Mentone Park Primary School acknowledges the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we learn and play.

We value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and cultures’ and recognise their connection to lands, waters and communities.

We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

We’ve now reached the halfway point of the term, and we are thrilled to see our students continue to demonstrate our school values at Mentone Park Primary School, wearing their uniform with school pride, along with showing kindness to each other and always striving to give their personal best. We are incredibly proud of our wonderful students. 

Each morning, our students start the day with a calm and consistent routine. They line up with their classes and enter the classroom by 8:50 am, ready to begin the day. Our morning music starts at 8:45 am and runs for five minutes, allowing students time to say goodbye to their parents or carers, have one last play, or kick a ball around. When the music finishes, students line up with their teacher, ready to enter their classrooms at 8:50 am. Any student arriving after 8:50 am will find their peers either silently reading or reading to their teacher as they settle into the classroom. This routine has helped our students begin their learning on time and be better prepared for the day ahead. 

Updates on Lunchtime and Fruit Breaks. 

This term, we have made some adjustments to our daily routines. Lunchtime now runs from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm, with students having 10 minutes to eat their lunch in their classrooms at 1:20 pm. In addition, we now have a fruit break in the morning, with most classes eating at 10 am. We will be gathering feedback from students regarding these changes to fruit breaks in Term 2. 

‘Meet the Teacher’  

We would like to thank all the families and carers who attended our ‘Meet the Teacher’ event on Wednesday. It was a fantastic turnout, and these conversations were invaluable in helping our teachers better understand how to support our students in reaching their full potential. 

Student Representative Council  

We are excited to announce that Mentone Park Primary School will have a Student Representative Council (SRC) this year. We deeply value student voice and want to ensure our students have every opportunity to share their thoughts on school life and contribute ideas on how we can improve. We encourage any students interested in joining the SRC to submit a letter expressing their interest. 

Payment for Events Now on Compass!  

Mentone Park Primary School is now using Compass for all event payments, including excursions, camps, sports, and incursions. This new system streamlines the approval and payment process for parents, eliminating the need to use multiple online portals. Please check Compass for further details. We will still use QKR for fundraising and curriculum contributions. 

If you would like to use the School Saving Bonus or CSEF for any events, please contact the office for assistance. 

This Friday: International Women’s Day This Friday 

We look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day at our assembly, which will be held on Friday, 7th March at the special time of 2:30 pm. At MPPS, we celebrate empowerment, resilience, and the achievements of women from all walks of life. During the assembly, our student leaders will interview four inspiring women who will share their journeys, challenges, and triumphs—offering wisdom and motivation to the next generation. We invite the entire MPPS community to join us for this special occasion. 

Dear Parents, Guardians & Caregivers, 

I hope you and your families are all well and ready for a great second half to Term 1! 

NAPLAN 

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national proficiency standards. 

At Mentone Park PS our Year 3 and 5 students are spending some time each week in the lead up to the NAPLAN assessments, becoming familiar with the online* NAPLAN assessment format and completing some practice online NAPLAN assessments. It is our intention to ensure that our Year 3 and 5 students know what each of the four NAPLAN assessments will look like, how to answer the variety of question styles presented to them during the testing and to be comfortable and confident with the testing conditions required of NAPLAN assessments. 

The 2025 NAPLAN assessment schedule for our Year 3 and 5 students is as follows: 

• Writing* - Wednesday 12/3/25 - from 9am 

• Reading - Thursday 13/3/25 - from 9am 

• Conventions of Language - Monday 17/3/25 - from 9am 

• Numeracy - Tuesday 18/3/25 - from 9am 

* Year 3 Writing NAPLAN assessment is completed by students by hand on paper 

Please be mindful that this may also impact the specialist sessions and daily timetable for other classes on these days. 

Morning Routine 

In 2025, we have formalised our morning routine to assist students with more efficiently transitioning into the classroom each morning, in a calm and orderly manner. It’s been so impressive to see students all lining up neatly in their safety lines each morning, ready to be collected by their classroom teachers at 8:50am, when the first bell sounds. Upon entering the classroom, students quickly and quietly put away their school bags and, often without teacher instruction, settle into independent tasks, such as silent reading. As a result, at 9am, when the second bell sounds, teachers are ready to promptly mark the roll, review the daily routine, complete community circle and then launch straight into the first learning block of the day. This saves valuable learning and teaching time, contributes to a safe and orderly learning environment and provides students with a consistent routine as they process up through MPPS. 

Bike Shed 

A big thank you to all the students that ride their bikes and scooters to school and that have made a real effort to make better use of our MPPS bike shed. It is fantastic to see the vast majority of bikes neatly stacked in the bike racks each morning, with many now sporting bike locks for added security. This is despite the existing bike shed being quite narrow, making it difficult to unload bikes in the afternoons when students may not all leave at exactly the same time. In response, we are currently clearing one end of the Hall breezeway to create an additional bike shed for our Year 3-6 students. This will be wider and hopefully better cater to the larger-sized bikes of our senior students. The current bike shed will then be reserved for our Foundation-Year 2 students, whose smaller bikes should better manage its narrow width. In the meantime, we ask that all students continue to utilise the existing bike shed whilst we complete this work. Thanks for the teamwork, everybody! 

Staff Professional Learning 

This term we have two groups of staff involved in professional learning programs to support our alignment with Victoria’s approach to teaching reading F-2. Several members of our Year 1/2 Teaching Team have undergone training provided by our reading curriculum resource program, InitiaLit. This adds to the group of staff that completed this professional learning in 2024. Additionally, four staff from across the school have completed two days of a four-day professional learning program entitled Strengthening F-2 Reading with Dr Nathaniel Swain. We are now working hard to ensure that the learnings from these two programs are consistently implemented within the F-2 Reading curriculum to improve the learning outcomes for our students. 

Yours sincerely, 

Nathan Hutchins 

Assistant Principal 

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview:

We cannot believe that we are already just over half way through Term 1! It has been a fantastic term so far, full of lots of learning opportunities and social/emotional growth!  

We are now well and truly into the swing of weekly Buddies sessions and they are held every fortnight on a Friday afternoon. Each Foundation student now has an assigned Year 6 Buddy and they are loving completing activities in the sessions. These activities include games, learning tasks and craft. The program has an extremely positive impact on both the Foundation and Grade 6 students. 

Heads Up!

Toys At School

We would like to politely request that no toys from home are brought to school. This includes, fidget tools, figurines, toy cars, stuffed toys, dolls or games. We understand toys are expensive for parents and we would hate for them to get lost or broken. We have lots of fun things at school to play with so students do not need to bring anything but themselves! If toys are found at school they will be collected by the teacher for safekeeping and returned after school. If you could please have a chat to your child about this to ensure no toys get lost. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions regarding this request.  

Informal Chats

Teachers are available for a quick chat after school in the yard when the students are collected. If you require a more in-depth chat, please make an appointment via Compass email. Please be aware that we have Staff Meetings/Professional Development on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 3:45pm. 

Library

Another reminder that students have a weekly scheduled Library session with both classes attending on Fridays. We have now begun borrowing books, which the students were very excited about. During our library time they are able to search for a book with the help of the teacher and read their favourite books. They are allowed to borrow one picture storybook, which is to be returned to the library the following Friday. Please ensure your child has a named library bag. 

Literacy: Understand the features of a story including the title, author and book cover, whilst introducing our first new sound; letter m, and identify features of a sentence; such as capital letter, full stop and the WHO and DO.  

Numeracy: Say the days of the week and daily events in order such as; school routines snack, playtime, storytime.

Inquiry: Demonstrate and explain examples of the 4 TiER Values.

Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (Wellbeing): Understand and refer to the Zones of Regulation (blue, green, yellow and red).

Recognising TIER Role Models

Isla I - For always being an enthusiastic participant in Phonics lessons! You are consistently trying your best. 
 

Charlie G - For demonstrating teamwork by helping others and always playing games fairly, whilst also giving every task your best effort. 


Kit M - For demonstrating our school value of excellence by always putting in your best effort with every activity!

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview:

We have reached the halfway point of Term 1! Thank you to all the wonderful parents who attended our Meet the Teacher conferences. It was great to meet you and learn more about your children. These conversations are essential in building a strong partnership between home and school. In the classroom, we are fostering positive connections through daily Community Circles and exploring our school values: Teamwork, Integrity, Excellence, and Respect, alongside the Zones of Regulation. We are excited to soon begin our Healthy Humans inquiry unit and The Resilience Project. Stay tuned for updates!

Heads Up!

Library  

Please make sure your child has a named Library Bag. Library is on a Tuesday for 1/2DS and 1/2FD and Friday for 1/2W. Unfortunately, there are several overdue books from last year! Please check your home and return them ASAP. Students will not be able to borrow if they have overdue books.  

Readers & Reading Diaries

As we set-up our home reader program, we remind families that students must bring their black pockets to school each day, containing their readers and reading diaries. Please ensure that children are reading and diaries are filled in each night. 

Literacy: Write Super Sentences (a Super Sentence must include a capital letter, full stop, make sense and be about someone or something).

InitiaLit: Year 1s: digraphs including ck (chick), sh (shell), wh (whale), vowels, consonants and syllables. Year 2s: oa (boat), ow (snow),  ue (glue), ew (grew), igh (light), _y (cry) and nouns.

Numeracy: Represent two and three-digit numbers and understand place value.

Inquiry: Demonstrate and explain examples of the 4 TiER Values.

Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (Wellbeing): Understand and refer to the Zones of Regulation (blue, green, yellow and red).

Recognising TIER Role Models

Amalia A - For consistently displays our school values by always trying her best and setting a wonderful example for her peers. 


Walter A - Congratulations on a great start to the school year! This week you worked with focus and reslience on Maths tass to show your understanding of place value.


Caitlin W - For demonstrating excellence by making a big effort to improve the neatness of her handwriting.


Anthony P - For demonstrating kindness towards his peers and regularly participating during class discussions. Keep it up, Anthony!


Harmony F - For showing excellence in striving to improve letter formations. Your letter formations are neat and accurately on the dotted lines.


Jayce P - For demonstrating excellence by listening, learning and trying his best in InitiaLit.


Aman M - For being a kind and encouraging member of the class, demonstrating our school values TEAMWORK and RESPECT!

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview:

Can you believe we’re already halfway through Term 1? The Year 3/4 students have been focusing on routines and classroom expectations over the past two weeks. Year 3 students have started preparing for NAPLAN by familiarizing themselves with the 5/6 building and the online test format. Next week, they will complete practice tests under NAPLAN conditions.

Congratulations to Charlie Mackenzie, Tyler Bahramis, Lachlan Willder, Maisie Donaldson, Macie Maloney, and Casey Allen for representing MPPS at the District Swimming Carnival on Monday. We are so proud of their efforts and enthusiasm, and they were eager to share how the day went. 

Heads Up!

NAPLAN

Next week, Year 3's will complete practice tests under NAPLAN conditions.

Literacy: When to double the final letter of a word when adding a suffix, and how to check our spelling, and to write and edit our own narrative text using our class novel Matilda. 

Numeracy: Apply various strategies to add and subtract three-digit numbers.

Inquiry: Explain and apply our understanding of the TIER school values.

Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (Wellbeing): Understand and identify the Zones of Regulation.

Recognising TIER Role Models

William H - For being a helpful and considerate member of 3/4G

Emma L.P - For your excellent contribution to class discussions and effort during our novel study.

Asher J.V.W - For consistently displaying excellence during all learning tasks. Well done Asher!

Samia R - For displaying excellence and challenging yourself during maths lessons this week.

Eve C - For being a positive role model to her peers by always showing respect and following our classroom expectations. 



Castiel S - For your excellence in SpellEx this week through continuous improvement and giving your best effort. 

Narith V - For showing integrity by always doing the right thing, even when no one is looking. 


Billy P - For demonstrating excellence in his writing and being a role model to others.

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview:

With 5 weeks down and only another 5 to go, Term 1 is flying by! We recently competed in the Mordialloc District Swimming carnival where some of our students competed and swam magnificently! At both this event and our first interschool sports match, our students wonderfully demonstrated our school TIER values.  

Heads Up!

Interschool Sport

Interschool Sport continues throughout March. Please ensure you provide payment on Compass in order to attend away matches. Each Friday your child will need to bring a drink bottle and wear runners, their MPPS sport top, MPPS hat and sunscreen.  

Headphones

Please have students bring in headphones labeled with their name as soon as possible. This will allow them to use headphones they find comfortable, whether in-ear or over-ear. This is especially important for Year 3 and 5 students, as NAPLAN is coming up and requires headphones for some questions with sound. We kindly ask that these headphones be brought to school before 7/3/25. Please avoid sending expensive headphones (like AirPods), as they will need to be kept at school. For affordable options, consider stores like Kmart, Big W, or Officeworks.

Literacy: Read and respond to queries from our class novel, Can You See Me? by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott.

Numeracy: Interpret and create line graphs and side-by-side column graphs.

Inquiry: Demonstrate our understanding of Excellence & Respect.

Resilience, Rights & Respectful Relationships (Wellbeing): Identify the 4 Zones of Regulation and what emotions and coping strategies are associated with each.

Recognising TIER Role Models

Evan K - For displaying sportspersonship during the interschool sports match and cheering on out teammates


Khloe P.J - For confidently calculating the mode of a data set to determine the highest frequency. Amazing work!


Flynn W - For always giving 100% effort in our maths lessons, and being able to show data in different representations.


Nelson G - For his wonderfully written and convincing persuasive piece about compulsory wearing of hats. Excellent!

In Auslan, students in Foundation continue to learn to sign the alphabet and asking “How are you?”.  They have learnt to sign teacher and principal.  We have introduced a range of different emotions including sad, happy, angry, sick, tired/sleepy and excited.  Students have learnt to sign “I feel” with a specific emotion. 

In grade 1 & 2, students have been learning to sign questions related to themselves and respond appropriately e.g. “Live, where?”, “How old?” and “Birthday, when?”.  We have revised our numbers, alphabet signing and emotions signing. 

In grade 3 to 6, we have been focusing on signing a range of Auslan signs about themselves including “Enjoy, what?”, “Brothers/sisters, how many?”, “mum, name what?”, “Live where?” etc  We continue to put these questions into practice with peers and are excited to work on a pair presentation for the end of term. 

Here are some signs you can practice at home: 

Recognising TIER Role Models

Declan R for being an Auslan superstar and respectfully guessing the teacher's birthday! 

Ocean G.D for excellent signing some new emotion Auslan signs! Well done!

Recently, our focus in Art has been DRAWING across all year levels.

Our Foundation students have been developing their fine motor skills by tracing around shapes and using them to create animals such as dogs, cats, and rabbits. They have also been working on their colouring techniques to bring their creations to life.

Students in Years 1-6 have been exploring environmental shapes and lines, as well as foreground and background positioning. Taking inspiration from our school environment, they ventured outside to observe, discuss, and sketch the world around them—an experience they absolutely loved!

Throughout our lessons, we have been focusing on lines, shapes, and tone, encouraging students to refine their drawing skills and deepen their artistic understanding.

We can’t wait to see how their creativity continues to grow!

Our junior students have been focusing on fundamental movement skills such as running, rolling, and kicking through engaging activities like Rookie Rollers, tagging games, and minor games that promote teamwork and coordination. Meanwhile, our senior students have been developing their striking and fielding skills through tee-ball and softball, aligning with the Victorian Curriculum by enhancing their tactical understanding, teamwork, and ability to apply movement concepts in game situations.

On Monday 24th Feb, 20 amazing swimmers represented our school at the district swimming competition! Congratulations to all! We finished 7th overall and proudly took home the Runner-Up title for the Handicap Trophy, showcasing our strength and determination against larger schools.

A special congratulations to Ben W from Year 6 who has progressed to the next level and will compete at the Division level on Wednesday 12th March! Good luck Ben and well done to all.

Dear Parents, Guardians & Caregivers,  

Welcome to The Resilience Project!  

Mentone Park Primary School is committed in developing strong and positive relationships between all students and teachers through our Wellbeing Program. We understand that students reach their full potential only when they are happy, healthy and safe, and that a positive school culture helps to engage students and support them in their learning.  Our school acknowledges that student wellbeing and student learning outcomes are closely linked.  

Based on this commitment and following current research, this year we are excited to introduce The Resilience Project across the whole school from Foundation to Year 6. The Resilience Project curriculum was designed by teachers for teachers and aligns with Victorian and Australian Curriculum standards and framework in the areas of Personal and Social Capabilities and the Health and Physical Education. The Resilience Project has been extraordinarily successful working with many schools and sporting teams (including AFL and NRL teams). 

This program will continue to improve our student, school and community mental health and wellbeing.  

Why are we partnering with The Resilience Project?  

Current research tells us: 
 1 in 4 adolescents have a mental illness. 
1 in 7 primary school students have a mental illness. 
1 in 5 adults will experience mental ill-health throughout the year. 
65% of adolescents do not seek help for mental illness. 
 
The Resilience Project delivers emotionally engaging programs and provides evidence-based, practical strategies to support positive mental health and build resilience. We will be presented with stories and research on how we can build mental health in our day to day lives and support the mental health of the children in our care. 

We understand that as primary carers, you have an essential role to play in building positive mental health with your children. The program is based on the philosophy that, in order to live a happier more fulfilling life, we need to regularly practise Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness (GEM). Emotional literacy – having self-awareness and recognition of one's own feelings and knowing how to manage them – is also an integral part of the program. Each week to build resilience, we conduct a formal lesson based on one of these practises and the students complete an entry into their Resilience Journals. The lessons also engage the students in activities such as creating gratitude posters, mindfulness colouring and matching appropriate emotions to different events.   

The Resilience Project’s School Program has been evaluated by the University of Melbourne, with parents observing positive changes in how children handled home situations. 

The evaluation also demonstrated that the program had targeted benefits in building: 
- Children’s use of daily gratitude strategies and their sense of gratitude. 
- Confidence and self-esteem, especially in relation to their peer relationships. 
- Relationships at school and home. 
- Knowledge and ability to express emotions. 
- More supportive classroom environments. 

Feel free to learn more about The Resilience Project by exploring the ideas, activities and resources which bring Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness (GEM) to life on TRP@HOME. 

Check out below The Resilience Project daily reflections clip with Martic Heppell that your children will really enjoy.  

The Resilience Project Daily Reflections  

For further information, please visit The Resilience Project: https://theresilienceproject.com.au and see Parent Carer FAQ.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher if you have any questions.  

Warm regards,  

Pamela Kousis 

Student Wellbeing Coordinator 

It’s that time of year again – one of our students' favourites, the Easter Raffle! Tickets are $1 each. If the ticket is purchased for someone outside the school, please ensure you include a name and phone number. For tickets bought for students, please include the child's name and grade. All sold and unsold tickets must be returned by Friday, March 28th. If you misplace your tickets or need more, please contact the office, and we will be happy to provide extras.

We also welcome donations for raffle prizes, such as chocolate, coloring books, baskets, craft items, or stuffed toys. Donations can be sent with your child to their classroom teacher or dropped off at the office.

Thank you for your support! If you have any questions, please contact Bree at 4955-PresidentPFA@schools.vic.edu.au.

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