About

Open in 1964, Upwey South Primary School has a proud history of building and maintaining a strong learning community.

Opening with 120 children, Upwey South Primary School has grown to 250 with many second and third generation students.

At Upwey South Primary School, we conduct our learning and actions based upon our three school values: Respect, Responsibility and Resilience.

As a USPS Learner, I always value Respect:

• for oneself, the environment, and the rights of others.

As a USPS Learner, I always value Responsibility:

• to take action and do what is right, to be kind, and to be courageous.

As a USPS Learner, I always value Resilience:

• to approach learning challenges with insight and enthusiasm.

As a learning community, we value the importance of school-wide approaches; which promote consistency in expectations, a sense of belonging for students, and provide a structure for improved academic rigour. We’re proud to offer our students rich learning opportunities with an array of curricular and co-curricular opportunities, from artistic and creative, to sporting, to academic pursuits.

To read more about our teaching philosophies, curriculum, specialist programs and co-curricular activities visit our Student Learning pages.

Mr Damien Kitch was appointed as Principal in October 2017. Damien comes to our school community with a depth of knowledge in Instructional Leadership, most recently having been a Principal-class member at Glen Waverley Primary School.

Since 1964, our facilities have transformed from portables to a learning centre housing 12 classrooms, a school library, computer room, multimedia space and gymnasium. Our outdoors is rich with play experiences with an oval, basketball court, three playgrounds, sand pits, stage, shaded areas, as well as, the natural environment to explore.

In December 2017, the Education Minister James Merlino approved a school-community partnership with 3MDR Community Radio 97.1FM. The radio station is housed in the historic Griffith’s Homestead – a heritage listed house which sits within the grounds of the school – and presents our students the unique opportunity to participate in and host radio shows.

• 1964: Upwey South Primary School officially opened on Tuesday 16th June 1964
• 1978: Work begins on “new building” comprising 8 classrooms,, a library, an art room, additional toilets and teacher work areas
• 1980: New building officially opened
• 1984: The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) was formed and continues to play a leading role in the school today
• 1990s: Throughout the 90’s, we developed a strong curriculum program supported by curriculum programs in Library, Visual Art, Performing Arts, English, Maths, Studies of the Society and the Environment, Science, Technology, Health and Physical Education, and Languages other the English (LOTE- Japanese
• 1991: School joined an international student delegation exchange program, “International School to School Experience (I.S.S.E)”. Over the years we have had exchanges to USA, Mexico, India, Japan, Peru and China
• 1992: Construction and completion of the $300,00 dual purpose gymnasium and ‘safe place building’ which had represented four years of planning and fundraising
• 1994: Celebrated our 30th year.
• 2000s: Our P-6 curriculum was updated to be based on the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (AusVELS) framework
• 2000s: The CAFE Workshop approach to reading (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency and Expanding Vocabulary) was implemented successfully from Prep to Year 6
• 2011: As part of the state government’s Building Education Revolution (BER), our new building ‘Forest Oak’ was opened
• 2012: Anne Ng was appointed as the new Principal of Upwey South Primary School
• 2014: In 2014 we conducted our whole-school review as part of our four year cycle of school improvement. We reflected on our achievements and then agreed on our goals and priorities for the next 4 years
• 2014: Celebrated our 50th year
• 2017: Anne Ng retired and new principal Damien Kitchen commenced
• 2017: Installed a Multimedia Space within the school library, containing a green-screen, associated editing hardware, and 3D printing technology
• 2017: Partnership with Radio 3MDR
• 2018: School underwent a School Review (which occurs each four-five years in government schools across Victoria) with a focus upon taking our school from “good to great”
• 2019: The school’s curriculum is currently based upon the updated Victorian Curriculum, with new multi-disciplinary units of study being launched across Prep- Year 6
• 2019:To support student wellbeing, we have begun the implementation of the Berry Street Educational Model
• 2019: As a school focussed upon evidence-based practices, we have introduced a systematic phonics program in the junior years, based upon the peer-reviewed and Dyslexic Association of Australia approved MultLit Program from Macquarie University