Principals' Message 

Hello Parents and Friends,

We have had a fantastic two weeks at Templestowe Park PS.  Our students have settled in so well and we are seeing fantastic learning take place across all classrooms and learning areas.  Our Twilight evening was a hit last Wednesday night and it was so nice to see so many at our 'Meet the Teacher' interviews last Thursday.  Our teachers were so pleased with the interviews and the talk in the staffroom was how supportive and invested our parents are.  Our after school programs of Computer Coding, Mind Frame Grow (problem solving), Auskick and Soccer Stars are all up and going and they provide our community with so much after the school bell rings.  We do feel so lucky to be part of such a dynamic and passionate learning community. 

There will be no school next Monday as we celebrate Labour Day across Victoria.  We hope that all families can take the opportunity to rest and spend quality time together. 

PFA Twilight Evening – Thanks for a fantastic evening! 

Our annual Twilight Evening took place last Wednesday night and it was a wonderful event.  We were lucky that a cool change came just after we commenced the night at 5.00pm.  This cooler weather made a perfect environment for students to enjoy the many activities that were provided by Proactivity. It was great to see so many parents and friends having a picnic and enjoying the company of our school community. 

Events like this remind us of what a connected, welcoming and friendly community we have at Templestowe Park.  Please see the photos below of the great time that was had by everyone that attended. 

NAPLAN – Grade 3 and 5 

Next week, our Grade 3 and 5 students will sit the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).  NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national standards.

NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.

NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

We wish our Grade 3 and 5 students the very best with these assessments.

Parents and Friends Association (PFA) AGM and first meeting for 2025

We had our PFA AGM and first meeting yesterday and we are all excited about what is in store for 2025.  We are pleased to inform the community that the following parents have been appointed as office bearers for 2025:  

• Angela Pezzimenti – President
• Kate Claringbould  – Vice President 
• Mary Manfre – Secretary 
• Tulay Celik – Treasurer

We would like to say a huge thank you to Kate Claringbould.  Kate has been the PFA President for the last three years and contributed so much to our school community.  We are so grateful to have Kate as part of the TPPS community. 

Check out the PFA section of the newsletter to keep track of all the fun community building events that our PFA undertake throughout the year. 

Student Free Day – Tuesday 22 April (First day of Term 2) 

The school has planned to have a Student Free Day on Tuesday 22 April.  This is the first day of Term 2.  On this day all staff will undertake First Aid and CPR training.  This training is a requirement under our Occupational Health and Safety obligations. 

The first week of Term 2 will now only be two school days as there is Easter Monday and ANZAC Day on Friday. 

TeamKids will be offering full day care for families that require it.  Please click here to make a booking. 

Coffee and Chat with us! - Friday 21 March 9-10am 

We warmly invite all parents and carers to attend our first Coffee and Chat with the

Principal Class for 2025.  We would like to receive some early feedback on our new teaching methods and timetable. We would also like to share our 2025 Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) and the goals we are working towards for this year.  We also invite you to ask us any general questions you may have. 

The Coffee and Chat is time to catch up with each other in a relaxed environment.  There is no need to RSVP, just come to the staffroom at 9:00am on Friday 21 March.  Looking forward to seeing you then! 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Arriving to School on Time - Lost Opportunities: 

Lateness and lost opportunities are once again a priority for us in 2025. With our new teaching and learning model, if a child misses only 15 mins it can have a significant impact.  This could be missing a review lesson, explicit teaching of a new concept or a targetted spelling lesson. This accumulated absence or lateness adds up to significant lost learning time. Consider this: 

• A student who is late by half an hour each day misses the equivalent of 16.6 days of learning each year. 
• An 80% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing one day per week or 40 days of lost learning for the school year which could add up to 2 ½ years from Prep – Year 12. 
• 85% attendance equals 30 days of lost learning per year or 2 years from Prep – Year 12.
• 90% attendance equals 1 day per fortnight or 20 days per year equalling one year of absence from Prep – Year 12.
• 95% attendance equals 10 days of lost learning and over half a year of lost opportunities from Prep – Year 12. 

Research that the Department of Education is leaning on indicates that there is no safe threshold to missing school. They determined this using a combination of school enrolment figures, attendance records and NAPLAN results provided by the WA Education Department. They studied patterns of over 415,000 primary and high school students over a five-year time frame. In all analyses, average academic achievement on NAPLAN tests declined with any absence from school and continued to decline as absence rates increased.

Every day of absence made a difference, and this was particularly true for unauthorised absences. The effect of one day of absence was relatively small but added up quickly as more and more days were missed. The effect of missing days accumulated over time, so that school absence not only impacted achievement in the year in which the days were missed but in future years as well. The message is straightforward and well supported, every day of school that is missed is a lost opportunity, please ensure your child is at school every day! 

Following on from this, we are  unfortunately seeing far too many students arriving at school late. This is a constant disruption to the classroom program and to the school office. I know that we have raised this issue many times in the newsletter and have a dedicated page to provide assistance to families.  If you need assistance to get your child to school on time or with absences, please do not hesitate to contact the school. 

Staff are on yard duty from 8:30am everyday and students enter the classroom at 8:50am.  Teaching begins at 9:00am so all students must be settled and ready to learn by this time.

Arriving to School on Time - Morning Routines

One of  the main reasons for students not arriving to school on time is the business of the home in the morning.  Setting up a good routine helps children arrive at school ready to learn and play.

Please click here to receive tips about setting up morning routines. 

Have a fantastic long weekend! 

Mark Roberts                       Brian Cleary                                        Robyn Twyford 

PRINCIPAL                           ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL                  ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL