From the Principal 

Maths Talent Quest

Some of our Year 5 and 6 maths high achievers entered in the Mathematical Association of Victoria’s Maths Talent Quest this year

First held in 1982, the MTQ is an annual activity open to all primary and secondary students.  Students select their own investigation topic based on their personal learning interests and apply mathematics in context. They understand and discover how mathematics is used and found in the world around them.

Each project is marked against a common rubric by three anonymous teachers from other schools around Victoria. 

Congratulations to the following students on the projects for 2024

Daniel C – The Math Behind Pokemon

Kaira A – Dominoes

Logan S – Uniform Combinations

Kai B and Charlie W – Investment Guide

Quinn C, Jake L and Clement L– Raising a Dog for a Year

Thank-you to Nick O’Donovan (ES in Year 5-6) for his support with the student’s projects.

Pizza Day

Thank-you to our wonderful social and fundraising team for their work in providing over two hundred pizza orders for our children. The students absolutely loved it! A reminder that for these special events, late orders cannot be taken as is has a flow on effect for the businesses we are engaging with and makes things all the more difficult for our incredible parent volunteers. These whole school events are challenging to manage at the best of times so it would be greatly appreciated if additional pressure wasn’t added with attempted late ordering.

Curriculum

Our learning specialists Jarrod Bradley (mathematics) and Maddie Simos (literacy) along with a team of experienced staff continue to work with Steph Murphy (Education Improvement Leader with the Department of Education) in developing our scope and sequence for English and Mathematics. In 2025 the Victorian Curriculum English and Maths 2.0 will commence rollout across the state, as well as an updated Victorian Teaching and Learning Model. These department initiatives are informed by contemporary evidence about the way students learn and the most effective teaching practices and approaches to achieve strong learning outcomes for students, including priority cohorts. It has explicit teaching at its core. The work that Jarrod, Maddie and the curriculum team have been doing will align perfectly to the roll out of these government initiatives. Linked into their curriculum development are the 10 Principles of Instruction (Rosenshine, 2012). We will be further integrating the 10 principles into our literacy and numeracy practices.

Remaining Proactive during Term 4

As a school we continue to use the 7 habits in our daily interactions at school. Term 4 is challenging as fatigue sets in. We ask that you remind your children to remain proactive as we near the end of the school year. The more proactive we all are the calmer our learning environment will be. There are many fun and exciting things coming up as we celebrate the last 6 weeks of term.

School Council Report

Belinda Griffiths our school council president will be providing a school council update after each meeting. This is to support transparency and information about the important work our school council is engaging in. Thank-you Belinda for providing this information to our community.

Melbourne Cup

We understand that many families are taking advantage of Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup Day to have an extended long weekend. School will be open but with a significant amount of absences planned, year levels will be running an alternate education program for the day. This is to limit the amount of ‘catch-up’ that will be needed for students returning to school on Wednesday. For those heading away for the weekend, I hope you have a lovely time with your loved ones and stay safe.

Courtney Mason

Assistant Principal