Dear Parents, Families and Community members,

Welcome back for Term 2 and we are all looking forward to a great term ahead.

Best wishes to our Grade 3/4 Campers who are off to Camp Wyuna in Queenscliff next Monday. I know you will have a great time and look forward to spending the day with you there on Monday.

ANZAC Day

As you are aware ANZAC Day falls on a Sunday this year and as a result we have decided to commemorate this important occasion on Monday, April 26th.

Students will engage in learning activities designed to educate students on the history and significance of ANZAC Day and there will also be a short service conducted by our student leaders.

Anchoridge Donation

Anchoridge Estate, Armstrong Creek have kindly donated $6500 to our school café program that is being developed this year. As a thank you to Anchoridge, ACS provided school volunteers on Sunday March 28th who assisted with the launch day of their new display village. Our school volunteers gave out seedling packs to those that attended.

It was great to see our young student volunteers enthusiastically greeting visitors and being such great ambassadors for our school community.

ABN group (the Anchoridge developers) were very happy with our school’s participation on the day and have made another $500 donation to the school community!

Thanks again to parents, students and school staff who helped out on the day and to Anchoridge Estate for being such generous supporters of our school!

Birthdays

Birthdays are a very special and exciting time and to celebrate with friends at school is even better! At ACS we want to make sure that students having birthdays are recognised and celebrated.

Please be aware that each Learning Community will make every effort to acknowledge and make students feel special on their birthday. We do; however, ask that families do not send food, balloons (etc.) into school.

There are many reasons for this including dietary and health related considerations. It is also very complex from a school management perspective to coordinate the large number of birthdays that a Learning Community would have with up to 75 possible birthdays!

We have though committed to holding a celebration once a term to recognise all the birthday's in the term. Typically this will be done at the end of term; however, each Learning Community will inform parents of the specific arrangements closer to the time.

Solar Buddies

Please see the below article from the Armstrong Creek Times featuring the Armstrong Creek School 'Solar Buddies'.

Prep 2022 Parent Information Night

School Tours

It will be fantastic to once again welcome prospective families to our school tours!

Tours will take place on Wednesday each fortnight from 11.30 am - 12.30 pm commencing from 5/5/2021. Interested parents/guardians can register via the link below:

https://forms.gle/Mmr3aZxXSA1WXsSq5

High Ability Program

Throughout Term One Dylan, Kolbi and Sebastian have participated in our High Ability Program that is coordinated through Virtual School Victoria. In the Primary English course, students explored the history of writing and developed insight into the power of the written word.

Throughout the course, students focused on the role of narrative in reflecting human experience. Students grappled with the transformational influence of writing through history and within modern society. They studied ancient narrative structures, including the Hero’s Journey and Jungian archetypes, applying this knowledge to popular texts and literary classics.

Throughout the course, students explored literary devices including: metaphor, symbolism and personification - and experimented with including these devices in their own creative writing. Students considered the features of literary genres - and, contended with dynamics of writing humour and comic characters.

In addition, students investigated the role of narrative strategy and considered how varied narrative perspectives affect the style of creative writing. Ultimately, students wrote their own story of a hero’s journey, where they creatively applied all of the literary concepts that had been explored throughout the course.

2021 School Captain

Towards the end of Term 1 we announced many of our Student Leadership Representatives including School Captains, SRC and House Captains. I did acknowledge most of these students in previous newsletters and assemblies; however, due to a number of school activities, absences etc, I have not had a chance to publicly congratulate Chloe Lyons our 2021 Secondary School Captain or our 2021 House Captains

I know know these students will lead and serve our school with great pride and purpose, and I look forward to working with them throughout the year.

2021 House Captains

Primary

Hollows – Nash & Brooklyn

Fanning – Parker & Riley

Fearnley – Emmasyn & Lincoln

Nolan – Sienna & Ryder

Secondary

Hollows – Tjay

Fanning – Lloyd

Fearnley – Max

Nolan – Hayley

School Photos

All students school pictures were taken today and should be ready and delivered to school in Week 7. These will then be distributed to each student upon arrival to bring home.

If you forgot to order your child school photos, this can be done directly though MSP Photography - 1800 314 480 however, please note that they will charge an additional $20 fee for delivery and processing fee.

Music Workshop

Recently our school was successful in an application to be part of the DET Music in Schools - Teacher Professional Learning Program 2021 (DUET Teacher Mentoring Program).

The Music in Schools DUET Teacher Mentoring Program includes a Teaching Artist delivering a weekly music education program in your school over approximately 13 weeks, including in-class mentoring sessions (a combination of face to face and livestreamed sessions across Term 2 and 3), one-to-one mentoring conversations/coaching, access to digital music education resources via ARTS:LIVE, and access to professional learning workshops. The program is designed to be inclusive of the broader teaching staff, school leadership and students who will all benefit.

Our school is eligible to receive up to $5,000 to support the hire or purchase of music instruments and other resources (books, accessories, storage cupboards, instrument repairs) for classroom music programs, in consultation with The Song Room’s Teaching Artist. Some conditions apply.

Today Bec Wik (Performing Arts Teacher) and I had an introductory session and are excited to see this roll out at ACS and the great benefits Music Education can bring to our school community.

AFL Gala Day

On the last Monday of Term 1, 23 boys and girls competed in the Year 5/6 AFL Gala Day. We played 4 games across the day, and every student competed strongly and showed great sportsmanship.

Unfortunately, we were unable to get a win, falling short most of the games. Regardless, there were many highlights from the day, especially the fantastic goals being scored. Congratulations to all participants on the day, and a big thank you to all students, staff members, and helpers involved.

House Cross Country

On the last Wednesday of term one all students across the school participated in the house cross country. We were blessed with beautiful weather and it was amazing to see all the children dressed up in house colours. The junior children completed a 1km fun run that saw them earn points for their house.

The middle and senior years children completed a 2km and 3km course that not only saw them competing for house points but has seen 37 children qualify for our district cross county event. Well done to all children that completed the course.

A huge thankyou to all the parents that came out to help as course marshals. These events cannot be the success they are without your amazing help.

Congratulations to Fanning House who took out the 2021 house trophy.

Hot Cross Buns

A big thank you to our wonderful school community for your support of our first fundraiser for the year. We sold 298 packs of buns and raised $696.78 which will go towards valuable school resources.

Thank you to our PACC team for organising the Hot Cross Bun Drive and for sorting and distributing these today, we appreciate all your time and support.

We hope everyone enjoyed their buns!

Staffing Update

This term I am pleased to welcome Katrina Broadhead (Assistant Principal; pictured), Katrina Bozikas (Education Support 1-2) and Jack Elliot (Education Support 5-6) to the Armstrong Creek School.

The 'Katrina's and Jack' have certainly hit the ground running and it has been wonderful to see students, staff and families being so caring and welcoming.

Please say hi and welcome these guys if you see them around the school!

Crazy Hair Day

On Thursday 1st April, ACS held a Crazy Hair Day to celebrate the end of a successful Term 1 and raise funds for Change for Children. It was wonderful to see many students and staff embrace the day by getting creative with their hairdos!

We certainly saw some wacky and wonderful hair styles - colourful mohawks, Barbies stuck in ponytails and braids sticking up as high as the sky!

We raised an outstanding $302.15 to be donated to Change for Children. This will go towards empowering international communities by providing access to education, food security and clean water. If you would like to further read about this organisation, please click the following link: https://changeforchildren.org/.

Well done ACS community and thank you to the School Captains for their organisation of this fundraising event.

VCAL Easter Stall

During the last week of term 1, the Year 11 VCAL students ran an Easter Stall. This integrated project allowed the students to meet many outcomes as part of their Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). Students built on their personal and social skills and applied them when making team decisions, delegating roles and responsibilities and serving customers. Students also learnt about maths including numbers, money handling and estimation.

Projects such as this allow students to prepare for the future while connecting within the school community and raising money for good causes.

The eggs were a huge hit with students, so much so that we raised a whopping $497.15 to go to Bellarine Catchment Network.

Book Fair

We are excited to announce that during Week 5, May 17 - 21, we will be holding our Scholastic Book Fair! The theme for Book Fair this year is 'To The Book Fair And Beyond!'.

Book Fair Student Wishlists

Students will have the opportunity to browse the Book Fair and create a "wish list" to bring home on the Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning of Book Fair Week. This does not mean that you have to purchase any or all of the items on their wish list, it is just a guide for you so that you know what students have seen and liked.

We will advise all the details of how to purchase books closer to the fair date.

Take care and enjoy!

Evan Savage

Principal

Positive Climate for Learning

Prep Learning Community