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.

Colour Run 
What an incredible day at our annual Colour Run!  There was excitement and anticipation throughout the day as students waited for the big moment. It was wonderful to see our students and staff getting involved and having so much fun together. 

A big thank you to our teaching staff who participated in the Colour Run, our PFA for organising such a successful event, and all our wonderful volunteers who helped cook the BBQ, handed out Zooper Doopers and throw colour at students and staff along the track. Your time and enthusiasm helped make the day such a success. 

A huge thank you to our Assistant Principal, Mr Hutchins, for being such a great sport and getting slimed with 40 litres of slime! What a way to finish the event. I think Mr Hutchins is just as keen as we are to see our new playground come to life, with all donations going towards this exciting project! 

World Teachers’ Day
A huge thank you to our School Council for the beautiful cake organised to celebrate our teaching staff for World Teachers’ Day. It was such a lovely surprise, and our teachers really appreciated you taking the time to acknowledge and celebrate them. 

It was wonderful to have our School Council President join us for morning tea and speak to our staff. Our teachers also enjoyed reading the thoughtful thank-you notes written by their students, which made the celebration even more special. 

I would also like to acknowledge and thank our wonderful teachers at MPPS. The time they give, the care and support they provide, and the manyra things they do to ensure every child feels connected, supported and happy at school make such a difference. Their dedication to helping each student learn, grow and reach their potential is something to be celebrated, not ju on World Teachers’ Day, but every day. Thank you for everything you do for our students and our MPPS community. 

We are incredibly proud of Mrs Free, who was named a finalist in the Outstanding Primary School Teacher category. Being recognised among the finalists is an outstanding achievement and a wonderful acknowledgement of Emma’s dedication, passion and commitment to our students and the MPPS community.  

If your child will not be returning to Mentone Park Primary School in 2027, please ensure you have contacted the school office to let us know. This helps us with our planning and class organisation for next year.

Leisa

Dear Parents, Guardians and Caregivers, 

I hope you and your families are all well and your children enjoyed last Friday’s MPPS Colour Run! 

2027 Kinder-to-Foundation Transition Program 

Next week, we are looking forward to welcoming our 2027 Foundation students to Mentone Park Primary School as they begin their transition from kindergarten to primary school! 

Building on the success of last year’s program, our 2027 Kinder-to-Foundation Transition Program commences on Wednesday 4th of November and is designed to help our newest students become familiar with our school environment, staff and routines, while building their confidence and excitement about starting school. 

Across four weekly 45-minute sessions on Wednesday mornings, our incoming Foundation students will participate in a variety of fun, play-based learning experiences, including storytime in the library, Visual Art, Auslan and Physical Education. They will also have the opportunity to meet some of our current Year 6 student leaders, who will help welcome and support them throughout the program. 

Our transition program culminates with a special 'Meet the Teacher' session on Tuesday 8th of December, where students will experience a mini school day and spend time getting to know their 2027 classroom teacher. We will also be hosting a Parent Information Evening for our incoming families on Wednesday 2nd of December. 

A big thank you to Mrs Janique Hankins (PH Teacher) for planning this fantastic program! We look forward to meeting our newest students and families over the coming weeks and seeing our current students help make them feel welcome as they prepare to join us in 2027! 

Building Excellence in Teaching Practice 

At Mentone Park Primary School, we are committed to continually improving the quality and consistency of teaching and learning across our classrooms. An important part of this is providing our teachers with regular opportunities to reflect on their practice, collaborate with colleagues and learn from one another. 

Throughout the year, members of our Leadership Team have been working one-on-one with teachers through instructional coaching, supporting them to identify and strengthen a co-selected area of their teaching practice. In addition, our Leadership Team conducts weekly Learning Walks, gathering observational evidence of teaching practices, classroom procedures and routines. These observations help us identify areas of strength and opportunities for further improvement, while promoting consistency and high expectations across the school. 

This term, we are extending these professional learning opportunities through structured Peer Observations. Working in pairs within their teaching teams, teachers will observe colleagues twice throughout the term, focusing on specific elements of our whole-school teaching practices. These include SHINE our ready-to-learn approach, Opportunities to Respond and Checking for Understanding (OTR/CFU), mini-whiteboard routines and our Behaviour Response Flowchart. 

Following each observation, teachers will engage in a short professional discussion to reflect on what they observed and consider how these strategies might strengthen their own classroom practice. Key learnings will also be shared at Sub-school Meetings, allowing effective teaching approaches to be celebrated and adopted more widely. 

By creating regular opportunities for teachers to observe, reflect and learn from one another, we are continuing to build a collaborative culture of professional growth! 

Yours sincerely, 

Nathan Hutchins 

Assistant Principal 

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview

Colour Run 

What a day! A huge thank you to all of our wonderful families for supporting our Colour Run. Our Preps had an absolute blast running, laughing and getting covered head to toe in colour (we hope the washing machines survived!). Thank you for your enthusiasm, generosity and involvement in making it such a memorable day for our students. 

Body Safe Australia 

Our Prep students have now completed both of their Body Safe Australia – Superstars sessions! Across the two sessions, students learnt to: 

• Name their feelings and notice how other people might be feeling 

• Use a strong, clear voice to say who can and can't touch their body 

• Use the correct names for body parts, including private parts 

• Tell the difference between a secret and a surprise (a surprise is fun and only kept for a short time, like a birthday present!) 

• Know who their safe adults are and that they can always ask them for help 

We are so proud of how our Preps listened and joined in these important conversations.  

Reminders

Carols on the Green 
We are very excited for Carols on the Green on Thursday 10th December! Our Preps have been busy practising their performance in Performing Arts, and they can't wait to share their hard work with the school community! 

Please dress your child in the following clothes for Carols on the Green: 

• Santa hat 

• Red top (no logo or images) 

• Red or black shorts, leggings or tracksuit pants (no logo) 

• Black socks 

• Runners 

Please your child's classroom teacher or Ms Wheatley know if your child won't be performing at Carols on the Green. 

Fruit Break  
To assist with transition between lessons or to Specialists, we ask that fruit break please be packed in a small separate container or is easily accessible to grab and go. This reduces and prevents time spent taking/returning entire lunchboxes. It also allows our little learners, more valuable learning time!  

Hats & Sunscreen 
Term 4 is one of our SunSmart terms. Please ensure your child's hat is labelled and that they have sunscreen applied BEFORE coming to school. There are opportunities later in the day for students to reapply. 

Toys and Personal Items  
A reminder that toys, Pokémon cards, fidget toys (unless approved as part of a support plan), and other non-essential personal items should remain at home. This also includes bracelets and necklaces. These items can be distracting during learning time and may be lost or damaged at school.  

Home Reading  
We encourage all students to read at home for 10–15 minutes each day. Daily reading is a great way to build reading confidence and develop fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. This is also a great time to thank our parent and grandparent reading helpers, thank you for your ongoing support!

What’s been happening in Prep 

Writing 
We've been busy building super sentences! We've learnt that a sentence can have a naming word (a noun), a doing word (a verb) and a describing word (an adjective). In ‘I can pat a black dog’, pat is the verb, dog is the noun and black is the adjective. We've been using picture prompts to write our own, like ‘It is a happy dog.’ and ‘The girl can kick the big ball.’ 

We've also been upgrading our words to make our writing more exciting. Instead of saying something is big, we could say it is huge, enormous or giant! ‘The sand was hot’ can become ‘The sand was scorching!’ 

We finished Are We There Yet? by thinking about who the book was written for and why. We learnt that authors write books to entertain us, to teach us, or to tell a story. We've now started a new book, Somebody's Land: Welcome to Our Country by Adam Goodes and Ellie Laing, which links beautifully with our Humanities learning. We've been sorting sentences that inform (teach us facts, like ‘A frog can hop and swim.’) from sentences that entertain (like ‘The frog can hop to the moon!’). We've also started using the joining words before and after: ‘He picked the berries before he ate them.’ 

InitiaLit 
We've learnt three new sounds: oo as in moon, ng as in swing and ay as in play. We've also learnt the tricky words want, come, some and they. You could go on a hunt for ‘ay’ words together (day, play, say, stay) or ‘ng’ words (ring, king, sing) in a bedtime story. 

We've also loved our storybooks All Through the Year and Lucy Goosey. After reading All Through the Year, we talked about the months of the year and the four seasons.  

Maths 
This fortnight we've become number builders! We've learnt that two-digit numbers are made of tens and ones. For example, 37 is 3 tens and 7 ones. We've built numbers using ten-frames, bundles of ten popsticks and base-10 blocks. 

We've counted all the way to 100 using a hundred chart, filled in missing numbers, and practised counting forwards and backwards from any number (like 80 up to 92, or 73 back down to 65). We've also compared numbers by looking at the tens first, so 52 is bigger than 38 because 5 tens is more than 3 tens. 

Most recently, we've been learning about Australian coins! We've looked closely at the 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 coins, including their size, colour and pictures. We've sorted coins into jars and ordered a pretend lunch order to practise paying for items.  

Science 
We've been learning all about mixtures! A mixture is when two or more things are mixed together. We stirred sugar into water and watched it dissolve. Then we mixed sand and water, and found that the sand didn't dissolve. We could still see it at the bottom of the cup. We also made jelly and observed how it changes over time – it goes from runny to wobbly! 

Humanities 
We've continued learning about places that are sacred to First Nations Peoples, including Uluru, the Birrarung (Yarra River) and Lake Mungo. We've also learnt about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and what their colours symbolise. 

On the Aboriginal flag, black stands for the people, red stands for the land and connection to the land, and the yellow circle stands for the sun. On the Torres Strait Islander flag, green stands for the land, blue stands for the sea, black stands for the Torres Strait Islander people, and white stands for peace. We coloured in our own flags and talked about feeling proud. 

Wellbeing – Social Stencil 
In Social Stencil, we've kept building on our personal bubble learning and talked about our safety network, the trusted adults we can go to when we need help. We've also been practising calming strategies to use when we have big feelings. 

One strategy we've learnt is Collecting a Rainbow. We look around and find something for each colour of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Focusing on the colours around us helps to calm our minds, and the best part is we can do it wherever we are!

Recognising TIER Role Models

Eloise – For listening carefully to all the sounds in words and recording them when writing sentences. Well done, Eloise! 

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview

Colour Run 

A huge thank you to all our wonderful parents and families for your support of our Colour Run! It was fantastic to see the children enjoying such a fun-filled, colourful day together. We truly appreciate your enthusiasm, generosity and involvement in making the event such a success. Thank you for helping create such a memorable experience for our students! 

Body Safe Sessions  

Our students have now completed all three Body Safe Australia – Unique You sessions!  

Throughout the sessions, students explored important topics including families and trusted adults, body safety and consent, personal boundaries, and the different ways children become part of a family. 

These valuable discussions have helped build students’ understanding of body safety, body autonomy, respectful relationships, and the importance of speaking up and seeking help when needed. 

We are proud of our students for engaging in these important conversations and continuing to develop the knowledge and confidence to help keep themselves and others safe. 

Reminders

Carols on the Green 
We are very excited for Carols on the Green! Students have been busy preparing for their performance during Performing Arts, and we can’t wait to share their hard work with our school community. 

We would love for students to wear the following clothing for their performances:  

Please let your child, child’s classroom teacher, or Ms Wheatley know, if your child won’t be performing at the Carols on the Green. 

Fruit Break 
To assist with transition between lessons or to Specialists, we ask that fruit break please be packed in a small separate container or is easily accessible to grab and go. This reduces and prevents time spent taking/returning entire lunchboxes. It also allows our little learners, more valuable learning time! 

Toys and Personal Items 
A reminder that toys, Pokémon cards, fidget toys (unless approved as part of a support plan), and other non-essential personal items should remain at home. These items can be distracting during learning time and may be lost or damaged at school. 

Home Reading 
We encourage all students to read at home for 10–15 minutes each day. Daily reading is a great way to build reading confidence and develop fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. If possible, please record your child's reading in their reading diary each night. We also ask that reading diaries are brought to school every day so they can be checked and updated. Thank you for your ongoing support. 

Writing  

• Plan and write a narrative using the Pebble, Rock and Boulder structure, a sizzling start, and a resolution that solves the problem 

• Complete sentences using the conjunctions since and although 

InitiaLit 

 Year 1 

• Read and spell words with the “ear” (ear), “eer” (cheer), “air” (hair) and “are” (beware) sounds 

• Read and spell words where “c” says /s/ (as in city) and “g” says /j/ (as in giant) 

• Read and spell tricky words such as can’t, don’t, didn’t, couldn’t, shouldn’t and wouldn’t 

• We have loved reading our storybook ‘Today We Have No Plans’ by Jane Godwin, which includes the WOW words concentrate, notice and daydream. Thank you to the Kyriakou family for donating this book! 

Year 2 

• Spell words with silent letters (“k,” “b” and “w”), and choose between “k” and “c” when spelling 

• Use speech in our writing 

• Use the comprehension strategy of monitoring 

• We have loved reading our storybook ‘Zoo’ by Anthony Browne, which includes the WOW words masses, snarled and impersonation. Thank you to Ocean’s family for donating both copies of this book! 

• Write a postcard as a lost crayon, using a conversational style and some persuasive devices 

Numeracy 

• Identify different fractions that are equal in value, and apply CUBES strategies to solve word problems 

• Identify and divide collections, lengths and shapes into halves, quarters and eighths 

Humanities (Geography of Australia) 

• Name the types of bodies of water in Australia and explain how people use them 

• Name two types of ecosystems in Australia (deserts and mountains) and explain their characteristics 

Science (Chemical Science) 

• Describe what a mixture is and how combining materials can create new properties 

• Create mixtures and describe how the properties of some mixtures can change over time 

Wellbeing 

• Learn about our safety networks, personal space bubbles and calming strategies during our Social Stencil lessons with Mrs Guthrie 

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview

Yakult Factory Tour Excursion 
On Tuesday, our Year 3/4 students enjoyed an exciting behind-the-scenes tour of the Yakult Factory in Dandenong South as part of our Science unit, Packaging Pioneers. 

During the tour, students discovered how Yakult is produced, bottled and packaged. They learnt about the ingredients in Yakult, the different stages of the manufacturing process and explored the important roles of machinery, technology, hygiene and quality control in food production. 

The excursion provided a fantastic opportunity for students to see a real production process in action and make connections to their classroom learning. Students also enjoyed tasting a Yakult drink, made a mini plant pot out of a Yakult bottle and then received a showbag to take home. 

A big thank you to our parent helpers for giving their time and supporting us on this wonderful learning experience. We had a great day bringing our Science learning to life! 

Bike Ed program 
Our first day of Bike Education was a great success! Students enjoyed getting out on their bikes and either learning new skills or honing their existing riding skills. Throughout the sessions, students worked on building their confidence, improving their bike control and developing their awareness of safe riding practices. 

Please note: As many families have indicated they will be away on Melbourne Cup Eve (Monday 2/11), Session 2 of Bike Ed has been rescheduled. 

Our future sessions will now be: 

• Session 2 - Monday 9th November 

• Session 3 - Monday 16th November 

• Session 4 - Tuesday 1st December 

We look forward to seeing students continue to develop their skills and confidence over the coming weeks! 

Carols on the Green 
Ms Wheately would like to let you know what students are required to wear for Carols on the Green: 

34G: 

• Red, green, gold or white top with no logo or images 

• Black or white shorts, leggings or track suit pants with no logo 

• Black or white socks 

• Runners 

34B: 

• Colourful cowboy/girl hat 

• T-shirt to match hat colour with no logo or images 

• Hat colour, white or black shorts, leggings or track suit pants with no logo, or denim shorts or jeans 

• Black or white socks 

• runners or cowboy/girl boots 

Please let your child, your child’s classroom teacher or Ms Wheatley know if your child won’t be performing at the Carols on the Green (Thursday 10th December). 

Reminders

Homework: 
A friendly reminder that homework is due each Friday morning.  

Reading: 20-30 minutes at least 3 x per week, with book title and pages/chapters read and recorded in student diaries. 

Maths: Set Mathletics tasks completed (approximately 20 minutes per week). 

Literacy: We are continuing our novel study of Kensuke’s Kingdom and practising writing persuasive paragraphs inspired by the novel. We have also been practising reading aloud to a partner during short 'Reading Fluency' sessions. 

In SpellEx, Year 3 students have been learning about words that end with a consonant plus ‘l’ ‘e’, and different spelling choices for the phonemes /eer/, /air/, /ire/ and /ure/. 

Year 4 students have been learning about the different ways to spell the /air/ and /ee/ sounds. They have also been practising tricky/useful words including principal, comfortable and special. 

Numeracy: We have been identifying variations in results of chance experiments by experimenting with dice rolls, spinners and coin tosses. 

Wellbeing – The Resilience Project 

In our Resilience Project lessons, we have been learning about the meaning, benefits and strategies of gratitude. We also discussed sticky situations when practising mindfulness would help. 

Civic & Citizenship: We have been learning to name and define some different types of government (for example: monarchy, democracy, theocracy, dictatorship) 

Science: We investigated the tensile strength of common types of paper, a common sort of packaging.

Important Dates

In the Spotlight / Overview

It's hard to believe we're already at Week 4! We've had another busy and exciting couple of weeks, filled with plenty of learning, sporting achievements and fun! 

One of the highlights was our Colour Run, with students having an absolute blast getting covered in colour and enjoying a fantastic day together! 

We've also had some wonderful sporting achievements! A huge congratulations to our boys who did an amazing job representing our school at Division Cricket, and to our girls who showed fantastic teamwork and determination at the AFL Gala Day, finishing on a high with a win in their final game! 

In Literacy, we are continuing to enjoy our class novel, Nevermoor, with students becoming increasingly hooked on the mysterious world and its characters. We've also begun planning and writing our own fantasy narratives, using our creativity and imagination to develop exciting characters, settings and adventures. 

In PE, students have started Bike Ed, developing their cycling skills, road safety awareness and confidence on their bikes. 

In Humanities, we are continuing our Civics and Citizenship unit and will soon be putting our knowledge of laws and the justice system into action through an exciting Mock Trial! 

With so many exciting activities still to come, we're looking forward to another fantastic few weeks of Term 4!

Reminders

Cup Day Eve
We would appreciate if you could let your child's teacher know if your child/ren will be absent on Monday 2nd November and enter this on Compass under ‘Submit Attendance Note’, so we can cater the learning for the students who will be present. 

Reports
Please see the Compass post for more information on changes to your student’s report this semester.  

Year 6 Graduation 

• Graduation Video and Presentation Slideshow, we will need: 

• A baby photo 

• A Prep/Foundation photo 

 
Homework 
Reading at least 3 nights per week and completing assigned Mathletics tasks.  

Carols on the Green
Y5/6 students are making some progress on their preparations for their Carols on the Green performance.  

Please see below the list what our costumes will include: 

• Santa hat 

• Plain red, green or white top with no logo or images 

• Red, green, black or white shorts, leggings or track suit pants with no logo 

• Black or white socks 
  
• Black or white runners 

Literacy: We are learning to use rhetorical questions, metaphors and similes to make our writing more engaging and descriptive. 

Numeracy: We are learning to understand the relationships between fractions, decimals and percentages and represent them in different ways. 

Humanities: We are learning to understand how laws are created and passed in Australia. 

Wellbeing: We are learning to recognise the importance of gratitude and develop teamwork skills through cooperation and positive interactions. 

Introducing the Social Stencil Jnr Program 

We are excited to have recently commenced the Social Stencil Junior Program to our lower primary school students!  This program aims to support students to develop essential social and emotional skills, build positive relationships, strengthen communication and develop a great understanding of themselves and others.  Through engaging discussions, interactive activities and practical scenarios, students will learn strategies to help them navigate friendships, respect personal boundaries, manage social situations and create positive connections with their peers. 

We introduce the program to our middle and senior students in term 2 and term 3, and we continue the discussion on health friendships and ways to avoid social drama. 

The Social Stencil Junior Program will run weekly over eight weeks, with each session focusing on important social skills that students can practice and apply in their everyday school lives.  Our first couple of weeks we focused on Celebrating Differences and My Body has a Bubble. 

Celebrating Differences 

Students have begun exploring the importance of celebrating differences and recognising what makes each person unique.  Through discussions and activities, they are learning that people have different interests, strengths, abilities, personalities, backgrounds and ways of learning.  

Students are encouraged to appreciate these differences, show kindness and empathy, and include others in their games and activities. They are learning that we do not all have to think, act or learn in the same way to be friends and that our differences help make our school community special. 

My Body has a Bubble 

Students have also been exploring the idea that everyone has a personal space bubble around their body. Through discussions, activities and role-playing scenarios, students are learning to recognise personal boundaries and understand that everyone has different comfort levels when it comes to physical space. 

Students are practising keeping a respectful distance from others, recognising body language, asking permission before touching someone and understanding the importance of respecting a person's response. They are also learning what to do when someone is standing too close, including using respectful words to communicate their needs. 

These skills help students build positive relationships, feel safe and comfortable at school, and develop a greater understanding of respect and consent. 

Building a Respectful and Inclusive School Community 

Over the next eight weeks, the Social Stencil Junior program will continue to provide students with opportunities to develop their social skills, grow their confidence and strengthen their understanding of positive relationships. 

By learning to celebrate individual differences, respect personal space and communicate respectfully, our students are taking important steps towards creating a safe, welcoming and inclusive school community where everyone feels valued and accepted. 

Remember: Celebrate what makes us unique, respect personal space, and always treat others with kindness! 

Kind regards, 

Zoe Guthrie 

Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader 

In the Spotlight / Overview

What an action-packed fortnight it has been at MPPS! 

Week 3 was filled with energy, featuring the MPPS Colour Run, the Little Saints Cup Girls Footy, and the Boys Division Cricket Finals. 

A massive congratulations to our Year 5/6 students who represented MPPS so proudly. After finishing first in our district back in Term 1, the Boys Cricket team earned a fantastic opportunity to progress to the Division finals. Meanwhile, our girls team enjoyed a brilliant day out at the gala day after receiving a special invitation from the St Kilda Football Club. 

The momentum continued into Week 4. While our P-2 students kept refining their cricket skills, Years 3-6 geared up for Bike Ed. Our primary goals are mastering safety preparation, hazard inspection, and controlled mounting and dismounting. 

Here is what our young riders are currently focusing on to achieve success: 

• The 2-Finger Helmet Rule: Checking that helmets sit two fingers above the eyebrows, straps form a 'V' around the ears, and only two fingers fit under the chinstrap. 

• The "ABCD" Safety Check: Independently inspecting Air (tyres), Brakes, Chain/Crank, and Drop (listening for loose parts). 

• Traffic Scans: Looking over the shoulder for oncoming traffic before mounting. 

• Power Starts: Launching smoothly from a standstill using an elevated pedal. 

You can help reinforce these safety habits at home! Before your next family ride, ask your child to demonstrate the 2-finger rule or lead you through their own "ABCD" bike check. 

Reminders

PE Participation 
Everyone is encouraged to have a go and to try things in some capacity. If for some reason your child is unable to participate in PE (eg. injury), please don’t hesitate to let me know via Compass so that I can ensure they are catered for.   

Ready for PE 
To keep our students safe and ready for action during PE, please ensure they come prepared with correct sports footwear, sunscreen applied, drink bottle and long hair tied back safely. Thank you for helping our Prep to Year 6 students stay safe, active, and sun-smart!  

Fruit Break 

To assist with transition between lessons or to Specialists, we ask that fruit break please be packed in a small separate container or is easily accessible to grab and go. This reduces and prevents time spent taking/returning entire lunchboxes. It also allows our little learners, more valuable learning time! 

Week 3 

P-2:  

• We are learning the movement skills connected to cricket. 

Yr 3-6:  

• We are learning to work in collaboration with others when further developing various movement skills connected to Striking and Fielding Games. 

Week 4 

P-2:  

• We are learning the movement skills connected to cricket. 

Yr 3-6:  

• We are learning how to prepare our safety gear, inspect our bicycles for hazards, and mount/dismount with control. 

Recognising TIER Role Models

 Week 3 Olivia – Demonstrating EXCELLENCE and RESPECT in PE. Throughout our cricket unit, you always tried your hardest to better your striking and fielding skills, while listening instantly on the whistle, looking after the gear, and collaborating beautifully with others! 

Week 4 Nikolas – Demonstrating EXCELLENCE in PE! Despite hesitation, you showed resilience and persisted with Bike Ed., having a wonderful first ride. Superstar! 

In the Spotlight / Overview

We’ve had to put a temporary pause on our Portraits, but the last fortnight has been incredibly vibrant nonetheless as our P-6 students channelled their creativity into two major celebrations: World Teacher’s Day and Halloween. 

Our young artists used a variety of mediums to express gratitude for their educators and tap into some spooky seasonal fun. 

In Week 3, students brainstormed different ways their teachers help them learn new things, and why celebrating our educators matters so much. As tokens of appreciation, all students crafted messages and drawings for their classroom teachers. These will be presented to teachers at the next assembly.  

Throughout Week 4, we got creative with some cool paper-folding and drawing tricks to make a shifting "surprise" visual effect. The students practiced following step-by-step directions to fold their paper perfectly and draw a character's closed mouth right on the folded line. When the paper pops open, they will connect the lines and use their imaginations to draw a hidden, giant Halloween surprise inside the mouth! It was wonderful seeing their spooktacular creations! 

Reminders

Art Smocks 
Sometimes things get a little messy in the art room and therefore everyone is encouraged to have an art smock. This could be a purchased one (eg. from somewhere like Officeworks) or an old shirt (adult sized are great for kids!). If these could please be labelled with name and grade, it would be greatly appreciated. There is a tub of spares always available in the art room, however please note that these are used by students across the entire school.  

Fruit Break 
To assist with transition between lessons or to Specialists, we ask that fruit break please be packed in a small separate container or is easily accessible to grab and go. This reduces and prevents time spent taking/returning entire lunchboxes. It also allows our little learners, more valuable learning time! 

Week 3 

P-6:  

• We are learning to understand the impact that teachers have on our lives and global communities. 

Week 4 

P-6: 

• We are learning to use paper folding and drawing techniques to create a shifting "surprise" visual effect.

Recognising TIER Role Models

Week 3 Evelyn – Demonstrating EXCELLENCE in Art! You created a beautiful and colourful piece of work to show appreciation for your teacher. You understood the request for colour explosion!  

Week 4 Aidan – Demonstrating INTEGRITY in Art. You showed artistic integrity by taking pride in your own unique character design and creating a wonderfully original 'surprise' visual effect. 

In the Spotlight / Overview

In Auslan, we are starting to put our learning and understanding together by telling stories using Auslan. All students have been building their comprehension of Auslan by watching and discussing short video stories from Auslan Bluey, Storybox hub and ABC Education Storytime.  

Our 5/6 students are applying their understanding of storytelling and signs from a range of learnt topics, to create their own Auslan picture storybook. Their books will have at least 5 images of Auslan signs from topics including weather, food/drink, school, sports and hobbies, family, colours, emotions and numbers.   

This term we are having a handshape of the week, with week 3- ‘cup’ handshape, and week 4- ‘five’ handshape.  

P: We are learning to tell stories in Auslan. 

1/2: We are learning to tell stories in Auslan. 

3/4: We are learning food and drink signs. 

5/6: We are learning to tell and translate stories in Auslan. 

Recognising TIER Role Models

Week 3: Caitlin W: Integrity, Respect: For showing great dedication and focus during Auslan this week. You know our routines so well, and you showed integrity and respect for our learning by helping others with setting up and packing up for the next activity without any reminders. 

Week 4: Kit M: Excellence, Respect: For demonstrating how we show respect in Auslan with our equipment and sharing his understanding of signs and constructed action while watching an Auslan Bluey story. 

In the Spotlight / Overview

Prep 

Prep students have been learning and rehearsing their performance for the Carols on the Green event on Thursday 10th December. They have been using their listening skills and singing quietly so they can match their pitch to the vocal in the backing track. They have been discussing the meaning of any unknown lyrics. They are also matching movements to the lyrics to help them remember.  

Please dress your child in the following clothes for the Carols on the Green: 

• Santa hat  

• red top no logo or images 

• red or black shorts, leggings or track suit pants no logo 

• black socks 

• runners 

Please let your child, your child’s classroom teacher, or Ms Wheatley know, if your child won’t be performing at the Carols on the Green. 

Year 1 and 2 

The Year 1 and 2 students have been learning and rehearsing their performance for the Carols on the Green event on Thursday 10th December. They have been closing their eyes while singing to see if they can remember the lyrics without a prompt and singing quietly to match their pitch to the vocal in the backing track. They have looked at a map of the world to see that Australia is in the southern hemisphere which is why our Christmas is in summer and countries in the northern hemisphere have winter, which is why many carols have lyrics about snow and frosty air. They are also matching movements to the lyrics to help them remember.  

Please dress your child in the following clothes for the Carols on the Green: 

Please let your child, your child’s classroom teacher, or Ms Wheatley know, if your child won’t be performing at the Carols on the Green. 

Year 3 and 4 

The Year 3 and 4 students have been learning and rehearsing their performance for the Carols on the Green event on Thursday 10th December. They have been singing quietly to match their pitch to the vocal in the backing track. A large focus in their lessons has been on their movements to improve their accuracy. 34G have been developing their skills in side galloping followed by a step ball change and 34B have been working on doing the grapevine and box steps. The students have been watching videos of dancers performing in the style of their class’s dance which has led to discussions about what they notice, like and wonder. 

Please dress your child in the following clothes for the Carols on the Green: 

Please let your child, your child’s classroom teacher, or Ms Wheatley know, if your child won’t be performing at the Carols on the Green. 

Year 5 and 6 

The Year 5 and 6 students have been learning and rehearsing their performance for the Carols on the Green event on Thursday 10th December. They have been singing quietly to match their pitch to the vocal in the backing track, and some students are working on singing while they dance. They have been discussing ideas for the instrumental break in the music and developing their own movements. The students have been sharing their preferences for different versions of songs. 

Please dress your child in the following clothes for the Carols on the Green: 

• Santa hat 

• red, green or white top no logo or images 

• red, green, black or white shorts, leggings or track suit pants no logo 

• black or white socks 

• runners 

Please let your child, your child’s classroom teacher, or Ms Wheatley know, if your child won’t be performing at the Carols on the Green.  

P-6 I am learning how to perform in the Carols on the Green. 

Recognising TIER Role Models

Week 3: Harmony F 12W (excellence and teamwork) Harmony focuses well and puts 100% effort into her rehearsals each week in Performing Arts. This has resulted in her becoming a leader in her class, so other students now look to her for support. Well done Harmony! 

Week 4: Tate F 56G (teamwork) During a rehearsal for the Carols on the Green performance, Tate shared ideas for movements in the instrumental break which resulted in a large group joining in. Well done Tate! 

Bunnings BBQ Fundraiser

What a fantastic day we had at our Bunnings BBQ fundraiser!

Our MPPS community really came together, with families volunteering their time, donating supplies, helping with set-up and pack-up, and of course stopping by for a sausage (or two!). It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces supporting our fundraising efforts.

And the result was absolutely fantastic — $4,827.37 raised! 

Every dollar will go directly towards our new playground, helping us get closer to creating an exciting new space for our students to enjoy.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a success. Whether you volunteered for a shift, donated, bought a sausage or simply spread the word — your support really does make a difference.

We are incredibly lucky to have such a generous and supportive MPPS community.

Colour Run Fun!

What a wonderful day we had at our MPPS Colour Run! Our students had an absolute ball running, laughing and getting covered from head to toe in colour. It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces and such wonderful school spirit throughout the day.

The fun didn’t stop there, with our very brave Mr Hutchins taking on the ultimate challenge — getting slimed! A huge thank you to Mr Hutchins for being such a great sport!

Most importantly, our Colour Run is helping us raise much-needed funds towards our new playground. We are well on our way to reaching our fundraising goal, and every contribution is helping bring our exciting new playground one step closer to reality.

A huge thank you to all our families and students for getting behind the event and helping make it such a memorable day. We couldn’t do it without our wonderful MPPS community!

Remembrance Day Poppy Appeal

With Remembrance Day approaching, we are proud to support the Poppy Appeal, helping to remember and honour those who have served and sacrificed for our country.

A range of Poppy Appeal items, including badges, pens and arm bands, are now available to purchase from the school office, with prices ranging from $2 to $20.

Every purchase helps support the important work of the Poppy Appeal and provides an opportunity for our school community to show our respect and remembrance.

Thank you for your support.

Every Friday lunchtime during Term 4, students can purchase a $1 icy pole. All money raised goes towards celebrating our 2026 graduating class! 

If you are able to please donate a packet of Zooper Dooper's to support our fundraiser, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be left at the office.

 
EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS!

We are absolutely thrilled to share that we have received our first donations towards our NEW PLAYGROUND! 

A huge THANK YOU to the families who have already contributed. Your generosity means so much to us, and we truly can’t thank you enough.

As many of you know, our Student Representative Council (SRC) and students have been advocating for a new playground for our Year 3–6 students. The construction of our Junior Building four years ago significantly reduced the space available for our senior students, and we are now working towards creating a modern, engaging playgroundthat encourages physical activity, social connection and imaginative play.

Our students will have an important role in helping shape the new playground, including having a say in the equipment and features they would love to see.

How Can You Help?

Our school community is dedicating all fundraising from school events towards the NEW PLAYGROUND, but we would also love families who are able to make a personal contribution to help us reach our goal.

Every dollar counts! Whether it is $5, $20, $50 or more, every donation brings us one step closer to making this vision a reality.

If you would like to make a donation, please use the following details:

Account Name: Mentone Park Primary School
BSB: 063 144
Account Number: 10083381
Reference: Playground

If you have already made a donation, THANK YOU! 

We would love to see our whole community get behind this exciting project. Together, we can create an incredible new space that our students will enjoy for many years to come.

Let’s keep the momentum going – our NEW PLAYGROUND starts with us