Learning @ TPPS
Prep News
The Prep students were thrilled to have our local firefighters visit them at TPPS. They taught us valuable fire safety tips, demonstrated how they use their special equipment, and even let the children see the inside the fire truck!
The highlight of the day was when the students got the exciting opportunity to spray the fire hose! The students were thrilled to learn how firefighters keep our community safe and had the chance to ask lots of questions.
A huge thank you to our local heroes for such an unforgettable visit!
MATHS TALENT QUEST (MTQ)
Every year, TPPS submit entries into the Mathematical Association of Victoria’s (MAV)
Maths Talent Quest (MTQ). Our Prep grades, as well as each of the Grade 1 and Grade 3 classes enter a class investigation, whilst a number of Grade 5 individual or small group investigations are also entered. TPPS has a proud history of excellent results within this competition and this year is no exception.
For the fourth year in a row, we are extremely proud to announce, we have another State winning entry! Prep TF’s entry, ‘How can we help teach Spinderella the importance of mathematics in sport?’ was judged as the Victorian Prep winner. They have been selected to enter the National Competition! WOW, this is an OUTSTANDING achievement! To put this in context, there were over 400 entries from 50 schools. Only one entry from every year level, from each category is chosen to represent the state. National judging takes place later this month, with representatives from each state judging. We can’t wait to hear how they go!
Our Grade 5s work on an MTQ investigation either as individuals or in a small group. We are restricted by the number of entries we are allowed to enter in each category. It is exciting to see the real-life application of the mathematics being investigated by these students and how it can result in real action. A special mention goes to Izzy Y, whose passion for informing people about the harmful nature of gambling came through in her individual investigation, ‘How does gambling affect Australia?’, which was awarded a High Distinction. Well done, Izzy!
We are very proud of the hard work our teachers put in to planning, guiding and implementing such engaging, rich mathematical experiences for our students. Our teachers know of the importance of creating curiosity in their classrooms and many of the whole class investigations began with a maths focused picture story book to get the ball rolling. Our school is always a buzz during MTQ season, with the investigations taking several weeks to explore. Whilst the students are super engaged and amazed at some of their mathematical discoveries, there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes by our teachers to get all the activities recorded and written up to be submitted. We would sincerely like to thank our dedicated staff who work tirelessly to do this each year.
Our High Distinction winners will be presented with certificates at MAV’s MTQ ceremony next term, with further details to come.
Here is a summary of our excellent results:
| PREP |
|
How can we help teach Spinderella the importance of mathematics in sport?
| State Winner HD - High Distinction PTF |
Who Sank the Boat?
| D – Distinction Prep K |
| The Prep W Olympics - Is there really mathematics in sport? | D – Distinction Prep W |
| GRADE 1 |
|
Do our chickens like to be held?
| HD - High Distinction 1M |
| Mathsground | HD - High Distinction 1E |
Actual Size
| D – Distinction 1D |
| GRADE 3 |
|
Space: The Final Frontier
| C – Credit 3B |
Numbers at the 2024 Paris Olympics
| E – Encouragement 3S |
| Flavoured Milk | E – Encouragement 3D |
| GRADE 5 |
|
| How does gambling affect Australia? | HD - High Distinction Isabella Y |
Which appliances benefit the most from solar energy?
| D - Distinction Kayan F |
What would it cost to switch every student’s plastic bottle to stainless steel?
| D – Distinction Andreas I |
| How much maths is involved when designing and building an ensuite bathroom? | D – Distinction Archer B &Hunter B |
What is the difference between AFL and AFLW?
| D – Distinction Aaliyah E |
| How could we include a tennis court at our school? | D – Distinction Megan S |
How much will it cost to go to every game at Gather Round?
| D – Distinction Xavier O & Mason T |
What’s the cost to take the Grade 5s on a camp to Canberra?
| D – Distinction Pippa C & Mia G |
| How much does it cost to own and run a library? | D – Distinction Hamish O |
How can we improve Templestowe Park’s back oval surface?
| C – Credit Max V & Fletcher G |
JOHN MONASH SCIENCE SCHOOL (JMSS)
TPPS successfully lodged an application again this year for selected students from Grade
5 to participate in science and Maths extension programs at John Monash Science School (JMSS).
This term, we were able to send 2 x teams of four students to be part of the program 'Little Scientists' and 1 x team of four students to the 'Mini Mathematicians' program. ‘Little Scientists’ is aimed at providing primary school students with the opportunity to explore science through experiments, with content ranging from biology to nano-technology, whilst the ‘Mini Mathematician’ program is aimed at providing primary school students with the opportunity to explore mathematics in engaging problem solving activities.
Our teams attended JMSS for an hour and a half session, on four separate occasions on Wednesday afternoons, to engage in the programs.
These are not competitions, but rather programs that allow our students to engage in explorations at a high level of understanding, run by staff and students from JMSS. Our science representatives, Dylan A, Anmol B, Rayan E, Ellie K, Nelly P, Lydia R, Elliott T and Jude W, along with our Maths representatives, Navya B, Chanumi F, Fletcher G and Xavier O, all participated enthusiastically to learn new knowledge and skills.
We hope they continue to be fascinated with future Maths and Science learning in the years to come.