Principal's Report

As we move through another exciting term at Mirniyan Primary School, I am delighted to share some of the many wonderful learning opportunities, partnerships and achievements that continue to enrich the experiences of our students. It has been another busy and rewarding few weeks, with our students embracing every opportunity to learn, grow and demonstrate our school values of Respect, Care and Growth.

Thank You

Thank you to our dedicated staff, wonderful students, supportive families for your ongoing commitment to Mirniyan Primary School.

Together we continue to build a welcoming, inclusive and inspiring learning community where every child is encouraged to Dream, Believe, Achieve and Succeed.

I look forward to sharing more of our students' achievements and celebrations with you throughout the remainder of the year.

We are proud to continue our partnership with the Children's University Program, led by Nicol Biuk. This wonderful enrichment program provides a select group of students from Years 3-6 with opportunities to pursue learning beyond the classroom through interest-based activities, online learning and visits to approved learning destinations.

Each student has their own learning passport, recording the learning experiences they complete throughout the year. Students are selected for the program because of their curiosity, motivation and willingness to learn independently rather than academic achievement alone.

The program encourages students to explore their passions, develop self-directed learning skills and build confidence as lifelong learners. At the end of the year, students will celebrate their achievements at the Children's University Graduation Ceremony at Swinburne University, a very special milestone that recognises their dedication and commitment to learning.

Mirniyan Primary School is proud to be part of the Refugee Education Support Program (RESP), a partnership led by the Centre for Multicultural Youth and Foundation House.

RESP supports schools to strengthen educational, wellbeing and engagement outcomes for students and families from refugee and refugee-like backgrounds by building inclusive and culturally responsive practices across the whole school.

Our dedicated RESP Action Team includes Sophie Nightingale, Jamie Humphrey, Lisa Formby, Katrina Mills, Shauna Kittelty and Martine Ziino, who work collaboratively to implement improvement initiatives across five key areas:

• Leadership
• Teaching and Learning
• Assessment
• Engagement
• Support and Resources

The team is guided by the values of equity, advocacy, empathy, respect, trust and collaboration as they continue to build sustainable practices that ensure every student and family feels welcomed, valued and supported within our school community.

Our student leaders continue to impress us with their initiative and commitment to making a positive difference within our school.

Recently, our Student Representative Council presented the Leadership Team with a thoughtful proposal to establish a Breakfast Club at Mirniyan Primary School. Their presentation highlighted not only excellent planning and communication skills but also a genuine desire to support the wellbeing of others.

Our School Captains and student leaders also attended a leadership luncheon hosted by Brad Battin, where they had the opportunity to further develop their leadership skills while proudly representing Mirniyan Primary School.

NAIDOC Week provided our students with many meaningful opportunities to deepen their understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and achievements.

Students explored the story behind our school's Bunurong name, Mirniyan, meaning Moon, and learnt more about the many Bunurong design features woven throughout our buildings and grounds.

A particular highlight was the launch of the Mirniyan on Country Discovery Trail, created by Miss Formby and Mrs Humphrey. Designed as a treasure hunt around our school, the trail encourages students to discover and learn about the First Nations stories embedded throughout Mirniyan, including our eel-shaped sandpit, yarning circles, Indigenous plants, animal footprints, shade structures and the Bunurong names of our basketball courts.

Students who completed the trail receive a certificate at assembly, making this a wonderful way to connect learning with Country while developing a deeper appreciation of the cultural significance of the spaces we enjoy every day.

Our Mirniyan Mics podcast team also celebrated NAIDOC Week by interviewing our Koorie Engagement Support Officer, Travis Gardiner. We look forward to sharing this special podcast with our community.

Our prep students recently celebrated an exciting milestone-100 Days of Prep!

Dressed in bright colours, our youngest learners proudly celebrated 100 days of learning, friendship and growth. It was wonderful to welcome so many families to our assembly as we recognised this special achievement together. The smiles, enthusiasm and sense of accomplishment displayed by our prep students made it a truly memorable celebration.

Our students have participated in a wide range of engaging learning experiences this term, including:

• Jump Rope for Heart
• Responsible Pet Ownership sessions for our Year 1/2 students
• Year 5/6 Camp at Woorabinda

Our Woorabinda Camp was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the term. Students challenged themselves, built resilience, strengthened friendships and embraced every opportunity presented to them.

I would like to sincerely thank Mr Clinch and Miss Cooper for the care, enthusiasm and dedication they demonstrated in providing such a memorable experience. Throughout the week, students consistently demonstrated our school values of Respect, Care and Growth, alongside Woorabinda's values of Courtesy, Cooperation and Consideration. They represented Mirniyan Primary School exceptionally well and should be incredibly proud of themselves.

Frog Bog Project

I am delighted to announce that our Frog Bog Project, led by Miss Formby, has successfully received funding through Landcare.

We sincerely thank Landcare for supporting this exciting initiative and investing in environmental education at Mirniyan Primary School.

The Frog Bog will create an authentic habitat for native frogs and local wildlife while providing students with meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities in Science and Sustainability. Students will play an active role in planning, establishing, monitoring and caring for the habitat, helping them develop a deeper understanding of ecosystems, biodiversity and environmental stewardship.

As a newly established school, projects such as these allow us to thoughtfully develop our grounds into rich outdoor learning environments that will benefit students for many years to come.

A special thank you also goes to Miss Formby for preparing engaging holiday science investigations for our Year 3/4 students to continue exploring scientific thinking and inquiry during the school holidays.

Our Wakakirri team has been working incredibly hard in preparation for their upcoming performance.

Under the guidance of our Performing Arts teacher, students have dedicated many Tuesday and Friday lunchtimes to rehearsals, demonstrating outstanding commitment, teamwork and enthusiasm. It has been wonderful to watch their confidence, and performance skills continue to develop, and we look forward to seeing all of their hard work come to life on stage.

Thank you to all of our families who attended our recent Parent-Teacher Interviews.

These conversations are an important opportunity to strengthen the partnership between home and school while celebrating each child's learning journey. Together, families and teachers discussed student progress, wellbeing and future learning goals, ensuring we continue working collaboratively to support every child to achieve success.

I would also like to sincerely thank our staff for the considerable time and care they invested in preparing for these meetings and for the ongoing commitment they demonstrate to every student.

Building a strong sense of belonging remains central to everything we do at Mirniyan.

Some of our wellbeing highlights this term have included:

• The ongoing work of our Wellbeing team
• Pyjama Day, enjoyed by students and staff
• Parent Helper Induction sessions to support family involvement
• A wide range of lunchtime clubs including LEGO Club, Board Games Club, Nudel Kart Club and Dance Club

These opportunities continue to strengthen friendships, foster student engagement and create positive connections across our school community.

Student safety at Mirniyan Primary School is our highest priority and the safe and appropriate supervision of students is an important element of our duty of care to students. Part of this duty is ensuring parents and students are aware of our student supervision arrangements before and after school.

Before school: School grounds are supervised at 8:30am.

After school: School grounds are supervised at 3:15pm -3:30pm

Students on school grounds outside these times will not be supervised (unless they are attending a before or after school care program or supervised extracurricular activity).

Parents/carers are requested to ensure that students do not attend school outside of these supervised times unless they are attending before or after school care, or a pre-arranged supervised activity (i.e. sports practice).

Families are encouraged to contact Their Care on 1300 072 410 or info@theircare.com.au for more information about the before and after school care facilities available to our school community.

See our school website for a copy of our school’s Yard Duty and Supervision Policy. This policy includes Mirniyan’s student supervision arrangements across the school day, including before and after school. Yard Duty and Supervision Policy

Planning for 2027 is already well underway.

We have received approximately 90 in-zone Prep applications through the Insight online enrolment system and are currently planning our future grade structures and staffing to support our growing school community. If you have siblings or know other families with preps who would like to join the Mirniyan school community, please encourage them to enrol through the Insight online enrolment system as soon as possible to help us with planning grades and staffing.

We are also continuing to work closely with the Victorian School Building Authority regarding the provision of additional portable classrooms in the future to ensure our facilities continue to meet the needs of our increasing enrolments.