Principals' Message 

Hello parents and friends, 

It has been wonderful to see families come in and meet with teachers this week for our ‘Meet the Teacher’ interviews.  These meetings are so important to receive an insight into each student and build the important learning partnership between the school and home.  We thank all parents and carers that participated in these meetings. 

Our students have all settled into school now and we are very pleased with the learning programs at all levels.  We are so excited about our new Sustainability specialist program and the feedback from the students has been excellent. 

We would like to congratulate and thank our Prep teachers and Robyn Twyford for the highly informative Prep 2024 Information Evening that was held last week.  Robyn and the team provided a rich overview of the Prep year and how parents can assist their child in the first year of the school journey. 

We would like to wish our Chinese community a very Happy New Year! May the Lunar New Year bring you a wealth of opportunities and a heart full of peace and prosperity. May the dragon and phoenix bring you happiness and well-being!

Finally, it has been very hot over the last couple of weeks and it looks like this will continue for a while.  Please place sunscreen on your children before school and ensure they have a school hat.  If the temperature reaches 35 degrees plus, we will call a hot day timetable and cancel all outdoor activities. 

Have a fantastic weekend!

New Website published today!

https://www.templestoweparkps.vic.edu.au/ 

We are very excited to launch our brand-new website to the TPPS and wider community.  Our new website has been completely updated with the latest information about the school, useful links for parents, a celebration of our achievements, a link to our newsletter and easy to access contact information.  It also allows us to provide regular updates about what is happening around our school in the ‘Recent News’ section.  We do hope you enjoy the new layout and appreciate the improvements we have made to access links and school information. 

A huge thank you to Brian Cleary and Katie Godfrey for the work they undertook to develop the website. 

New School Uniform coming soon! 

A special sub-committee of the 2023 School Council was charged with reviewing our school wear provider and selecting an updated school uniform for Templestowe Park PS.  The school has not changed its uniform for at least 15 years, so it was due for an update.

In Term 2, the sub-committee invited a range of school uniform suppliers to present to them. After these extensive presentations, the sub-committee made a recommendation to School Council that Primary School Wear (PSW) become the new uniform supplier to Templestowe Park. This was endorsed by the Council. 

In Term 4, 2023 the sub-committee attended the PSW Concept Office to select a new and updated school uniform.  The sub-committee was made up of school leadership, teachers and school staff, parent members of School Council and a student representative.  Many opinions were expressed and it was fantastic to receive input from so many stakeholders.

On Thursday of this week, the sub-committee reconvened for a uniform showing and review.  We were very impressed with the design and quality of our new uniform.  We are very confident that our students and school community will feel the same way. 

The School Council will now enter into an agreement with PSW to make our school uniform.  We hope to have this completed by our March School Council meeting so production can begin soon after. 

In the coming weeks, we will have a display of our new uniform in the office foyer for all students and parents to see.  We will also publish photos of the uniform in our newsletter and on our website. 

There will be a transition to our new uniform over the next two years.  Both the old and new uniform can be worn until 2026.  This provides a two-year transition (approximately the lifespan of a school polo) to our new uniform.  In the coming months, we will start to reduce the price of the remaining stock of our current uniforms so parents can pick up a real bargain. We will inform families of this through Compass and the newsletter. 

Another significant change is that our uniform shop will move offsite to the PSW store in Kew East. This will provide families with an opportunity to purchase the school uniform on the weekends and during school holidays. PSW also offer click and collect and a home delivery service. 

We are extremely excited about the updates to our uniforms.  It has been quite a long time coming and we are confident that they will be well received.  We would like to thank the work of the sub-committee over the past 10 months.  We greatly appreciate the time and effort that was put in by this group. 

Grade 6 Leadership Badge Presentation 

At our special assembly today, we presented our 2024 School Leaders with their leadership badges. 

Our local Member of Parliament, Mr Matthew Guy addressed our school leaders and presented them with their badges.  Mr Guy emphasised the importance of leading by example and how our RRIPO values can assist them to be outstanding student leaders in 2024.  We are so proud of our entire Grade 6 cohort.  They will all be exceptional leaders for our school throughout 2024. 

PFA Twilight Evening – Wednesday 13th March 5:00 - 6:30pm 

We warmly invite all families to our Family Twilight Night on Wednesday 13th March.  All families can bring a picnic dinner and enjoy the company of our community on the front oval.  The team from ‘Proactivity’ will be running sports activities for the children between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. 

Activities will include a Ninja Warrior Course, Inflatable Soccer Arena and the Zorb Chamber. The children will love it!

We look forward to seeing you on the night and enjoying each other’s company!

Please note – this is an alcohol-free event. 

Thank You to Our Departing School Councillors 

We would like to acknowledge and thank our 2023 School Council and those who have completed their terms.  The school community had a fantastic year in 2023 and this is in great part to the leadership, enthusiasm and measured decision making of our Council. 

Our School Council for 2023 consisted of the following members:

• Ben White (President)
• Shalina Navaratnam (Vice President)
• Amy Gunzburg  (Treasurer)
• Mark Roberts (Executive Officer) 
• Peter Manolakos
• Rafael Lambrou
• Aylin Eser
• Lisa Amore
• Sarah Urbano
• Brian Cleary        
• Cara Barry
• Diana Danilovic
• Lisa Amore
• Robyn Twyford
• Dean Greguric (retired in 2023)
• Elena Cantelli (retired in 2023) 

Members that concluded their term after our final meeting of the 2023 School Council on Wednesday were Shalina Navaratnam (Vice President) Amy Gunzburg (Treasurer), Sarah Urbano and Diana Danilovic.

We would like to sincerely thank our departing School Council members for their service to our school. They have been a great support and we greatly appreciate their efforts over the past 2+ years.  

2024 School Council Parent Member Appointments

As our 2023 School Council concludes, we are pleased to announce the new members of our 2024 Council.  As you are aware, a call for nominations for School Council was published last week and closed on Monday.  We are pleased to announce that we had three nominations for our three vacant parent positions. I would like to congratulate the following community members to their appointment to the 2024 School Council. 

• Shalina Navaratnam
• Amy Gunzburg
• Isabelle Duscas 

We are looking forward to working with School Council in 2024 to continue our school improvement agenda.

Parents and Friends Association (PFA) AGM and first meeting for 2024

We had our PFA AGM and first meeting last Friday and we are all excited about what is in store for 2024.  We are pleased to inform the community that the following parents have been appointed as office bearers for 2024:  Kate Claringbould – President; Isabelle Duscas  – Vice President; Mary Manfre – Secretary and Tulay Celik – Treasurer.

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. 

Please see Kate, Isabelle, Mary and Tulay from left to right below.  Congratulations to Kate and her team! 

2025 Prep Enrolments

In 2023, the Department of Education introduced a new timeline for Prep enrolments.  Further changes have been made in 2024 and Prep enrolments for 2025 will now be completed online by parents rather than on paper as we have done in the past. Below you will find information on how to enrol your Prep child at TPPS in 2025. 

How to enrol a 2025 Prep child at TPPS:

•  Contact our school office on 9846 2700 to book a school tour with our Principal or Assistant Principals.
• We will provide information on how to enrol at Templestowe Park PS. In 2024, Manningham primary schools will use an online enrolment process. We are still awaiting information on how to do this by the Department of Education.
• Submit an Expression of Interest EOI if you would like to receive updates from Templestowe Park about enrolment news and our numerous transition programs.
• Submit an enrolment application for Prep 2025 by Friday 26 July 2024.
• You will be notified of the outcome of your application between Monday 29 July and Friday 9 August 2024. If you receive an enrolment offer, you should accept the offer by Friday 23 August 2024. 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 2025 Transition programs.
• Prep students will commence school on Thursday 30 January 2025.

Prep 2025 Parent Information Evening - Thursday, 21st March  7:00 – 8:00pm 

We invite all parents of Prep 2025 students to attend our parent information evening on the 21st of March.  At this session we will discuss the important skills that children need to be ready to begin school successfully and why Templestowe Park is such a great school in which to learn.

To express your interest in attending the session please contact Katie or Brenda in the school office.

School Tours 

We currently undertake school tours for prospective families on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  Please call Brenda or Katie in the office to book.  Please encourage your family and friends to reach out and book a time if they are thinking of attending TPPS. 

Principals’ Award

Our first Principals’ Award for 2024 was presented to George N from 6A.  It was a double celebration for George today as he was also presented with his Read House Captain badge at assembly. 

George is an outstanding student who applies 100% effort in every aspect of his schooling. During class time, he asks lots of questions and always completes his work to a high standard. He always looks for extra extension work, particularly in Mathematics, where he seeks out challenges to extend his learning. He is a wonderful leader in sport and has been an important player in his Inter School Sport team, where he always encourages and supports his teammates. George treats others with respect and kindness and works well alongside every member of his classroom.

Congratulations George! 

Student Attendance and Punctuality – Every Day Counts! 

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day. Attending and participating in school will help your child develop:

• important skills and knowledge to help them learn
• social and emotional skills such as good communication, resilience and teamwork.

Children who attend school every day and complete year 12 have:

• better health
• better job opportunities
• higher income across their lives.

There is no safe number of days for missing school. Each day a student misses puts them behind. 

Additionally, arriving late to school regularly is shown to have a serious impact on learning outcomes, retention at school in later years and emotional wellbeing. 

If you require assistance, we are here to help. Please contact Brian Cleary, Robyn Twyford or myself and we will happily offer support. We will also be reaching out to parents of students who miss school or arrive late regularly to design an Attendance Improvement Plan to promote regular attendance. 

Please see the Attendance News section in this newsletter for further information and support.

2024 Parent Payments: Thank you for your support! 

You will notice on your Compass Newsfeed, under Course Confirmation, that the 2024 Parent Payments are available to be paid.  The process on how to pay the charges is outlined in the 2024 TPPS Parent Payment letter on Compass. 

Thank you to those families who have made contributions thus far.  These contributions provide our students with educational support, facilities, grounds and opportunities that we simply could not offer without your generous support. This has included the brand new Grade 1/2 playground that has just been completed. If you have any further queries, please contact the school office. 

Parking Around the School – It is all of our responsibility to keep our students safe 

As with all primary schools in our area and across Victoria, there are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of students and parents converging on a very small area within a twenty-minute period.  There will always be congestion, this is simply a fact of life. The safety of our students and community is paramount so please follow all road rules and parking guidelines. 

We are very lucky to have multiple entry points to the school and a very accommodating Greek Church that allows us to use their carpark throughout the day.  All parking and drop off information can be found in the ‘Parking Around TPPS’ document. This document can be found below and is permanently kept in the Community Section of Compass (choose School Documentation from the drop-down menu, then School Community Information, then click on the document). 

Mark Roberts                       Brian Cleary                                        Robyn Twyford 

PRINCIPAL                           ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL                  ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL