Our Bilingual School

The key to our bilingual school is the people. As you scroll through this website, the vision and values of our school are lived by students, staff, families. These people make the team that makes our school the innovative place it is.
 

On your first visit to our school you will be drawn to the quiet, relaxed and happy atmosphere created within the school. Our children love learning and display wonderful curiosity and an eagerness to achieve.

Ruth Biddle

Principal, Huntingdale Primary School

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.

Ruth Biddle
Principal

Meet our Staff

Principal – Ruth Biddle
Assistant Principal – Naomi Mori-Hanazono

Business Manager – Dr Rosella Dossi
Assistant Business Manager – Natalie Kerassitis
Office Manager – Gillian Penfold

Foundation A – Maria Parella & Yuko Iida
Foundation B – Yuko Iida & Zoe Chiu
Foundation C – Tomoko Smith & Rebecca Wood

1A – Maria Mathews & Kiko Watanuki
1B – Kiko Watanuki & Maria Mathews
1C – Alyson Wakely & Tadashi Hanazono

2A – Moe Osugi & Pansy Leung
2B – Pansy Leung & Moe Osugi
2C – Tadashi Hanazono & Alyson Wakely

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
Hitomi Matsumura
Rie Mimora

Chaplain – Susan Hanger

Meet our School Council

2022-23 School Council
President: Dennis Moschoyiannis
Vice President: Suniti Rao
Treasurer: Mia Voltan
Secretary: Gemma Thomas

Executive Officer: Ruth Biddle (Principal)

Councillors:
Subu Nagesh
Ben Chapple
Sofia Oresti
Takuya Katsu

Staff Representatives:
Naomi Mori-Hanazono (Assistant Principal)
Keiko Harada
Kiko Watanuki

Huntingdale School Song Lyrics
Verse 1
Each day we learn
Each day we share
With courage in our minds
We try our best and help the rest
For everyone is kind

We come from near
We come from far
Together we all show,
Knowledge comes from diversity
Our cultures help us grow

Chorus
Huntingdale Primary School
Where everyone one belongs
ようこそ, Wominjeka;
We welcome everyone,
Huntingdale しょうがっこう
We’re proud to sing our song.

Verse 2
ともだち
せんせい
いつもありがとう
きもちよくあいさつし
つたえるきもち

たかきをめざして
はげましあい
もっともっとよくしたい
わたしのがっこう

Chorus
Huntingdale Primary School
Where everyone one belongs
ようこそ, Wominjeka;
We welcome everyone,
Huntingdale しょうがっこう
We’re proud to sing our song

Meet our Student Leaders

 

School Captains

Multimedia Captains

Sustainability Captains

Community Captains

Choir Captains

Honshu House Captains

Hokkaido House Captains

Kyushu House Captains

Shikoku House Captains

2024 Year 6 Leaders

 

School Captains – Elin & Gabby

House Captains:
Honshu  – Meg & Joycelyn
Hokkaido – Kazuki & Jenson
Shikoku  – Skye & Enzo
Kyushu – Tiana & Hinata

Community Captains – Patrick, Clare, Ariella & Lilia
Sustainability Captains – Ai, Julia, Hana & Kent
Multimedia Captains – Cora, Preda, Jamie & Alice
Taiko Captain – Gabby
Senior Choir Captain – Olive & Devika

2024 Student Leadership Council Representative

2A   Mia & Kei
2B   Avery & Bellamy
2C   Louisa & Eli
3A   Max & Jimi
3B   Jeon & Kai M
4A   Zoe & Geanna
4B   Aca & Tristen
5A   Ellie & Ellen
5B   
Erena & Whitney
6A   Ivan, Ethan & Gregory
6B   Aiden & Hailey

 

Our Student Leadership Council

 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. 

School Strategic Plan

 

Our school completed its  4 years review in Term 4, 2020 and it now has a New Strategic Plan.

The School Strategic Plan is the school’s statement to its community about what it stands for and intends to do over the next four years to improve student outcomes. It defines what the school values most and sets out the school’s goals and targets, key strategies for improvement, and therefore influences resourcing priorities.

Here is our School Strategic Plan for 2020-2024
2020 2024 School Strategic Plan

 

 

2022 Annual Report to the School Community

The Annual Report provides the community with information about the school’s performance in implementing their improvement strategies and how the school’s resources have been used as outlined in the School Strategic Plan and Annual Implementation Plan.

2022 Annual Report to the School Community

Annual Implementation Plan

The Annual Implementation Plan is our one year improvement plan based on goals in the School Strategic Plan.

One-year targets are developed as smaller steps towards achieving the broader targets set in the School Strategic Plan. The school then reports on the progress achieved to date through the Annual Report to the school community. See attached our Annual Implementation Plan for 2023:

2023 Annual Implementation Plan

 Oakleigh Education Plan

Our school in partnership with South Oakleigh College and Oakleigh South Primary School is part of the Oakleigh Education Plan (OEP) Learning Precinct. The OEP is a four year joint approach to making sure every student has access to high-quality, seamless education. You can now visit our dedicated Oakleigh Education Plan web space, hosted on the South Oakleigh College website to learn more about the OEP and keep up to date with all the actions and activities across the OEP, including STEM and Japanese learning.

Click on the link below to learn more.

Oakleigh Education Plan

 

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