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Teaching Staff Acknowledgements of Country

One of the changes I introduced to our staff meetings this year was an opportunity for our teaching staff to each lead a personalised Acknowledgement of Country.

Our Specialist Team kicked us off in Term 1, sharing connections to Country through art, performance and sport, drawing upon the work of Indigenous artists, stories and sporting resources. Since then, most of our teaching staff have had the opportunity to open a staff meeting with their own Acknowledgement.

What has made this initiative particularly meaningful has been the personal reflection each staff member has brought to the experience. Each Acknowledgement has been different, reflecting individual connections to place, learning, family, history and Country. It has been difficult not to notice the genuine emotion and thought that staff have invested in sharing these with one another.

I have said throughout the year that, amongst the many wonderful memories we will create together in 2026, this initiative will remain a personal favourite of mine. It has provided an opportunity for us not simply to say an Acknowledgement of Country, but to deepen our understanding of why we do so and to continue building our collective cultural knowledge and responsibility as educators.

Book Week

While it already seems like some time ago, Week 7 saw SMPPS celebrate Book Week and this year’s theme, “Symphony of Stories.”

Lisa Breen began our celebrations by incorporating a selection of books by Indigenous authors into her Acknowledgement of Country at our staff meeting, providing teachers with a range of resources through which to incorporate Koorie perspectives into classroom learning.

Penny Carr once again coordinated our annual Book Swap, raising more than $400 for our Story Dogs program. Thank you to everyone who donated and purchased books in support of this wonderful program.

The week culminated in our much-loved Book Week Parade, with each class taking its turn and students and staff proudly displaying an extraordinary assortment of costumes.

Thank you to Lisa, Penny, our staff and families for helping us celebrate reading, storytelling and the joy that books bring to our school.

Fathers’ Day

Last Friday, SMPPS came together as a community to celebrate our dads and significant people with coffee, brekkie and crafts.

I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to Marco Romano for arriving early to support the set-up while Melanie Davis and I were attending our annual Beachside Network Principals’ Conference.

This event could not have happened without the planning and hard work of Seon Bowden, Louise Pedersen, Amanda McConaghy and our Events Subcommittee. We are incredibly fortunate to have parents and carers who generously give their time to create opportunities such as this for our community to come together. Thank you to everyone who contributed and to all of our families who joined us on the morning.

School Performance – SMPPS News

This week our biennial Whole School Performance, SMPPS News, finally takes to the stage! Performances will be held on Thursday and Friday from 2.00–3.30pm.

To help streamline entry, there will be two clearly signed queues:

Families who already have a ticket.
Families who need to purchase a ticket.

Families accessing CSEF will have their ticket sent home with their eldest child on Wednesday.

The front gate will open at 1.30pm and close shortly after the performance begins at 2.00pm. If you arrive after this time, please enter via the school office.

Our students are incredibly excited to finally perform on a stage, and the staging arrangements should also provide families with a much better view of their children during the performance.

There has been an enormous amount of work behind the scenes to bring Ms Paech’s vision to life. From our parent volunteers assisting with costumes and working bees, to Michael Grech and James Tutton providing stage and technical support, and our teachers and ES staff preparing students for their performances—it has been a genuine community effort.

To each and every person who has contributed: thank you. We cannot wait to see our students take to the stage!

Gates – After School

A quick clarification regarding our school gates.

In the morning, we open the netball gate, scarecrow gate and front gate. This arrangement is designed to encourage families travelling to and from the Lakeside Stadium car park to use the pedestrian crossing.

In the afternoon, these three gates are opened along with the gate beside the gym, providing easier access for families heading towards MSAC.

For families travelling to the car park behind the school, we ask that you continue to use the pedestrian crossing rather than crossing the road directly. While it may add a few extra steps to the journey, it remains the safest option for our students and families.

Thank you for helping us reinforce safe habits with our children.

EdTech in Schools

Last Thursday and Friday, Melanie Davis and I attended our annual Beachside Network Principals’ Conference. On Thursday, Dr Jared Cooney Horvath presented on the relationship between neuroscience, learning, creativity and the purposeful use of educational technology in schools. His recently published book “The Digital Delusion” was featured and is a fascinating read!

One of the messages that particularly resonated with me was the relationship between knowledge and creativity. Creativity does not occur in a vacuum; students need a strong foundation of knowledge from which they can make connections, generate ideas, solve problems and think creatively.

This aligns strongly with the teaching and learning direction we continue to pursue at SMPPS. Through Reading, Writing and Curiosity, our aim is to build deep and connected knowledge while developing students who can think critically and apply what they know in increasingly sophisticated ways.

Technology certainly has a place within this work, but its use needs to be purposeful rather than simply present. A device does not replace explicit teaching, rich discussion, reading, writing, collaboration, hands-on experiences or the important relationship between a teacher and their students.

As the education landscape continues to consider the role of screens and digital technologies in schools, this is an important conversation for us at SMPPS. Our focus will continue to be on making evidence-informed decisions about when technology enhances learning, when another approach is more effective, and how we achieve the right balance for students across P–6.

Ultimately, the question for us is not whether technology belongs in education, but whether its use at any particular moment adds value to the learning taking place. Keeping that question at the centre will continue to guide our approach at SMPPS.

Kind regards,Sam Smrekar ThompsonActing Principal

Sam Smrekar Thompson

Acting Principal

Cultural Spotlight

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