Principals' Message 

 Hello Parents and Friends,

It has been a very eventful two weeks at TPPS.  The Grade 5/6 students have commenced auditions for our Term 3 Musical, 'Finding Nemo' and we are so excited for our senior students.  Brian, Robyn and Mark also attended the Government Schools Principals Conference last week and were treated to a keynote address by Dr Sonja Hood on why Leadership Matters.  The Hon. Ben Carroll (Minister for Education, Deputy Premier) and Dr David Howes (Deputy Secretary, Schools and Regional Services) also presented to Principals from across Victoria on the direction of education in Victoria. It was very insightful and we were left very excited about teaching and learning in Victoria. 

Have a fantastic weekend!

2026 Prep Enrolments - Now Open! 

For families that are interested in enrolling their child in Prep at Templestowe Park in 2026, please see the process below and our school website for further information.  2026 Prep enrolments are now open!

How to enrol at Templestowe Park PS

• Contact our school office on 9846 2700 to book a school tour with our Principal or Assistant Principals.
• Submit an Expression of Interest EOI if you would like to receive updates from Templestowe Park about enrolment news and our numerous transition programs.
• Digital enrolments for Prep 2026 opened on Tuesday 22 April 2025.  Please click here to submit your digital enrolment after Tuesday 22 April 2025.
• Submit an enrolment application for Prep 2026 by Friday 25 July 2025.
• You will be notified of the outcome of your application between Monday 28 July and Friday 8 August 2025. If you receive an enrolment offer, you should accept the offer by Friday 22 August 2025. Please note – all in zone student enrolments will be immediately accepted on receipt of student enrolment.
• We will invite families to participate in our Prep 2026 Transition programs.
• Prep students will commence school on Wednesday 28 January 2026.

For further information from the Department of Education about enrolling in Prep for 2026 please click here. 

Grade 5/6 Camp to Sovereign Hill 

In the week commencing Monday 23rd of June, our Grade 5/6 students will be travelling to Ballarat to attend camp at Sovereign Hill.  Our Grade 5/6 students have been learning about Australian history this term, and particularly the Eureka Rebellion.  This has included reading the award-winning novel by Jackie French, ‘The Night They Stormed Eureka’.  The students have learnt so much about this pivotal event in Australian History and they will now get to experience it in the working museum at Sovereign Hill.

Our school has been lucky enough to be successful in obtaining a spot in the highly sought after Costume School Program.  This means that each child will have the unique experience of being immersed in 1850s Gold Rush history by dressing up in period costume (supplied by Sovereign Hill) and attending one of the schools at Sovereign Hill.  Each school replicates how it would have operated back in the 1850s, so children will experience what school was like then. There are rich and poor schools and TPPS students will be allocated to one of them, along with TPPS staff.  Students will also experience the workings of Sovereign Hill and have the opportunity to explore the shops, see a gold pouring demonstration, pan for gold and go underground in the mine. 

We wish all the students, staff and parents that are attending, the very best. It is so exciting for our students to experience in person what they have been learning about so much in the classroom. 

Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM 2.0)

At our recent ‘Coffee and Chat with the Principals’ morning, we had an excellent discussion with our parent community to share information about our Teaching and Learning model. Questions were asked about the new model of more explicit teaching and the built-in review and repetition in lessons to cement learning.  We thought it prudent to explain the model in more detail for everyone so that as a school community, we can understand and work together to support our students with their learning.

The Department of Education recently released a new teaching and learning model, the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0). It is supported by a vast amount of research into the way students learn and as a government school, we are directed to implement it.  At TPPS, we have been undergoing a vast amount of professional learning, including visiting schools with outstanding results, to implement rigorous teaching and learning programs.  For further information, use the following links:

https://www.vic.gov.au/victorian-teaching-and-learning-information-parentsVictorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM 2.0)

At TPPS, we use a systematic approach for literacy and numeracy to ensure that every essential skill is taught in a clear, logical order, so nothing important is missed. The programs are carefully designed to build knowledge step by step, with each new concept building on what students have already learned. This approach is called scaffolding, and it helps students feel confident and successful as they progress. By following a structured sequence, teachers can identify gaps early, provide targeted support, and ensure that all students develop strong foundations in reading, writing, and mathematics. For parents, this means peace of mind knowing that your child’s learning is thorough, consistent, and designed for long-term success. 

In Prep – Grade 2, our systematic synthetic phonics approach to literacy with the Decodable Readers Australia material, is ensuring strong foundational skills are being taught and practiced daily with our reading, spelling and writing.  Our Grade 3-6 students are engaged in a structured knowledge-rich literacy program that includes specific teaching about vocabulary, grammar, spelling, reading, comprehension and writing through a variety of texts.  Our ‘Spelling Mastery’ program is a direct instruction program with its own student workbook for our Grade 1-6 students.  In Mathematics, part of our lessons include a workbook for number fact practice with the ‘New Wave Mental Maths’ student workbooks.  We of course, still use a variety of concrete materials and problem solving to engage and challenge students in their understanding of mathematical concepts.

When students learn something new, it first enters their working memory, which is like a mental notepad that can only hold a few pieces of information at a time. To move this information into long-term memory, where it can be stored and recalled later, students need to go through a process of encoding and consolidation.  At TPPS, our lessons are carefully structured so that activities require the use of known skills or information, with just the right amount of new material so that the brain can cope.  Sometimes students may not realise they are learning something new because the step up is just the right amount for them to experience success.  If your child says, ‘learning is easy’, that’s terrific.  Be positive with the message that learning is making sense to them. It means they are feeling good about what they are doing and are developing mastery with fundamental literacy and numeracy skills and knowledge.  We have high expectations of our students to apply themselves during our rigorous literacy and numeracy sessions, with just the right amount of ‘showmanship’ by our teachers to keep them engaged as they develop skills as young learners.

Professional Photographer visiting next Tuesday 

The fantastic photos you regularly see in our newsletters and publications are now due for an update.  Next Tuesday, a professional photographer will spend the day at TPPS to capture what learning looks like at our school.  Please ensure that your child is in full school uniform and looks their very best for the day.  Our photographer is fantastic and has captured so many amazing images of our students.  We look forward to seeing a whole new set of snaps! 

NAIDOC Week at Templestowe Park

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year. At TPPS we are excited to celebrate NAIDOC Week in the final week of Term 2 (Monday 30th June - Friday 4th July).

We will celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout the week. NAIDOC Week at TPPS  will commence with Uncle Glenn hosting a Smoking Ceremony on Monday 30th of June at 9:10am.  We are very excited to be a part of this ancient custom as the smoke will cleanse our school and ward off bad spirits from the people and the land. 

More information on all of our activities for the week will be published to our community very shortly.  Happy NAIDOC Week!

Kindness in Action 

Two of our outstanding Grade 6 students were highlighted in the ‘Manningham Matters’ magazine this week.  Maya and Olivia have launched a project to promote kindness in our community.  This is such a fantastic initiative by two of our Grade 6 students.  To read the article please click here and see page 10.  Well done, Maya and Olivia! 

Outstanding Sporting Achievement! 

Last weekend, Holly S in Grade 6 represented Templestowe Park in the Victorian Interschool Showjumping Championships.  Holly did an amazing job and took out third place.  On the 21st of June, Holly will also represent the Northern Metropolitan Zone in the State Championships.

Congratulations, Holly! 

Keeping up with what is happening at TPPS!

Our school is a very busy place with lots of different events, excursions, incursions and activities taking place.  To keep up with what is happening we publish a school calendar.  You can access this calendar via Compass (click on the calendar in the tab at the top of your page), via the school website or via the Newsletter in the ‘School Calendar’ section.  Within this section in the newsletter we will also list the important upcoming dates. 

Principals' Award 

This week's Principals' Award was presented to Abbie (Gr 5) at our Assembly today. Abbie consistently shows all of the school values in every single classroom that she is in.

Whether it is in her own classroom, a specialist classroom, or in one of the many extension opportunities that she takes part in. She has enthusiastically taken part in both VHAP Numeracy and Literacy this semester, as well as working hard on her Melbourne Mathematics and Statistics Research Competition project. Abbie already shows great leadership as the Sustainability Representative for her class. She most recently had the opportunity to attend the John Monash Science School where she participated in the Little Scientists program, extending her already excellent knowledge of Science!

Abbie’s academic excellence is balanced by her kind nature and ability to be a kind and supportive peer to anyone she comes across in the school.

Congratulations Abbie ! Your dedication to your learning has not gone unnoticed!

Kangaroo visit at TPPS

Last Tuesday we had a kangaroo at TPPS.  The Vets for Compassion rescue team were called and on scene quickly, comprising of Oli, Elaine, Chris, Deana and Alistair.  Our wonderful parent helpers were Becca and Amy (both with wildlife rescue experience). We wanted to take a moment to thank these wonderful volunteers who act with so much care and compassion for our wildlife.

Established in 2016, Vets for Compassion is an Australian based not-for-profit organisation with a mission to improve animal welfare.  All members of the Vets for Compassion team are volunteers. The highly trained team of veterinarians, vet nurses, wildlife darters, and wildlife rescuers respond to call outs at all hours of the day to perform life-saving surgery, rescue, rehabilitation, relocating and re-homing as well as provide emergency wildlife rescue assistance and disaster response here in Australia and around the world.

Vets For Compassion relies on the generosity of its supporters whose donations enable them to alleviate the suffering of animals in need of help. The team works with the optimum level of resource efficiency, ensuring every dollar raised goes directly to saving precious animals.  We encourage families to donate to this great not-for-profit organisation!

Website - Vets for Compassion

Facebook - Facebook

Insta - Vets For Compassion (@vets_for_compassion) • Instagram photos and videos

We sincerely thank our students, staff and school community for their calm and prompt response.  We are discussing future wildlife and conservation education opportunities for the children following this incident.

Your understanding and cooperation helped ensure a safe and positive outcome for everyone involved. Oli the Roo was successfully rescued and released back to bushland nearby.

Mark Roberts                       Brian Cleary                                       Robyn Twyford                                    

PRINCIPAL                           ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL                  ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL