Principals' Message 

Hello Parents and Friends,

Four weeks into the new school year and everything is going very well at TPPS.  Our new Preps have settled in so well and it was so amazing to see them read for the very first time this week.  The Prep students have focussed on learning SATPIN in Literacy.  SATPIN refers to the first six letters that our systematic synthetic phonics learning program begins with.  With these six high frequency letters and sounds, our students can actually start to read without guessing.  Our Prep students were using these letters and sounds to read short books.  It was so exciting to see them use decoding strategies to read only four weeks into school.  A huge congratulations to our teachers and our fantastic students on their hard work! More information about our systematic synthetic phonics approach and Decodable Readers Australia (particularly for our P-2 families), can be found via the 'Learning @ TPPS' tab.

Our senior students have already represented Templestowe Park in interschool sports and have been outstanding in showing our RRIPO values.  The new Grade 6 jumpers look so smart and our senior students love them. 

We are so excited for the year ahead.  We have had such a great start! 

Grade 6 Leadership Badge Presentation 

Last Friday we welcomed the Hon Matthew Guy (Member for Bulleen) to our special assembly to present our 2025 School Leaders with their badges.  The weather was very kind to us and it was a perfect day for an outdoor assembly. 

Mr Guy spoke passionately about our RRIPO values and the importance of showing kindness to everyone within our school and wider community. Our Grade 6 students were so excited to receive their badges and officially be identified as leaders at our school.  While these students have badges, all our Grade 6 students are leaders in our community and we are so excited to have such a fantastic cohort this year.  Best wishes to our Grade 6 students for the exciting year ahead. 

PFA Twilight Evening – Wednesday 26th  February 5:00 - 6:30pm 

We warmly invite all families to our Family Twilight Night on Wednesday 26th February.  All families can bring a picnic dinner and enjoy the company of our community on the front oval.  The team from ‘Proactivity’ will be running sports activities for the children between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. 

Activities will include a Ninja Warrior Course, Inflatable Soccer Arena, Classic Catch ‘N Save and the Zorb Chamber. The children will love it!

We look forward to seeing you on the night and enjoying each other’s company!

2025 Parent Payments

You will notice on your Compass Newsfeed, under Course Confirmation, that the 2025 Parent Payments are available to be paid.  The process on how to pay the charges is outlined in the 2025 TPPS Parent Payment letter on Compass. 

Thank you to those families who have made contributions thus far.  These contributions provide our students with workbooks, stationery, online subscriptions,  classroom and specialist materials, educational support, facilities, grounds and opportunities that we simply could not offer without your support. TPPS includes all student resources in Parent Payments rather than having parents pay for them above this payment. 

If you have any further queries, please contact the school office. 

Meet the Teacher Interviews – Thursday Feb 27 3:40pm – 7:30pm 

Our ‘Meet the Teacher’ interviews for families in Grade 1 - 6 are set to take place next week and bookings are now open. 

To make your booking you will need to log into Compass. Once on Compass, you will need to click 'Book Parent Student Teacher Conference' next to the picture of your child or the green event above this message. Bookings should be made via a web browser or your mobile device. To assist you if needed, there is a document attached regarding booking from a mobile device on the Compass News Feed.

Please note, 1W will not be involved next week. 1W parents will have an opportunity to meet with Mrs White on her return to work.

Thank You to Our Departing 2024 School Councillors 

We would like to acknowledge and thank our 2024 School Council and those who have completed their terms.  We had an extremely successful year in 2024 with outstanding academic and wellbeing outcomes.  This has included our school being assessed as being in the ‘High’ category in Learning, Wellbeing and Overall performance in the 2024 School Performance Report.  This is the best score that any school can receive so we are very proud of the efforts of our students, staff, School Council and the entire school community.

Our School Council is such a motivated, supportive and passionate group of people.  Led by our President, Shalina Navaratnam, this group guides strategic and financial planning for the school.  They are also a wonderful bunch of people that we have loved to get to know personally throughout the year. Thank you for such a wonderful year. 

Our School Council for 2024 consisted of the following members:

• Shalina Navaratnam (President)
• Amy Gunzburg (Treasurer)
• Isabelle Duscas
• Ben White 
• Peter Manolakos
• Aylin Eser 
• Rafaela Lambrou
• Lisa Amore
• Brian Cleary        
• Cara Barry
• Robyn Twyford
• Emma White
• Mark Roberts (Executive Officer) 

Members who will conclude their 2-year term are Peter, Aylin, Rafaela, Lisa, Ben, Brian, Cara and Robyn. 

New School Council in 2025  

The 2025 School Council nominations closed last Monday and I am pleased to announce that we have filled all available positions for 2025.  We had the exact number of nominations in the ‘Parent’ category that were available positions. I would like to congratulate and welcome the following new additions to the 2025 School Council:

• Aoj Khan
• Sanna Clapton
• Rafaela Lambrou
• Peter Manolakos
• Aylin Esser 

We will have our first 2025 School Council meeting in March.  I look forward to a fantastic year ahead with our new Council! 

Consent for Events on Compass – Highly Important 

We have made the decision that in 2025, we will be fully adhering to our ‘Camps and Excursions’ policy for consent for events. This means that the following will now take place:

• Students who have not finalised payment and consent by the required date will not be allowed to attend unless the Principal determines exceptional circumstances apply.

This is always a difficult decision for us as we never want a child to miss out on a school event. Unfortunately, we quite frequently undertake frantic phone calls and make hasty arrangements to receive consent as students are about to leave on an excursion.  This places extreme stress on the teachers and excursion organisers as they prepare to have students leave the school grounds.  This has led to mistakes being made and we can no longer take this risk. Furthermore, with many external excursions and camps, we need to set budgets for the event and this is dependent on the number of students attending.  This includes booking the right number of buses.

We will provide ample time (2 weeks’ notice) for events, except for hastily arranged sporting events that we do not receive that time from the organisers.  Additionally, we will also provide consent notification for an event and email reminders prior to the closing date. 

We suggest that you check Compass weekly and consent for events as soon as they are published.  If you require financial support, please do not hesitate Sanober (Business Manager) and we can offer assistance. 

We thank you for your support and cooperation. 

Spelling Mastery – Grade 1-6 

Last week, all principals, teachers and educational support staff undertook professional learning in our new spelling program called Spelling Mastery. 

Spelling Mastery is an explicit direct instruction method to teach spelling. As you are all aware, the Department of Education has directed schools to use this research-based teaching method in the coming years and Templestowe Park has introduced it across the school in 2024 and is continuing to implement it in 2025. 

Our teachers have done a fantastic job delivering the new program this week and our students have been amazing, and very patient with us.  As we will deliver Spelling Mastery four times per week, our teachers will become proficient very quickly and our students will benefit greatly from this highly successful method.  We are excited to track our students progress in spelling in 2025 and beyond. 

2026 Prep Enrolments 

We are only three weeks into the new school year and we have already undertaken many tours for Prep 2026.  For families that are interested in enrolling their child in Prep at Templestowe Park in 2026, please see the process below and our school website for further information.  2026 Prep enrolments open Tuesday 22 April (first day of Term 2). 

How to enrol at Templestowe Park PS

• Contact our school office on 9846 2700 to book a school tour with our Principal or Assistant Principals.
• Submit an Expression of Interest EOI if you would like to receive updates from Templestowe Park about enrolment news and our numerous transition programs.
• Digital enrolments for Prep 2026 open on Tuesday 22 April 2025.  Please click here to submit your digital enrolment after Tuesday 22 April 2025.
• Submit an enrolment application for Prep 2026 by Friday 25 July 2025.
• You will be notified of the outcome of your application between Monday 28 July and Friday 8 August 2025. If you receive an enrolment offer, you should accept the offer by Friday 22 August 2025. Please note – all in zone student enrolments will be immediately accepted on receipt of student enrolment.
• We will invite families to participate in our Prep 2026 Transition programs.
• Prep students will commence school on Wednesday 28 January 2026.

For further information from the Department of Education about enrolling in Prep for 2026 please click here. 

School Saving Bonus (SSB)

We are receiving a number of messages regarding the allocation of the School Saving Bonus. The SSB is a Department of Education program and we are unable to access the system to correct errors or make changes.  

To find information on receiving and utilizing the School Saving Bonus kindly refer to the following website:

https://www.vic.gov.au/receiving-school-saving-bonus

We are unable to provide anything further than the information provided on the above mentioned website.

Brain Food Information and Suggestions

The school commissioned Robyn Dery (Accredited Practising Dietitian) to provide information and suggestions to families about how to adequately fuel their child for the extended morning learning block that we have introduced in 2025.  The learning block is now from 9:00 – 11:30am. 

Please find the information sheet from Robyn attached to the News Feed post. You will notice that a balanced and full breakfast is the most important factor in setting up your child for a successful learning experience. Please keep this information sheet handy throughout the year for guidance and suggestions for what is appropriate to nibble on during this period. 

Important – Please ensure that all brain food is placed in a small container rather than in your child’s lunch box.  There is not enough space on the student desks for lunchboxes during learning time.  Thank you for your cooperation. 

Have a fantastic weekend! 

Mark Roberts                       Brian Cleary                                        Robyn Twyford 

PRINCIPAL                           ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL                  ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL