Dear School Community Members,

Mano is a great place to be!

On Tuesday, I attended the ‘Chill’n with Kevin’ session with Cyndee and 25 excited Prep to Grade 4 students. The atmosphere and vibe was incredibly inviting, warm, safe and inclusive. Students were enjoying their cup of warm milo, chatting and engaging in some calm activities. The manners and interactions of the students and Cyndee were incredibly warm and pleasant. Students expressed to me how valuable the experience is to ‘chill with Kevin’ and Cyndee. Comments included, “coming to visit Cyndee and Kevin makes it easier for me in the mornings”, “I like getting to school a little bit earlier to hang out with Cyndee and my friends”, and “the milo is so delicious”.

Mano is a great place to be!

Why Cant I Skip 20 minutes of Reading Tonight:

A study conducted by highly regarded scholars, Nagy and Herman, highlights the power and impact of a regular Home-Reading program.

Student ‘A’ reads Student ‘B’ reads Student ‘C reads

20 minutes each day 5 minutes each day 1 minute each day

3,600 minutes in a 900 minutes in a 180 minutes in a

school year school year school year

1,800,000 words 282,000 words 8,000 words

90th percentile 50th percentile 10th percentile

By the end of primary school:

Student ‘A’ will have read the equivalent of 60 whole school days.

Student ‘B’ will have read only 12 school days.

Which student would you expect to have better vocabulary?

Which student would you expect to be more successful in school….in life?

Recently, our staff conducted a ‘health check’ of our home-reading program across the school. 84% of students have an embedded home-reading program in place. The expected amount of minutes per week is:

Prep – Grade 2

At least 10 minutes per night (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sun)

Grade 3 – Grade 4

20 minutes per night (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sun)

Grade 5 – Grade 6

20 minutes per night (Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sun)

We are committed to assisting the 16% of students (or approx. 76 students) who have not developed a regular home-reading program. Please contact your child’s teacher, Mrs Geary or myself if you would like to discuss your child’s Home-Reading program further.

Mano Lunch Time Clubs:

Our Lunch Time Clubs program is in full swing! Our Lunch Time Clubs are designed to provide our students with purposeful and supervised activities at Lunch Time. Our students decided on the clubs through a whole school vote and have been very well attended so far term. Included in this newsletter is a schedule of the clubs and a small blurb to assist families and students to determine their participation in these clubs.

Education Week:

Like all schools across Victoria, Mano is celebrating Education Week in the week of Monday, 18th May.

This year’s Education Week theme is, ‘Showcase your School’, which will highlight what is great about Mano. Our activities throughout the week will be aligned to this theme.

Events include:

Education Week launch at assembly: Monday, 18th May 9:05am
School Tours for Prospective Families: Tuesday, 19th May 9:30am

Wednesday, 20th May 12noon

Open afternoon for current families: Wednesday, 20th May 2:35pm

We warmly encourage all families to join us at any of the activities throughout the week. Further information will be provided over this week.

Mother’s Day:

This Sunday is a wonderful day of the year when we acknowledge and thank our mums or special person for everything they do. I wish all mums in our community a very Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday. I hope you all get spoilt! Our Mother’s Day stall is being held today where our students are able to purchase special treasures for their mum or significant person in their life. Thank you to our wonderful group of helpers for providing this opportunity to our students.

Staff Carpark Reminder - Student Safety First:

To ensure the safety of all students, families, and staff, the staff carpark is strictly reserved for staff vehicles only. This area is not designed for student drop-off, pick-up, or general access. We ask all members of our school community to help us maintain a safe environment by keeping this space free from non-staff vehicles at all times. In particular, minimising vehicle movement in this area during peak times significantly reduces the risk of accidents and helps protect our students.

Thank you for your cooperation and for supporting our commitment to student safety.

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

Christian Smith