WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL 

Welcome back to the 2025 school year, and a special welcome to all our Preschool and Kindergarten families, as well as those joining us in Years 1-6. We look forward to working closely with you throughout your time here and celebrating your child's growth.

Our school enrolment is just above 400 students (P-6), and we are still expecting some new families, including our international defence students. It has been wonderful to see so many families dropping off and picking up their children. We have had a very settled and positive start to the year. The smile on students faces and eagerness to begin school have been truly heart-warming. Students have also shared how special it has been to reunite with friends and build new relationships. 

We hope this 'Welcome Back to School' finds you well-rested, re-energised, and in good spirits after a well-deserved break spent with family and friends.

Our staff has also had a fabulous start to the year, and we have welcomed a number of new faces to our school community. Please see below our 2025 School Staffing List.

Duffy Primary school will continue throughout 2025 to ensure our students are given every opportunity in our nurturing community to be the best they can be, whilst enabling learning experiences to enhance progress and strive for excellence. 

Duffy’s strategic goals for 2025 remains as follows: 

• Improve student performance in writing across all year levels.

• Improve the percentage of students making expected growth in number.

In 2025, we're focused on strengthening the already strong relationships we have with parents and carers, and we are planning to implement a few new initiatives aligned with parent engagement under the theme 'BUILDING POSITIVE CONNECTIONS'. 

A longstanding tradition has been our P&C Welcome Back BBQ. This event will be held in conjunction with Parent Information Sessions and Duffy Expo,’ on Wednesday, 19th February, from 3:15–4:30pm. 

BUILDING POSITIVE CONNECTIONS
• Parent/Carer Grade Information Sessions (15 minutes each): Each grade will offer a short presentation about key information relevant to that grade. These sessions will run at different times to allow parents to attend multiple.

• Duffy Expo: Stalls on the blacktop showcasing our specialist team, WCS, extracurricular opportunities at DPS, lunchtime clubs etc.
• P&C BBQ:  The P&C will be running a free sausage sizzle as a welcome to all families. 

Parents/ carers will have the opportunity to move freely between all three of these events.

Week 3 Monday 17th - Friday 21st February Parent Partnership Meetings will be held. 

Parent/Carer Partnership Meetings provide an opportunity for parents/carers to share their knowledge of their child and communicate their hopes, aspirations, and goals for their child for the school year. 

It is also an opportunity for parents/carers to meet with their child’s classroom teacher to begin a dialogue that will continue throughout the year.

At Duffy Primary School, we believe that Parent Partnership Meetings ensure the best possible start to the year and to establish strong school/home partnerships.

Bookings will be available via Parent Portal App from Monday 10th Feb. 

In setting high expectations and routines, we have made some changes to the end-of-school dismissal. 

• Kinder Green and White will sit in their class lines under the shade structure in the junior playground and dismiss students once their parent/carer is visible.

• Kinder Blue class will sit in their class lines and be dismissed from the front of the school once their parent/carer is visible.

• Year 1, Year 2 and Year 4 teachers will walk their students to the Junior gate and bike rack. Once at the bike rack, students will then walk their bikes to the Year 5 side gate or Spider gate to exit.

• Year 3 and Year 5 students will exit through their classroom external back doors and proceed to exit the school grounds via the Year 5 side gate or Spider gate.  

• Year 6 students will be walked to the Year 5 side gate. 

• Students with bikes will also exit through either Year 5 side gate or Spider gate to exit.

• Parents are welcome to meet their child/children on the front grass area near the flag poles or outside the junior school gate. 

We are hopeful that these new routines will elevate any pressure points for end of school dismissal. 

School Board Vacancies

POSITIONS VACANT: Duffy Primary School Board Members

The Duffy Primary School Board is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the school and acting in the best interests of the school and its students.

The board meets regularly throughout the year and is comprised of representative members from various stakeholder groups e.g. parent/caregiver members, P&C association and/or local community members and staff members.

Several board positions will become vacant in March 2025, and we will seek nominations in early Term 1 to fill the following roles:

·         2x staff member – with a term of 2 years

·         1x parent member – with a term of 2 years

·         1x P&C member – with a term of 2 years

To learn more about the roles and responsibilities of board members, visit the School Boards page.

School Board Nominations will open on Monday 10 February and will remain open for 2 weeks.