Principals Report 

In opening our first newsletter of the new term, I’d like to extend a warm welcome back to school to our students, staff and broader community. I hope the school holiday period was safe and enjoyable and you were all able to connect with family and friends. 

To conclude the holiday period, I joined with Maria Chadwick, our Music and Performing Arts teacher, our School Captains and our ‘Modern Choir’ in attending the Port Melbourne ANZAC Day Service. This service is an incredibly special one, as the Port of Melbourne was such a significant marker for our community during times of war. 

In the now two years that I have been Principal of Port Melbourne Primary School, attending the ANZAC Day Ceremony stands out as a time where I am most proud of our school community. Our Modern Choir show harmony and cohesion, proudly representing our school in our bold royal blue and red school colours. Our School Captains show honour and pride in laying a wreath in recognition of the fallen soldiers in our local community. Importantly too, a significant representation of our broader school attend as families and with friends. On a personal note, I was fortunate to attend with an old school friend who served in the armed forces for many years. He wears his badges with pride on this day. 

Observing our students in their classrooms this week, I saw the variety of ways our teachers and students discussed the importance of ANZAC Day. I was in Prep on Tuesday afternoon, as the students collected the poppies they made earlier in the day. I would hope our youngest students were able to go home to you and talk about why they made a poppy and why they are so important on ANZAC Day. Today our School Captains prepared a short remote service for the school with great maturity and poise. Again, I hope you can engage with your child about that experience when they come home tonight. 

The themes that each of the guest speakers shared at the service on Monday reflect what is important to us in schools. Honour, pride and relationships were three that stood out to me and I know these are a focus of how we learn and play together. 

Term 2 will be a bit of a sprint; just nine weeks in total with a couple of four-day weeks, due to the ANZAC Day and Queen’s Birthday Public Holidays. Student learning and assessment will be at the forefront of what we do; our Grades 3 and 5 students are currently preparing for the NAPLAN Assessment Period, whilst all students will receive their Semester One Student Report later this term. 

Thank you for your ongoing support and keep doing your best.

Rohan.