Dear School Community Members,

Mano Art Show: Mano is a great place to be!

Wow - our Art Show yesterday afternoon showcased the incredible school we all belong too! I encourage all families to take the time with their children to reflect on the success of the Art Show, the amazing skills of your children and how proud you are of your children – this will assist children placing the experiences of yesterday afternoon in their long term memory. I also encourage families to reflect on the incredible school we all belong to.

Congratulations to Mrs King and Mrs Ilett for their coordination of our Art Show and the wonderful opportunities they provide to our students on a daily basis. To our families, our appreciation for your attendance and encouragement.

Again, thank you to all involved.

Mano is a great place to be!

State School Spectacular:

We wish our State School Spectacular team all the very best for their performances on Saturday. The team, consisting of 16 Gr 5 and Gr 6 students, will perform at John Cain Arena in front of 8,000 spectators for two shows. We look forward to celebrating this incredible achievement at assembly on Monday morning. A huge shout out to Ms Stapleton, Mrs Grant and Ms Dove for coordinating this amazing opportunity for our students.

Student Wellbeing – anxiety:

Manifold Heights Primary School is committed to maximising the wellbeing of all students. Our commitment to the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework, our engagement in the Respectful Relationships initiative, along with the support of our Chaplain, Cyndee, help harness and maximise the wellbeing of our students. While at a recent conference, I came across a wonderful website, ‘The Parents Website’ (https://theparentswebsite.com.au/). This website has many resources that resonated with me. One of the articles that I would like to share with you is authored by highly acclaimed childhood Psychologist, Andrew Fuller - ‘Depression Proofing your Children’. This article focusses on how we, as parents, can nurture our children’s ability to manage anxiety. The article provides some valuable suggestions and ideas in supporting our children.

https://theparentswebsite.com.au/andrew-fuller-depression-proofing-your-kids/

R U OK Day:

Today is R U OK Day. R U OK Day is a time that we focus on connecting with the people around us and start a conversation with those in our world who may be struggling. The R U OK website has a wealth of wonderful information that is worth exploring as a family.

The website:

raises awareness of the support and help available for people who may be struggling
provides strategies to reach out to someone struggling
help students begin a conversation to connect with someone who may be struggling

https://www.ruok.org.au/

I encourage families to visit this website with their children to explore the strategies that we can utilise to support someone who is struggling.

State T-Ball Championship:

Congratulations to our 12 Gr 5 and Gr 6 girls and Mr Urquhart who competed in the Victorian State T-Ball Championship yesterday. While we didn’t bring home the trophy, we are incredibly proud of our team for their fantastic achievement in making the Championships, for their dedication leading up to yesterday and for their rapid improvement over the last five months. We thank the parents of each team member for their support and enthusiasm. A shout out to Mr Urquhart for his commitment and passion.

Congratulations to Pip Richmond who has made the Victorian U/12 Softball team - an incredible achievement by Pip. Pip will compete in the National Titles in November.

Congratulations to all involved!

Term 3 Social Service Activity:

Our Term 3 Social Service activity has been finalised by our Junior School Council.

Date: Friday, 19th September

Charity: Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Donation: Gold coin

Dress: Sports Colours

Students and staff are invited to come to school dressed in their Sports Colours of choice (footy colours, soccer colours, basketball colours, netball colours etc). Further information regarding the day is included in this edition of the newsletter. Once again, congratulations to our Junior School Council for their leadership across our school.

School Council:

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

Our 2025 Attitude to School Survey results were tabled and discussed
Mrs Geary shared with School Councillors how Mano has adapted to Victoria’s Teaching and Learning model and Victoria’s approach to the teaching of Reading
School Council endorsed the ‘Visitors’ Policy
School Council discussed the ‘enrolment pressure’ we have here at Mano (over capacity) and the advocacy for increased facilities by our School Council

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).

2026 Planning:

To assist with our planning for 2026, if your child will not be attending Mano in 2026, please advise the office ASAP.

End of Term Arrangements:

Next Friday is the last day of term 3. Please note, students will be dismissed from school at 2:30pm next Friday. After School Care will begin at 2:30pm.

Term 4 will commence on Monday, 6th October.

Thank you for supporting our school and have a great week.

Christian Smith