Northcote has a strong tradition of welcoming participation from parents, carers, and other volunteers in many different aspects of school life. We aim to work in partnership with you to ensure that your child enjoys a successful primary school education and grows and develops into the best person that they can be.
We encourage everyone to lend a hand and get actively involved. We believe it is important for everyone to contribute in a way that suits their interests as well as their limitations. The school and community appreciate and value these special contributions, while also recognising that we have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for students, staff, parents, carers, and other volunteers.
Parents and carers are welcome to participate in a variety of whole school and class activities, as well as excursions and camps. There are so many ways to participate, however our classroom and specialist teachers will generally make specific requests for assistance throughout the year, and they will also be happy to hear your suggestions!
If you are interested in volunteering within the school, please speak with your child's classroom teacher about ways that you can be involved.
All people who volunteer to assist at our school must undertake an induction briefing. This is to clarify expectations and shared understanding of our duty of care for students. The short training induction covers areas such as Child Safety Induction, Occupational Health and Safety and related school policies.
All volunteers will be required to provide a current Working With Childre Check (WWC) before being able to volunteer. The school will keep a register of volunteers and their WWC card number.
Classroom Helpers
Some examples of parent classroom involvement are:
Camp Volunteers
In addition to completing the induction briefing, volunteers who have been selected by the school to attend camp participate in a more detailed camp briefing of their roles and responsibilities.
Wider School Community
There are also many ways to become involved in the wider school community. This can include:
Please note that Occupational Health and Safety regulations and requirements regarding volunteers apply to schools.
Click here for more information about working with children checks or how to apply.
We value and appreciate parents and community support, and work to build sustainable relationships between our school community and the wider Northcote/Darebin area.
The School Council meets to discuss a range of issues relating to school governance. The work of the school council is further supported by the hard work of our subcommittees (Finance, Education, Environments and Community). A new School Council is formed every February/March via nomination, and voting is held if there are more candidates than vacancies. School Councillors are elected for two-year terms.
School Council meetings are generally open to all members of the school community. If you would like to find out more about getting involved in the School Council, or contributing via a subcommittee, please contact one of the School Council members below.
School Council Meeting Schedule 2024
Shaun Wells (Principal- Executive Officer)
Bale Micovski (Assistant Principal)
Caterina Carnovale (Business Manager- Minute Secretary)
Nickolas Barclay (Teacher)
Joanne Pitt – President
Ellis Richardson – Vice-President
Stephen Moore – Treasurer
Christian Scallan
Lucy Sinclair
Betty Maniotas
Ben Serhat Ozel
Sub-committees are open to all parents, and the school welcomes all contributions from parents and carers.
All sub-committees are responsible for the development and review of policies within the area of their responsibility for recommendation to the School Council. Sub-committees are responsible for regular updates of their activities via the school website and newsletter.
Treasurer: Stephen Moore
Function: To ensure the proper management of the finances of the school and to discuss and make appropriate recommendations regarding the school’s finances, financial policies and budget to the School Council.
Convenor: Betty Maniotas
Function: To discuss and make recommendations to the School Council on a wide range of matters and policies relating to the improvement and maintenance of the physical environment at the school.
Convenor: Ben Serhat Ozel
Function: To discuss and make recommendations to the School Council on a wide range of issues and policies that foster productive and cooperative community engagement across the school and local community (including fundraising events).
We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing. We welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices.
If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact the school at northcote.ps@education.vic.gov.au or call (03) 94 81 0009.