Principal's Report

Celebrating 100 Days of School!

Yesterday our Preps celebrated their first 100 days of school. We're so proud of the way that they have all settled in. Starting school is a big transition and watching the new students grow in confidence and independence has been wonderful. This milestone provided the perfect segue for lots of hands-on maths activities, including making and counting groups of 10 beads to make a chain of 100.

Our Year 3-6 snow sports program commenced on Wednesday. Thankyou to all of our parent volunteers for making the day such a success. Despite the poor visibility, our beginning skiers showed great resilience and developed some skills that will hold them in good stead over the next few weeks. 

Kitchen Garden

Students were treated to a beetroot inspired afternoon tea on Wednesday. This week's Kitchen Gardeners carefully prepared beetroot and yoghurt dip, carrot sticks, orange and lemon cordial and chocolate beetroot cake. Yum!

Please keep an eye on Compass for details about an opportunity for students to buy butter chicken for lunch next Thursday for $5. You will be able to pay with cash or through Compass. Orders are due before 3:15pm on Tuesday.

Tree Planting with Landcare

As part of National Tree Day, on Monday, students in the 3/4 class joined local Landcare volunteers to help plant 100 trees at Pebble Beach. This was a wonderful opportunity for students to contribute to the local environment while learning about the importance of caring for our natural spaces. They worked enthusiastically alongside community volunteers, demonstrating teamwork, responsibility, and respect throughout the morning. It was fantastic to see our students making a meaningful contribution to their local community while representing the school so positively.

Rhythm 2 Resilience

Following the success of the Rhythm 2 Resilience program with small groups of girls in the upper primary years during Semester 1, we are pleased to offer the same opportunity to our Year 4 and Year 5 boys this term. Emily is a trained drum circle facilitator using the Rhythm 2 Resilience program and is running the sessions on Tuesday afternoons, in addition to the regular music program. In a fun, engaging environment, students develop important social and emotional skills through rhythm and drumming activities.

Throughout the program, students will explore:

• Emotional attunement – recognising and responding to the feelings of others.
• Resilience – building confidence and strategies to navigate challenges.
• Connection through rhythm – strengthening relationships and teamwork in a fun, shared experience.
• Focus and attention – participating in activities that develop concentration and listening skills.
• Emotional regulation – learning to pause, reflect, and respond thoughtfully.
• Mindfulness – practising awareness through breathing and being present in the moment.
• Communication – developing non-verbal communication skills, including the use of eye contact and active listening.

We look forward to seeing our students enjoy this unique opportunity to build wellbeing, confidence, and positive connections through music and rhythm.

2027 Prep Enrolment and

Transition Activities 

This week we have had the pleasure of welcoming some prospective new students and their families to two Ready, Set, Prep! sessions. 

On Monday morning, our Prep/1 class were joined by some familiar younger faces and their families for their regular singing and music session with Emily. There was lots of laughter, movement and the sound of enthusiastic voices.

On Thursday, we welcomed children from Lakeview Kindergarten for the first of two PMP sessions.  During the session, the children practised balancing, jumping and crawling, along with some bean bag and silk scarf tricks. We were impressed with their coordination as well as their willingness to listen and give everything a go.

Next Monday at 9:30am, children and their parents are invited to join us for the opportunity to spend time in the art room as they Make and Create with Nicole. Please let families of kinder children know about the opportunities available.  If you or families you know would like to have a tour of the school, please get in touch by calling the school office on (03) 57544354 or emailing mount.beauty.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Enrolments for Prep 2027 are due on the 31st July.  Enrolment forms can be collected from the school office or downloaded by clicking on the poster above.

Children's Book Week

A reminder to all families that we will be celebrating Children's Book Week in less than two weeks time! Our Book Day celebrations and parade are planned for Thursday 6th August, and students and families are encouraged to dress up as their favourite book characters!  

Mount Beauty Writers Festival

The Youth Writing Competition is on again this year as part of the Mount Beauty Writers Festival. Students in Anna's and Kathryn's classes will be working on their stories over the coming weeks. The competition is open to any students in Years 3-6 and is a great opportunity to write for an authentic purpose and showcase their skills as an author.

2026 NAPLAN Celebration

The latest NAPLAN results were released last week and student reports have now been sent home with students.  As a school, we are very proud of our students' achievements.

This year, our school outperformed similar and network schools in all areas in both Year 3 and Year 5, for the percentage of students who achieved strong or exceeding in proficiency.

Our staff pay special attention to our relative learning growth data. This measures the change in results over two years from when students sat the tests in Year 3 to when they participated in Year 5. Our learning growth results this year were exceptional. 

The percentages shown in the following table represent the proportion of students who have achieved high or medium growth relative to students that had a similar NAPLAN score two years prior. Again, all of our results were higher than similar schools and schools from our network. 

We see these results as being evidence of our calm classrooms and the structures that our school has put in place to ensure that every child has the environment and support to feel safe, happy and ready to learn. It is a reflection of the dedication and expertise of our teachers and education support staff and the nurturing that families provide their children at home. Well done everyone!