• new carpet was laid in the Art Room building and staff community centre. Over the last few years, almost the entire school has been recarpeted.
• the hall floor received a light re-sanding.

We use locally-raised funds for these projects, which do not attract any government funding. Thank you to all families who make contributions to the school, through fund-raising and our Building Fund.

Over the holidays, we had a change to our Staff List and are starting the year in recruitment mode! Our updated staff list can be found here.

As usual, we start the year by offering parents the opportunity to hear from the teachers in each sub-school next week. These Parent Information sessions will be held online via Webex on:

• Monday 9 February at 3:45pm - Grades 5 and 6
• Tuesday 10 February at 3:45pm - Grades 3 and 4, and Prep
• Thursday 12 February at 3:45pm - Grades 1 and 2 

Individual Meet the Teacher sessions, for parents with children in Grades 1 - 6, will be held on Tuesday 17 and Thursday 19 February via Webex. Meet the Teacher offers an opportunity for parents to share important information with their child's classroom teacher. Registration for these afternoon and evening meetings with class teachers opens this Sunday 8 February at 5.00 pm. At that time, a '2026 Meet the Teacher' bookings link becomes usable on Sentral. 

If you need to book an English as an Additional Language (EAL) Parent Teacher Meeting with our Chinese interpreter, Hui Lin assisting, please email our office. These meetings will be held on Monday 16 February.

In organising any school events such as these, we are required to work within the Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA). Requests for teachers to work outside of their contracted hours of work must be deemed 'essential' for consideration and planned well ahead through our staff Consultative Committee. As this involves teachers being paid time-in-lieu, we are unable to reschedule missed appointments, as this would require further time-in-lieu payments. Thanks for understanding this.  

For well over a decade, LPS has had enrolment restrictions, which were increased again last year by adding a limit for Prep enrolments. These have certainly been instrumental in us reaching our optimal enrolment of just under 600 students.

Additionally, with the curriculum changes to Victorian Curriculum 2.0 'specialist areas', we can now cover 'The Arts' curriculum by using six monthly cycles for Visual Arts or Performing Arts. This means we have at last changed our two week student timetable to a weekly timetable.

Your child/ren will spend one semester this year in each of these sections of The Arts. As well, Library, Physical  Education and Languages (Spanish) will continue to be taught every week.

A reminder that student-free days can be found on our website under the Our School/ Term Dates and Student Free Days tab, as soon as they are organised and approved by School Council. We'll also note these in eNews. School events can be found on the Event Calendar as soon as they are confirmed. 

Finally, after such a successful year in 2025, we're continuing with LPS Snack Club this year. Funded by the Victorian Government through Food Bank, the program provides healthy snacks to students. 

During February, students can collect fresh apples from the main office.

Thanks to our Grade 4 helpers who will assist with this initiative. From March, they will be ready to serve students on Tuesday mornings from 8:45 am, or Thursdays at afternoon recess, at the canteen next to the school hall.

Kim

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

• Parking and Road Safety 
  This section provides details about parking and signage around the school that is in place to maximise safety. It includes the following:
  
  Please observe all parking restrictions and obey traffic rules when dropping off and picking up your child. These are in place to maximise safety for everyone, including our students.
  
  Janet St has parking restrictions and areas where cars cannot be left unattended during certain times. Parking on the Janet St bend is illegal and dangerous.
  
  There is a ‘2 minute parking’ zone located off Pakenham St. Please be aware that this area is for drop off or pick up only. Please do not park in the drive through area (there is parking available at the Bowls Club if you need to wait or leave your car).
  
  Please ensure that traffic can keep moving in these areas and teach your child the safest way to enter and exit the car, from the passenger (not driver) side of the vehicle. 
  
  For those walking to and from school, please ensure you use the staffed School Crossing if crossing the road at Pakenham St. Please refrain from crossing the road at or near the Janet St bend as this is extremely dangerous.
  
  Council parking officers regularly patrol the roads surrounding the school and fine offenders. 
  
  ‘No Parking’ Signage 
  If there is a 'No Parking' sign, you can stop for 2 minutes in that area if you are picking up or dropping off passengers or goods and you stay within 3 metres of your vehicle.
  
  ‘No Stopping’ Signage
  If there is a 'No Stopping' sign, you are not allowed to stop or park your car in, or partly in, that area for any reason. Dropping off or picking up passengers or goods in a ‘No Stopping’ area is not permitted and you can be fined.
  
  Parents are reminded that parking on driveways, parking on the nature strip, calling children into cars in traffic and U-turns in front of the school, are illegal.

• Ambulance Cover                                                                           
  It is strongly recommended that families take out Ambulance Cover. If a child requires urgent medical care, an ambulance will be called, irrespective of whether they are insured or not. The Department of Education advises the following: parents/guardians of students, who do not have student accident insurance, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance/transport and any other transport costs; and parents/guardians can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers.

• Attendance and Absences
  This section provides information on the school's legal responsibility to promote and check student attendance. It includes the following, which is relevant to families whose children attend regular specialist appointments:
  
  In the event that a child needs to attend regular appointments during school time, parents should email the Principal to seek approval prior to the absences.
  
  
• Personal Property
  The Department of Education does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property. We therefore regret that we are unable to take any responsibility for lost, damaged or missing items, nor follow up such instances.
  
  Please encourage your child to leave valuables or ‘special’ items at home.
  
  
• Playground Supervision
  Supervision of the playground before school begins at 8.45 am and finishes after school at 3.45 pm.
  Students should not arrive at school before 8.45 am and they need to be collected by 3.45 pm, unless attending TeamKids Out of School Hours Care.
  
  If a child arrives at school before 8.45 am or has not been collected by the 3:45 pm bell, they will be brought to the office and then taken to Before/After School Care program. There is a charge for this facility.
  
  At recess and lunchtime there are always teachers in the yard to supervise the students' play. 
  
  
• 8.50 and 9.00 Bells 
  8.50am Students should be in classrooms from 8.50am. This allows for important morning routines to commence, for example:
     - unpacking bags
     - handing in notices
     - changing take-home books
  
  9.00am Rolls are submitted and students commence learning.
  
  
• Photographs and Videos
  We ask all families and visitors to refrain from taking any photographs of children at school. This is to ensure the privacy and safeguarding of all LPS students is maintained. This also applies to our weekly assemblies, which are device free. 
  

Annual privacy reminder for 2026
Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy. Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s privacy collection notice, found on our website Planning and Policies page, or click here.

Finally, a reminder to please ensure your child brings a named LPS SunSmart protective hat (broad-rimmed, legionnaire or bucket) to school each day. We have noticed some children wearing alternative hats which do not offer SunSmart protection to the face, neck and ears when outdoors. 
             

Please refer to our Sun Protection Policy here for further information.

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

Welcome to our school. As we know that effective school communication relies on parents' engagement with clear information, the following is essential reading for new families.

For information about how the school operates, please see our 'Starting at Laburnum Primary School' page, which includes the A - Z of Useful Information for Parents. This important document was updated in December, and can also be located on our website under the Enrolment tab. Everything on our website can be translated into your home language.

To regularly communicate important information, we use both LPS eNews (our electronic newsletter) and Sentral (for most emails to and from parents). Please ensure you read any messages sent by the school. LPS eNews is emailed to all parents/carers fortnightly and contains essential information about important dates and events. The eNews archive is found on our website here.

A reminder to all our new families to create their Sentral Parent Portal accounts as soon as possible, as this is the school's main avenue for communications to specific families, as well as excursions, student reports and parent-teacher meetings.  You can also email your child's teacher about non-urgent matters through Sentral.

Instructions and access codes have been sent home with your children. The Sentral Parent Portal is also used to upload documents, and includes the 2026 School Map and Parents Group minutes each month.

LPS eNews usually contains a combination of these pages:

• Principal's Message
• School Council Update from the School Council President
• What's Happening? from the Assistant Principals 
• Learn, about academic news
• Thrive, for wellbeing news
• Contribute: Parents Group news
• Contribute: Community information
• Thrive: Superstars, recognising those who have wonderful achievements to share
• Priority Projects: where we update you on projects that are improving our school

As well, all year levels and specialists regularly share their news in these pages:

• Prep
• Junior School - Grades 1 & 2
• Middle School - Grades 3 & 4
• Senior School - Grades 5 & 6
• Specialists

We hope that you'll be using these resources to become more familiar with our school.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

This means ALL students can get a free dental check-up, preventive services, and treatment at school. Smile Squad is at LPS for the next couple of weeks and have already seen students who had registered.

How to access free dental care

We need your consent before we can provide services. Consent is usually provided by a parent or guardian.

Sign up to Smile Squad at: https://bit.ly/smilesquadvic

OR use the below QR code:

Paper copies of the consent form are available. Please contact the school office if you would like to request one.

Smile Squad oral health packs

All children deserve a healthy smile, and the Smile Squad free school dental program is working hard to help make sure this happens.

Your child(ren) will soon receive a free oral health pack to bring home. The pack contains a toothbrush, full sized toothpaste, and an oral health brochure. Please take the time to read the brochure. It’s full of helpful hints and tips to help your whole family eat well, drink well and clean well – for life.

Standard strength toothpaste

Smile Squad provides standard strength fluoride toothpaste that is generally used by ages six and over, unless recommended by a dental or trained health professional.

If your child is under six, please talk to a dental or trained health professional to find out if your child might benefit from using this toothpaste. You can also choose to put the toothpaste away until they turn six or give it to someone else in your family to use.

Do I need to attend my child’s appointment?

No, you do not need to attend your child’s appointment. You can attend if you would like to, and you can take your child to the community dental clinic if you prefer.

The healthAbility Smile Squad look forward to seeing your child soon.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute

Hello! My name is Katrina and I am a paediatric Occupational Therapist (OT) who will be working at Laburnum PS one day a week. I am looking forward to working alongside both the teaching and educational support staff at Laburnum PS as well as student caregivers and the students themselves.

My passion is to help students reach their full potential (socially, mentally, physically and academically) during their primary years of education.

Outside of work I enjoy being in nature and spending time with my family and our newest family member, Millie. Millie is a cheeky and very friendly mini groodle puppy.

Hello! I am the new school psychologist at Laburnum PS – Dominique Furet.

I have been a practising psychologist for the last 10 years. I have worked in schools in the North, South and East of Melbourne.

My role is to help children learn new skills such as regulation, cognitive and social strategies to allow them to navigate the complex primary school years. 

Joy Huang - Play Therapist

“Enter into children’s play and you will find the place where their minds, hearts and souls meet” – Virginia Axline

My name is Joy, and I’m the Play Therapist at Laburnum Primary School.

I’m a registered Play Therapist with Play Therapist registration with Australasia  Pacific Play Therapy Association (APPTA), and I work with children aged 3–12 using evidence-based, developmentally appropriate approaches to support their emotional wellbeing and growth.

Play Therapy is a counselling method for children to help them communicate in their natural language of play. In Play Therapy, I facilitate a safe and nurturing space where children can express themselves through play, explore how they see themselves and how they relate to the world around them, and begin to make sense of their experiences.

Through Play Therapy, children develop healthy coping strategies, decision-making, self-control and emotional regulation, which will help the child be more successful in school, improving behaviour to allow more learning to take place and enhancing their relationship with others.

It’s a privilege to be part of the LPS team, and I’m passionate about enhancing children’s social and emotional wellbeing and helping them thrive within the school environment.

Curiosity  •   Respect  •  Integrity  •  Resilience

 


Instrumental Lessons 

If you would like to register an Expression of Interest for private instrumental lessons at LPS, external instrumental tutors are available to teach the following instruments.

violin
viola
percussion
oboe
trumpet
euphonium
trombone
flute
clarinet
saxaphone
guitar
piano
drums

 Please see the Forms page to register. Instrumental Tutors invoice parents directly for these lessons at school.

The Instrumental Music program is only available for students in Grades 1-6.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute 

Free resources for families of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years

The Department of Education has launched an Easing into adolescence webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 (Grade 5 to Year 8).

The webpage has information and strategies you can use to help ease your child into adolescence and secondary school. These include:

• a guide to emotion coaching. Staff from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning in to Teens Kids program developed the guidance.
• how to support your adolescent with their studies and more generally. Parenting expert and clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller helped develop this resource.

Subtitles for videos by The University of Melbourne on the webpage are available in 10 languages. You can select your preferred language on the translations page.

School tours are a wonderful way to see Box Hill High School in action, and bookings are now open for a tour of the school for prospective parents/carers and students.

Not only will visitors see classes in operation, but there will also be opportunities to ask questions, meet BHHS staff and students and hear from a member of the Principal Class Team. Explore the school on a tour and find out more 

about how BHHS provides the perfect balance between academic, social, and emotional growth and development in its students.

School tours at BHHS will run from 10 February – 7 May. Bookings are now open at Trybooking.

As there will be no Open Afternoon during 2026, we encourage you to book your place on a School Tour if you are considering Box Hill High School for your student’s needs in 2027 and beyond.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute 

Click on these links  below for Community News or information:         

TeamKids Out of School Hours Care  Please register your child here - it's free to register and you'll always have that option for childcare, even in unexpected circumstances.  More information is on our website here.

Our Vision:    Learn   •   Thrive  •   Contribute