Principal's Message 

Tim Newton 

Principal's Message

Mathematics and Our Growth Mindset at MPPS 

At MPPS we love the exciting challenges that mathematics brings! All of our students really enjoy the progression of learning, it shows in our amazing results over the last few years. We are comprehensively building mindset amongst the students, so they are comfortable and able to keep learning when the learning stretch is high. We have been promoting the idea that good mathematicians:

1. Look for patterns to make sense of ideas
2. Love wrong answers and use them construct new learning
3. Finds ways to persist (uses different strategies)

The great news is that being good at maths is a choice not a talent. Typically, in society, speed and accuracy are seen as the indicators of good mathematicians. These traits can be useful, but they are not essential. If we ‘reward’ speed and accuracy we can effectively disengage some of our best mathematicians who will over time develop a mindset that they are ‘not good at maths’. 

At school we help build ideas such as ‘the learning pit’ or ‘zone of confusion’ to help students to embrace challenges and persist in that space. Our feedback is focussed on the 3 points mentioned above and not on the correct answer or the amount of work completed. 

Please read more at:

https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/ 

School Council Survey Results

Thank you to the 112 people who were able to complete our recent survey. As a result of the terrific participation rate, we feel like we have some excellent data can support our upcoming 4-year School Review.  Overall parents report being happy with the school’s approach to academics and wellbeing with many having very positive experiences related to specific teachers. 

Some participants reported wanting their children to be academically challenged and extended more. Our parents at MPPS value academics and explicit teaching and feel that this should be a strong focus of the next 4-year strategy. 

Some parents reported specific examples of their children’s needs which they felt were not met by the school. 

Parents indicated that the school has a strong focus on wellbeing and often does this well. Some expressed that this could take away from the academic focus. Teachers, administration staff, and other school staff are mostly perceived very positively.

There were indications that some parents felt that there are specific issues the school is not adequately addressing, including “boys and girls zones” in the playground, instances of behavioural problems, perceived lack of discipline or appropriate consequences, managing head injuries in the playground, lack of school rules (or enforcement of rules). 

Strength areas indicated included things such as encouraging student participation and engagement, creating an inclusive and welcoming school community, as well as promoting, monitoring, and responding to the school values of kindness, gratitude, and respect. Areas of focus for improvement centred on academic learning in Literacy and Numeracy. 

We really look forward to using the extensive data as part of the review process and to map out our next 4 year plan. 

As part of the review the review panel will be running a Parent Focus Group on Thursday 20th March commencing at 9am. If you are able to be part of it, please let us know. 

Summer Fair Success

A massive vote of thanks needs to go to the many parents and staff who contributed to such a wonderful Summer Fair! Particular thanks to Felicity, Dom, James and Naomi who provided great leadership and planning which supported so many of us to play a role. It’s always such an amazing day and this year was no exception. Our Summer Fair will become great childhood memories for our children to carry for the rest of their lives. 

The funds raised will be very helpful in the redevelopment of our school playground area as a result of the imminent building works.