Principal's Report 

Dear families and friends of MPW,

We are now just over halfway through the term, and I hope everyone had an enjoyable long weekend last week. Our Curriculum Day provided time for teachers to work on their assessment and reporting writing obligations for the end of the year.

Last week, our F/1 students had a fantastic time at their activity night. This opportunity allows students to return after school for activities and a pizza dinner.

MVIMP Combined Concert this week

Our MVIMP students will be performing alongside their peers from Moonee Ponds PS, Ascot Vale PS and Ascot Vale West PS this Thursday, 13th November, for the 2025 Combined School Concert. The concert is held at the Clock Tower, which provides an authentic stage experience for the students to perform. 

Students have been rehearsing with the other schools the past two weeks in preparation, and we look forward to sharing back about their performances in the next newsletter.

There will be two performances on Thursday 13th November, a Matinee Performance at 12.30pm and an Evening Performance at 7pm. 

 Class Placement for 2026

Class placement arrangements for next year are beginning and any input parents wish to highlight as part of the class placement process needs to be in writing to the Principal using the attached form by Friday 14th November. 

While we cannot accommodate requests for specific teachers for your child, we always strive to make the best possible placement for all students. 

There are many considerations when classes are arranged, such as: 

• Where possible keep the class group together and/or with the same teacher for a second year. Where this is not possible, we will endeavour to keep the class group together
• Using the teachers’ collective judgment on the academic, social, and physical development of the student 
• The academic and social mix of the class group 

As part of the process for developing classes, students are asked to nominate “learning buddies” that they hope to be in a class with in 2026. These are peers who they enjoy being with and who bring out the best in them as a learner. The school will then ensure that each student is placed with at least one of their nominated peers.

It is important to note that part of children’s social and emotional learning and development is for the school to support and provide opportunity for students to continually develop their resilience and skills to both maintain and make new friendships throughout their time at school. 

It is normal to feel apprehensive about moving classes or starting a new year. The following attachment features some useful tips and strategies from Dr Judith Locke (clinical psychologist, former teacher and author of the book ‘The Bonsai Child’) to support students to feel successful in the transition to next year. It is important that children develop confidence in their ability to cope with new experiences and environments.

Supporting Class Placement

Dr Judith Locke (clinical psychologist, former teacher, and the author of the parenting book, The Bonsai Child and The Bonsai Student)

Making friends at school is a wonderful by-product of the main task at hand – to learn. Their effort should primarily be in developing new skills, not overly focussing on being in the constant company of their best friend. Indeed, immersing themselves in study and school activities will help them cope with early social awkwardness and also have the byproduct of making more friends naturally and over time. 

Some tips: 

• If your child is anxious about starting a new class with unfamiliar people, do listen to them talk about their fears, but normalise them (‘A lot of people feel worried about starting something new’), and then talk about their past strengths in facing tricky things and your confidence that they will cope with this challenge. 

• When they come home from their first day at a new activity, keep your questions broad, ‘How was it?’ not, ‘Did you make a friend today?’ or ‘Is Sam in your class?’ This won’t put unnecessary pressure on them or suggest things in which they should be disappointed. 

• Keep your and your child’s expectations realistic. It is highly unlikely that they will form close friendships in the early days of a new school year, particularly in early primary. How often have you started a new job and come home from your first day to announce, ‘I made my new best friend today’? 

There are things you can say if your child is not in a class they want to be in: 

1. Listen to them. Then reflect back what you hear. ‘You’re upset because your friend is not in your class. That is a completely understandable feeling’. Or ‘Sounds like you are upset because you didn’t get the teacher that you wanted.’ 

2. Then state the potential benefits of facing this challenge, i.e. making extra, new friends; learning skills to make new acquaintances; being able to focus more on schoolwork in class than talking to their current best friend; learning how to work with a different type of teacher than the one they had last year. 

3. Maybe tell them a story about how you learned a lot from a teacher you had who was a bit tougher but taught you a lot, or a time you went somewhere where you didn’t know anyone but learnt how to get on in unfamiliar environments. 

4. Let your child know that they can still see their friend/s at lunchtime or at play dates or parties. 

Dr Locke explains that giving students the opportunity to choose a friend to be in their class or team or camp group implies that they need it and makes them rely too much on one or two people – this will stop them developing their social skills to make other friends.  It inadvertently suggests that the child is incapable of making new friends or that they can’t cope when their environment is not exactly the way they want.

Don’t worry about your child coping. You can rely on the fact that teachers usually undertake activities that help children to get to know each other, early in the year. Even if your child is offered an opportunity to choose, I would encourage you to suggest they don’t nominate anyone and see what happens. In this, you encourage them to be confident in their skills to cope with a new set of classmates and develop a potential new set of friends.

Further information and the full article can be found online at:

https://theparentswebsite.com.au/judith-locke-case-parents-influencing-class-placements/

© Judith Locke. About the author Dr Judith Locke is a clinical psychologist, former teacher, and the author of the parenting book, The Bonsai Child and The Bonsai Student, which details practical strategies to help you build confidence and capability in your child.

Upcoming events for the end of the year to be aware of:

• Summer Picnic 28th November – This is an event similar to the Basket Tea, so BYO everything if you are planning to attend. The school will be offering a sausage sizzle, so there will be the option to buy sausage in bread and soft drinks.

• Susan McLean Cybersafety session Thursday 4th December- please remember to book your ticket on Eventbrite. We strongly encourage you to attend, as Susan has fantastic insights about the online world.
• Whole School Orientation 9th December- meet the teacher and class for 2026. This session runs 9-11am.
• Parent Helper’s Afternoon Tea 11th December - this is to recognise and thank parents who have attended camps, excursions or helped in the classroom this year.
• MPW Fun Run Friday 12th December- this is our local fun run, where students run a course around an extended block of the school.
• Year 6 Graduation Tuesday 16th  December

• Last day of school Friday 19th of December 1.30pm dismissal. 

  Assembly in the afternoon prior to end of the day.

Regards,

Jarrod Sutton

Principal