Dear School Community Members,

Welcome to Term 2! It has been a wonderful start to Term 2 at Mano with all students busy catching up with friends and being immersed in new curriculum topics.

Term 2 is an eleven week term and we can assure you that our school has much to look forward to throughout this time – including our Grade 3 – 6 Mano House Athletics, Education Week, Winter Lightning Premiership for Grade 5 and 6 students, student report cards, practise for our school Concert commencing, numerous excursions and Parent/Teacher Conferences. Please keep an ‘eye’ on the calendar of events in our newsletter to keep abreast of all that is happening.

It’s not Okay to be away!: We will continue to promote the importance of student attendance throughout this year. As advised late last term, our student absence rates are above what is expected of our school. With this in mind, some families have requested support when navigating the “I don’t want to go to school” discussion. Below is a link that can support families in responding to the many statement’s children can utlise to express their desire to ‘stay home’:

https://www.understood.org/articles/what-to-say-when-kids-with-learning-and-thinking-differences-dont-want-to-go-to-school

Once again, we encourage families to contact us at school if you would like further support to improve your child’s attendance at school.

ANZAC Day Commemoration Service: On Monday, some of our Grade 6 students will lead our school community through our annual ANZAC Day commemoration service.

All families are warmly welcome.

Date: Monday, 22nd April

Time: 9:05am

Venue: Basketball/Netball Court (in front of flag poles)

Unleashing Potential Awards – Term 1: Congratulations to the following students on receiving the Term 1 Unleashing potential award:

Prep: Florence Brownlie

Grade 1: Ellie Cameron

Grade 2: Aston Stefanovski

Grade 3: Annabel Newton

Grade 4: Mabel Hart

Grade 5: Georgia Rixon

Grade 6: Justin Acharya

Annual Implementation Plan – 2024: Our Annual Implementation Plan outlines the key areas we will focus on to maximise student learning and wellbeing outcomes. Ultimately, an Annual Implementation Plan is a school’s improvement plan. Our staff, School Council and our Leadership Team analysed our school data and other information to determine our priorities. Our key improvement strategies for this year are:

Implement and embed the Mano Writer’s Workshop approach consistently across the school.
Develop and implement an evidence based and whole school approach to the teaching of Mathematics.
Embed the Mano Health & Wellbeing model to build resilience and support student wellbeing and inclusion.
Develop and document a viable curriculum map and implement consistent assessment practices.

As a staff team, we are committed to achieving the targets against our improvement plan and are highly engaged in each of these areas. In the upcoming newsletters, I will provide our families with regular updates on our progress and achievements.

Digital Learning: Our BYOD iPad program continues to provide our students with new and integral learning experiences. The benefits of using iPads for learning are well documented and clearly evident in our school setting, however, it is important to remind students and the school community of our guidelines surrounding the effective and safe use of the device. Manifold Heights PS have developed clear and concise guidelines with input from students, staff and families. Below are some examples that we would like to highlight this week.

·No games during school time (unless teacher directed and educational)

·No messaging at school between friends or parents of students

·iPads to be securely stored in bags while travelling to and from school (riding or walking home from school)

Education Week at Manifold Heights PS: Our school, along with many other schools, will celebrate education week during the week of Monday, 13th May. This is an opportunity for our community to celebrate the wonderful opportunities, experiences and achievements our students undertake on a daily basis at Mano.

Further details will be available in the coming week.

Curriculum Day (Pupil Free) – Friday, 26th April: As communicated, next Friday is a Pupil Free Day. Led by Mrs Geary, our staff will utilise this day to review and update our curriculum plan. This will include teachers auditing units of work against the Victorian Curriculum and updating our curriculum. VillageOHSC are offering care for this day. Registration for this care is available via the VillageOHSC website.

Thank you for supporting our school and have a great week.

Christian Smith