Dear School Community Members,

We have another sporting team that are State Champions!

Congratulations to our Softball teams on their success at the Softball State Championships on Monday! The Girls and Mixed team have both put a lot of time and effort into preparing for the State Championships and both teams played well on the day.

Our Mixed team was the only team that had a girl playing with them at state level. Georgia was our captain and the manner our boys all supported her and cheered on her success left everyone watching incredibly impressed. Our Mixed team had three close games to get into the final and won comfortably over Swan Hill in the final match.

The Girls team backed up their performance at the State Tee Ball finals earlier in the year by again finishing 4th in the State. The girls took it up to the two topped ranked teams, going down in close matches before taking a 22-7 win in their final match. All players played their role, supported each other and played with great respect. Over the course of the year, they have greatly improved through regular training and dedication.

A huge thank you to Kath Johns and Rachel Swanson for being the official scorers for all matches and the huge contingent of Mano families who came to support on the day. A massive shout out to Mr Murray and Mr Urquhart for coaching the team and for the countless hours during lunch times to allow our two teams to practice.

Mano Step Up Day – Tuesday, 10th December: The annual State-wide orientation day whereby students engage in an extended transition session with their 2025 teacher, 2025 classmates and in their 2025 classroom will take place on Tuesday, 10th December. On this day, students will participate in activities and tasks that support their transition into their next year level. Students will be provided with a letter from their 2025 teacher that will introduce themselves. We will email a letter to all families that will outline their child’s teacher for 2025. Many of our Year 6 students will visit their secondary school on this day.

Safety at Drop Off and Pick Up times: As a school, our highest priority is the safety of all community members. Recently we have had some feedback from families regarding the need to remind drivers to take extra care during ‘Drop Off’ and ‘Pick Up’ times due to some near misses or “close shaves”.

With this in mind, I remind families of the following:

The staff carpark is strictly for staff only, as well as any community member who has the appropriate permit to park in the ‘All Accessible’ parking bays that are located in the staff carpark (permit must be on display)
Peter Lowe Reserve is a great option for ‘Drop Off’ and ‘Pick Up’ times – many of our families utilise this option with great success
If you intend to ‘drop off’ or ‘pick up’ in any of the streets immediately adjacent to Mano, please allow extra time

Thank you in anticipation for your support of this matter.

Curriculum Day dates for 2025: Our School Council have confirmed four of our Curriculum Day dates for 2025. They are:

1. Tuesday, 28th January

2. Wednesday, 29th January

3. Term 2 (date to be confirmed)

4. Friday, 30th May

5. Friday, 21st November

Please note: Grade 1 to Grade 6 students will commence the 2025 school year on Thursday, 30th January and our Prep students will commence the 2025 school year on Monday, 3rd February.

Key Dates in November and December

Tuesday, 10th December Mano Transition Day – students meet their 2025 teacher
Thursday, 12th December Grade 6 Graduation ceremony
Thursday, 19th December Christmas Concert and End of Year Celebration – 9.15am
Friday, 20th December Last day of school year – 1.30pm dismissal

Thank you for supporting our school and have a great week.

Christian Smith

Writer of the Week