Principals' Message
Hello Parents and friends,
I hope this edition of the newsletter finds everybody well. Some great news to begin with is to announce the safe arrival of Alphie Konakoff into the world, who was born on August 4th. Alphie’s proud parents, Oli and Ally are both doing well and are besotted by their first child. On behalf of the school community, we’d like to extend our congratulations to the Konakoff family.
As you would have all seen on Compass last week the Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey Opinion Survey is open. At Templestowe Park we invite all families to complete the survey rather than the 30% that is suggested by the Department of Education. We value your feedback and your suggestions have led to many changes and initiatives within the school.
The survey is open until Friday 8th September. Please log on to share your thoughts and offer suggestions about our school. Thank you to the many families that have already completed the survey.
Production – The Wizard of Oz
At the last school assembly, all those in attendance were very lucky to witness a snapshot of what is to come at next week’s school production, The Wizard of Oz. Sienna and Georgia who play the main character, Dorothy on separate nights both gave a super impressive performance of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. You could have heard a pin drop as both of these talented girls sang unaccompanied to a spellbound audience. Sienna and Georgia are only two of many talented students who will perform next week at the George Wood Performing Arts Centre (Yarra Valley Grammar) on Wednesday and Thursday night. The deep talent pool will be on show next week in what promises to be one of the highlights of the Grade 5 and 6 students primary school years. For most students, this might be the only opportunity they may have in their life to perform on the big stage, which is one of the main reasons why TPPS continues to hold biannual productions. In years to come when our current 5/6 students are nursing their grandchildren, I’m sure they will look back fondly and recall the many experiences they had the opportunity to participate in only at primary school.
Break a leg everyone!
Book Week
Each year, Book Week brings children and books together to celebrate authors and illustrators. This year’s Book Week theme is ‘Read, Grow, Inspire’. Please click here to learn more about the theme for 2023.
All students will be celebrating Book Week at TPPS from Monday 21st to Friday 25th August. As Book Week this year falls on a very busy week with the whole school House Athletics Carnival on Monday and production rehearsals and performances over the week, we will not be having a dress up day this year. Instead, each classroom will be exploring some of the shortlisted books by reading them throughout the week and completing accompanying activities within their rooms.
Car Parking Around TPPS
We have recently received numerous complaints from local residents and parents about parking around the school. Some parents and carers from the TPPS community are choosing to park illegally and break road laws around the school. This has included parking across driveways, on nature strips, double parking and parking in No Standing Zones. This has led to very dangerous situations for our students and community and very unhappy neighbours.
The Manningham Council and Police have been notified and they will be undertaking regular patrols and issuing fines for any illegal activity.
We implore this small minority of community members to follow the laws like the rest of us. The most important reason why they are in place is to keep our children and community safe.
We strongly encourage families to use the Greek Orthodox Church as a parking spot. The Church have kindly allowed the school to use their carpark at drop off and pick up time. This a short 350m walk from the Church Rd entry to the school. Parents are encouraged to park and walk from there if they would like to meet their children within the school grounds.
Grade 5/6 Camp
Last week, Grade 5/6 students went to Sovereign Hill for a two-night school camping experience. Students, teachers and our parent volunteers dressed up in 1850s costumes and attended the Sovereign Hill Costume Schools program. Over two days, the students got to experience what it would have been like for children growing up in the Gold Rush times. Girls experienced needlework as an afternoon school activity, whilst the boys did some technical drawing – both seen as being fitting for their gender in the 1850s. Students overwhelmingly agreed that they think school life at TPPS in 2023 is much better! In the evening, the group was entertained by the amazing AURA Sound and Light show, as well as a Pantomime show of live theatre.
We would sincerely like to thank the Grade 5 and 6 teachers and our parent volunteers for giving up time away from their own families to look after our students. Being away with a school group is extremely tiring, but we value our staff’s commitment to making such a worthwhile experience possible for our students. A big thank you to Jared Kitney, Kellie Fletcher, Anne Somerville, Deb Pettolino, Natalie Durnford, Neil Mitchell, David Sampimon, Kylie Holmes, Kath Bennett, Anna Wyatt, Rebecca Doig, Rhett Tauber-Lewis, John Quinlin, Kirsty Reilly and Juan Contreras.
Macey H in 6K
Congratulations to Macey in Grade 6 who was part of the State Schools Victoria U/12 football team who were crowned the winning state at the national titles in Albury last week. At the end of the six-day carnival, despite losing the first game to Western Australia by 2 points Macey and her Victorian teammates tied with NSW on points however, a superior percentage allowed them to be declared the winning state. Big congratulations to Macey in firstly making the state team and secondly being an important player in the win. Macey also had the honour of kicking the first goal of the tournament. While we’re sure being unable to join her peers on the Grade 5/6 camp was a disappointment, a gold medal probably goes a long way to make up for it. Well done, Macey!
Peanut Butter and Anaphylaxis
Across the school we have some students that have a severe anaphylactic condition to different food products. No food products are banned at Templestowe Park PS, however we just ask you to consider, if possible, packing food options that do not contain peanut butter.
Thank you for assistance and cooperation. It is greatly appreciated.
Whole School House Athletics
We are looking forward to a terrific day on Monday together as a whole school for our annual House Athletics Carnival. If you are able, you are more than welcome to come and watch the students perform in their events. Please see the information via the event on Compass for the times for our P-2 and 3-6 students. Consent/payment is due tonight, so if you haven’t already actioned this, please do so. It is a great day for us to come together as a school and cheer each other on. We all love the final race of the day – the Grade 6 students v Teachers race! There are lots of opportunities for every student to ‘be the best that they can be’ and show grit and persistence to get a personal best. Remember, you don’t have to be THE best, but you should always strive to be YOUR best. Go Tempy!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Brian Cleary Robyn Twyford
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Enjoy your weekend.
Brian Cleary Robyn Twyford
ACTING PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL