Principals' Message 

Hello Parents and Friends,

We have had an outstanding Term 3 and we should be very proud of our achievements.  Our School Review was a great success and I am so pleased with how our school is going. We have undertaken extensive work developing our teaching and learning programs over the past three years.  Our students are producing outstanding work this term.  Our Grade 4 students had a fantastic time undertaking Bike Ed and our students experienced excellent inquiry learning and excursions.  Ms Huber has done a sensational job organising ‘Tempy’s Got Talent’ and you can learn more about the talent quest and our winners in the ‘Learning @ TPPS’. A huge congratulations to all of our finalists! Finally, we have maintained our greatly improved attendance in Term 3 and you can read about this below. 

While we are very pleased, we never rest on our laurels at TPPS. We have planned extensively for Term 4 and our teachers had a fantastic planning week last week.  Our teachers spent a full day reviewing Term 3 and preparing for student learning programs in Term 4.  We are already looking forward to a wonderful term. 

We wish our whole community a safe and enjoyable holiday break! 

Improved Attendance Continues! 

We are delighted to celebrate the wonderful improvement in attendance across Templestowe Park Primary School this year! Our attendance data has shown a significant positive shift, reflecting the collective efforts of students, families and staff to make regular attendance a priority. This is a fantastic achievement and something our whole school community can be proud of.

We are particularly proud to recognise the students who have maintained 95%+ attendance this year. This includes 28 Prep students, 29 Year 1 students, 19 Year 2 students, 34 Year 3 students, 31 Year 4 students, 32 Year 5 students and 26 Year 6 students. Even more impressively, we have 18 students who have achieved 100% attendance: 5 Prep students, 5 Year 1 students, 1 Year 2 student, 5 Year 3 students, 1 Year 5 student and 1 Year 6 student. What an incredible achievement! These students will receive attendance certificates this week.

Regular attendance helps students stay connected to their learning, friendships and school community. We know that there are times when students may experience genuine barriers to attending school, and we are committed to working collaboratively with families to understand these challenges and provide appropriate support. Our focus on attendance is about helping every student be at school, learning and connected as often as possible.

A huge thank you to our families for your ongoing commitment to regular attendance, and to our students for their efforts. We are so proud of the improvement we have seen in 2026 and look forward to continuing this positive momentum throughout the remainder of the year!

Comparing Term 3 2025 to 2026

 2026 Term 3 Adjustable Attendance Data

As you can see in the graph above.  The proportion of students with 20 or more absences at this time of the school year has decreased markedly since Term 3 2025.  This is outstanding!  However, it is our goal to outperform 'Similar' and 'Network' schools in this area. We are slightly ahead of them at the current time.  Comparing 'Similar' and 'Network' schools are our best tool, as they are schools just like our own.  

We must keep our ultimate focus on our students attending school every day, only staying away when they are unwell.

Term 3 Attendance Award Winners!

At our assembly last week, we announced the Term 3 winners for our student attendance awards.  All students that have 95% attendance are eligible for the prizes.  A huge congratulations to the following students.

1st prize- school drink bottle, $25 gift voucher for book shop - Louis 2M

2nd prize – school drink bottle, $3 gift voucher for school canteen - Paige Prep T

3rd prize – school drink bottle - Nicholas 5AL

Year award - Students that have 100% attendance for the entire school year will receive a special badge that can be worn at school.  They will also receive a school drink bottle and attend a special lunch with the Principal. Currently there are 18 students eligible for this award.  

Homework

During our recent parent feedback session for our School Review, it came to our attention that some parents were unaware of how homework requirements are communicated, particularly for our Grade 3-6 families.

It is not necessary to assign large amounts of homework, however it is important that homework provides students with opportunities to practice skills, review content and deepen understanding of concepts learned. Homework and practice can also help students to develop self-regulation processes, such as time management and study skills.

In Prep – 2 the reading diaries inside the student satchels are used to record daily reading at home, with the teacher providing a brief comment of encouragement weekly. Teachers take note within their classroom as to each students’ participation.  We know the more students practice daily reading at home, the easier learning to read becomes.  In addition to this, students have a Homework scrap book with a short revising task to complete weekly.  This is always about practicing something we are working on in class and is expected to be easy for students to do, with minimal assistance from adults at home.

For Grades 3-6, all homework tasks are communicated via Compass. On the Dashboard of your Compass account, your child/children appear on the left-hand side, with their photo and name. In the list underneath, there are hyperlinks related to ‘Learning Tasks’, both those overdue and those upcoming.  In the example below, we can see there is one learning task that was not submitted by the due date and two upcoming ones. 

By clicking these hyperlinks, a new window opens to show you the status of your child’s submissions for all tasks. There are two separate homework tasks set for each week: a Reading task (with the expectation of daily reading for a minimum amount of time) and a Maths task (daily number fact practice). 

By clicking on the navy blue heading name, a new window opens which explains the task.  It may appear in the text box, or as an attachment at the bottom of the page. 

The status of each submission is recorded by the teacher so parents can easily see if their child is completing the step of submitting the homework at the expected time each week, which is their responsibility. Teachers will record the submission accordingly, as per below.

Our aim is to provide homework that is research based and is the best possible use of time for families. We encourage students to have a commitment to home studies, however we also believe that exercise, play, exploration and family time are essential for the development of healthy, happy and balanced children. You can support your child/children to get into a habit of completing their reading and maths homework tasks by providing a regular time that fits with your family’s schedule. 

Outstanding Writing!

One of the true pleasures we have as Principals, is to celebrate the fantastic achievements of our students. We have made significant changes to our teaching of writing through the science of learning over the past 18 months, and we are so ecstatic to see these changes having such a profound impact.  This week, Victoria-Paige visited my office with her outstanding narrative writing piece entitled, ‘The Enchanting Castle’. The Grade 4 students are currently undertaking a novel study of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. Victoria-Paige’s imagery, vocabulary and variance of sentence types were outstanding in her piece.  We were all so impressed with her work and wanted to share it with our community.  We encourage all families to peruse the ‘Learning @ TPPS’ section of this email to see the sensational writing of our Prep students.  We are so proud of the writing that all students are producing across our school. 

School Arrival Time and Class Entry at 8:50am 

This is a reminder to all parents that students can arrive to school at 8:30am.  Teachers are on yard duty from this time and our Grade 6 leaders also run their ‘Breakfast Club’ so our students can have a healthy snack too. 

All students will enter the classroom at 8:50am so they can prepare for the commencement of teaching at 9:00am. We have a number of children arriving close to 9:00am or soon after.  By arriving to school by 8:50am, students have ample time to unpack bags, change readers, prepare their tables for learning and settle before the commencement of learning.  This 10-minute period is essential for a smooth start to the day. We ask that all families arrive by 8:50am. 

It is also important that students develop independence by carrying and organising their own bag and belongings.  They are more than capable, even our youngest students.  We therefore ask that parents do not walk their child into the buildings and classrooms in the mornings, saying goodbye outside at 8.50am or before. We thank you for your cooperation and support with this.  It makes a very big difference. 

Final works for COLA Project 

We are planning to complete the final works for our COLA project over the school holidays.  The dirt area between the two synthetic courts will be landscaped with seating, synthetic grass and trees.  Please see the design below.  It is currently just dirt with some old timber seats. The COLA project has provided a sensational area for our school.  It has been a wonderful addition to our already outstanding school grounds. 

 Hats in Term 4 

I remind all families that school hats are compulsory in Term 4.  The Grade 1-6 school slouch and legionnaire hats can be purchased  from PSW online or in-store. 

Our Grade Prep and Grade 1-6 legionnaires hats can be purchased from the onsite uniform shop. Please see all uniform information at the link below. 

https://www.templestoweparkps.vic.edu.au/page/34/School-Uniform

Templestowe Park is turning 50!

2027 will be a huge year at TPPS as our school is turning 50! We are looking forward to celebrating this milestone and we will be putting together a committee of staff, parents and students to organise our celebration.  Thank you to all the people who have volunteered to join our planning committee.  We will be contacting you all shortly to arrange our first meeting in Term 4.  If you would still like to join the committee, please head to your Newsfeed on Compass and complete the Google Form. 

Prep 2027 

Our enrolment process for Prep 2027 is now complete. We are very excited to welcome many new families to TPPS in 2027. 

If you have not submitted your enrolment for Prep 2027, the portal will remain open.  Families can click here to submit their digital enrolment.  To find out more about Prep 2027 at TPPS please click here. For further information from the Department of Education about enrolling in Prep for 2027 please click here. 

If you require any assistance with enrolment, please contact Katie in the office on 9846 2700. 

Prep 2027 Transition Program 

Our 2027 Prep Orientation sessions are set to commence on Thursday 29 October and we are all very excited to welcome our newest students. The future Preps will participate in four different transition sessions with the teachers.  These sessions will allow the children and their parents to familiarise themselves with our school and to begin forming some friendships before next year. 

The Orientation sessions are as follows: 

Thursday, 29 October: 2.00 – 3.00pm

Thursday, 5 November: 2.00 – 3.00pm

Thursday, 12 November: 2.00 – 3.00pm

Thursday, 26 November: 9.15 – 10.30am (final Prep orientation session)

Principals' Award 

At our Assembly last week, Bardia received the Principals' Award. Bardia has impeccable manners when dealing with all members of the school community. He always comes to school with a smile and says, ‘good morning’ and ‘good afternoon’. Bardia works hard in class but particularly loves Mathematics, recently representing Templestowe Park at the Grade 6 Maths Games Day. He gets along well with everyone. Bardia has recently started learning magic tricks that he loves to share with the class. His enthusiasm and positive nature make him a valued member of 6M. Well done, Bardia! 

Have a fantastic weekend! 

Mark Roberts                       Brian Cleary                                       Robyn Twyford                                    

PRINCIPAL                           ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL                  ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL