School Profile

Croydon Hills Primary School, established in 1988, is situated in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The school offers a holistic educational experience to 742 students.

The school places great emphasis on the provision of a friendly, safe, caring and supportive environment for students, staff and parents. The community views education as a shared responsibility. The cooperative partnership between the school and home is a highly valued feature of the school.

The school is highly regarded in the local and wider community. Whole-school approaches to health and wellbeing, curriculum development and assessment are embedded across the school. Social-emotional skills and concepts are developed via Positive Education and Restorative Practices. The teaching of English and Maths skills and concepts are explicit and anchored by the Science of Learning research and approaches. The skills and concepts taught are applied through engaging learning within termly units of study aligned to the Humanities and Capabilities of the Victorian Curriculum. 

Our specialist programs of Physical Education, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Library/Digital Technology, Indonesian and Science provide students with high-quality programs as well as many enrichment activities. Our Learning Enhancement team coordinates our literacy support program and has input into the individual educational plans that are created for students with learning needs or those who require extension. Our Student Wellbeing team supports student and family well-being. They provide individual, small group support as well as support and advice to parents.

The school values student voice and agency. The students are represented by a Year Six Student Leadership team consisting of four School Captains, and two captains for each of Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Science, Eco (Environment), Library, Digi Tech, Positive Education (Wellbeing), Global Education and the four Sport houses. The Junior School Council is the formal student body of the school with representatives from each class meeting weekly with a focus on 'leading change' and 'being the voice of the students'. Two JSC representatives report to the School Council each month sharing updates on their meetings and student-led projects.  

The school’s extracurricular programs provide a broad range of educational opportunities for students. Students can engage in Choir, Rock Band, Art Club, Interschool Sport, Bike Education, Camps, Eco Club (Environment), Instrumental Music lessons, School Production, Wakakirri and Stage Struck. The school prides itself on developing students with a global perspective and intercultural understanding. The school respects our indigenous heritage. School art adorns the school grounds. Typically, these have an indigenous or cultural focus.

The school is well-resourced with digital technology with each classroom equipped with Apple TVs, MacMinis, Chromebooks, and iPads. The school has a fully equipped computer lab with 26 HPs. Year Five and Six students engage in a school-managed 1:1 take-home device program which proves to be invaluable when extending learning home via the use of Google Classroom. 

Both the physical environment and the learning programs are organised to facilitate four collaborative learning communities. The school has six Prep classes, ten Junior classes (5 x Year One and 5 x Year Two), eight Middle classes (4 x Year Three and 4 x Four) and eight Senior classes (4 year Five and 4 year Six). 

Geographically the school is zoned to naturally support each of the four learning levels. The school’s three-hectare site houses a broad range of buildings and facilities. The school is equipped with: 

• thirty-two dedicated classrooms (including one school-owned)
• a visual arts room
• a computer laboratory
• a science laboratory
• a library
• a Performing Arts Centre (the original school hall) 
• a dedicated language room (Indonesian)
• a dedicated Out of School Hours room 
• two multi-purpose rooms (school-owned)
• a competition size sports stadium
• four outdoor sports courts (two of which are covered in synthetic grass, one of which is covered by a waterproof shade shelter)
• a competition-size cricket/football oval
• a junior-sized soccer pitch
• a junior-sized football oval
• a synthetic multi-use sports field
• six playgrounds that are dedicated to the learning levels and areas of the school
• a farm complete with vegetable gardens, chickens and a frog bog 
• a Japanese garden.

The school borders Yarrunga Reserve, a large reserve with walking trails throughout the reserve and wetlands, a large playground, BBQ area, BMX track, open tennis courts, fitness equipment and a community centre. The school draws upon this resource often, aligning it to the camps and sport programs. The school choir makes regular excursions down to the Yarrunga Community Centre to sing to the Yarrunga Retirees. 

The school has an active parent/carer community that seeks to involve parents in the school wherever possible. Parents/carers work alongside teachers in classrooms, attending excursions and camps and being part of parent groups including Croydon Hills Association of Parents (CHAPs) and Men of the Hills (MOTHs). CHAPs facilitates fundraising activities and events for the school including the biannual Fair, the biannual Trivia Night and the Colour Run. MOTHS are philosophically aligned to The Fathering Project and aim to support fathers and male role models engage in the life of the school. They organise family 10 pin bowling nights, mini-golf, bike rides and other community events.

The staff profile consists of: 

• Three Principal Class
• Six Learning Specialists/Leading Teachers who lead the building of practice excellence via a staff professional learning program consisting of collegiate coaching.
• 51 teachers
• 20 Educational Support Staff supporting our 21 students funded through Disability and Inclusion and the learning support program.
• 1 Full-Time & 1 part-time Wellbeing Officer 
• 6 Administration staff including a First Aid Officer, a Canteen/Uniform Shop manager and a Library technician
• A full-time and a part-time groundskeeper
• A team of 13 Out of School Hours Staff

The school’s trading operations: the Canteen, Uniform Shop and Out of School Hours Care programs are fully managed by the school.