Established 1855

Newport Lakes Primary School has a long interesting history. It is the oldest continually operating government primary school in the Western Metropolitan Region of Melbourne. Established on July 8th, 1855, it was moved to Elizabeth St, Newport on November 5th, 1886.

We hit a big milestone

In 2006 the school and the local community came together to celebrate the 150th birthday of the school at the Elizabeth Street site.

A close call

In 1967 fire extensively damaged the school leaving only four rooms – and destroying many historical records. One thing it did not destroy was the fabric of the Newport Primary School Community.

Memories from the 70’s

“The kids were fantastic and we had really good teachers. In senior grades, boys and girls got to state level in football, netball and athletics, despite the fact the school had very small grounds.”

Ken McCallum (Teacher/Acting Principal 1972 – 1975)

Newport Lakes

The site of Newport Lakes was originally a series of quarries and the City of Williamstown Council decided to develop the area as public open space and a bushland park.

Our relationship with the Lakes

Landscaping at Newport Lakes began in the 1980s and NLPS (then Newport Primary School) was approached to help plant trees.The trees that were planted in the late ‘80s/early 90s are many of the very large ones that you can see today. Our school also created the mosaics set into rocks in various sections at the Lakes.

Times change but we are still the same

In 1918 the Head Teacher complained about various animals, including geese,roaming free on the fenceless school grounds, and in 2019 pigeons roam free. It seems the wildlife of Newport loves Elizabeth Street!

Victorian Champions

1994 was a great year for the Girls T-Ball team finishing the season as the Victorian Champions. The love of sport at NLPS runs deeps. Well done girls!

We keep growing

The school population is drawn from the local area. In 2019 enrolment is 494 students and over the last few years the enrolment is increasingly reflecting the change in demographic of the local community. The staff and school community are working hard to continue to provide a positive and engaging place of learning.

What’s in a name?

The school has had many name changes – Cambridge (1851), Geelong Junction (1867), Williamstown Junction (1874), Newport State (1886). To move with the times, its present name was accepted in July 2000 – Newport Lakes Primary School. This name identifies with the wonderful resource in such close proximity – the Newport Lakes.

Building Upgrades Opened

The new learning centre, music room and gym were officially opened in August 2019, by the Minister of Education for Victoria, Mr James Merlino and Member for Williamstown, Melissa Horne.

2019

Our school captains greeted the various VIPs and took them on a tour of our impressive new facilities, and the ukulele ensemble entertained them in our new music room. The JSC members showed off the new gym and then sat down to answer questions from the minister before the official ribbon cutting ceremony took place. We expressed our thanks for the contributions the Minister for Education and the Member for Williamstown made to enable the $3.05 million project to happen.