Principals' Message
Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Pride, Optimism
Hello Parents and Friends,
Term 3 has started with a bang! This week we have celebrated our Writers’ Festival and it has been a wonderful event. With student stories on display, an awards night last night and a dress up parade today, we have all had a wonderful time. The rehearsals for the Grade 5/6 Production of 'Finding Nemo' commenced and our students are having a blast as they prepare for the performances later in Term 3. Our Grade 3/4 students have participated in Hoop Time basketball and our Grade 1 students visited Legoland as they learn about ‘What makes things move?’ as part of their Inquiry program. All classes have completed their Maths Talent Quest (MTQ) projects, our talented Grade 5/6 mathematicians have completed their Melbourne University Maths Challenge and our Grade 3 Maths Games team have competed at Derrimut PS today. Congratulations to all students on their amazing work in these prestigious mathematics competitions. We look forward to learning about their results.
It was reported this week that Victoria achieved the best NAPLAN scores of any state or territory in Australia. This is outstanding news! We have seen fantastic improvement in all areas of NAPLAN this year at TPPS. Most notably in Numeracy, and Grammar & Punctuation. With so many opportunities for our students and these amazing results, it is easy to see why Victoria is the Education State!
Have a fantastic weekend!
Writers’ Festival
It has been a true celebration of writing at Templestowe Park this week. Our bi-annual Writers’ Festival is such a wonderful time at our school. All students from Prep – Grade 6 have displayed their favourite piece of writing in the Library. Parents, family and friends have visited the Library before and after school all week to read these outstanding pieces. A panel shortlisted the student writing and then selected a variety of pieces from Prep – Grade 6 that will be professionally published as a collected works of the 2025 Festival. On Thursday night, we celebrated these authors at our Awards Night. It was such a special evening. To see the list of published students please go to the ‘Learning @ TPPS’ section of the newsletter.
Our Writers’ Festival Book Dress Up Day took place today and it was so wonderful seeing all grades dress up as their favourite book character. Please see the amazing photos below from our parade this morning. Happy Writers’ Festival!
PFA School Disco - Thursday 14 August
Our annual PFA School Disco will take place in the School Hall on Thursday 14 August.
- Prep - Grade 3 - 5: 00pm - 6:00pm
- Grades 4-6 - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
The PFA Disco is one of the highlights of the year! Please see the article in your Newsfeed on Compass to book tickets and receive all information about the event.
All tickets must be pre-purchased and no tickets will be sold on the night.
SPELLING MASTERY
Last term, at one of our Coffee and Chat sessions, we discussed our new spelling
program Spelling Mastery. Parents had good questions about it, and we want to ensure all our families understand the program and how it works to support your child with learning to spell.
Spelling Mastery is a research-proven program that uses the Direct Instruction method to teach students spelling skills. As the name suggests, the focus of the program is to teach spelling to mastery. Research shows that our working memory can only hold between 4-7 things at a time, so new content needs to be introduced in a structured way. That’s because new information takes up more working memory capacity than familiar information and we reduce the working memory load of a task by chunking and automating (1). Content needs to be practiced and reviewed systematically for it to move from our working memory to long term memory and we keep it there by regularly retrieving it. The Spelling Mastery program deliberately does this. Once a word or spelling generalisation is introduced in Spelling Mastery, it doesn’t go away. Everything in the program is reviewed cumulatively to ensure long-term retention and transfer to writing.
In other traditional spelling programs that teach a particular pattern, rule or word group for an entire week without teaching, practicing or reviewing any additional spelling skills, spelling can become difficult for some students to retain. In contrast, Spelling Mastery teaches new skills in tracks. Each lesson includes several tracks and includes practice on more than one skill, pattern or rule. Tracks are typically taught over a period of several weeks, providing students with time to acquire and to master spelling skills. Initially students receive a great deal of assistance and guidance in learning the skill, and as they progress through the track, teacher assistance gradually fades until students apply the skill independently.
Spelling Mastery also includes review tracks. Within review tracks, every skill, pattern or rule taught on that level is systematically reviewed throughout the remainder of that level. This ongoing review ensures long-term retention and increases the probability that spelling skills will transfer to writing (2).
The program combines three approaches to teaching spelling content:
- phonemic strategy (sounds and letters used) for regular spelling patterns.
- morphemic strategy (meaning parts) with prefixes, suffixes, base words and spelling rules.
- whole word strategy for common words with irregular sounds.
Students in Grades 3-6 sat a placement test to determine their Spelling Mastery Level. Spelling Mastery is taught in Grades 1-6 four times per week. Each student has their own Spelling Mastery workbook that is used in every lesson. There is no extension spelling class for any grade at TPPS. Each child is working at the level they need practice of to achieve mastery of the spelling patterns, rules or word groups within that level. If your child is telling you “Spelling is easy”, that’s terrific. It means there is just the right amount of new material so that the brain can cope. Sometimes students may not realise they are learning something new because the step up is just the right amount for them to experience success. Be positive with the message that learning is making sense to them and they are developing mastery with their spelling.
1 Lovell, Oliver. Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory in Action. John Catt Educational Ltd, 2020, p.20-21
2 Dixon, Engelmann, Bauer. Spelling Mastery Teacher Presentation Book. McGraw HJill Eduation, 2007, p.G3
Celebrating NAIDOC Week at Templestowe Park
In the final week of Term 2 we had a fantastic time celebrating NAIDOC Week at Templestowe Park. The Smoking Ceremony hosted by Ian Hunter that launched the week was amazing and it was so special to be a part of this important ceremony. Ian did a marvellous job conducting the ceremony, telling stories and then leading us all in a dance to ‘Treaty’ by Yothu Yindi. It was such a great experience. Throughout the week our students celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. The week concluded with a very special NAIDOC Week assembly with our Grade 3 students leading us in a traditional Torres Strait Islander song and dance.
We had such a wonderful NAIDOC Week and we love celebrating it every year at Templestowe Park.
Enrol for Prep 2026
This week, the school has sent out enrolment offers for Prep 2026. For families that are interested in enrolling their child in Prep at Templestowe Park in 2026, you can still enrol at Templestowe Park via the online enrolment portal.
Please click here to submit a digital enrolment.
For further information about Prep 2026 and our transition programs please click here.
Young Einsteins - Prep 2026 Transition
Session 1 of our Young Einsteins pre-school program took place last Wednesday. Young Einsteins provides pre-school children with STEM and Sustainability lessons within our STEM room and Outdoor Eco Education Centre. The kinder kids had a wonderful time as they learnt about worms in Sustainability and magnets in STEM. Our second session will take place on Wednesday 13 August.
I would like to congrautlate and thank Ms Augello and Mrs Conn for running such engaging sessions for the kinder kids. They were ably supported by our STEM and Sustainability Grade 6 Leaders, and wonderful Grade 4 helpers.
To learn more about our Kinder to Prep transition program please click here or ring Katie in the school office.
For further information from the Department of Education about enrolling in Prep for 2026 please click here.
Term 3 Overviews
Term 3 curriculum overviews for all year levels have been forwarded to parents via Compass this week. Within these overviews you will find what your child is learning in all curriculum areas, the Positive Education focus for the term, homework requirements, Specialist days and teacher contact details.
All term overviews are permanently kept in the Community Section of Compass (choose School Documentation from the dropdown menu, then School Community Information, then the year level folder that you wish to access).
Brain Food Information and please bring snacks in a small container
As we enter Term 3, we thought that it is a good time to remind parents about our brain food arrangements at Templestowe Park PS. At the commencement of Term 1, the school commissioned Robyn Dery (Accredited Practicing Dietitian) to provide information and suggestions to families about how to adequately fuel their child for the morning learning block.
Please find the information sheet from Robyn attached to the News Feed post. You will notice that a balanced and full breakfast is the most important factor in setting up your child for a successful learning experience. Please keep this information sheet handy throughout the year for guidance and suggestions for what is appropriate to nibble on during this period.
Important – Please ensure that all brain food is placed in a small container rather than in your child’s lunch box. There is not enough space on the student desks for lunchboxes during learning time. Thank you for your cooperation.
Facilities News
Over the holidays extensive painting and maintenance took place around the school. There was some touch up painting work across a number of buildings as well as some outdoor work. We also replaced timber decking in the Café area with ModWood. This is much safer and it looks much neater. Greg, our maintenance man, also continued to clean up this area and it is looking much better. I have provided some photos below.
Principals' Award
At today's assembly we were so pleased to present the Principals' Award to Theo O in Grade 2. Theo has shown outstanding progress since the beginning of the year, thanks to his excellent listening skills and a strong work ethic across all subject areas. He arrives at school each day ready to learn and quickly organises himself for the day ahead. In class, he listens attentively, asks for help when needed, and has grown in confidence.
Theo consistently shows grit and perseverance. When things get challenging, he doesn’t give up. Instead, he seeks support from his teacher and friends and keeps trying until he succeeds. He is a kind, supportive friend and a wonderful classmate. Theo takes pride in his responsibilities and gets along well with others in the yard. Theo truly deserves this recognition.
Mark Roberts Brian Cleary Robyn Twyford
PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL