News From Mr Smith

Dear School Community Members,

Congratulations to our Softball team on their success at the Softball State Championships on Monday! While we didn’t come away with the Championship, we are incredibly proud of our team. Our team put a lot of time and effort into preparing for the State Championships and they played extremely well on the day. 

We won our first two games narrowly. Our third game was against another undefeated team for a spot in the State final. At the conclusion of this game, the score was 17-17. After a tie breaker, the score was 20-20. Unfortunately, the time limit on the game was up and our opponent progressed to the State final on percentage. 

Our students were amazing, achieving 3rd place in the State. Thank you to our families for supporting the event. A huge shout out to Mr Urquhart for coaching the team!

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.

Thank you Tony Stefanovski – Mano Groundskeeper: 

We thank Tony for his commitment and passion to Mano over the last two years as our Groundskeeper. Tony is finishing up as our Groundskeeper in the coming weeks. Tony has worked tirelessly mowing our lawns, taking care of our gardens, our playgrounds and all things regarding our school grounds. Thank you, Tony!

Safety at Drop Off and Pick Up times: 

As a school, our highest priority is the safety of all community members. Recently we have had some feedback from families regarding the need to remind drivers to take extra care during ‘Drop Off’ and ‘Pick Up’ times due to some near misses or “close shaves”. 

With this in mind, I remind families of the following:

• The staff carpark is strictly for staff only, as well as any community member who has the appropriate permit to park in the ‘All Accessible’ parking bays that are located in the staff carpark (permit must be on display)
• Peter Lowe Reserve is a great option for ‘Drop Off’ and ‘Pick Up’ times – many of our families utilise this option with great success

• If you intend to ‘drop off’ or ‘pick up’ in any of the streets immediately adjacent to Mano, please allow extra time

   

Thank you in anticipation for your support of this matter. 

Curriculum Day dates for 2026: 

Our School Council have confirmed four of our Curriculum Day dates for 2026. They are:

1. Tuesday, 27th January  Curriculum day 1
2. Wednesday, 28th January Curriculum day 2
3. Friday, 29th May Curriculum day 3

4. Friday, 20th November Curriculum day 4

    

Please note: Grade 1 to Grade 6 students will commence the 2026 school year on Thursday, 29th January and our Prep students will commence the 2026 school year on Monday, 2nd February. 

School Council: 

Our School Council met again Monday night where key agenda items included: 

• School Council discussed the progress of their advocacy for improved facilities for Mano
• School Council discussed allocating our 2025-2026 funds raised by our Parents and Friends Committee and our community – it was endorsed that these funds would be directed to replacing the Nature Play Playground along Narmbool Street
• Reviewed and updated our ‘Student Wellbeing and Engagement’ policy 

• School Council discussed upgrading our perimitter fences – this will be a staged process with Narmbool Street fence being replaced early in 2026

   

Each of our School Councillors are deeply committed and invested in our school. Please contact them if you have any feedback or concerns (details available from our school website).

Child Safety and Wellbeing at Manifold Height Primary School – Information for Families and our School Community: 

Manifold Heights Primary School is committed to providing an environment where students are safe and feel safe. Our child safety framework includes policies, codes and procedures that explain how we support and maintain the safety and wellbeing of our students and protect them from harm. These documents are available to view on our website .

We are also committed to continuous improvement of our child safety framework. We are currently reviewing our child safety policies and practices to ensure they are up-to-date and effective. Our students and families are important partners in this process. We welcome your feedback or ideas on ways we can improve our approach to child safety and wellbeing. If you have any suggestions or comments, please contact Jessie Burney on (03) 52 299 643 or at manifold.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au 

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