Altona Green Primary School Newsletter

A Message from David & Cam...

Term 3 Events

Along with the terrific curriculum programs for Term 3 (check out the Term 3 Curriculum Newsletters page in this newsletter), we have a great range of different events and activities planned that we are all looking forward to. Here is a summary of events and things to remember for Term 3:

 

Camps & Excursions:

  • Year 6 Canberra Camp - Our biggest camp, the Grade 6 Canberra Camp is happening this term and the organisation is well underway. Cam would like to thank the families for their timely return of the required forms to be signed by families and students. The Canberra camp is a major part of our Grade 6 program and we are thrilled that this camp is going ahead. It will be a memory-making experience for the students and teachers! 
  • Year 4/5 Camp Oasis - After two years of not being able to attend a camp, Camp Oasis at Mt Evelyn will once again welcome our students for our Adventure Camp. This camp is fast approaching and the 4/5 teaching team are well under way in the planning and organisation of the camp. 
  • Year 2/3 Anglesea Camp - The 2/3 teachers and students are starting to get very excited about the first ever Altona Green Grade 2/3 Camp. It will be a fantastic experience for our students. There will be a presentation held over WebEx going through key details about the camp. The date of this presentation will be communicated via Compass in the coming weeks.
  • Excursions - We have a number of exciting excursions planned for parts of the school and they are all aimed at enhancing and enriching the curriculum programs that will be running in class. The preps are visiting the Werribee Zoo (15/9), the Year 1s are heading to the Botanical Gardens (2/8) and the 2/3s are going to IMAX (12/8).

Whole School Events:

  • Book Week - Book Week runs from the 15th-19th of August and will be the first Book Week we have had onsite since 2019! It is always a great week with lots of activities centred around our favourite books. The highlight is always the dress up day - we cannot wait to see all the creative costumes!
  • Trivia Night - This is an adults only event running on the 19th of August. This year we have a horror theme (but the trivia is general knowledge) and there are heaps of games and prizes on offer. The event is always a lot of fun and a great way for our parent community to get to know each other a little better. 
  • Father & Special Person's Day - We invite all dads and other special people in our students' lives to attend this event on the 2nd of September. Details of this particular event are currently being finalised and further information will be sent via Compass.
  • Assembly - We are really pleased to recommence class performances at the remaining assemblies for the year. Assembly runs alternate weeks to the newsletter and is held in either the gym or under gumbuya depending on the weather. The remaining assemblies this term are:
    • 28/7 (Thursday) - 1H & 4/5J
    • 12/8 - 1R
    • 26/8 - 2/3A
    • 9/9 - 4/5A

Pupil Free Day

  • A reminder that next Friday (29th July) is the Term 3 pupil free day. The staff will be working on our key priorities from our Annual Implementation Plan during the day. All day care is available at TeamKids for this day.

Tree Planting Day

Earlier this year we made contact with Hobsons Bay City Council (HBCC) to see if there was any scope to work with them on their Urban Forest Strategy. Pleasingly HBCC are more than happy to work with us on this and have approved funding for a number of trees, saplings and mulch that will be planted on the school grounds. This will go a long way to supporting our overall grounds plan and will help fast-track our grounds projects. 

 

We will be holding a tree planting day which will involve the students & staff as well as the relevant members of HBCC. We aim to have the event on Thursday 28th July (National Tree Day is the 29th July but we have our Curriculum Day then). We look forward to further developing the green spaces of our school and supporting the goals of the Urban Forest Strategy.

Cross Country

Jensen competed at the State Cross Country Championships in Yarra Glen last Thursday and came 2nd in a really tight race! This is an incredible result and the whole school community is so proud of all Jensen's achievements. This result means that he qualifies to head to the Nationals, held in Adelaide, later this year. 

Toilets

After a series of supply issues and other hold ups, the toilet upgrade is one small step away from completion (just awaiting delivery of the toilet roll holders!). Upgrading our toilets has been high on the priority list for a number of years and something that the students have asked for when discussing ideas to make our school even better. This project was a significant undertaking and could not have occurred without the efforts of school councillor, Dan Robson, who was able to secure funds through the VSBA Minor Capital Works grant. Thanks again, Dan - I think we can all agree that the new toilets are a significant upgrade and welcome change for our school!

2/3S Foodbank Drive

Sarah, along with Olivia, Josie, Lily and Olivia went to the Yarraville Foodbank last Friday to drop off all the donated food that was collected through the food drive last term. We would like to again congratulate the students for coming up with the idea to support vulnerable people in our community and then putting in the effort to make the idea a reality.

Dance Party

Whilst it feels like forever ago, we just wanted to thank Anna McMahon and all the parent volunteers that helped in the planning, set up and running of the AGPS Dance Party. The kids had the best time and the event was a terrific way to celebrate the end of a very busy term. Thank you!!

Premiers' Reading Challenge

As mentioned in the previous newsletter, we are participating in the 2022 Premiers' Reading Challenge, which is open until Friday 2 September 2022.

 

Since the Premiers' Reading Challenge started in 2005, it has helped teachers and parents motivate more than 3.5 million children to read more than 54 million books. This year's theme is 'Discover a new chapter'. This refers to the experience of going on an adventure with every turn of the page, as well as those milestone moments in life when a child starts a new chapter on their own journey.

 

All students will have received a student login and instructions on how to participate. We encourage all students to join in and accept the challenge! Please speak to your child's teacher if you have any further questions.

challenge-books-2022.xlsx

2023 Preps

If you, or anyone you know, have a child that will be starting prep at AGPS in 2023, please contact us to let us know as this greatly assists us with planning.

 

We are also offering school tours in Term 3 for any parents that would like to visit the school and find out more about what we can offer their child.