About Us

Principal’s Welcome

On behalf of all staff and school council it gives me great pleasure in welcoming you to Templestowe Heights Primary School. I am extremely proud and honoured to be Principal of such an exciting and thriving school community.

Templestowe Heights Primary School’s vision is ‘inspiring learners for life’. We value the importance of continual growth as learners for all members of our community; students, staff, parents and guardians. All staff have a shared goal of wanting to make a positive difference (social, emotional and academic) to every child under their care.

Our vision is supported by our mission statement of “the quality of the programs we offer will never be better than the quality of the teachers that deliver them”. Our mission is to ensure our teachers are continually developing their skills, knowledge and understandings that will enable them to provide high quality learning opportunities and learning experiences for all students at Templestowe Heights Primary.

We have just completed construction of a brand new, state of the art Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Mathematics (STEAM) building as well as the renovation of a new library, toilet block and shared meeting spaces. This is all part of a $13.1 million grant from the state government in recognition of our projected growth in our student population for the coming years. This will be ready for the first day of the 2023 school year.

Our teaching and learning spaces are flexible and all have interactive whiteboards, desktop and netbook computers, iPads and a dedicated bring your own device iPad program for Year 5/6 students. An indoor basketball stadium, school chickens, community garden, two outdoor adventure playgrounds, a synthetic outdoor basketball court and bat tennis area, a multi-purpose room and a passive play area all occupy our spacious grounds.

Our students are motivated learners and we are fortunate to have supportive, committed families that are active participants in their child’s learning journey. We pride ourselves on being a collaborative learning community and we both encourage and provide opportunities to strengthen the home-school partnership.

Students at Templestowe Heights Primary School participate in a wide range of inclusive and engaging curriculum, sporting and recreational programs. The Performing and Visual Arts program is a strong feature of our school environment, which includes ballroom dancing (culminating in a School Ball), School Production and an Art Community Show.

Students have the opportunity of being part of the Junior School Council, Sustainability group, School Choir, camps program, inter-school sport, chess club, after school art classes, and the instrumental music program. Students also participate in Italian lessons with a dedicated Italian language teacher. We have a strong whole-school focus on student wellbeing that includes a cyber-safety program and the Positive Education framework.

We welcome visitors to Templestowe Heights Primary School and have a comprehensive Pre-school to Prep transition program to meet your child’s needs. I encourage you to call to book a group or personal school tour on 9850 1796 to learn more about our wonderful school.

I look forward to meeting you personally.

Rhys Coulson

Principal

Virtual Tour

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School Tour

A Year In Reflection

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School Profile

Templestowe Heights Primary School

As of February 2023, we have 445 students enrolled amongst 22 straight grade classes. While our numbers are growing, we will never be a large Primary School, and for that reason one of the best aspects of our wonderful school is our strong and proud sense of a community.

We are proud to have committed staff who have established an environment conducive to the social, emotional and intellectual development of each child. An importance is placed on the partnership between school and home, fostered by parents and carers given opportunities to be actively involved through many different ways.

Students are provided with a wide range of challenging activities within the eight Key Learning Areas, with particular emphasis being placed upon the development of literacy and numeracy. Extra curricular activities are offered with the Performing Arts, Italian, Visual Art, STEM and physical and sport education. Dedicated enrichment and intervention teachers provide additional opportunities for students to support their learning point of need.

An excellent physical environment has been developed which provides great scope for extending the academic, recreational and sporting skills of students. Community support has supplemented the provision of teaching equipment and general facilities.

Our facilities include

Well appointed and well equipped air conditioned classrooms
Multi purpose room
ICT equipped classrooms that include an interactive TV’s, desktop and notebook computers
Modern Library
New Science, Technology, engineering, Arts & Mathermatics (STEAM) centre
Full sized gymnasium used for netball, basketball, volleyball and other indoor sporting activities which are components of the physical and sport education program.(This facility is used by the school during the day and by the local community during the evening and the weekends)
Four adventure playgrounds
A well maintained oval
Synthetic grass areas marked out for basketball, bat tennis, rounders and volleyball
Out of School Hours Care Program
Passive play middle yard
Canteen (online booking for busy families)
Community Garden and School Chickens

Our Teaching and Learning Approach

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Vision & Values

Vision

Templestowe Heights Primary School provides an inclusive and collaborative learning environment for students, staff and families, that promotes high expectations for lifelong learners, embracing and contributing to local and global communities.

Values

Templestowe Heights Primary School operates under the following school values:

Respect – We value people, property and the environment
Persistence – We always try our best and never give up until we have achieved it
Courage – We continue to take up the challenge of learning even when things get hard
Responsibility – We accept responsibility for our own learning and behaviour and can be relied on to do the right thing

These values are fundamental to the culture of Templestowe Heights Primary School and are the underpinning principles for all school-based activity and decision-making. They provide a framework and whole school language for the development of all relationships within the school – students, teachers, parents and the community.

These values will be prominently displayed in all classrooms and throughout all areas of the school and constantly referred to in all aspects of school life.

The ‘Start Up’ program at the start of the year focuses on introducing the values and related concepts to all children from Prep to Year 6.

Our weekly ‘High Flyer’ Awards presented at our Friday School Assembly promote our school values.

Student Wellbeing

At Templestowe Heights Primary School we strive to provide a positive, safe and secure environment to maximise opportunities for all children. We believe in and promote high standards of behaviour based on cooperation, mutual respect, self-worth, self-discipline and shared responsibility.

Our school is underpinned by the following values

respect • persistence • courage • responsibility

These values provide a framework and whole school language for the development of all relationships within the school – students, teachers, parents and the wider community.

Our approach to student wellbeing is aimed at minimising the risk factors associated with growing into adolescence. We offer a range of programs and activities to develop self-esteem, self-respect, social skills and general health and wellbeing. These include our Buddies Program, ‘Start Up’ Program, our whole school welfare program ‘You Can Do It’, Special Mixed Aged Days, and our Restorative Practices Approach to students. A comprehensive Drug Education program is also offered with assistance from Life Education.

Templestowe Heights Primary School is also a KidsMatter school. Kidsmatter is a whole school approach to improving children’s mental health and wellbeng. It is founded on respectful relationships and a sense of belonging and inclusion, which promotes:

social and emotional learning
working with parents, carers and families
support for students experiencing mental health issues.

The highly successful Foundation Buddy program starts during Foundation orientation (prior to starting school), and continues throughout the first year of school.

This program gives the foundation student a Year 6 buddy to help form a special bond of friendship, creating a safe environment for the younger children and a leadership role for the older children.

Student Leadership

At Templestowe Heights Primary School we offer all students the opportunity to become leaders. Students are provided with many leadership positions to develop their leadership skills.

The School Captains are selected by both the school students and the staff. The school highly recognizes the value of elected our School Captains who are able to model the preferred leadership attributes and values of the school for other students. School Captains develop an agenda and run our weekly Monday School Assembly and also represent the school at various ceremonies and occasions.

Each grade elects a representative per semester to be on the Junior School Council. They meet regularly to discuss issues related to school. The 2 School Captains help to conduct the meetings and co-ordinate all minutes, letters, agendas, etc.

Environmental leader’s positions are also held for a semester with each grade selecting one representative. These children meet fortnightly to continue to enhance our position as a sustainable school. They plan and implement ground improvements and monitor our levels of waste and energy usage.

2 Art leaders are selected from children from grade 6. These children are involved in the planning and development of our Art Show, actively participate in our Little Picassos program and help to select and award the weekly Art Award at our weekly Monday School Assembly.

Additionally, students in grade 6 can be nominated and subsequently elected to House Captain and Vice House Captain positions. There are four Houses at the school used for House sports, athletics and swimming, and School activities.