Dear School Community Members,

Mano is a great place to be!

On Tuesday, 32 current Grade 5 students nominated themselves for our 2026 School Captain positions by delivering a speech to their peers, their teachers, Mrs Geary and myself. It was an absolute honour and privilege to observe and listen to each students’ presentation. Their sincere care for their fellow students, their gratitude towards the school they attend, and their vision for next year is inspiring and assuring! Mano is in the very best shape with incredible ambassadors like these Grade 5 students. I wish all that nominated the very best through the remainder of the process.

Mano is a great place to be!

Planning for 2026: Our Leadership Team continue to work on planning for 2026. This includes planning our classes, staffing and school improvement plan for 2026. To support our process of allocating all students to a class for 2026, each student has been provided with an opportunity to complete a ‘Friendship Card’. This ‘Friendship Card’ will allow students to indicate some students they would like to be in a class with in 2026. Students will be guaranteed to be placed in a class with at least 1 of these students from their ‘Friendship Card’. I will continue to share aspects of our 2026 planning as it becomes formalised.

Staff Forum – Individual Education Plans: Led by Mr Beck, this week our staff forum was focused on compiling and implementing high quality Individual Education Plans (IEPs). An IEP is a written plan that describes the adjustments, goals and strategies to meet a students’ individual educational needs so they can reach their full potential. Our staff develop an IEP for approximately 10% of our students. Part of the process in developing an IEP, staff engage both the student and his/her family to gain input into the plan.

Ultimately, the plan is co-developed by the teacher, student and the family. This maximises ownership and clarity, and in turn motivation to achieve the goals set in the plan. Teachers will continue the process of developing the IEPs for the selected students and contact families over the coming weeks.

Mano Colour Run – Thursday, 6th November: Once again, thank you to the families who have registered their children for the Mano Colour Run. We encourage all families to register their children ASAP to support our Parents and Friends Committee with their planning of the event. Information regarding our Mano Colour Run has been sent home over the last few weeks via Compass.

Trivia Night - $3,415 raised: A great night was had last Saturday as the Mano community came together for its annual Trivia night. An incredible $3,415 was raised on the night that will go towards our ‘School Grounds Improvement’ program. Thank you to all families and staff members that attended. A huge shout out to our Parents and Friends Committee for their organisation of another highly successful event – we are so lucky to have you in our community.

Safety – Staff Carpark: As a school, our highest priority is the safety of all community members. Recently we have had some near misses or “close shaves” in the staff carpark due to families utilising the staff carpark as a drop off and pick up zone. To maximise the safety of our students and all community members, I remind our 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)
Students often use the staff carpark as an entry and exit from school – for this reason no moving vehicles are permitted in the staff carpark during these times

Thank you in anticipation for your support of this matter.

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

Christian Smith