Greetings from Julie

Production

Congratulations to this year's production poster competition winners. Keep your eyes peeled around our school and attached below for their beautiful designs.

Holly H - Prep

Alex P - Prep

Leni, Eve P, Olive H & Evie CK - 1/2

Grace P - 5/6

Rosie E - 5/6

We are so excited for our school production which will be sent out as a link to watch from Monday the 13th of December. Filming is happening today, Thursday 2nd December.

Thank you!

A big thank you to the Northcote Primary School families who have donated to school fund-raising events. We have recently used these funds to purchase a 98” display TV in the hall! We were able to use it for our first post-lockdown assembly, and for the guest speaker for the prep transition information session. It is wonderful that we are able to provide these additional resources for all the students at the school.

School events, gatherings, and assemblies

Great that our end of year events can proceed. The following is the current advice from the school operations guide:

Parents, carers and other adult visitors not performing work need to show evidence of vaccination when entering a school building. This includes for the purpose of activities such as school tours and kindergarten transition programs.

Parents, carers and other adult visitors attending a gathering at school, such as a fete, school play or graduation ceremony, whether indoors or outdoors, need to show evidence of vaccination on arrival.

* At the school picnic tea on Monday 6th December, we will have staff on gates checking vaccination certificates on entry.

Prep enrolments for 2022

Given that we have been unable to do school tours until recently, we have extended the deadline for prep enrolments for 2022. We are keen to get as many enrolments as possible, so please recommend us to friends and family. Enrolments will be accepted right up until the last week of school, but ideally we would like students to enrol now in order to be able to attend the final transition day next week.

Reports

Your child/ren’s reports will be available on COMPASS from 4pm on Thursday 9th December. If you need any help accessing COMPASS, please ask for assistance at the front office.

2022 Classes

It is that time of the year already where we are saying goodbye to some staff and welcoming others.

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to Linda Batten, Jennifer Haas and Roisin Mullan, all of whom are leaving the Northcote Primary School Community. Linda has been at NPS for 28 years and Jennifer nearly 9 years. There are no words that can express the gratitude for the incredible commitment these people have made to our community.

It has not been an easy year, and although we have come through the other side, for some of us, COVID has meant a re-evaluation of our priorities. Nicole Parker and Sharif Slamet will be exploring other opportunities in 2022, but we hope to see them back again in 2023. Likewise, Penny Foster has decided to pursue another opportunity in 2022, but hopefully we will see her back at NPS in 2023.

Michelle Mielnik is returning to her base school. Thank you, Michelle for your hard work at Northcote Primary School this year. Meagan Porter is also leaving. We thank Meagan for her work in the Tutor Learning Initiative. The students have benefited greatly from all her hard work. Brigit Chisolm is also leaving in 2022. She will be missed by both students and staff.

We are very happy to be welcoming back Andrea Read and Brooke Lopuszanski in 2022. We are also very excited for you to meet three new teachers to our school: Sam Gaudion, Luke Reid and Eleanor Yewers. I am sure you will make them welcome.

I would also like to announce that after 48 years Lyn Ramsay, NPS Business Manager, has announced that she will be retiring next year. Lyn will still be around in early February to handover and we will have a chance to say goodbye to her then. On behalf of the whole community, I would like to thank Lyn for her outstanding commitment to Northcote Primary School. We wish you well!

Whilst staffing can change quickly at the end of the year, the following teaching teams are planned at this stage for 2022:

Prep team: Olivia Gibson and Anita Hillman

1/2 team: Brooke Lopuszanski, Stephanie Griffiths, Steven Bruce and Sam Gaudion

3/4 team: Laura Wandke, Eleanor Yewers, Lisa Engelander/Keziah Gillam, Heather Fletcher

5/6 team: Leah Gibson, Luke Reid, Andrea Read/Dale McLean, Hillary Stack

Your child will meet their new teacher on the transition day on Tuesday 7th December, 2021.

Thank you is enough

Whilst all the teachers are incredibly appreciative of the generosity of the Northcote Primary School community, we would like to stress that it is not necessary to buy end of year presents for the teaching staff. Unfortunately, there are strict rules around what teacher can and cannot accept, so although we appreciate the sentiment, teachers cannot accept expensive gifts. Please do thank the teachers in person – they appreciate your recognition.

Child Safe

Northcote Primary School is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. This will be the primary focus of our care and decision-making. Northcote Primary School has zero tolerance for child abuse and is committed to providing a child safe environment.

Take care and stay safe

Julie Andrews

Acting Principal

Collaboration – Community - Respect

New TV in Hall