Meet our Principal

Wominjeka! Konnichiwa (こんにちは)! Welcome to Huntingdale Primary School! I am proud to be Principal of this wonderful Victorian Government school which provides an extraordinary bilingual education for all our students. Huntingdale Primary School is a vibrant place that encourages learning, laughter and play in a friendly and warm environment.

Our school is built on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. I acknowledge their Elders past, present and emerging and recognise that learning took place for thousands of years before our school was built. I am also proud that we weave indigenous perspectives throughout our school curriculum so that our students understand the rich cultural history of our First Nations Peoples.

Our school is widely recognised both in Australia and internationally as a leader in bilingual education through the success of the outstanding Japanese Bilingual Language Immersion Education.

Learning a language is the greatest gift we give our students at Huntingdale Primary School. Through our exceptional bilingual learning all our children are immersed in Japanese language. Research has long recognised immersion as the most natural way for young children to learn language.

Our school motto is- Engaging Minds Together.

‘Engaging’ children each and every day in a safe and secure environment is a key focus. We know that without students feeling safe they are unable to engage fully with their learning.  The key to engagement is curiosity and creativity and these are key elements in the students explorations and learnings each day at school.

‘Minds’ are what benefit from our unique bilingual education.  The academic rigour and the power of how we work at Huntingdale is in the careful curriculum planning that underpins the learning as a whole.  Research shows that learning another language stimulates brain development, enhances English literacy skills and improves memory, concentration and numeracy skills.

‘Together’ we achieve more.  The students in isolation will explore but require guidance and scaffolding to excel.  More can be achieved with a partnership between the student, teacher and family which truly achieves the greatest outcomes.

Through our bilingual education each day our students develop critical and creative thinking, personal and social skills and intercultural understandings. Our students are challenged to see their world using an ‘international lens’ and the experiences offered at the school support this.

As a teaching team we are committed to providing all children with the opportunity to achieve through our highly differentiated curriculum. Extensive use of technology, thinking tools and a wide range of extra curricula activities extend and enrich their learning.

The culture of our school is underpinned by our deep belief that childhood is a precious and unique moment in time. students need to be nurtured in a quiet yet stimulating environment. Childhood is a time to be exposed to a wide range of cultural and artistic experiences to discover talents, ignite curiosity, passion and optimism. The ‘Early Years’ of schooling are when a child develops their self-esteem as a learner and this growth needs to be nurtured and developed with care and dedication. This crucial time is also when strong foundations in literacy and numeracy are built to ensure future success.

In 2023, our school was a finalist in the Victorian Education and Excellence awards in the category of ‘Dr Lawrie Shears Outstanding Global Teaching and Learning Award’. This is a great testament to the bilingual education that we provide our students.

Thank you for your interest in our school.

Anthony Rowe
Acting Principal

3A – Kumiko Nagata & Joanne Ewart
3B – Joanne Ewart & Kumiko Nagata

4A – Peter Magart & Hisae Hatigan
4B – Hisae Hatigan & Peter Magart

5A – Eiji Nishikubo & Nick Tolliday
5B – Nick Tolliday & Ryoki Fukaya

6A – Linda Ooi-Chan & Keiko Harada
6B – Ari Gorney & Yukiko Shoya

Teaching Assistants 
Honami Ando
Mayumi Cake
Mayu Harada
Yoshiko Hayashi
Wakana Karchnak
Ryoko Kellam
Kaoru Kruithof
Junko Nakazawa
Rie Mimura
Philippa Groom
Hiromi Joko
Sachi Walsh

Chaplain – Susan Hanger

Meet our Student Leaders

 School Vision & Values

Huntingdale Primary School’ vision is to be a lighthouse school for language acquisition by providing a quality Japanese – English bilingual education. In defining our Vision and Values for our school community it is essential we look to the future and the world and workplace our students will be entering as adults. Huntingdale’s vision is future oriented providing:

• Excellent literacy and numeracy skills
• Authentic language competency in an additional language (Japanese) and deep intercultural understandings
• Thinking skills to access, synthesise and transfer information in a 21st century knowledge economy
• High level personal and interpersonal skills to facilitate strong social connectedness and personal wellbeing

You can learn more about our school by reading our Statement Of Values And School Philosophy. The school has a Lighthouse vision which can be accessed here. This was developed with input from School Council, parents, teachers and students. A document explaining each Lighthouse moments can be found here.  A one-page document showing our vision, values and behaviours can be found here.