Leadership Report
Joseph Hess - Assistant Principal &Maths Learning Specialist
Over the past few weeks, our Year 5/6 students have been diving into a hands-on unit all about money, and we are thrilled to share what they’ve been working on. Students have been developing a wide range of skills, from recognising Australian coins and notes to exploring real-world financial situations such as discounts, budgeting, and value for money.
Students have been learning to:
- Identify and understand key financial vocabulary
- Count collections of money and order amounts from least to greatest
- Round money to the nearest dollar or 10 cents, and explain why rounding is useful
- Compare prices, calculate totals, and determine the best value
Plan simple budgets, add and subtract amounts, and stay within a spending limit
We’ve been incorporating real-life money scenarios into classroom activities—such as shopping simulations, discount challenges, and budgeting tasks—to help students make meaningful connections to everyday life. These practical lessons have sparked lots of enthusiasm, and it has been wonderful to see students so engaged, confident, and curious about how money works.
The 5/6 teaching team has loved planning these fun, adaptable and authentic learning experiences. The students have thoroughly enjoyed the unit so far, and we look forward to continuing to build their financial literacy in ways that feel relevant and enjoyable.
Costa Missailidis -Wellbeing and Engagement Leader
Grandparents & Special Persons Morning
On Friday, October 24th, we were delighted to welcome so many grandparents and special people to Merri-bek Primary School for our Grandparents & Special Persons Morning.
It was a truly heartwarming event, with classrooms filled with smiles, laughter, and wonderful conversations. Students were so happy, engaged, and excited to share their learning, work, and school experiences with the special people in their lives.
A huge thank you to all the families who joined us and helped make the morning such a success. We hope everyone who attended enjoyed spending time with their loved ones.
Grade 6 Coburg High School Bike Ride
On Monday 27th October, our Grade 6 students had the fantastic opportunity to take part in the Coburg High School Bike Ride. This initiative supports students in developing the skills and confidence to actively travel to high school, while learning about bike safety, local routes, and responsible riding.
Students rode to Coburg High School, where they were warmly welcomed by Year 7 students who guided them on a ride around the school and surrounding areas. They also enjoyed a tour of the high school, had the chance to chat with current students about the transition to Year 7, and even grabbed a tasty lunch from the school café!
This partnership between Merri-bek Primary School and Coburg High School is a wonderful way to promote sustainable travel, student wellbeing, and community connections.
A big thank you to Coburg High School staff and students for hosting our Grade 6s, and to everyone involved in making the day such a success!
Tristan Kelly - Literacy Learning Specialist
This year our Prep and Year 1/2 Teams have been making improvements to the lesson structure for Literacy based on the new Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and on Victoria’s Reading Position. They have been supported by our Literacy Coach, Narissa Leung, throughout the year and made excellent progress. The teams have focused on all six essential elements of reading (the ‘Big 6’) as part of a structured approach to literacy:
- Oral language – knowing and using spoken words to express knowledge, ideas and emotions
- Phonemic awareness – which is the knowledge of sounds (phonemes)
- Phonics – knowing the sound (phoneme) and letter (grapheme) relationships
- Fluency – reading accurately and at an appropriate rate with expression
- Vocabulary – understanding words in isolation and in context
- Comprehension – making meaning from text which includes developing knowledge of grammar.
In the photos below, you can see students engaging in all six of these essential elements. In addition to what you see in the photos, students have daily opportunities to read decodable texts and/or chapter books, practise handwriting and participate in a Writing lesson as part of the Literacy Block. The teachers and students have developed such strong routines and it’s wonderful to see the impact all this work is having on student learning and engagement!
Phonemic awareness
Phonics, high frequency words, oral language
Daily dancing brain break!
Interactive reading (vocabulary, comprehension, oral language)
Some recent mentor texts