From the Principal

Further update on uniform review

Over the break, we concluded our meetings with various suppliers and finalised our list of uniform items to be introduced, updated or removed. Where items are to be introduced or removed, we will inform the community and make the necessary changes as soon as possible. Changes to garments that have been identified for updating and redesigning will take more time. There will be further consultation about the design of the garments that are to be updated once we have some examples to share. Thank you to all parents, students and staff who participated in the consultation, it was an invaluable source of information.

In response to community feedback and aligned with our values, one of the first items to be added to our uniform is the option of hijab as part of the uniform from Term 3, 2025. This reflects our commitment to meeting the needs of our Muslim students and is consistent with the Uniting Church’s vision of being “a Church for all God’s people”—a community that celebrates diversity and inclusion as a gift of grace and seeks to make space for all cultures and expressions of faith. You can read more about the Uniting Church’s vision as a multicultural church on their website.

NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) 2025 Results

No doubt, you will be familiar with recent Australian media coverage, as highlighted by The Guardian, which reports significant concern regarding the performance of Australian students in the 2025 NAPLAN tests. One of the main points raised is that “one in three students fail to meet NAPLAN benchmarks.” Additionally, the reporting notes that four in ten students performed below expectations specifically in grammar and punctuation, indicating difficulties in recognising verbs and pronouns within sentences.

While NAPLAN is but one measure of student performance and is not without its limitations, the results do provide schools with important feedback about areas of strength, student growth and opportunities for further focus and improvement. Since 2018 we have seen steady improvement in our performance on the tests and our results this year are outstanding. I am delighted to highlight the following comments written for the School community by our Head of Learning and Teaching, Melissa McMahon, ‘NAPLAN results for 2025 were mailed home last week, and I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the phenomenal achievements and remarkable growth demonstrated by our students.

‘At a time when public discourse is focused on declining literacy standards across Australia, MLC School continues to buck the trend. Our students’ literacy and numeracy outcomes are not only strong—they are improving year on year.’

Please read the full analysis in this newsletter.

Congratulations to our students and teachers on these outstanding results. 

– Lisa Moloney
Principal