Message from Principal Sarah

Appreciations

As we near the end of the school year, we would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all our families for their support and understanding this year. We know it hasn’t been an easy year with extended lockdowns, remote learning, and limited school interactions, and we want to acknowledge that the work we have achieved this year is a team effort – so thank you to our students, our staff, and our families.

End of 2021 School Year 

Students will be dismissed at 1.30 pm on Friday 17 December 2021. Our end-of-year assembly will begin at 1 pm for all students and staff. Parents are welcome to attend this event, however, must adhere to QR codes and visitors to school policy. If you would like to attend our end-of-year assembly you will need to enter the school via the front office, sign in via the QR codes and show evidence of vaccination on arrival. 

Students will be dismissed by teachers from their year-level gates, following assembly.

Transition Day and 2022 Classes

Yesterday our students spent time in their 2022 classes with their 2022 teachers. NMPS currently has 789 confirmed student enrolments for 2022. Our class structure is as follows:

4 x Prep classes

4 x Year 1 classes

5 x Year 2 classes

6 x Year 3 classes

5 x Year 4 classes

5 x Year 5 classes

5 x Year 6 classes 

Classes have been formed by teachers, our wellbeing team, and school leaders. We have a high level of trust in our leadership and teaching teams to make decisions based on the best outcomes for all of our students.

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

2022 Staffing

As we approach the end of the school year, we are farewelling some of our staff and welcoming new members to our NMPS team. 

We farewell some amazing teachers who have contributed greatly to our school and we thank them for their dedication and commitment to NMPS over the years. We say goodbye (for now) to the following staff who are taking extended leave for 2022; Nerida Rocke, Jaimi Darwell, Tess Vu, Lisa Higgins, and Svet Blagojevic. We also say farewell to Mandy Saill, Jess Robinson, Justin Sepe, Michael Taylor, Megan Anderson-Thompson, and Hugh Hutchinson who are leaving NMPS to pursue other teaching and career opportunities. We wish these staff members all the very best in their future endeavours.

In 2022 we will welcome Matilda Bailey, Lizzie Wright, Matilda O’Brien, Julia Mercadante, and Louise Ryan. We also welcome back Jane McCraken, Mollie McMahon, Josie Chan, and Paul Rocke. We look forward to welcoming these people to our NMPS team and working with them in 2022.

Year 6 Farewell

On Thursday 9th December we will farewell our Year 6 students in their final school celebration - the Year 6 Graduation. Please refer to the information sent out via Compass for further details around the graduation, including COVIDSafe attendance requirements.

We know the 2020 and 2021 school years have been challenging and have had a significant impact on our Year 6 students’ last two years at primary school. We are thankful for the return to school in Term 4 this year which allowed our students to reflect and celebrate with some of the ‘normal’ Year 6 end-of-year events. 

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 Year 6 students.

2022 Student Leadership Roles 

As our Year 6 students transition into secondary school, we have the opportunity to welcome and develop our new school leaders. 

We would like to acknowledge all Year 5 students who applied for the school leader roles. Whilst we understand there may be feelings of disappointment for the students who were not appointed, we believe that all students have demonstrated resilience in the process. 

Our 2022 leaders will be announced on Friday at our end-of-year assembly, and we will have another assembly at the beginning of 2022 to formally announce these leaders into their roles.

2022 Term Dates

Pupil Free Days 2022 

State Government Primary Schools are entitled to four pupil-free days each year, that are used for curriculum planning and professional development. Students are not required to attend school these days. The focus for each curriculum day is determined by the school's leadership team, based on the goals in the school’s Strategic Plan and the Annual Implementation Plan, and the needs of the school. 

The following pupil-free days have been approved by the School Council for 2022, please note these in your calendar. 

• Friday 28 January
• Tuesday 26 April 
• Monday 11 July
• Monday 3 October

Tutor Learning Initiative 2022

As families may be aware, this year, the Department of Education and Training (DET) has provided the Tutor Learning Initiative program to support schools in targeting students who need support due to the remote learning period. Our school will continue to receive funding for this program in 2022 and be able to support students in both Literacy and Numeracy. Our tutors will continue to work collaboratively with classroom teachers across the school in providing identified students with the targeted learning support they need to address the continued impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022 School Return Date

Our students in Year 1 to Year 6 will commence school on Monday 31st January 2022 and we will welcome our Prep students to school on Tuesday 1st February 2022.

As this is the final newsletter for the 2021 school year, we would like to wish everyone a relaxing, safe, and enjoyable summer holiday. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for the 2022 school year. 

Once again, I send my thanks to everyone for their efforts throughout yet another extraordinary year!