Principals' Message
Dear Parents and Friends,
We hope this fortnight’s newsletter finds you and your family well. Just a quick reminder that it is the Labour Day public holiday this Monday and therefore there is no school. Labour Day has its origins in the eight-hour day movement which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for rest. Speaking of recreation and rest, Mark will be taking Long Service Leave for the entirety of Term 3 to travel with his family through central and northern Australia. Brian Cleary will be acting Principal during this time. We do hope that you can all take a break over the weekend and enjoy some quality recreation time with family and friends.
This week we were lucky enough to have the Daicos brothers from the Collingwood Football Club visit TPPS and hold a clinic for our students. The Daicos boys are two of the most talented players in the AFL so it was a great privilege to have them pass some tips to our students.
Finally, we would like to wish the very best to our Grade 3 and 5 students as they undertake NAPLAN assessments next week. In past years NAPLAN has been held in Term 2. It has been moved to earlier in the year to give teachers and parents important information about a student's skills and capability sooner, so that more targeted support can be delivered to improve literacy and numeracy skills throughout the year. Our teachers have prepared the students extremely well and we know that they will give their very best in these assessments.
Introduction of Progress Reports
This year, TPPS is adding Progress Reports into the yearly cycle of providing formal information to parents regarding their children. Term One Progress Reports are simple, easy to read reports that will provide feedback to parents regarding their child’s behaviour, punctuality and effort shown in Literacy and Numeracy during Term 1. They will clearly give the reader an understanding of how students have settled in and the effort they have shown. While there are some similarities to the semester reports that are provided in June and December, they are very different largely due to the information they are delivering. The table below helps explain the similarities and differences.
Term 1 Progress Reports | June Reports |
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The introduction of Progress Reports was a result of parent and teacher feedback indicating that during the Meet the Teacher discussions (held in the first month of the school year) there is not a whole lot of time for the teacher to talk about how students have settled into the new school year as the purpose of the discussions is more about getting to know students and families a lot better. Additionally, at our school review in Term 4 2022, parents also expressed a wish to receive further feedback on how their child is going besides the Semester 1 and 2 reports, formal parent/teacher interviews and general parent meetings.
We are confident that the introduction of Progress Reports will not only give families access to information a lot earlier but will also help students / teachers / parents set goals regarding behaviour and effort earlier in the new school year.
We know that when students display a positive attitude and behaviour towards learning, their learning outcomes are greatly enhanced.
Thank you for a great PFA Twilight Night!
Our PFA Twilight Night last Monday went off without a hitch and everyone had a fantastic time! Hundreds of families enjoyed the company of each other on the front oval and the students once again loved the activities provided by Proactivity. The weather held off long enough and there were no interruptions to the evening. Please take a look in the PFA section of the newsletter to see photos of the night.
Our PFA are so excited for the year ahead and there is so much to look forward to.
Professional Practice Days – Student Free Days
All schools receive 4 Student Free Days per year and 2 Professional Practice Days (PPDs). In 2023, the Department of Education has informed schools that the PPDs can be held on a common day with no students in attendance.
At our final 2022 School Council meeting last month, the Council endorsed our two Professional Practice Days to take place on the following dates:
- Semester 1 Professional Practice Day: Monday 24th April (first day of Term 2) – Planning Day
- Semester 2 Professional Practice Day: Monday 6th November (Cup Eve) – Report writing day
Please note – Team Kids will operate on these days. To book your child’s place please click on the link below.
https://www.teamkids.com.au/venues/templestowe-park-primary-oshc/
Guitars to buy!
The school has some excess musical equipment and due to storage restrictions, need to be moved on. There are several acoustic guitars (small sized for children) and one drum set that the school is willing to sell to families in our school community. If you are interested in purchasing one of these items for a very reasonable cost (guitars $30, drum set negotiable), please fill in the google form below. An email will then be sent inviting a family member to look and potentially make a purchase (cash only please). People will be invited on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis going in order of the google form response. All money raised will go directly back into the Performing Arts program.
https://forms.gle/jLYpEiXueCkVrTc26
2023 Writers’ Festival – Monday 8th – Friday 12th May
Every two years at TPPS we host a Writers’ Festival. The Writers’ Festival is a celebration of the fantastic writing that takes place at Templestowe Park. Every student from Prep – Grade 6 will have the opportunity to select their best piece of writing and it will be presented in the library for the whole school community to read. From this collection, a short list will be selected for judging. From this shortlist, the very best pieces will be published in the TPPS Biannual collection of stories and essays. Each child will be presented with this professionally produced book at our Writers’ Festival Awards Night.
Throughout the week, professional authors and illustrators, Mark Wallace and Martin Chatterton, will host writing workshops with students on how to write exciting and engaging stories. It is going to be an amazing week and we are very excited to celebrate our amazing writers and have students to be published authors for the very first time. More news about the Writers’ Festival will be published over the coming weeks.
Student Punctuality – Late Arrivals
As discussed in previous newsletters, we are focussing on improving attendance and punctuality across all students from Prep – Grade 6. Staff and the Principal Class have been making phone calls to families to offer assistance to get their child to school on time or to improve attendance. Resources to assist parents are permanently housed in the ‘Attendance News’ of the newsletter each week.
To date, we have had 210 ‘Parent Choice’ late arrivals at TPPS in 2023. A ‘Parent Choice’ late arrival is when there has been no explanation for the late arrival. For example, if a student has to attend a doctor’s appointment, it is coded as ‘Medical Appointment’ or for a psychologist’s appointment it will be marked ‘External Counselling’.
The ‘Parent Choice’ reason is generally if a parent or student has slept in, is disorganised in the morning or just arriving to school late because they haven’t left early enough. These are the late arrivals we are aiming to eliminate.
If parents need any assistance at all to get to their child to school on time please contact the classroom teacher or one of the Principals. We are here to help. Children arriving to school on time are more settled, happier and prepared to participate in learning tasks.
Thank you for your support and cooperation with this extremely important matter.
Parking and Road Safety
I have been informed by Manningham Council that they will be blitzing all Templestowe schools for illegal parking over the next month. This includes motorists leaving their car while parked in a ‘2-minute’ zone or parking in a ‘No-standing’ zone. Additionally, some families have been parking in the staff carpark during drop-off or pick-up times. This is strictly prohibited. Please note that Council officers will not approach motorists, they will take a photo and send a fine via the mail.
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 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).
Prep 2024 Parent Information Evening
Wednesday, 26th April 7:00 – 8:00pm
We invite all parents of Prep 2024 students to attend our parent information evening on the 26th April. 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.
2024 Prep Enrolments
As outlined in our last newsletter, The Department of Education has introduced a new Prep enrolment timeline for 2024. Within this process, Victorian government primary schools are unable to receive enrolment applications for Prep 2024 until Term 2.
The state-wide timeline for Prep 2024 is as follows:
- Enrolment applications open for Prep 2024 government primary schools on Monday 24 April 2023 (First day of Term 2).
- Submit an enrolment application for Prep by Friday 28 July 2023.
- You will be notified of the outcome of your application by Friday 11 August 2023. If you receive an offer of placement, you should accept the offer by Friday 25 August 2023.
We are currently accepting expressions of interest from prospective parents from within or outside of our zone for Prep 2024. This will inform the school of any interest of attending Templestowe Park, allow us to keep families updated with important information, provide notice of our pre-Prep activities at the school and allow us to send an enrolment form when applications open in Term 2.
Please click on the link below to complete the EOI for Prep at Templestowe Park PS in 2024.
https://forms.gle/R8VDUzuthcmtAa458
Principals' Award - Congratulations to Immy Lindrea!
Immy is a student who demonstrates all five of our school values. Not only is she a hard-working student who thrives to challenge herself at school and at home, but her kindness is certainly evident as she shows immense compassion and empathy for others. Immy is someone who goes out of her way to make sure others are happy which is why she has such a strong social circle surrounding her.
This term, Immy has excelled with her writing as she is using the editing and revising checklist to produce her writing pieces to the best standard possible. She loves receiving feedback and putting this into her work to improve.
Immy, you possess so many wonderful qualities and we are so lucky to have you at TPPS! Keep aiming high!
Take care and have a great long weekend!
Mark Roberts Brian Cleary Robyn Twyford
PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL