Ms D Principal Message

This week we welcomed a new arrival into the TPS family.  We congratulate our OT Hayley and  partner Lachlan on the safe arrival of their baby girl Scottie.  We wish them all the very best and I am sure big brother Ned is super excited.

We welcome Anna to our Office Administration Team. Anna comes with a wealth of experience, with jobs in both administration and media. Many of you will have already met Anna. If not please drop by the office to say hello.

Lunar New Year

Yesterday marked the Lunar New Year - The Year of the Fire Horse.  We wish all our community who celebrate a joyful, and prosperous new year - Xīn Nián Kuài Lè.  On Friday 6 February I was invited by the Chinese Consul General Mr. Fang Xinwen to the Chinese Embassy to celebrate the spring festival.  We are fortunate to be the school of choice for the children of consul staff who are on secondment to the embassy here in Australia.  I was warmly welcomed by current families and the consul general who would like to continue to strengthen ties with the school community. It was a lovely celebration of culture and to hear from many leaders about the importance of inclusion and respect for different cultures.

Ramadan

Thursday sees the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for some of our community.  We also wish them a blessed month. 

Meet and Greet

On Wednesday 18 February, you will have had the opportunity to meet with your child’s classroom teacher. This meeting aim was to provide you with an opportunity to share your knowledge of your child’s strengths, interests and future goals, as well as any additional information you feel may support the teacher in planning for your child during the 2026 school year. If for some reason you could not make this time, please reach out to your child's teacher to arrange and alternative time.  Please note staff are not available on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons as they are involved in professional learning at this time.  If you need to see your child’s teacher please make an appointment to see them on Mondays or Thursdays.

School Council

Thank you to the parents who have nominated or have been nominated for school council.  Parent representatives play a vital role in shaping the direction and success of our school. As members of School Council, they bring the valuable perspective of families into important conversations about governance, finance, strategic planning and school improvement.

School Council does not manage the day-to-day operations of the school—that is the role of the Principal and leadership team. Instead, it focuses on setting the long-term vision, endorsing policies, overseeing budgets and ensuring the school is operating in the best interests of all students.

I would like to congratulate the following parents who will make up the 2026 TPS School Council:

Alexandra Campbell parent of Lachlan, Jamie, Nini and Izzy

Gil Marsden parent of Alec and Rowan

Karen Reynolds parent of Poppy

Matthew Vaughan parent of Harrison

Sandra Scalzo parent Sabrina and Antonio

Heather Badower parent of Jet and Thea

Sophie McQueen parent of Grace, Ava and Mimi

David Clark parent of Felix and Rupert

Strong parent representation helps ensure that our school remains responsive, inclusive and aligned with the needs of our community. When families are actively involved in governance, we build trust, shared ownership and a stronger culture for our students.

After the first school council meeting of the year we will invite any interested parents to be a part of the following school council committees should they wish:

Policy development

Buildings and Grounds

Finance

Events, Marketing and Fundraising

Shared Classes

Our school community have been raising some valid questions around shared classes or 2 teachers sharing a class. There are a number of reasons why this may happen at TPS such as staff promotion into leadership roles and the requirement to have them released for part of the scheduled time to lead instructional practice and also to accommodate the changing nature of our workforce.  Staff have the right to request part time working conditions to support them during a period when they are raising their children or to support them through illness. From the outside this may seem new or different, however a reduction in time fraction and flexible work arrangements are regular practice in other industries.  In every job share situation we look to match teachers who work collaboratively for the benefit of the students.  We provide structures and opportunities for these staff to meet, discuss, plan and review student learning where possible. We have been fortunate to build a highly skilled, professional, and dedicated workforce at TPS through our strong school culture.  We are a place where staff want to be and will return to after a period of time.

In these circumstances and like with all our students we continue to explicitly teach resilience.  Teaching students to be resilient helps them navigate these changes with confidence and optimism.  Resilience is the ability to adapt, recover and continue moving forward when things don’t go as planned. Importantly, resilience is not about “toughening up” or ignoring emotions. It is about equipping children with strategies — such as positive self-talk, help-seeking, reflection and goal-setting — so they can respond constructively to change.

School Grounds

We have recently had a number of students arriving at school early without any adult supervision.  Our school grounds are supervised from 8:45pm and until 3:45pm. Before and after this time we ask that parents are onsite supervising their children at all times.  This ensures that they are safe.  If your child walks home from school in the afternoon we encourage them to leave the school grounds promptly as this is the safest time to walk home when our community is also out and about. Students who are dropped into the school grounds need to remain within the school grounds until the bell rings. The school grounds does not include Brookville Gardens as this is not a supervised area.  Whilst we understand that students love to play, the kicking of balls (soccer, footballs etc) is not permitted on school grounds.  These games need to be played on the park.  Please support us in delivering this message to your children as well.

Through our routines and expectations we are teaching our students what the purpose of the ‘music before the bell’ - stopping play immediately, getting a drink, going to the toilet and making their way to the line up area.  The music is a primer for this transition and will help keep everyone safe especially on the basketball courts where students line up.  We would appreciate this support in delivering the same message before school when it can get tricky trying to cross the basketball courts. For everyone's safety we ask that we walk the perimeter of the courts rather than through the middle.

Whilst we are a community school and our grounds are used extensively after hours, the school has been subjected to damage mostly over the weekends and therefore we will be locking the gates on Friday afternoons at 3:45pm and reopening them on Monday mornings.  The council playgrounds will be fully accessible during this time.

Attendance

Regular attendance and punctuality are essential to support your child’s learning and wellbeing. Our organisational bell rings at 8:55am, signalling for students to move to their line-up areas before heading into class. Rolls are marked at 9:00am.

Students arriving after 9:00am must be signed in at the office by a parent or carer and issued with a late pass to give to their classroom teacher. Students are not permitted to sign themselves in.

If your child is absent, please record an attendance note via the Compass app, including the reason for the absence. Any unexplained absences will result in an SMS notification at 10:00am advising that your child has been marked absent.

In line with our Attendance Policy, attendance and punctuality are monitored regularly by the leadership team. Families may be contacted if we notice patterns of prolonged absences or frequent late arrivals. These conversations are always supportive in nature, as we are keen to work with families to ensure the best outcomes for students.

Special Lunch Day

Last week we were treated to a special ‘Hot Dog’ lunch day hosted by the Spatzenschule community.  There were certainly lots to happy lunch eaters on this day.  On behalf of the students we would like to thank the parents who worked tirelessly behind the scenes in preparing the lunch.  We look forward to the next special lunch on Tuesday 24th March.

Regards

Suada Dzaferovic

Principal