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Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers, 

 

Mobile Phone and Smart Watch Policy Reminder

We would like to remind all families of the Department’s Mobile Phone and Smart Watch Policy. At TRPS, all students must hand in their mobile phones and smart watches at the office as soon as they arrive at school each morning. These devices will be safely stored during the school day and may be collected at dismissal time.

This policy supports student learning, wellbeing, and classroom engagement. We appreciate your support in ensuring children follow these expectations each day.

 

Importance of Full Attendance

We have noticed an increasing number of children being collected early from school, particularly around 2:00 pm. While we understand that at times early collection may be necessary, regularly leaving school early has a significant impact on student learning.

If a child is picked up an hour early each day, that adds up to one full day of missed learning each week. Over time, this cumulative loss of classroom instruction can make it very difficult for students to keep up with their learning and classroom routines.

Where possible, we ask families to please arrange medical and other appointments outside of school hours.

We also understand that after-school parking can sometimes be challenging. However, this should not be a reason for children to miss valuable learning time by being collected early.

 

🚗Road Safety Reminder

This week, a child from our Tarneit Rise PS was involved in a serious car accident, which resulted in a hospital admission. Our thoughts are with the student and family during this time.

This serves as an important reminder to all families about the importance of road safety, particularly during busy school drop-off and pick-up times.

We kindly ask all members of our community to:

  • Follow all road and parking rules around the school
  • Drive slowly and remain alert in school zones
  • Use designated crossings where possible
  • Ensure children are safely restrained in vehicles
  • Model safe behaviours for our students at all times

The safety and wellbeing of our students is always our highest priority, and we thank our families for continuing to help keep our community safe.

 

Dyslexia SPELD Foundation Conference

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the three-day Dyslexia SPELD Foundation Conference in Fremantle with two other members of the executive leadership team. The conference was jam-packed with world-class keynote speakers, researchers, and educators, all sharing the latest evidence-based approaches to support student learning and wellbeing.

One particularly inspiring presenter was neuroscientist Dr Tara Thiagarajan, whose research focused on mind health and the importance of supporting children’s cognitive and emotional wellbeing. Her presentation highlighted how strongly learning, mind health, sleep, movement, nutrition, and relationships are all connected.

Mind health is the ability to navigate life’s challenges and function productively. 

The crisis of mind health among younger generations persists into 2026, a phenomenon that is now about two decades old. Even without statistics, articles on the mental health challenges of the youth abound. Schools around the globe are struggling to cope with the consequences, and parents everywhere are faced with teenage and grown children struggling in ways they never did. While the Global Mind data provides the most comprehensive and quantitative global perspective on this phenomenon as it stands today, the trend has been evident within various national statistics. 

 

The paradox of progress

It is widely assumed that human life improves as monetary wealth and technological capacity increase. This belief underpins policy frameworks around the world, where economic growth and technological advancement are treated as the primary indicators of societal progress. If this assumption holds true, then contemporary young adults, living with unprecedented technological access, should experience better mind health, reflected in stronger capacities and a greater sense of wellbeing with those in wealthier countries faring even better. Yet the opposite is true: the wealthier the country, the worse the mind health of its young adults.

"Contemporary young adults, living with unprecedented technological access, should experience better mind health, reflected in stronger capacities and a greater sense of wellbeing, with those in wealthier countries faring even better. Yet the opposite is true: the wealthier the country, the worse the mind health of its young adults."

 

Some key takeaways from Dr Tara Thiagarajan’s presentation include:

  • Consistent sleep routines support memory, attention, and emotional regulation. 
  • Regular physical activity is important, as movement plays a vital role in brain development and learning. 
  • Reducing children’s access to mobile devices and limiting excessive screen time, particularly before bed, improves sleep quality, concentration, and emotional wellbeing. 
  • Make time to spend more time outdoors and in nature, as time in natural environments has been shown to reduce stress and improve overall mind health. 
  • Limiting highly processed foods and encouraging healthy, balanced nutrition, as diet plays an important role in brain health, mood, energy levels, and concentration. 
  • Supporting strong social connections and positive relationships, which are essential for children’s confidence and resilience. 

  • Encouraging children to become involved in community groups such as Scouts, sporting clubs, music groups, or other activities helps build friendships, teamwork, and a sense of belonging. 

     

More information about Tara’s research can be found at https://sapienlabs.org/global-mind-health-in-2025-report-read-en/

Adults can take the Mind Health survey at https://sapienlabs.org/mhq/ and youth can take the survey at https://sapienlabs.org/youth-mhq/

 

The conference reinforced the importance of schools and families working together to support the whole child — academically, socially, and emotionally. I look forward to sharing many of these learnings with staff and continuing to strengthen the support we provide for all students.

 

Have a great fortnight

 

 

Nadia

Principal