Acting Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Two weeks ago, was a wonderful time of celebration as we proudly presented leadership badges to our Junior School Council, Green Team, and Class Captains at assembly. It was a pleasure to recognize these young leaders and witness them embark on or continue their leadership journey.

At Toorak PS, we believe that leadership is not just about wearing a badge—it starts with leading oneself. Every student has the potential to make a positive impact, and we are committed to nurturing their confidence, responsibility, and initiative.

Our school has a strong leadership program designed to support and empower our student leaders. The leadership team is excited to work alongside them, ensuring they have a strong voice and active role in shaping our school community. We look forward to seeing them grow and make a difference!

Our new playground is coming!

It's very exciting that our new playground installation will occur next week. The amazing fundraising, from our wonderful parent group, has made this happen. Thank-you!

Please note that there will be no access from the Brookville Road entrance whilst the playground works are undertaken, which will be over two weeks.

Welcome Foundation Students to Assembly

Our Foundation students are now attending full-time and had a special milestone today—they participated in their very first school assembly! They did an incredible job, and it was wonderful to see their excitement and enthusiasm.

It was a pleasure to officially welcome them into our Toorak PS community by presenting each student with a TPS wristband. We are so proud of how well they have settled in, and we look forward to seeing them grow and thrive throughout their school journey!

Leadership Conference: Strengthening Teaching & Learning at TPS

Our principal class team recently had the privilege of attending an outstanding education conference, focused on driving school improvement in key areas such as Cognitive Load Theory, high-quality curriculum development, explicit teaching, the Science of Learning, Positive Classroom Management Strategies, and the implementation of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0.

The conference featured inspiring keynote speakers including Dr. Nathaniel Swain, Ben Jensen, Dr. Lorraine Hammond, Emina McLean, and others, who shared valuable insights and evidence-based strategies to enhance teaching and learning. It was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made at TPS over the past three years, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to implementing the Science of Learning and Cognitive Load Theory to maximize student success.

This professional learning aligned beautifully with our recent Curriculum Day, where teachers engaged in deep discussions around how the brain acquires knowledge and explored key principles and models of learning. Staff examined effective instructional practices, focusing on:

✅ The Cycle of Responsive Teaching

✅ Planning for Opportunities to Respond

✅ Instructional Hierarchy

✅ Review & Refinement of Daily Review Practices

At Toorak PS, we are dedicated to continuously refining our teaching approaches to ensure every student benefits from the latest research-based strategies. We look forward to applying these insights in our classrooms and further enhancing the learning experience for all students.

School Council Nominations

At the close of nominations for parent representatives on School Council, there were four nominations for the four parent positions. I therefore declare the following elected – 

• Alexandra Campbell – Lachlan (5A), James (4A), Nini (3B) and Izzy (1C) 
• Gil Marsden – Alex (4A) and Rowan (1B)
• Hani Hajian – Valentina (0A)
• Karen Reynolds – Archie (6B) and Poppy (1B)

We thank them in advance for their time and commitment to support the Toorak school community. 

We thank the retiring School Council members – Alicia Brown, Professor Bain Attwood and Laura Murphy, for their dedication to support our school community. We have really appreciated what they have contributed to our school and wish them well.

Our new School Council will meet soon followed by subcommittee meetings. Expressions of interest are sought for our subcommittees in 2025. The subcommittees are Finance, Building and Grounds, Student Learning and Wellbeing, Events, Marketing and Fundraising and Policy Review and Development. Please contact the school if you are interested in supporting our school by being a member of one of our subcommittees.

Thank-you

Thank you to those families who have made voluntary donations to our tax-deductible funds. We thank you for your generosity, and the opportunities that it provides, to your child/children. We are currently in the process of revamping our school library with some fantastic new furniture and making changes to the layout. Ms. Whitford has been leading this change and we look forward to seeing the new space in the coming weeks/months. This update will be funded from our library trust fund. Thank-you!

An important reminder:

• In the event that a student is injured at school or while participating in a school activity and requires medical treatment, parents/carers are responsible for all of their child’s medical expenses. This includes transport costs such as ambulance costs (which may include an air ambulance if considered necessary)
• In a medical emergency, Toorak Primary School will prioritise the child and may not call parents/carers if an ambulance is required, until after an ambulance is called, depending on the situation
• Toorak Primary School encourages parents and carers to consider obtaining ambulance cover (see Membership - Ambulance Victoria) and/or appropriate medical insurance

Kind regards,

Sharon Wildermuth

Acting Principal