Student News

PE/Sport Update

Trafalgar Primary School Crowned Inaugural AFL Victoria Superkick & Auskick Champion

We are delighted to share some exciting news with our school community — Trafalgar Primary School has been officially recognised by AFL Victoria as the inaugural Superkick & Auskick Champion.

This honour reflects the outstanding growth, participation, and enthusiasm shown by our students throughout the year in AFL programs, as well as the strong partnerships our school has built with AFL Victoria. The award also acknowledges our commitment to providing inclusive, high-quality football opportunities for all students.

As part of this recognition, our Sport & Physical Education Teacher, Mr White, attended a special award ceremony at AFL House, where educators from across Victoria were celebrated for their significant contributions to growing AFL within school communities.

This achievement would not have been possible without the support of our entire school community — our students who approached every session with energy and excitement, our families who encouraged their participation, and our school leadership team who continue to make meaningful sporting opportunities possible at Trafalgar Primary School.

We are proud of this recognition and look forward to continuing to grow the love of AFL at TPS.

Staff vs Students Netball Match a Lunchtime Highlight

Our much-anticipated Staff vs Students Netball match was played last Friday and it absolutely lived up to the hype. After months of Wednesday lunchtime netball, our Grade 5–6 All Star Team took to the court brimming with confidence, teamwork, and plenty of big-game energy.

They were met by an equally enthusiastic Staff All Star Team, featuring a mix of teachers, ES staff, admin, and support crew who were more than ready to put their “well-honed” (or long retired!) netball skills to the test. From bold interceptions to dramatic dives, questionable footwork to very creative interpretations of the rules, the match had it all.

The sidelines were packed with cheering students and staff, creating a brilliant atmosphere as both teams rotated through three fast-paced seven-minute periods. The students showcased the skills they’ve developed throughout the year, while the staff brought teamwork, determination, and plenty of laughs.

Most importantly, the match celebrated fun, community spirit, and the joy of finishing the school year with something a little bit special.

A huge well done to our student All Stars and a big thank you to every staff member who played, supported, cheered, umpired, or provided sideline first aid for those “very legitimate” hamstring concerns!

Grade 3–6 Tennis Clinics Wrap Up at Trafalgar Tennis Club

Our Grade 3–6 students have now completed their two-week Tennis Clinic program in partnership with Trafalgar Tennis Club and what a fantastic experience it has been.

Across both weeks, students enjoyed learning new skills, rallying with classmates, and building confidence on the court. For many, it was a chance to try tennis for the very first time, while others were able to extend and refine skills they already had. The combination of structured skill development and fun gameplay activities made for energetic, engaging sessions that students looked forward to each week.

We extend our thanks to Trafalgar Tennis Club and G & S Tennis Academy for providing high-quality coaching and creating such a welcoming environment for our students.

Well done to all Grades 3–6 students for the enthusiasm and effort shown throughout this program.

Music Room Chronicles

2025 End of Year Music Report

We have had a great year learning about and celebrating music in the Trafalgar Primary School Music classroom.

Term 1 - We studied musical instruments and instrument families. We got hands on and started applying our instrument skills to songs.

Term 2 - We studied the music elements - Volume, Pitch, Tempo and Duration. Grades 3-6 students also wrote songs using this knowledge.

Term 3 - F-2 classes studied and played music from around the world. 3-6 students played in small bands, culminating in a performance.

Term 4 - All students focused on performance, preparing for Festival on the Lawn.

Festival on the Lawn - Friday 5th December

Festival on the Lawn is Trafalgar Primary School’s annual end-of-year showcase of the Arts.  The weather was perfect for this year’s Festival on the Lawn. 

Drama and Dance kicked off the show in front of the big stage to a huge and enthusiastic audience. Foundation followed with an Irish themed dance and song. Then all classes stole the show, performing a song each that they had selected in music class, playing their chosen instruments.

The quality of the performances was very high, and all students should be very proud of themselves. 

Alongside these performances, over 600 pieces of student art were on display in the gym which was beautifully presented like an art gallery.

Many food and drink vendors kept the crowd fed and hydrated, and a great night was had by all.

Photo credit to Casey Kurrle

Trafalgar Community Carols - Wednesday 3rd December

The TPS Choir performed at the Trafalgar Community Carols at McGregor Park.

The members of the choir spent all term 4 rehearsing their Christmas carols for the night. They were well presented, well behaved and represented the school beautifully in the community.

The choir performed 4 songs at the carols, including one with the municipal band.

The choir also performed one of our songs at assembly on Friday 28th November.

Choir was a success again this year and will continue in 2026.  Rehearsals are the second half of lunch on Thursdays at no cost.

Instrumental lessons and concert

Trafalgar Primary School is pleased to offer instrumental music lessons as an extracurricular activity. Our students learn from experienced music instructors who are employed by the school and bring significant training and expertise to their teaching. These skilled teachers are committed to our school's philosophy of making music education both enjoyable and engaging for every child.

For more information -https://sites.google.com/education.vic.gov.au/musictps/instrumental 

The instrumental program was a success again this year with around 80 students enrolled. It is always a joy seeing students all building confidence and skills on their chosen instruments guided by their instrumental teacher, bringing those skills into the music classroom and culminating in an end of year instrumental concert.

The end of year instrumental concert was held on Thursday 11th December. It is a celebration of our instrumental music program and the hard work the instrumental music students put in with their teachers.

We're thrilled to welcome back our four instrumental music teachers in 2026 - Casey, Triki, Ruby and Georgia. Places are limited, so please complete an instrumental music form and return it to the office as soon as possible to secure your child's spot for next year.

Term 4 Assembly Performers

Every Friday assembly at Trafalgar Primary School starts with a student musical act. The students choose their songs and practice in the music studio at recess and lunch. The bands are formed by the students themselves. Their performances are self-driven and self-motivated, with preparations only guided by Mr Allan and the instrumental teachers. Here are the Term 4 performers.

Ricky Allan  

Music coordinator/Specialist music teacher

STEM Term 4 Wrap-Up

Term 4 Physics has been a blast! 

We started the term with 'Minute to Win It' challenges to demonstrate different forces in action. 

Preps to Grade 2 investigated push pull and twist forces, becoming toy makers in the process.  We learnt about friction while dragging each other around in different vehicles on different surfaces and finally made lots of noise while investigating sound energy. 

Grade 3 and 4 students spent the term investigating the wonders of thermal energy and how it impacts our everyday lives. They also discovered the magic of diffusion and density, and the relationship between gravity and air resistance. 

Grade 5 and 6 students investigated light energy this term, discovering how light travels in beams and can be manipulated using mirrors. The STEM room disco ball was a hit. 

We finished the term making CO2 powered rocket cars from blocks of balsa wood and race day was incredible! The track was 25m long, and boy, were the cars fast!

Congratulations to the winners from each class who took the theory of aerodynamics and mass very seriously. 

P4   Izik B     1.082 seconds 

P3   Albie J   0.935 seconds

P2   Quinn J 1.298 seconds

P1   Knox S  1.293 seconds

Below are a few student testimonials about our year in STEM. 

Thanks for a great year, and just wait till you see what’s in store for 2026!! 

Mrs B 

Some of my favourite activities were making the slime because it was a fun way to experiment with different types of ingredients. Another one of my favourite activities was to make our name tags using UV light by using stencils to make them. 

I love lunchtime STEM. It's really good because you get to hold and connect with the spiny leaf insects, have fun with science, and talk and connect. I also like making light reflect of the mirrors to make a maze or shape. I also liked making the cars out of wood and racing them. I was really happy when I, and many other students,  got a spiny leaf insect egg! Altogether stem has been really fun and exciting every week, there has never been a boring part. 

By Zali and Sophie

This year we had a program called STEM come into our school, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. In term 2, we got 5 caterpillars that would eventually turn into monarch butterflies. As well as the caterpillars in term 2 we also got to spiny leaf insects that live in the STEM room.  In term 3 we did a natural disaster slide presentation all about what natural disasters are and how they form, it was really fun, and in term 4 we did rocket cars which are cars that are aerodynamic and made out of balsa wood. At the end of the term we got to race them in the gym, the track was 25 metres long.  STEM this year was really fun and I can't wait until next year to continue this program

By Adelyn H

I like STEM because it lets me learn new things and is really fun, especially when I get to do different things in the classroom. I like science because I get to do cool experiments, and experiments are fun too. My favourite part was making rocket cars out of balsa wood and seeing how fast they could go. Whenever we go to the STEM it is always fun, and I like seeing how things work and stuff like that.  

By Georgia J

My favourite thing that we learnt in STEM was woodwork when we made

aerodynamic racer cars. We worked really hard for four Wednesdays in our STEM lesson, and finally, it was race day! On race day, we put wheels on the cars and put them on the track. The lights went Beep! Beep! Beep! Beeeep! and I pressed the button, and zoom went my car down the 25 meter track across the gym. 

By Libby B

My favourite thing about STEM is everything. It is so much fun to learn about: chemistry, biology, moon and space, and even physics.  It is such a fun place to hang out, to learn about science, to play with the spiny leaf insects or see some babies. The STEM room is a really fun place.

In biology, you learn about plants, sunlight, and lots of other things. In chemistry, you get to make slime, sometimes you get to make chocolate, and it is so much fun. Moon and space are so much fun, you get to make Earths out of playdough sometimes, and there is so much more we do during the moon and space term. Last but not least, my favourite term physics you get to do so so so much like make cars and race them or have different stations and go through them or make pictures with UV and shapes. 

In the STEM room at Trafalgar Primary School, there are spiny leaf insects, and there are also baby spiny leaf insects that are either still in an egg or are just babies. 

By Ellyra J 

STEM has only started this year. Quick, but fun, laughs and work. 

My personal favourite lesson was when we raced cars on a track. It was so cool how fast it went, but building them was my favourite part. Another fun and exciting lesson was when we learned the layers of the Earth and then made these layers with Play-Doh.

Not only do we learn in STEM, we also have fun, like the time we had a disco after our lesson. STEM is the perfect experience to finish off our day, unless you start with it of course.  It is always a great and fun learning experience, and I loved it this year!

Written by Sienna T

STEM only started this year, but the memories I made along the way and the things I learned will stay with me forever. One of my favourite things was making slime. I learned what needed to be added and why, with the ingredients I needed.  I have learned so many things I didn’t know, and the things I thought I didn’t need to know about. Being in the STEM room made me realise there are so many more things I need to learn, and how there is so much more living out there I didn’t know about. I want to thank Mrs B and all the other STEM teachers for helping and being there when I needed them. All the memories and the things I learn about would stay in my core memory like a star that never stops shining, and a footpath that you can’t erase.

By Vicky N

STEM is really fun. During some lunch times, I go to the STEM room and play with the spiny leaf insects. I've learned so much about science. I loved learning about aerodynamic race cars that we raced in term 4. Earlier in the year, we learned about Liquids, Solids and Gases, so after we learned all about it, we made things that have some of those categories. We made things like Slime and kinetic sand. After we learned how that worked, we took them home to show our families what we made. STEM is an amazing program. Mrs Bannister is the best STEM teacher!  

By Mabel

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. It is something many kids enjoy because it makes learning exciting and full of discovery. Science helps kids understand how the world works, like why the sky changes colours, how plants grow, or how electricity makes lights and machines work. Technology is fun because it shows how people create machines and tools that can solve problems or make life easier. Engineering lets kids design and build things, such as bridges, robots, or houses, turning ideas from their imagination into real objects. Math is also exciting because it helps children solve problems step by step.

STEM is more than just school subjects; it's a way for kids to explore, ask questions, and learn new things all the time. It helps them feel confident, creative, and proud when they figure something out or make something on their own. STEM also teaches important skills like problem-solving, creativity, and perseverance, which can be used in school and in everyday life. Most importantly. STEM shows that the world is full of mysteries. 

By Tiffany 

In STEM this year, we have participated in a range of activities, including making slime, making rocket cars, and plant growing.

In term 1, we learnt about the study of biology and got to grow our own plants! We got to choose if we wanted to grow them with a series of different ingredients and ways, including salt, sugar, dark, light, no soil and many more! We had to make a hypothesis of what we think would survive and die.

In term 2, we did science. We saw a demonstration of Elephant Toothpaste made by Mrs B. We even got to make our own slime with activator glue and colourful icy-pole sticks. We also got to make kinetic sand using sand, oil and corn starch.  It was so much fun dressing up in lab coats and goggles to do fun experiments.  

In Term 3, we learned about natural disasters. It was a lot of fun learning about how different natural disasters are formed. At the end of the term, we had to get into groups and we all had to agree on a natural disaster. I (Myah) was in a group of 3 with Addy and Erin, and the natural disaster we did was droughts. 

In Term 4, we learned about Physics. For the first half of the term, we defied the laws of physics. My favourite lesson of defying the laws of physics was when we did a series of challenges including cup stacking, a cracker on your forehead and try to get it in your mouth, a cup with water on toilet rolls and you had to get it to the end without it ripping, a feather in a balloon pump and try to keep it in the air, we had ice cream tubs on our head and throw a ball into each others buckets.

At play times, we have been lucky enough to be able to go into the STEM room and explore our curiosity, help reset activities for the next classes and play with the spiny leaf insects and much more fun things. Overall, we have enjoyed STEM and can't wait for it again next year.

By Myah and Yasmine - Year 5 

Boost Tutoring Awards Ceremony

Recently, these students were recognised for their achievements in this year’s Times Table Olympics and Spelling Olympics, proudly receiving their medals at a special presentation attended by many family members. Although Jake F, Albie J and Max C were unable to be there on the day, we celebrated their achievements as well. Medals were presented by our Principal, Mr Nicholls, along with the students’ tutor, Mrs Raewyn McMahon. Congratulations to all our dedicated learners for their wonderful effort and progress!

Red Cross Pillow Talk Program

Our Grades 3, 4 and 5 students took part in the Red Cross Pillow Talk program, an engaging and age-appropriate initiative that helps children learn about staying safe and supporting one another in emergencies. The sessions were interactive, and full of thoughtful discussion.

Younger students in Grades F, 1 and 2 also participated in an introductory session, giving them a gentle and engaging introduction to the ideas behind the program. This session helped lay the groundwork for their potential involvement in the full Pillowcase Program in future years.

All students enjoyed the activities and the chance to share their ideas in a relaxed, friendly environment. A big thank-you to the Red Cross team for delivering such a great and meaningful program for our school!

Foundation Students Explore Gumbuya World

On Friday 28 November, our Foundation students enjoyed an exciting excursion to Gumbuya World as part of their writing unit on information texts.

The day began with an immersive wildlife experience where students met baby squirrel gliders, blue-tongue and bobtail lizards, and even a large python named Jack. Rangers spoke to the group about each animal’s habitat and demonstrated how to touch and handle them safely.

Students then explored the entire animal trail, hand-feeding kangaroos and farm animals along the way. A highlight for many was meeting a friendly peacock with a surprising love for bananas—especially those found in lunch boxes!

We also watched the dingo feeding session and saw koalas up close as they munched on their special gum leaves.

It was a memorable day full of learning, discovery, and plenty of animal encounters.

Here are some student reflections of their experiences: 

Katelyn – On Friday we went to Gumbuya World on the bus, and I really liked the peacock. 

Jaeger – On Friday we went to Gumbuya World on the bus. First, we saw a squirrel glider. Then we saw a blue tongue lizard. Next a pig. Finally, the bird show. 

Havana – On Friday we went to Gumbuya World on the bus. My favourite part was the bird show because they flew over people’s heads. 

What an incredible year it has been for our Junior School Council!

Our dedicated representatives have worked with passion and enthusiasm to make a difference, and together with the support of our amazing school community, we have proudly raised funds and awareness for a range of important causes:

• “Do it for Dolly” – Dressed in Blue Day

• Fight MND – The Big Freeze Challenge

• Jeans for Genes Day – Wear Blue Day

• Good Friday Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal – Easter Hat Parade

• RSPCA – Crazy Hair & Silly Sock Day

   

• Fight Cancer Foundation – Footy Colours Day

• Be a Heart Hero – Dress as a Superhero Day

• Support Neurofibromatosis – Wear Green or Blue Day

   

A heartfelt thank you to our wonderful school community for your generosity, encouragement, and spirit throughout the year. Every event has showcased your kindness and compassion.

We already have an exciting Term 1 planned for 2026—so stay tuned!

Warm regards,

Your Junior School Councillors and Mrs Sneddon 🎉

Breakfast Club

On behalf of the entire Breakfast Club, we want to extend a huge thank you to all of our generous donors who have contributed milo and jam and so much more throughout the year! Your thoughtfulness has truly brightened our mornings. A special thank you to our volunteers and sponsors who have made a significant contribution to helping us sustain our operations each day before school.  Thank you for making such a meaningful impact on our school community. Your support ensures our students begin each day nourished and ready to learn, which makes all the difference in their success.

Looking forward to seeing you for brekky in 2026!

Mrs Marslen

Breakfast Club MasterChef

Care Packages Available

We are pleased to offer care packages to support our school and community members.

Melissa creates personalised care packages that are:

• Discreet & confidential – Your privacy is our priority
• Tailored to your needs – Each package is customised for you

• Completely free – No cost to you

   

Please don't hesitate to reach out to the office whenever you need support.

For more information or to request a care package, contact the office on 5633 1566