News From Mr Smith

Dear School Community Members,

Recently we have been supporting some students and their families managing the use of screen time and the appropriate use of the opportunities available online. With this in mind, I encourage all families to invest time into setting their children up for success in relation to their use of their device, screen time and online opportunities. 

Last year, I attended a conference where the keynote presentation was delivered by Susan McLean. Susan has spent the last 23 years sharing her stories, knowledge and expertise to keep kids cyber safe. Below is my learning from Susan’s session that may assist families when working with their children in managing screen time:

• Primary aged children don’t know life without technology or a ‘device’ free world
• Devices and technology are here to stay so adults need to learn to embrace ‘it’ with a balance
• Families are advised to develop their technology (device) agreements underpinned by the 3 R’s – Respect, Responsibility and Reputation 
• Primary aged children should never be allowed to take their device into their bedroom or bathroom
• Families are often not aware of the impact technology and devices have on their children’s quality of sleep – quality sleep is the only time our body and mind ‘repair’
• By the age of 11, the majority of boys have had multiple exposures to Pornographic images and clips
• 52% of requests for nude photos comes from someone they don’t know
• YouTube is one of the most popular platforms for primary age children and 90% of 9 year old children have had exposure to ‘inappropriate’ material on YouTube 
• The internet minute – it is staggering to see the snapshot of what happens on the internet in a minute. See link:

https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/what-happens-online-every-minute-2024/735990/

• If kids perceive you don’t like technology, they will never come to you when they have a problem online
• Kids will make mistakes on technology – don’t ignore these mistakes, but education and forgiveness is the best response 
• “Parents need to parent” – it is OK to insist our children have a balance with socialisation by providing opportunities to “play at the original Playstation” 

Next week, I will share some possible Technology agreements for families to consider.

Thank You Parents & Friends Committee: On behalf of the Mano community, I thank, acknowledge and applaud the work of our Parents and Friends Committee (P&F). Through the ongoing efforts of our P&F, we raised an amazing $23,000 in 2024 by running the following events: Colour Run, Bunnings BBQ, Hot Cross Bun Drive, Mothers & Fathers Day Stalls and Trivia Night. These funds have been allocated to our School Ground Improvements budget which will support the ongoing costs of our oval and playground redevelopment.

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Framework Matrix: School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) is a framework that teaches students a clearly defined set of expectations and behaviours. SWPBS assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people. Mano is 11 years into the SWPBS journey and is a key feature of our school. Attached to this newsletter is a copy of the SWPBS Matrix that outlines the key foci for each week. We highly recommend that families reinforce the weekly focus each week at home.

Meet and Greet Parent-Teacher Conferences: Thank you to our families for engaging in our Meet and Greet Parent-Teacher Conferences yesterday afternoon. These conferences have certainly provided our teachers with important information that they will utilise to maximise the learning and wellbeing of our students. Sharing information between home and school has many benefits. We encourage families to utilise Seesaw to continue the communication with your child’s teacher. 

Prep 2026 Enrolment Enquiries are Now Open

If you have a child starting Prep in 2026, please contact the Office via email with the following details:

• Child Name
• Child Date of Birth
• Name of Current Kinder
• Parent Name
• Sibling Name

Email: manifold.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au  Att: Prep 2026 Enrolment Enquiry

Mano Family Picnic: As communicated recently, our annual Mano Picnic is: 

Date: Tuesday, 4th March

Time: 4:45pm – 6:30pm

Venue: Oval, Manifold Heights PS

Our Mano Family Picnic will enable families to connect with their child’s teachers in a less formal setting, and further embed the wonderful community spirit at Mano. 

An invitation has been sent via Compass.

We hope to see you all here!

Parent Opinion Survey - 2024: Our 2024 Parent Opinion Survey results arrived late last year and the feedback validates that the high majority of our school is in great shape. In almost all variables, our results indicated our families are more satisfied than most other schools, especially schools of similar profile. Below is a snapshot of our results:

School Council: Our School Council met on Monday night (17th February) for our first meeting of 2025. The Council play an important role in the school’s governance and oversee the formulation of policies, plans for facilities and infrastructure, scrutiny of finance, and the long term vision and direction of the school. Below is a list of the key agenda items: 

• Acknowledgments and celebration of our new facilities
• Our 2025 Annual Implementation Plan was tabled, discussed and endorsed
• Our Parents and Friends committee shared their events calendar with School Council. Each event was endorsed.
• Grade 4 Camp was discussed and approved
• School Council elections – outline of process

Each of our School Councillors are deeply committed and invested in our school. 

Please contact them if you have any feedback or concerns (email: manifold.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au Att: School Council).

Gaga Pit: As a result of the highly successful Inquiry Learning unit in our Grade 5 and 6 Learning Communities in Term 3 last year, I am pleased to share with you a progress report of our Gaga Pit. Throughout Term 3 in 2024, our Grade 5 and 6 students engaged in a unit of work that saw them plan and run a market stall for the Mano Community. An incredible amount of learning was achieved and the money raised has sponsored our Gaga Pit. Through the advocacy of Emily Barnes and our senior students of 2024, a Gaga Pit is being constructed next to the lower terrace playground. Gaga is a variant of dodgeball that is played in a gaga "pit". The game combines dodging, striking, running, and jumping, with the objective of being the last person standing. Players hit the ball at each other with their hands, and are eliminated if the ball strikes them on or below the knee. 

Emily, Myla, Rayyan, Arisha, Ari and Zara are checking the progress of the Gaga Pit with the contractors. We look forward to sharing photos of our completed Gaga Pit next week.

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

Christian Smith