News From Mr Smith
Dear School Community Members,
Mano Step Up Day – Tuesday, 9th December:
The annual State-wide orientation day whereby students engage in an extended transition session with their 2026 teacher, 2026 classmates and in their 2026 classroom will take place on Tuesday (9th December). On this day, students will participate in activities and tasks that support their transition into their next year level. Students will be provided with a letter from their 2026 teacher that will introduce themselves. We will email a letter to all families that will outline their child’s teacher for 2026. Many of our Year 6 students will visit their secondary school on this day.
How to support your child under 16 with the new social media age restrictions:
From 10 December 2025, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 will require social media platforms to:
- prevent children and young people under 16 from having a social media account
deactivate or freeze existing accounts held by people under 16.
Delaying access to social media protects the health and wellbeing of young people and gives them extra time to build real world connections and digital literacy skills. The responsibility will be on the social media platforms, not parents, carers, children or schools, to implement these new restrictions.
Most popular social media platforms will be age restricted. These include Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit and YouTube.
Messaging services and online games, as well as apps and platforms that support health and education, can still be used.
How to help under 16s prepare for the change
Parents and carers play an important role in supporting their children to be safe online. To help get under 16s ready for the social media minimum age requirements, you can go to the eSafety website to learn more about the social media age restrictions and find tips on how to talk about social media age restrictions with young people.
What the change means for our school
At our school, most age-restricted social media platforms are blocked for student use on the school network. Our school allows student access to YouTube in a restricted and supervised capacity (mature content cannot be accessed), including ‘chat’ and ‘comments’ being disabled. To keep up to date about the new social media age restrictions, visit the eSafety website and subscribe to their newsletter.
School Council:
On Monday night, our School Council met to celebrate our achievements of 2025 and to acknowledge our wonderful school community. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all School Councillors for their commitment, efforts and passion for Mano. To Sarah Francis, Alice Urquhart, Emma Beyers, Ragini Flower, Paul Wigglesworth, Jono Connor, Amy James, Keir O’Donnell, Matt Cowell, Jess Chapman, Aimee Forsyth, John Hambrook, Narelle Geary, Jessica Davies and Jessie Burney – THANK YOU for your amazing contribution to Mano in 2025!
Key Dates in November and December
- Tuesday, 9th December Mano Transition Day – students meet their 2026 teacher
- Thursday, 11th December Grade 6 Graduation ceremony
- Thursday, 18th December Christmas Concert and End of Year Celebration – 9:15am
- Friday, 19th December Last day of school year – 1:30pm dismissal
Thank you for supporting our school and have a great week.
Christian Smith