achievements over the year and what they are most proud of. Many have even shared some goals they are yet to achieve.

Art show and Picnic

We are very excited about our annual Art Show and picnic, which is fast approaching! Don't blink because it is this Monday the 5th of December from 5 - 7pm and it is shaping up to be an absolute success.  I can’t wait for you to see you all there!

This is a great opportunity for the community to get together and celebrate the wonderful work that the children have created in the art room throughout the year. It's also a great opportunity to get to know other community members who you may not have had an opportunity to meet during the year and to celebrate some of the achievements of a busy year together. 

Once again, massive thanks to Edwina for organising the show and for her work in supporting our children's development as artists.

It would seem that Northcote has it's very own sushi train for Monday night! We have been inundated with sushi and rice paper roll orders. Many thanks to Kate Creighton-Selvay for organising this and to Donna and Bridgette for taking the deluge of orders made in at the the office this week. 

Look out for the ice cream van which will be serving made to order fruit blended ice creams onsite. What a delicious treat!

Prep Orientation

Last Tuesday we saw our 2023 Preps join us one last time for our final orientation session. It was so lovely to see many new families joining our beautiful community and others continuing their strong connection with our school. 

The childrens little faces absolutely brimmed from ear to ear and you could just tell that they cherished the very opportunity to get to visit the school one last time.  The prep rooms were a hive of excitement as our 2023 Grade 6 Buddies met their new friends during the session and got to enjoy some very precious time together forming new relationships. The connections were immediate and I can just tell that our Grade 6 Buddies are going to be the most amazing role models and a tremendous support to this new cohort of Preps as they begin their journey at Northcote.  We look forward to sharing that journey with them. 

Fundraising Updates

We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of our NPS created tea towels and we think they were certainly well worth the wait!  Thanks to the amazing efforts of Edwina (designer) and Anita (fundraiser organiser) for making these incredible works of art come together as great keepsakes for families. Thank you also to our very talented students who worked together in year levels to produce the final designs. They really are a piece of art.  I spoke to one Prep this week who apparently ordered one trillion and was so very excited to be giving them out as gifts to family and friends this year. 

More exciting news, our mangoes are on their way too! The trays are due to be delivered on Thursday the 8th of December. Please collect your orders between 3-4pm from outside the canteen. If you are unable to collect your order on Thursday or would like your mango trays sent to OSH Club please email Sophie (sophiesmibert@yahoo.com.au) to organise.

5/6 Camp

Last week our Grade 5/6's went on a fun filled adventure camp to The Summit Adventure Park, located in Trafalgar East on 50 acres, just over an hour and a half away from NPS. From all accounts the weather held out, the country air was beautiful and it was as an absolute success. Everyone involved had an amazing time, speaking with students I did hear the mention of mud angels which were a highlight and a terrifyingly dark cave that tested their resolve. Thanks again to the 5/6 team, Anita, Olivia and our incredible parent volunteers for helping make The Summit the success that it was. 

Whilst we are discussing the Grade 5/6's, they have one very busy Term 4 social calendar for the remaining few weeks at Northcote Primary School! They have their end of year celebration excursion to Funfields on Thursday the 8th of December and of course their Graduation evening, where we will officially celebrate their time here at Northcote on Tuesday the 13th of December at Welcome to Thornbury. 

To add to their busy schedule, on Monday this week they also began their first of three sessions of Relationships and Sexuality Education. The session 'Human development across the lifespan' focused onmale and female reproductive systems and exploring the concept and process of reproduction and its place in the natural world.

Dante Alighiere Society Competition

Northcote Primary School fared extremely well in this competition with 56 of our students representing our school at state level.

Congratulations to Rosie (Grade 6) who received 2nd place, Talia (Grade 6) who received 3rd place and to Grace (Grade 6) who received the Teacher's Choice Award. There were many honourable mentions and high distinctions also. We want to celebrate all those students who entered the competition, we are very proud of your efforts.

A huge thanks to Rosa who is both encouraging and passionate about her student's participation in this competition. 

Staffing News 

As we head towards the end of the school year, and the beginning of a new one ahead, we have a number of staffing changes, familiar faces bidding Northcote Primary School  farewell and new faces joining our staff team in 2023. 

At the end of 2022 we will be very sad to say farewell to staff moving on to jobs in other schools next year. Hilary, Edwina, Heather and Brooke will be taking up roles in other schools next year. We wish them all the very best in their new schools and we thank them for the great contribution that they have made to our school. 

We also have a familiar face re-joining Northcote in 2023, we welcome back Sharif who returns from a year of leave. Although, you may have seen him around the place at times this year, helping out. 

I announced in the last newsletter that I was pleased to welcome three new teaching staff to the school for 2023 Meg, Matt, and Brigitte.  I would also like to welcome Natalie who will be joining the Northcote team next year. 

Transition 

on Friday the 9th December all Prep to Grade Five students will meet their new classmates on our first transition session. Please note, that for this particular session, students will have a teacher who is currently teaching that year level and not necessarily their 2023 teacher. They will also be in a space that the current year level is occupying. 

On Tuesday the 13th of December, our second transition session, this is the statewide transition day. All our current Grade 6 students will head off to their chosen secondary school, and our Prep to Grade 5 students will "step-up" to their next year level. This will be an oppurtunity for students to meet their 2023 teachers, class mates and see the classroom that they will be in for 2023. 

Tutor Music Program

Earlier this week Terry McDermott, our Tutor Music Program co-ordinator, let me know that he had been offered an employment opportunity commencing in January next year. This means that his time with us at Northcote Primary School is coming to an end. 

We will work with the School Council President and the School Council early next year to commence the tendor process and to ensure a smooth transition so that our budding musicians are supported in their music endeavours in 2023 and beyond. Please note that due to the timing of this announcement,  we will endeavour to have completed the tendor process and have a music tutor program up and running by the beginning of Term 2. 

We wish Terry all the best in his new role and thank him for his hard work, commitment and advocacy for music and the music program here at Northcote PS. 

Shaun Wells

Principal