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

History of Huntingdale Primary School

Early Beginnings

Huntingdale Primary School’s first classes were conducted in 1952, in a church hall on the corner of North Road and Mackie Road. The school moved shortly after in 1954 to the current site in Grange Street, Oakleigh South were it was established. The school’s establishment coincided with a wider trend in Australia during the post-World War II period, where many new schools were built to accommodate the baby boom generation. These were times of significant growth for the city of Melbourne as new suburbs sprouted around the edges of the city, including Huntingdale.

Development and Expansion – Early Years

In its early years, the school primarily served the local community, with a focus on providing education for young children in the suburb. Over the decades, the school saw several expansions to meet the needs of a growing population. This included the addition of a new art room in 1973, new portables, relocation of the library and refurbishment of the old canteen area to become a classroom. In 2008, the school opened the Gillian Penfold Hall, named after our fabulous Administration Officer and ex parent.

Educational Approach

Throughout its early history, (pre 1997) Huntingdale Primary School prided itself on providing a well-rounded education. The school began to receive some outstanding results in the 1970s, especially with sport and athletics, where it was often the smallest school in the district. In 1996/1997, an expression of interest was sent to Victorian Schools from the Department of Education asking for interest in becoming a bilingual school. This was an opportune time for HPS as a year earlier the school had been devasted by a large fire. In July 1997, HPS was successful in becoming a bilingual school, with the chosen language being Japanese. The school has gone from strength to strength, receiving the Victorian Excellence Award for Curriculum Innovation in 2011 and being a finalist for the Global Teaching Award in 2023. The school has continued to grow across this time, from 97 students in 1997, to 414 in 2024.

Community Involvement

As with many primary schools in suburban Australia, the school has been a hub of the community. Over the years, it has hosted various community events, extracurricular activities, and support programs for local families. Its involvement in the community has helped strengthen ties between the school, its students, and the families it serves. In recent years, the student Taiko Drumming Band performed at the MCG to welcome the then Prince Charles and Lady Camilla. The school is also a hub for a vast range of extra-curricular activities that currently includes: Basketball X, Soccer X, Code Club, Fizz Kidz, Abacus Maths and Chessmates. We also welcome the Tamil School on weekends and Team Kids as our before and after school care provider. The school has a very passionate School Council that are dedicated to the improvement of the school and a Parent Group, ‘Watashi Mo’ that run exciting events across the school every year.

Recent Developments

In recent years, Huntingdale Primary has continued to focus on enhancing its facilities, including modernizing its classrooms and incorporating technology into the learning environment. Like many schools across Australia, it has adapted to changes in the education system, including the introduction of digital learning tools and a focus on preparing students for the challenges of the 21st century. Recently the school installed solar panels on the main classroom building and resurfaced the oval in 2019 and built wonderful new classroom block in 2021. A new playground was also added in 2024.

Legacy and Importance

Today, Huntingdale Primary School is a well-regarded institution within the local community, continuing to offer quality education to students from over 30 diverse backgrounds. Its history reflects the growth and development of the suburb of Oakleigh South and Huntingdale itself, with the school evolving to meet the needs of each new generation of students.

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.