About Us

For over 150 years, Mt Eliza Primary School has been committed to providing a contemporary and progressive education for students. We are a dynamic educational organisation with distinctive identities and offerings. We draw on our strong traditions as we continue to educate future generations for the ever-changing landscape they face.​

Mt Eliza Primary School is a Victorian state primary school educating students from Prep to Year 6. We have a current enrolment of about 450 students. This is small enough to know each and every child, and big enough to be able to provide a wide variety of engaging programs. The overarching values of our educators is embedded in the school’s fabric: Together we grow.

Our story started in a one-room school house in the late 1800s. It moved from Parkdale to it’s present site in 1929 and is proudly considered the first continuous primary school in the area. Known as our ‘Old School House’ it was saved from potential demolition in 2004 by the community and is a reminder of the school’s ongoing commitment to exceptional education. Mt Eliza Primary School is synonymous with a strong sense of community spirit. In partnership with our community, we have developed a culture that reflects our five values: Respect, Responsibility, Resilience, Connectedness and Challenge. These are the cornerstone of what we do; they support our approach to learning and are key to the way in which we develop respectful relationships across the school.

Ex-students often speak of how they developed deep friendships that have continued throughout and after school. We believe that school doesn’t finish when you leave Mt Eliza Primary School – you are a MEPS student for life. Our staff are noted for their warmth, kindness and ability to inspire. Jan Tyers taught at Mt Eliza Primary School for many years and loved to challenge students’ thinking and encouraged opinions. After her passing in 2003 we established the ‘Jan Tyers Thinking Outside the Box Award’ in her memory and present this each year to a Year 6 student.

Assistant Principal – Darren Thresher

Darren is a passionate educator with nearly 20 years experience in the government and independent school sectors. Within this time, Darren has taken on a wide range of leadership roles to refine his abilities to implement positive change focused on improvements in school numeracy, literacy, ICT and the use of data.

After completing his Bachelors of Education in Canada, Darren moved to Australia in 2007 to pursue his teaching career. He taught at a Melbourne school prior to relocating to Somerville Primary School where he served as 5/6 team leader, ICT coordinator and literacy coordinator. Darren spent ten years leading the Cornish College school community where he was supporting others as a Primary Academic Care team leader and P-12 Learning Futures leader. Darren has recently concluded a teaching innovation fellowship awarded from the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. His fellowship focused on embedding mathematical language and metacognition within primary school problem solving approaches.

Darren loves life in the outdoors and can often be found camping, hiking, fly fishing and trail running some of the peninsula’s amazing trails; with the 2 Bays Trail being a favorite. He is always on the lookout for a challenge and has completed a few marathons and a 56 km ultramarathon. Darren brings this same determined approach to his work where he has high expectations of himself and those around him in creating a culture that together pursues excellence while promoting the wellbeing of staff and students.

Darren joined the Mount Eliza Primary community in 2024 and is excited about his chance to make a positive difference at MEPS into the future.

Assistant Principal – Jessica Merritt

Currently on Family Leave

As a passionate educator, Jessica seeks to inspire a love of learning in students and staff. Opportunities working across a range of school settings, in a number of different roles have shaped her view on quality education.

As a lifelong learner, Jessica undertook her Bachelor of Education as a scholarship recipient at RMIT University. She later completed her Master of Education (Education Management) at The University of Melbourne to further develop her knowledge and skills in educational leadership. Jessica taught at both primary and P-12 schools in Melbourne and then joined Woodlands Primary School as a learning specialist and later Rowellyn Park Primary School as Assistant Principal.

She loves life on the peninsula and on the weekend will often be volunteering and running at Rosebud Parkrun and spending time at the beach. Jessica strives to lead self, lead others and lead learning and is committed to school improvement through critical reflection and strategic action.

Jessica has high expectations for effort and achievement and places great value on building a positive relationship with all members of the school community. She looks forward to working together with you to support your child to be their best at Mt Eliza Primary School.

Leading Teacher – Amy Hille

Why MEPS?

Our MEPS philosophy is that we believe all children have the capacity to be competent, capable and sophisticated thinkers with endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

We understand the significance of choosing a primary school for your child. By bringing your child to Mt Eliza Primary School, you join a community with shared high expectations and one that promotes the potential of all students. Our learning environment reflects the care and dedication of the highly qualified educators to make school a special place for your child.

We believe in a holistic education that equips students with the attributes they need to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives, where social and emotional skills are as important as academic and professional skills. In addition to a strong focus on the building blocks of learning, literacy and numeracy, our students learn ‘how to learn’ and they are guided from their first days of school in the development of communication skills. Our programs deliberately promote and engage students in:

• How to communicate with each other
• Being kind to ourselves and one another
• How to be part of a team 
• Understanding that we are all different
• How to support one another in the collective learning journey

Our Vision

A community connected in kindness through relationships, learning and values.

Our Mission

Improving the quality of student outcomes and teaching practice by:

• Promoting and maintaining healthy and productive relationships
• Balancing explicit teaching and guided inquiry to build the capacity of learners
• Creating a culture of collective responsibility

Philosophy

We believe all children have the capacity to be competent, capable and sophisticated thinkers with endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

Our Values

Our five values underpin the way in which we approach learning, relationships and collaboration. These definitions are a culmination of comments from students, staff and community members during the Review Focus Group discussions.

• Respect – We use kind words and actions.
• Resilience – We bounce forward when things don’t go to plan.
• Responsibility – We make good choices and are accountable for our actions.
• Connectedness – We belong, and feel safe and valued in our community.
• Challenge – We use energy, effort and determination to give everything a go

Our Focus

Over the next four years, Mt Eliza Primary School will develop an overarching Instructional Model as a
framework through which we can continue to refine the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy. We will work to ensure a balance between explicit/direct instruction and guided inquiry. Explicit instruction will be consistent across teaching areas and all teachers will be equipped with a strong understanding of effective pedagogies. We are working on developing consistency of practice and understanding and using data effectively to inform teaching, learning and student wellbeing.

The School Canteen is operated by Stir Crazy Kids and offers a wide variety of nutritious food, which can be bought daily. Updated menus and price lists are distributed regularly. Lunch orders should be placed in the canteen bag on entering the classroom at 8.45am or may be ordered online. Our current Canteen menu is below:

Mt Eliza Primary Term 2 2025

DET Reports, Policies and Protocols

Department of Education and Training Policies

Employment Checks Policy: The Department of Education and Training (the Department) and school councils have a responsibility to ensure the safety of all children and employees, and to maintain the security of assets by requiring and maintaining high standards of professional conduct from employees and volunteers. In meeting these responsibilities, the Department and school councils must be satisfied that only those employees and volunteers who meet the highest standards of probity and suitability are employed. Such assessments may include reference or referee checks, medical assessments, qualification verification, a criminal record check and/or a Working With Children Check.

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/suitability-employment-checks/overview

Enrolment Policy: Our school zone is available on findmyschool.vic.gov.au which hosts the most up-to-date information about Victorian school zones. Students residing in our school zone are guaranteed a place at our school, which is determined on the basis of your permanent residential address. The Department provides guidance through the Enrolment: Placement Policy to ensure that students have access to their designated neighbourhood school and the freedom to choose other schools, subject to facility limitations.

You can find more information and answers to frequently asked questions on the Department’s website under School zones.

For more information – If you have a question about school zones call the VSBA Hotline on 1800 896 950 or email: vsba@education.vic.gov.au

Equal Opportunity Policy: As an equal opportunity employer, the Department is committed to providing safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces which are free from discrimination and harassment. Equal opportunity means that every person can participate freely and equally in areas of public life such as in the workplace, in education or in accessing goods and services. Discrimination is treating, or proposing to treat, someone unfavourably or bullying them because of a personal characteristic protected by law.

The policy is available at this address: https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/equal-opportunity/overview

Head Lice Policy: This policy sets out the requirements for schools to prevent and control the transmission of head lice.

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/head-lice/policy

Hire Of Facilities Policy: Under the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic) (the Act), school councils have the power to enter into agreements with third parties for the use of school facilities when they are not required for ordinary school purposes. The proposed use must be for the purpose of educational, recreational, sporting or cultural activities for students, the local community or young persons. Any other purpose requires the Minister’s approval.

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/community-use-schools-hiring-licensing-and-community-joint-use-agreements/policy

Local Mobile Policy: The mobile phone policy for all government schools specifies phones brought to school must be switched off and stored securely during the school day. The link for the policy is: www.vic.gov.au/mobile-phones-schools

Privacy Policy: The Department of Education and Training (which includes all Victorian government schools, central and regional offices) values the privacy of every person and is committed to protecting information that schools collect. All staff including contractors, service providers and volunteers of the Department, and this Victorian government school (our school), must comply with Victorian privacy law and this policy.

In Victorian government schools the management of ‘personal information’ and ‘health information’ is governed by the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) (collectively, Victorian privacy law).

This policy explains how our school collects and manages personal and health information, consistent with Victorian privacy law.

​The link for the policy is: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx

Respectful Behaviours Within The School Community Policy: This policy outlines the shared roles of parents, carers and school staff in creating a positive environment for learning. There are also other policies that set out clear standards of behaviours that are specific to school staff and students. When parents/carers and school staff work together as one team, our students do better. Victorian Government schools want to work with parents and carers to achieve this. The expected standards of behaviours apply to different school settings. This includes at school events, camps, excursions, outdoor activities, online learning and other places online related to schools.

Respectful Behaviours within the School Community Policy (education.vic.gov.au)

Restraint And Seclusion Policy: This policy outlines when physical restraint and seclusion are permitted to be used in Victorian government schools and lists practices that are not permitted to be used in Victorian government schools. This policy details reporting and notification requirements and the responsibilities school and Department staff have in relation to incidents of physical restraint and seclusion.

https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/restraint-seclusion/policy