Altona Green Primary School Newsletter

A Message from David...

Welcome to AGPS!

A huge welcome to all of our new students that have joined the AGPS community this year. We have a number of students across Years 1-6 and 3 very keen prep classes join us this year and they have all settled in beautifully and have made many friends across the school. I am always so proud of how well our school community welcomes new people and have loved seeing our existing students supporting the new students in class and in the playgrounds.

 

The whole school has settled in so well and all of the classrooms and the playground have been filled with that wonderful buzzing sound of happy kids! I think we are all incredibly happy to be back at school, reconnecting with friends, families and colleagues.

 

Here are some day 1 photos from the playground:

And some of our very excited older brothers and sisters welcoming their prep siblings on their first day:

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to our new staff members to our school. Welcome to Sarah (2/3S) & Sarah (4/5S). We are also really excited to welcome back Alana & Loretta (intervention teachers) to AGPS for 2022.

AGPS Start-Up Program

All classes have started the year with our AGPS start-up program. In this program, we focus on ensuring that everyone in the school understands what it means to BE LIKE KEFAR. We prioritise the building of relationships, expectations, routines and dispositions that are essential to ensuring that 2022 is a highly successful year. Lessons during the program have included developing an understanding of the importance of having a growth mindset and understanding that learning can feel difficult and it takes effort. All the classroom routines and expectations have been established to ensure that learning time is maximised in every lesson, every day.

Staffing

The current climate will provide some challenges around staffing, however we have a process that is followed to minimise the disruption to student learning and provide continuity for our students. We prioritise replacing absent teachers with teachers from our local pool of available teachers. We then attempt to source a replacement teacher from one of two agencies that we use. The last resort is that we split the grade. Splitting grades is not our preferred option, however there will be times when it is simply unavoidable. Thank you for your understanding with this.

Term 1 Events

  • AGPS Fete - We are so excited for this event! Our Fete is on the 2nd April and is a wonderful community event and fundraiser for our school. Keep an eye out for lots of information about this event in the coming weeks.
  • Family Evening TBC - Our annual family event is planned for the 22nd March. The event is currently TBC as we will be guided by the current operational and health and safety guidelines. This event is a great way for our whole community to connect and a great way to welcome our newest families.
  • Meet and Greet - Our Meet and Greet will be held on Wednesday 23rd Feb. You will have the opportunity to book a time with your child's teacher and share information that with help make 2022 a really successful year. The meet and greet is a great way to build and strengthen the home-school partnership. Further details will be published via Compass.
  • Information Evenings - We are having two information evenings this term. One for our current prep parents focused on how to support your child with early literacy development (2nd March) and the other information evening for prospective prep enrolments for 2023 (30th Mar).
  • Running Club - Running Club is back starting next Monday 8:15am. We look forward to seeing everyone rack up those kms!

Buildings and Grounds Updates

Toilet Upgrade

The toilet upgrades have been continuing over the holidays with the work centred on the toilets near the gym. Once these are complete, they will begin working on the toilets closest to Gumbuya. At the moment, the expected completion time is mid-April but supply issues may impact the completion date. 

Shade Sail Grant

We were successful in obtaining a grant to erect a new shade sail in our yard to create further outdoors spaces for students to learn. The new shade sail will be built over the fixed chess tables in the playground. 

 

We are also looking to develop this area with new paving and garden beds - if you can help with this area please get in touch.

 

Inclusive Schools Fund

We were also successful in obtaining a grant for the Victorian Government's Inclusive Schools Fund! This funding will go towards creating inclusive play spaces and sensory gardens for all of our students to enjoy. These new spaces will be a very welcome addition to our wonderful grounds! I will provide you with further updates about this project in the near future. 

Volunteering

Altona Green relies on the support and efforts of volunteers to provide wonderful experiences and a great environment for our students. Please see below for ways that you can volunteer and support our school:

  • Parents and Friends have planned many events that benefit our school and many of these can only operate with volunteer support. Keep an eye out for communication from Parents and Friends in the newsletter and joining the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1711670309087291/) for opportunities to help out and meet other parents. Parents and Friends also have an online volunteer sign up form here https://signup.com/go/NAryeRX where you can register your interest in volunteering.
  • Trish is also always looking for help to keep our beautiful gardens beautiful! If you are able to help out in the gardens, please get in touch with us (email, phone or in person). Any help is appreciated.
  • In-class support - if you would like to support in the classroom, please get in contact with your child's teacher and/or specialist teachers.
  • Please note, all volunteers that work in close proximity to children, students or staff are required to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination.

Communication

Here is an overview of the different communication methods of our school community:

  • Compass - Our main form of communication. This includes consent and payment for excursions/incursions/camps, bookings for parent/teacher interviews, student reports, important school dates and fundraising activities
  • Upcoming Dates - Important upcoming events are published via the newsletter and as a stickied Compass notification (stays at the top of your Compass newsfeed)
  • Newsletter - Published fortnightly on Friday (alternate week to assembly)
  • Facebook - We primarily use Facebook to celebrate events and achievements and to share images and videos
  • Seesaw - Parents and carers can access their child's Seesaw learning journal to gain insights into the classroom. This includes student work and learning goals. This can also be used to communicate with the classroom teacher
  • Curriculum Newsletter - Each teaching team publishes a curriculum newsletter early in the term. This provides information about different curriculum areas that your child(ren) will be focusing on for the term
  • Contacting your child's teacher - If you would like to discuss a matter related to your child please arrange a time to meet with your child's teacher. This can be arranged by sending an email, sending a message via Seesaw or contacting the office.

Reminders

As we begin a new year, it’s a good chance for some reminders:

  • Please make sure all of your child’s belongings are labelled clearly with their name.
  • We are a ‘nude food’ school.  Please don’t send food with wrappers to school.  We have crates outside all classrooms so children can put their named containers in them to avoid getting lost.
  • The staff car park is only for staff during the hours of 8am - 4pm.  Students are not permitted to walk through this area as it’s not safe.
  • Any visitors to the school must come through the main front gate and report to the office. Anyone entering the school buildings must check-in using the QR code and show your vaccination certificate.
  • We very much value support from families.  If you or a family member would like to assist please apply for a working with children check (this is free).  Once you receive your card, please bring it to the office so that we can photocopy it and keep it on file.  Further information about how you can help at school will be published in the future
  • Terms 1 and 4 are hats on terms.  All students are required to wear a sunsmart hat during sport and break times. Hats (as well as other uniform items) can be purchased from the uniform shop.
  • The uniform shop is located in the building where the prep rooms are and is open on Tuesdays 8:30 – 9:00am and Thursdays 3:00 – 3:30pm.
  • All students needs to be in full school uniform. 
  • Any students who arrive after 9:00am must sign in at the office and collect a late pass. Students arriving at school late must be accompanied by an adult or the parent needs to call the office to explain the reason for being late.
  • Parents are reminded that playground supervision (teacher on duty) is provided before school from 8.45am and after school until 3.30pm. Students should not be in the school grounds before or after these times unless supervised by their parents or an adult

C.S.E.F. - Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

 

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. 

 

Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

Please give a copy of your Health Care Card to the office or email me a copy of your card to:altona.green.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Annual Privacy Reminder

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

 

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website here.

 

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:

  • Amharic
  • Arabic
  • Dari
  • Mandarin
  • Somali
  • Sudanese
  • Turkish
  • Urdu
  • Vietnamese.

Thank you all for a wonderful start to the year. I look forward to the remainder of what will be a really exciting year.

 

Take care,

 

David