Spensley Street Primary School

THEN & NOW: A walk down Spensley Street 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️🚶

📍Part 1 | From School Gates to the First Roundabout

As part of our 135th Anniversary Inquiry, our students have been exploring the rich history of the neighbourhood around them. After visiting the SSPS Children’s Museum and taking a walking tour along Spensley Street, they discovered that many of the homes and buildings they pass every day have fascinating stories to tell.

We’d love to take you on the same journey...Come with us as we take a walk from Spensley Street Primary School towards Clifton Hill Station…

Our school has changed enormously over the past 135 years, with perhaps the biggest transformation coming after the original school was destroyed by fire in 1976, leading to the school we know today.

As we reach the first roundabout, we discover that many of today’s homes were once bustling local businesses. One pair of adjoining houses housed Adam’s Cakes, Granger’s Pastry Cooks and later a café, while next door was Murphy’s Grocers 🧁
Across the road, another home was once Marshall’s Meats….

Further along was a lively row of neighbourhood shops. There was Paper Moon Café, a ham and beef shop, and a beloved second-hand bookshop where owner Aggie Williams played the piano by candlelight in the window each evening. We wish we could go back in time to see this! 🎹 🌕

🌼 Many locals will also remember the Flower of Sorrento Mini Mart—known affectionately as Albert’s or Rosie’s—which served the community for almost six decades before closing in 2026. Long before then, the site was home to a greengrocer, a haberdashery and even a small area where sheep occasionally grazed! 🐑

As our students discovered, every building has a story—and this is only the beginning of our walk. Join us this week as we continue our journey down Spensley Street….

Do you remember any of these places? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments!

📚✨ Prep–Year 1 Community ReadAloud is Back for Term 3! ✨📚

We’re excited to welcome back one of our favourite community traditions!

All current SSPS parents, carers, grandparents and family members are invited to join us for our first Prep–Year 1 Community ReadAloud of Term 3, held in our beautiful new Area 2 learning space.

You don’t need to have a child in Prep or Year 1 to take part—if you’re part of the SSPS community, we’d love you to come along and share the joy of reading with our youngest students.

📖 Please note: All volunteers must hold a current Working With Children Check before participating.

We can’t wait to read with you! 💛

❤️ SSPS Parent Community Stands with Our Teachers ❤️

Spensley Street’s parent community has a long history of valuing and supporting the incredible teachers who make our school such a special place.

Tomorrow, many of our teachers will be participating in the statewide industrial action being taken by Victorian public school teachers. Through this action, they are advocating for manageable workloads, better resourcing and funding, and the support needed to continue providing the high-quality public education that every child deserves.

Spensley Street Primary School Council supports our teachers and respects their decision to stand up for the future of public education.

Our teachers show up for our children every single day with passion, care, professionalism and unwavering dedication. They go far beyond the classroom—creating opportunities, nurturing confidence, supporting wellbeing, and helping every child to thrive. We are incredibly grateful for everything they do for our school community, and we stand behind them. 🙌

Thank you, SSPS teachers. We appreciate you today and every day. ❤️

📚🏫 The Hunt for SSPS History Begins!

As part of our 135th Anniversary celebrations, our whole-school Inquiry this term is all about History.

With an incredible collection of archives, photographs and stories already carefully preserved over the years, our students are about to discover that the history of Spensley Street Primary School is full of fascinating people, moments and memories.

To help bring the past to life, the wonderful Anne Nelson and her team are creating a mini museum at school, filled with artefacts from classrooms of years gone by. Here’s a sneak peek at just a few treasures from our collection…

✨ Now we need your help!

Do you have an old school item tucked away that you could lend—or even donate—for our display? It doesn’t have to be from Spensley Street! We’re looking for anything that might spark curiosity and conversation, including:

🪑 Old school desks or chairs
📚 Vintage school books
🗺️ Vintage toys or games
🔔 School bells
⌨️ Typewriters
💻 Early computers
✏️ Or any other classroom treasures from years gone by!

Whether it’s from the 1950s, 1980s or even the early 2000s, chances are our students will be amazed by it.

If you have something our students would love to explore, please send us a private message—we’d love to hear from you.

And if you’ve ever been part of the SSPS story, we’d love to reconnect with you too. Join our SSPS 135th Anniversary & Reunion Facebook Group, and save the date for our 135th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday 5 December, where these wonderful archives and artefacts will be on display for our whole community to enjoy.

✨ A Day in the Life at SSPS: Meet Maya (Prep) – Part 2 ✨

In our last post, we left Maya after a literacy session.

Now it’s time to see what happens next...

After an outdoor play break, Maya joins a small maths group with her teacher. While she practises counting and problem-solving, other students are learning with different teachers, with lessons tailored to where they are in their learning.

This is one of the strengths of our open-plan learning Areas and team teaching. Teachers work collaboratively, continually observing and supporting students so every child is known, challenged and encouraged to grow.

Next, it’s time for Italian.

Today the students are learning about Carnevale in Venice. They create colourful masks while discovering how different cultures celebrate through traditions, language and creativity. Learning another language at SSPS isn’t just about vocabulary—it’s about opening children’s minds to different ways of seeing the world.

After lunch, the learning heads outdoors.

The whole Area walks to nearby Merri Creek, joined by parent volunteers who are part of the learning experience. Clipboards in hand, Maya carefully sketches a frog resting near the water’s edge before noticing tiny tadpoles wriggling below the surface.

Suddenly, all those questions from Morning Circle become real.

Inquiry comes alive when children can observe, question and experience learning firsthand. Tomorrow, the class will transform their notes and drawings into books about their visit.

As the school day ends, Maya is already imagining the first page she’ll create.

It might look like she spent the day crafting, exploring and playing.

But beneath every experience was purposeful teaching.

Relationships were strengthened.
Curiosity was nurtured.
Essential Skills were explicitly taught.
Confidence quietly grew.

That’s a day in the life of Prep at SSPS.

💛 We’d love to show you what it feels like in person. Book a Prep Tour via the link in our bio.

Spensley Street Primary School Spensley Street Primary School. Inclusive, innovative, inspired. Clifton Hill, Naarm.

✨ A Day in the Life at SSPS: Meet Maya (Prep) ✨

One of the questions we’re asked most often at our Prep tours is:
“What does a typical day actually look like for a Prep student at Spensley Street?”

Rather than simply telling you about our approach to learning, we thought we’d show you.

Over the next two posts, follow Maya through a typical day at SSPS and discover what multi-age learning, inquiry and explicit teaching look like in action in our open-plan learning Areas.

When Maya arrives at school, the learning has already begun.

Across the Area, children are building, creating, drawing and chatting together at PlayStations. These experiences aren’t just a fun way to start the day—they’re designed to build relationships, confidence and independence.

Maya chooses the craft table, where a Year 2 student helps her cut tiny paper leaves for a frog habitat they’re making together.

Parents often ask what multi-age learning looks like. Sometimes it’s as simple as this: older students naturally encourage younger ones, while younger students gain confidence alongside their peers.

Soon it’s time for Morning Circle with Maya’s Prep/Year 1 class. Although students learn in a shared Area, every child belongs to a home class where they connect with their teacher and classmates each day.

Today’s learning begins with a story about frog life cycles.

“How do frogs breathe underwater?” Maya asks.

Her teacher smiles and adds the question to a growing wall of student wonderings.

At SSPS, curiosity drives inquiry. Children’s questions become the starting point for authentic learning, encouraging them to investigate, think deeply and make meaningful connections.

Next comes explicit literacy teaching. Maya draws and labels a frog while her teacher provides targeted support and feedback using the phonics sounds they practised yesterday.

Big ideas. Strong foundations.

That’s how Maya’s day is just getting started.

➡️ Join us tomorrow as Maya heads into Maths, Italian and learning beyond the classroom.

💛 Interested in seeing it for yourself? Book a Prep Tour via the link in our bio.

Spensley Street Primary School Spensley Street Primary School. Inclusive, innovative, inspired. Clifton Hill, Naarm.