Our motivated Mernda Park Athletics team took to the track on the fresh and frosty morning of Thursday 22nd August.  We took the largest team (43 students) in school history, that competed against other schools in the Bridge Inn North District.  All students worked hard during PE sessions and training to practice and improve on their skills in running, jumping and throwing events.  With a great level of excitement, all students participated in their individual field and running events.  All students finished strongly, with several students placing in their age groups.  Special mention goes to Olivia Sooden, Manjir Karmacharya and Ridham Attri who have progressed to represent Mernda Park in the Whittlesea Division on Tuesday 10th September.  Another amazingly awesome athletics day, where Mernda Park showed great improvement and determination to do their best and represent their school with pride.  Awesome job MPPS!

The anticipation was finally over for the 3/4 students of Mernda Park Primary that took the court on a Thursday in August.  The vibe was electric and all students showed an awesome level of enthusiasm as they took the court in three mixed teams across two divisions: Rookies and Future Stars. All teams played against four schools from the Bridge Inn North District with a mix of wins and losses.  For most of our students, their first game day experience and the scoring their first goal was brilliant! For our Future Stars team, the journey has not ended there.  By following their game plan and collaborating together beautifully to win all their regulation games on the day, this team will now progress to the Regional Finals in October.  Our very first Mernda Park team to win through to a Regional level in Mernda Park history!  Briony and I were extremely proud of every single student that gave it their all in a fantastic day of action, baskets and skills! GO MPPS!

Term 2 at MPPS, saw a busy, but very productive sporting calendar.  In PE, students continued to learn, develop and refine their motor skills across varying sport units, while learning and sharing their 'Personal Strengths' after each lesson. By selecting a quality that they were good at from our "Super Student Strengths" wall, all students were able to identify their greatness within each session and working on different strengths every week.  Interschool Sport saw two classic Winter sports in Netball and AFL, with the addition of Hot Shots Tennis into the fold.  Grade 4/5/6 students participated weekly demonstrating their abilities in leadership, resilience, collaboration and positive sporting behaviours.  District Cross Country saw our largest team yet, compete at Bundoora Park in 2km and 3km events.  A special mention goes to Matilda and Kristen for their fantastic effort and  Top 10 results, that saw them progress to the Division level where they did Mernda Park very proud.  The Sporting Schools Program enabled all students from Prep-6 to participate in Tennis run by our local Yan Yean Tennis Club.  Wow!  An amazing term, completed, with more events to come next term!      

Tuesday brought a beautiful autumn morning in Bundoora for the Bridge Inn North District Cross Country.  Twenty one students from Mernda Park, attended the meet and did the school extremely proud with their efforts in their 2km and 3km events.  All students representing Mernda Park ran with a focus on a personal best, and most of them achieved this.  We would like to celebrate two of our students, Matilda and Kristen (first time runners at the meet) that finished 2nd and 4th in their race to progress through to the Division Cross Country in two weeks time.  A brilliant day was enjoyed by all students and staff and I would like to again celebrate all of their efforts before, during and after their events.  Fantastic effort everyone!

Below is a snap shot of the sports and activities that students at MPPS participated in in Term 1 PE classes.  Apart from our skills focus of their specific sports, students were also working on emotional responses to activity and how to create positive feelings towards sport by using our "Feeling Faces" to high five how we felt at the end of the sessions.

  Students in Grades 4-6 will be participating in Bridge Inn North District Interschool Sport on a weekly basis against local schools in our district.
​As part of our Winter Sport Program MPPS will now be participating in Netball, AFL and Hot Shots Tennis for the Term 2 season.  A make up round has been scheduled for Friday June 28th, this will be updated at a later date weather permitting throughout Term 2.​

The blue sky glistened over Mill Park Reserve, as the  Mernda Park Teeball teams took the field.  The Bridge Inn North District Teeball Gala got underway with a high level of enthusiasm from all students, as they showed great interest in the new learning experiences of an unfamiliar sport that lay ahead.  Mernda Park played Gilson College, Hazelglen College and St Mary's Whittlesea in the preliminary rounds of the event.  All three schools provided us with competitive, yet friendly games that saw us develop our skills in Teeball, especially striking and fielding.  All students from Mernda Park Primary showed a great amount of energy, as they developed their skills throughout the day.  An excellent event, with enjoyable experiences and sport education opportunities.  Brilliant job MPPS!