Dear MWPS Families,

Welcome Back ~ As a new school year is upon us, I would like to start by welcoming everyone back to school for 2026. I trust all our families made the most of the holiday break and our students are refreshed and ready to learn! We also welcome all new families to our school and MWPS community. Equally, we wait in anticipation for our Foundation students who start their seven-year journey with us on Wednesday, February 4^th. The sense of excitement is always palpable, and the great news is that our Foundation classrooms are ready to use. The painting, new carpet, new lighting, hearing augmentation, new TV’s, new technologies etc have been added and tasks completed.

Building Update ~ The builders have been busy over the holidays; you will have seen the portables have been removed that were situated on the edge of the oval. This now opens up the oval and area for the new running track to be installed. We have also had a variety of trades working around the school on various maintenance items. We take considerable pride in the condition of our school and look forward to having over half of our classrooms being completely refitted with this upgrade.

Exciting Term ~ 2026 will be another exciting year, with some important tasks and events ahead. This term we look forward to our Year Four camp, the establishment of a new House competition, we are calling House Pride. This will see ‘houses’ get together to do a broad range of fun activities, building upon the SPARK initiative last year, developing pride in our school and new cross-year level friendships.

120 Year Celebration ~ At some point we will have an official opening of the new building upgrades, likely to be early Term Three. This will coincide with our 120 years celebration we have planned.

Day 1 ~ The first day of the school year was a great success, with students from Years One to Year Six settling in exceptionally well. I would like to thank the staff for making the students feel so at ease but also acknowledge the work that was put in last year during the transition program, where students settled into their new grades and already knew the teacher. Our students have hit the ground running, which is exactly what we were planning for.

Family Communication ~ Communications will predominantly flow through Compass as the first port of call, so I encourage families to make sure they have this app. In terms of student learning, teaching teams will be continuing to use the See-Saw app this year. Each year level will provide weekly updates via See-Saw, with additional updates on a needs basis. For parents that need to contact me, the best option is to email me at: Campbell.McKay@education.vic.gov.au  

Parent Teacher Conferences ~ Monday 2^nd February

Information about the Parent Teacher Conferences has been sent out. Parents of all students are invited to book a time convenient to them. The purpose of these interviews is two-fold. Parents and guardians are encouraged to attend to:

• Meet their child’s teacher to begin an effective home/school partnership.
• Provide information to teachers regarding their child’s strengths, talents, issues, or concerns.

Information shared by parents to teachers will assist us to plan for and work as effectively as possible with you and your child throughout the year. Interviews will be 10 minutes in length.

2026 Parent Payments Reminder ~ Parent payments help the school to operate effectively. At MWPS, we continue to keep our contributions very low, however those additional funds are the difference between providing the additional programs, such as a significant investment in technology, that cannot be delivered without the support of families. We would like to thank the parents that have already made these payments, and strongly encourage all families to do what they can. Parent payment plans are available if families would feel more comfortable paying in termly instalments. Simply contact the office regarding this.

School Council Elections ~ Information regarding the 2026 School Council election process will be in the next newsletter. Please keep an eye out for it! I would encourage any interested parent to contact me for more information. School Council is an extremely vital part of the school, and it is from council that we take our direction for the general management of the school. Council approves external contracts, provides advice and consent on a range of areas and oversees school finance. Please look out for this if you think you may be interested in nominating or being nominated. Information will include a timeline and summary of the role of School Council.

Parents and Families Group ~ Once again we call for interested parents who would like to be a part of the P&F in 2026. Thank you to those who have made contact, but if any other families would like to be involved, we would love to hear from you. 
Please email: mount.waverley.ps@education.vic.gov.au if you would like to contribute. A meeting will be arranged for interested parents once we have your responses. We look forward to working with you this year!

Parent Helpers ~ Aside from the School Council and P&F, we also welcome the involvement of parents in the classrooms, particularly in the junior years where parents can help by listening to students read and providing general classroom support. In the upper years, support becomes more focused around interschool sports, whole school events and the like. Mr Rooks and Ms. Bonacci in the library are always grateful for some early morning support. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact your child’s classroom teacher, as I’m confident, they will be happy to have you!

Working with Children Check (WWCC) ~ We encourage and value parental and community support at MWPS. There are many ways that parents, grandparents and friends can assist at our school. We encourage all parents to obtain a Working with Children’s Check that will allow you to be very involved in your child’s education. These checks are free for volunteers. Once you have your WWCC, please come to the office so we can photocopy this and we will add your name to our list of parents who have a current WWCC check. Please note - parents can only attend school camps if they have a WWCC.

Gate Opening and Closing Times 8:45am – 3:45pm ~ The school is open from 8:45am. Parents should note that no staff will be on yard duty to supervise students until 8:45am. Families should not drop their children at school prior to 8:45am, unless attending before school care. This is for their own safety, particularly given that building works will be occurring throughout the year. In previous years we saw a growing number of students entering the grounds as early as 8am without adult supervision. For families where both parents work and therefore need to drop off their children prior to 8:45am, the school provides an Out of School Hours Care program that runs from 7am to 8:45am (Before School), and 3:30pm to 6:30pm (After School). As in previous years, students should be arriving by 8:57am (when the music starts) so that they can enter their classroom and be ready for learning at 9am. The front gate will always remain open during the day for access to the office and as a late entry and early exit point, whilst side gates will be shut. All students arriving after 9am must sign in at the office. Parents are welcome on site at any time; however, we ask that parents remain out of the classrooms prior to school starting as staff prepare for the day ahead. It is also important for students to build their resilience and part of this is entering the rooms on their own (with the exception of the Foundation students in the first week or so). It is expected that students who are not collected by 3:45pm are registered for out of school hours care, so that they can be placed in care in the event that families cannot collect their children by 3:45pm.

Kiss and Go Parking ~ A reminder to families that cars cannot be left unattended if you are using the Kiss and Go drop off and pick up zone. I understand the tendency to think that a quick trip to the office won’t hurt, but parents leave themselves open to fines if a parking officer is in the area. Often, the first time you will know about it is when you receive the fine in the mail, as most fines are processed from photographic evidence. This will also assist the flow of traffic and ease of pick up and drop off for all families. I would also remind parents that the parking time limit in this area is 2 minutes.

Car Parking ~ Parents are asked to be mindful of the parking restrictions around the school. Parking officers regularly patrol the school zone. The staff car park is strictly for staff cars only and parents must not enter this car park between 8am and 4:30pm. We have visiting staff entering and leaving on a regular basis and I would like to remind families that pedestrians should not use the car park when entering and leaving the school. I would also ask families to be mindful of our neighbours and avoid parking across driveways, in no standing areas or on nature strips. We thank you for your support in this matter as student safety is very important to us.

Lunch Orders ~ These can be placed online by families and are delivered to school. The website is: www.classroomcuisine.com.au 

Assembly ~ These will take place at 2:30pm in the school gymnasium on the following Fridays this term: Feb 13^th, 27^th and March 20^th.    

2026 School Terms:

Term 1            Wednesday January 28th     -           Thursday April 2nd

Term 2            Monday April 20th                -           Friday June 26th

Term 3            Monday July 13th                  -          Friday September 18th

Term 4            Monday October 5th             -           Friday December 18th

Pupil-Free Dates (No Students) for 2026 for the following dates:

• 6th March (Friday) – Curriculum Day
• 9th March (Monday) – Labour Day (Public Holiday)
• 3rd April (Friday) – Good Friday Public Holiday
• 5th June (Friday) – Reporting and Assessment Day
• June 8th (Monday – King’s Birthday (Public Holiday)
• 31st July (Friday) – Curriculum Day
• 2nd November (Monday) – Curriculum Day
• 3rd November (Tuesday) - Melbourne Cup (Public Holiday)

School Uniform ~ Uniforms are available via Bob Stewart, with a convenient shop in Mt Waverley. All students should be attending school in full uniform. Should your child be unable to attend in uniform, please send a note to your child’s classroom teacher. The uniform policy is available via the school website and examples of the uniform are in the office foyer. https://www.mountwaverleyps.vic.edu.au/page/85/Uniform

Staffing ~ A very warm welcome is extended to our newest teacher, Sachini Ranasinghe. Sachini did her pre-service teacher training with us, and worked here as an integration aide whilst finishing her teaching degree. We are thrilled to have Sachini begin her teaching career with us in a variety of roles, including Art and STEM. Other than Sachini, all are familiar faces across the school.

Our team for 2026:

Prep: Manuela Pertile FA; Marissa Antoniou FB; Madison Johnstone FC; Sue Kannegiesser FD

Year 1: Olivia Howard 1A; Wendy Ball 1B; Alison Willcox 1C; Luke Freer 1D

Year 2: Symone Tonkin 2A; Charlotte Lunny 2B; Jen Allinson 2C; Erin Kersing & Alex McLeod 2D

Year 3: Daniel Ip 3A; Natalie Wynd 3B; Kristen Antonopoulos 3C; Kiri Koning 3D; Shauna Donnelly 3E

Year 4: Kirsty Malpeli 4A; Tracy Jom 4B; Chris Parker 4C; Emma Kyriacou & Paul Maczohan 4D

Year 5: Madi Buckley-Brown 5A; Nicholas Barraclough 5B; Kate Orr 5C; Sasha Lipton 5D

Year 6: Ellen Combe 6A; Owen Clarke 6B; Melissa Prantzos 6C; Brad Rooks & Danielle Bonacci 6D; Leanne Thompson-Moore 6E

STEM: Zoe Shi; Xiaotong Feng; Sachini Ranasinghe

Japanese: Xiaotong Feng

Visual Arts: Erin Kersing; Sachini Ranasinghe 

Music / Performing Arts: Ellen Newbury

Physical Education: Casey Giles; James Smith

Global Learning (Library): Danielle Bonacci; Brad Rooks

Staff Coaching & Support: Alex McLeod; Paul Maczohan

Student-Led Learning Initiative: Ramya Deepak Kumar

Integration Aides: Sue Pugliese; Eling Chan; Felicity Huong; Florence Cai

Mini-Lit (Reading): Maria Boukouvalas; Amber Benyamin

School Counsellor: Priyanka Venkataramani

Speech Pathologist: Stacey Ng

Disability Inclusion Learning Specialist: Samantha Kennedy

Grounds Maintenance: Peter Alexander

IT Support: Alan Hawes

First Aid (Health Centre): Kerry Oates

Daily Organisation / OHS / Facilities: Timothy Chapman

Office Team: Tina Kolivas (Manager) and Mei Li Tan

Business Manager: Belinda Hill

Assistant Principals: Tania Hunter (Teaching and Learning); Jacinta Evans (Wellbeing)

Principal: Campbell McKay

Annual privacy reminder for our school community ~ Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law. Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students please see the school’s website for more information. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. https://www.mountwaverleyps.vic.edu.au/page/57/Policies

Accident Insurance ~ The Department of Education (DE) does not provide personal accident insurance for students. Parents are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs.  The Department of Education states that reasonable low cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector. Similarly, DE (which includes the school) does not offer replacement of personal items which are brought to school and are lost, broken or stolen. Sentimental or expensive belongings and toys, including sports equipment and electronic devices, are normally best left at home.

Mobile phones ~ Readers of the newsletter would be aware of the introduction of the state-wide policy on Mobile Phones in Victorian Government Schools and the Federal government legislation around social media use for under 16s. All students are required to turn off and hand in mobile phones to prevent usage during school hours. This also extends to smart watches where the call and messaging function can connect to the student’s phone. Devices will be placed in a locked cabinet/cupboard at the start of the day and handed back at the end of the day. School Council has approved our Mobile Phone policy to ensure it is aligned to DET directives.
A copy of this policy is available on our website. 
https://www.mountwaverleyps.vic.edu.au/page/57/Policies
Please discuss this with your child/ren to assist us in following this policy. 
We thank you for your support in this area.

Hats ~ A reminder that hats must be worn in terms one and four.  Sunscreen and sunglasses are also highly recommended.

Heat Policy ~ The school operates a heat policy and we keep the children indoors in air conditioned classrooms on very hot days when the temperature exceeds 35⁰.  We have also been asked to remind our parent community about the dangers of leaving children in cars on very hot days.

As always, plenty to get through to start the new school year.

Enjoy the weekend ahead everyone!

Campbell McKay
Principal
Mount Waverley Primary School