Monday 8th of December - 2026 Foundation Parents Information Evening
Thursday 11th of December Grade 6 Graduation
Friday of 12th End of Year Picnic
Friday 19th of December - Last day of term - 1.30pm finish
Welcome to IPS
It was lovely to see so many families and community members at our school fair on Saturday. The weather held out for us and allowed a spectacular day, jam-packed with entertainment, camaraderie and fun. Supporting the fair, be that by volunteering or participating, helps provide a better school for our students. The turn out was magnificent. It makes me both proud and grateful to belong to such a fabulous community!
Our stalls were well supported and our silent auction proved very profitable, raising around $24,000 alone. Whilst we are still in the process of finalising the figures, (with a few bills still to come in) we are confident that the fair has raised approximately $50,000.
On behalf of the leadership team, I'd like to thank our fair sponsors and especially the fair committee for their tireless work over the year to make this year's fair so successful.
Principals for a Day
Introducing our new Principals for the Day on Monday 1st December....
Charles P from FM and Ivy C from FD were the winners of the Principals for a Day Silent Auction item. On Monday they will be very busy 'Principalling'! You might see them helping to deliver the assembly and other very important tasks such as visiting classrooms, helping to do yard duty, checking teachers and office staff are doing their jobs to the high IPS standard and generally keeping Mr Kent and Ms Wright on their toes!
Meet your new VIPs (Very Important Principals) ...
Music at the IPS Fair
A highlight of the IPS School Fair were the musical items that entertained the crowds throughout the day. Here is our very own music teacher Mr O'Brien playing with the Thornbury High School Band.
One of our talented chamber ensemble, The Mangbows performing at the fair:
Your Thoughts on the Fair
Thanks so much to everyone who came out to our school fair! We loved having you there and hope you had a great time. A big shout out also goes to all the volunteers who gave their time to help make it happen, we seriously couldn’t have done it without you.
The Fair Committee would love to know what you thought of the day. What did you like, what could be improved, or do you have any considerations for next time?
Students who achieved High Distinction or Distinctions were presented with their certificates at assembly on Monday November 23rd.
The students pictured below achieved in the top 1% and were presented with Principal Awards.
Princpal Awards
Princpal Awards
What outstanding academic achievements! Well done.
Australian Maths Competition Certificates
Dear Families and Students who were involved in the Australian Maths Competition this year. The certificates have finally arrived, and we will be celebrating student achievements by handing out certificates at next Monday’s assembly on Monday 1st December.
We encourage you to come and support the students by recognising their incredible achievements.
Basketball Victoria Futures Development Program
IPS State Pathway Athletes!
Massive congratulations to athletes Violet Elliot-Steele Y5, Emma Zhang and Alex Kittler Y6 for being selected into the 2025-2026 Basketball Victoria Futures Development Program. They had to compete against the best in the State to secure a spot in the Program and will now take part in blocks of intense training and tournaments with State level coaches.
Recommended by their local Representative Basketball Club, Darebin Phoenix, recognised as being champions of their teams, these students are the first from the club to be chosen and represent Phoenix in this program, another fantastic achievement.
Keep an eye on these future stars!
International Day
Thank you to families that have already placed their order for International Day on Thursday 4th December.
If you haven't had chance yet, you can place an order please do so through the My School Connect APP.
It is going to be a very busy and Annette and staff will be very busy in the kitchen preparing. Receiving your order early will ensure there is enough food for all.
foster a sense of community and belonging and encourages students to develop pride in their appearance
support the school’s commitment to ensuring that our students feel equal and are dressed safely and appropriately for school activities
reduce student competition on the basis of clothing enhance the profile and identity of the school and its students within the wider community.
Please take some time to remind your children to wear the correct uniform to school.
Transition at IPS
Foundation Transition
We welcomed our 2026 Foundation Students to school for another transition session on Tuesday morning. Transition sessions are designed build independence and confidence by showing students what they can expect and reducing anxiety. Our future Foundation students are already fitting in so well.
Years 1-6 Transition
As we approach the mid-point of term 4 the thoughts of our students inevitably turn to ‘what happens next year’?
For some this is a matter-of-fact process that barely raises a mention, for others it can be a more challenging time with the various uncertainties that come about.
Term 4 sees a structured approach to the transition process being implemented by our teaching staff. Your child may well have already shared news of taking part in activities across their whole year level or collaborating with students in another class on a project. As the weeks go by they will also be visiting their ‘buddy classes’ in both the year level above and below them, this allows your child to ask questions, visit the learning spaces and hear from the students in that year level about what they can expect.
Every student also has the opportunity to complete a ‘who I Work well with’ template. This gives your child the chance to share five other students from their year level who they think would be a go match for their 2025 classroom.
This information is included in the process of class creation to make sure that every student has at least one of their choices in their classroom. Teaching staff use a range of other information when generating these classes, including, academic and social profiles, gender, support requirements, incidents of any student conflict, classroom observation of learning habits and the overall make up of a classroom to support all the learners within it.
Our transition process will culminate with a ‘meet the teacher’ day on December 9th. This is the day that statewide transition occurs so our current grad 6 students will be visiting their high school, and we will be welcoming our 2025 foundation cohort. All students will spend a block of time with their 2025 class and teacher, this time will be spent focusing upon building relationships, collaborative activities and preparing for the new school year.
The process that we have in place is both robust and supportive of our student needs and we look forward to both the challenge and excitement of the time ahead.
Finally
Our teachers are busy working on the mammoth task of creating next year's classes. It is an extremely complex task where teachers take many factors and considerations into account when aiming for optimal classes that benefit very student. We would expect by now, if you have specific information that needs to be taken into account for next year's class placement you would have had a discussion with your child's teacher. Please be aware though, that we are not able to take parent requests for specific teachers.