Dear Students, Parents, Carers and Families,

I want to start by congratulating our girls Hooptime team on their amazing success which has landed them at the Victorian State finals in December. Our students have remarkable talent and this victory is a testament to their sportsmanship and our wonderful Physical Education program. Well done!

The Launch of Our Whole School Reward Voting System

At Maramba Primary School, we are committed to fostering an inclusive, positive, and respectful culture where everyone feels safe, supported, and valued. Guided by our four core values of Respect, Relationships, Resilience, and Responsibility, our students learn to build strong connections, show empathy, and approach challenges with care and understanding. By living these values each day, we help prevent bullying, nurture kindness, and strengthen our shared sense of belonging as a school community. It is always heartening to hear our students describe Maramba as a safe and happy place to learn and grow.

To continue promoting and celebrating our school values, we have launched our new Whole School Reward initiative at the last assembly. This initiative forms part of our broader Wellbeing Program and aligns with our Schoolwide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) framework, a proactive approach designed to create positive, safe, and inclusive learning environments for all students.

Through SWPBS, we explicitly teach positive behaviours and use prevention focused strategies to enhance students’ social, emotional, and academic success. Currently, students are recognised for demonstrating our school values by earning Values Stickers, which are placed in their Values Books. Once they have collected enough stickers, they can earn a Values Badge, a symbol of their commitment to living out Maramba’s values every day.

Moving forward, each Friday during eating time, students that received a Values sticker for that week will be called to Ms Ehsan’s office and receive a pom pom. They will then have the opportunity to vote for which whole school reward they want to occur before the end of the year. For this term, the rewards are a ‘Zooper Dooper Day’, a ‘Free Dress Day’, ‘Extra Recess time’ and a ‘Movie Afternoon’.

We look forward to many votes being cast and our students continuing to display our school values.

Our Canteen Wall Mural

The mural is now officially complete! It was beautifully painted by Louisa Djuric from Louisa Djuric Art, who incorporated our students’ designs and ideas into a wonderfully colourful and eye-catching masterpiece.

We are very grateful to FOM for funding this vibrant addition to our school. We cannot wait to showcase it to our local community at the 2025 Fete!

Foundation Swimming

Last week, our wonderful Foundation students participated in five days of swimming lessons at Casey ARC. The Foundation students enjoyed their swimming lessons where they learnt about water safety, how to swim continuously, how to swim underwater and how to retrieve an object from deep water.

We were thrilled to receive fantastic feedback from the swim teachers, who shared, “The Foundation students at Maramba have been the best-behaved Foundation class we’ve had all year!”

We are incredibly proud of our Foundation students for representing Maramba so beautifully and demonstrating our school values of Respect, Resilience, Relationships, and Responsibility throughout the program.

✨ Student Spotlight – Luke Tansey ✨

We are extremely proud to celebrate our School Leader, Luke, in this edition’s Student Spotlight. Luke is an embodiment of the quintessential Australian values of mateship, encouragement, and perseverance. He is the first name that comes to mind if I was to think of an 'Aussie of the Year' award. He consistently leads by example, showing kindness, supporting his peers, and taking initiative in every aspect of school life. Luke’s positive attitude and commitment to our school community make him a wonderful role model for others. Congratulations, Luke, on this well deserved recognition!

Grade Placement for 2026

We have begun our planning for 2026. At this point, we have not yet assigned teachers to year levels for next year.

Our goal is to create classes that maintain:

- A balance of academic levels (students performing at, above, and below grade level)

- A harmonious social and behavioural mix (students who will work well together with minimal disruption)

The process of placing students in grades is quite complex and time-consuming. The wellbeing of our school community, including all students and families, is our top priority.

Placement Process

Student Input: Teachers will ask students to nominate friends for 2026. Every effort will be made to ensure each child is placed with at least one of their nominated peers.
Teacher Insights: Classroom teachers will assess students’ learning needs, strengths, and areas requiring support, as well as any social or behavioural considerations. This information is used to guide the development of balanced class groups.
Specialist and Leadership Review: Specialist teachers will review proposed class lists, and the leadership team will finalise placements.
Transition Sessions: In the final weeks of Term 4, students will participate in a number of transition sessions in different groups, with the final session spending time in their new classrooms for 2026. The final session will be Statewide Transition Day Tuesday December 9th. Families will be notified of placements.

Parent Considerations

Initial Conversations: Your child’s classroom teacher is the best starting point if you would like to discuss their individual needs. However, please note that requests for a specific teacher cannot be considered.
Additional Information: Occasionally, there may be important circumstances we are unaware of, such as health, emotional, or learning needs, significant peer or sibling relationships, or changes at home. If you wish to share any information that should be considered during the placement process, please email the school office at maramba.ps@education.vic.gov.au by Friday, 31 October 2025.
- Please note this is not an opportunity to request a specific teacher, and late submissions will not be accepted.
- Requests regarding friendships are not required here, as these have already been collected by teachers.

Once class lists are finalised, changes will only be made in the rare case of an administrative error. Adjusting placements after finalisation is extremely difficult, as it can require multiple changes across classes.

We thank you for your support and understanding as we work to create the best possible learning environments for all students in 2026.

Working Bee

At Maramba, we love to have our parents involved in any way we can. We have a Working Bee this Sunday (26th October) with an aim to ensure the high quality grounds are at their very best for our students. The working bee activities are of a non-skilled nature where everyone is able to help out. Any mums, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers etc interested in helping out are all very welcome to come! Please check out the FOM tab of this newsletter for further details. Come and get your hands dirty while doing an act of kindness for our school. We hope to see you there!

School Council

Our final School Council meeting is scheduled for Wednesday 26th November and the FOM AGM will held on Thursday 4th December at 5:00pm in the Staffroom.

Student Free Days

As we move further into Term 4, please note the following dates for your diary:

Tuesday, 4 November – Melbourne Cup Day: The school will be closed for this public holiday. TheirCare will not operate on this day.
Friday, 28 November – Student Free Day: This day will be dedicated to 2026 planning for our teaching staff. TheirCare will be operating on this day.

Assembly and Newsletter Dates

Newsletter	Friday 24th October
Assembly	Thursday 30th October
Newsletter	Friday 7th November
Assembly	Thursday 13th November

Kind regards,

Moniba Ehsan and Stephanie Sharp

Principal and Assistant Principal

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to the Students and Staff who will celebrate their birthdays this week and next week.