Principal Team Report

Trivia Night: Postponed

NOTE THAT DUE TO DELAYS WITH THE MAIN WING RENOVATIONS AND RELATED SPACE CONSTRAINTS, THE 2022 TRIVIA NIGHT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO EARLY 2023 (DATE TBC).

Term 4 is a Sun Smart Term

Please make sure that all children come to school with a hat. It is expected that students wear hats when travelling to and from school, during break times and when engaged in outdoor activities. 

Mobile Phone Policy (including Smart Watches!)

The following is an important reminder to all families in terms of mobile phone and smart watch use at school.

For the purpose of the policy, “mobile phone” refers to mobile phones and any device that may connect to or have a similar functionality to a mobile phone such as smartwatches. 

ASPS understands that students may bring a personal mobile phone to school, particularly if they are travelling independently to and from school. 

At ASPS: 

• Students who choose to bring mobile phones (and smart watches) to school must have them switched off and securely stored during school hours 

• Exceptions to this policy may be applied if certain conditions are met (see below for further information) 

• When emergencies occur, parents or carers should reach their child by calling the school’s office. 

Personal Mobile Phone Use 

In accordance with the Department’s Mobile Phones Policy issued by the Minister for Education, personal mobile phones (and Smart Watches) must not be used at ASPS during school hours (8:00am – 4:00pm), including lunchtime and recess, or on school premises, unless an exception has been granted. 

The complete Mobile Phone Policy can be accessed here and we thank all families for your support in helping our school to effectively implement this important policy. 

Upcoming Important Dates

21 Oct: Teacher Professional Practice Day (student free day)

Camp Australia will provide long day care for students as needed. Bookings are essential via the link below:

28 October: Twilight School Picnic

29 November: Volunteer Thank You Evening

13 December: End of Year Concert

15 December: Year 6 Graduation

20 December: last Day Term 4 (1:00pm dismissal)

** All term dates can be found at 2022 Term Dates page.

2023 Dates

31 January: Start Term 1 (Year 1-6 students)

1 February: Start Term 1 (Prep students)

10 March: Curriculum Day (student free day)

TBC: TRIVIA NIGHT (postponed from 2022)

Additional Curriculum and student free days will be published before the end of the year. 

In Term 4, we will continue to see the return of a number of community activities such as our twilight picnic on 28 October, the parent and staff Trivia Night in November, our end of year concert and so much more!

Import Picnic Reminder

All families attending the upcoming picnic are reminded to complete the consent form for their child to participate in the ride/amusement activities. the form will only take a minute or so to complete via XUNO.

Super Student Awards

The following students will be presented with their awards at our next assembly on Monday 24 October (9:15am start under the COLA). 

Prep

Camilla Tuck                  Karrie Yu

Josephine Mackrell     Thomas White

Laura O'Connell            Adam Abonassrya

Amaya Giddey               Olivia Holden

Andrew Hoi                    Ariana prabhakaran

Ryan Santoso                 Olivia Geng

Flynn Hall                        Thomas Lim

Harold Kwan                   Heidi Morrison

Year 1

Indi Beaconsfield           Evander Marambeliotis

Bailey Tiew                       Ethan Rahmani

Ethan Allan                       Halia Bhardwaj

Year 2

Maddie Gillman-Sheer  Philip Kennedy

Sam Veltman

Year 3

Minne Buck                      Grace Tallis

Sasha Kuzmicich             Hughie Miller

Alexander Mishra            Daisy Griffiths

Harry O'Connell

Year 4

Kira Zeps                            Tomas Brooks

Adrien Wong

Year 5

Ethan Dunn                       Aashvi Parik

Alyssa Alfieri

Absence Notification for Cup Day Eve

On Monday October 31 (the day before Melbourne Cup public holiday), we will be running an alternative program for students attending school.

As many Auburn South families travel away at this time of year, we would like to plan and organise this day appropriately.

Note that this day is not a student free day however we will be running an alternative program for the students who be attending school. This is likely to include a range of outdoor / indoor activities and specialist programs.

If your child/ren will be absent from school on the Monday, please fill out the short survey below. You do not need to complete the survey if your child/ren will be attending school.

or scan the QR code below

COVID-19 isolation requirements have changed

The Victorian Government has announced the end of the Pandemic Declaration and associated Pandemic Orders.

The following settings, based on advice from the Department of Health, will apply from 11.59pm Wednesday 12 October 2022.

It is strongly recommended that students:

• who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days
• should not attend school after 5 days if still symptomatic
• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school
• advise the school of the COVID-19 positive test result

Where students become symptomatic at school they should:

• be collected by their parents/carers
• undergo testing for COVID-19

Reporting Positive COVID-19 Test Results

The Department of Health recommends that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, schools and household.

Parents and carers will therefore be asked to continue to report positive student COVID-19 cases using the VicED COVID Tool.

Asthma and Thunderstorms 

With the Spring wet weather now upon us, it is important to consider how this change in weather may affect health issues such as asthma and hay fever. More over how to approach this in light of COVID-19 awareness. 

Thunderstorm asthma — be prepared this pollen season

Grass pollen season, which runs from October to December each year, brings an increase in asthma and hay fever symptoms. It also increases the risk of thunderstorm asthma. For people with asthma or hay fever, especially those who experience wheezing or coughing with their hay fever, thunderstorm asthma can be sudden, serious and even life threatening.

Auburn South Primary School will implement a range of measures to keep our school community safe when the risk of thunderstorm asthma increases. 

Many of our staff are trained in asthma first aid, and we will monitor the VicEmergency app to receive thunderstorm warnings, and, where appropriate, keep students indoors when weather forecasts identify greater level of risk.  

How you can prepare:

During pollen season, there are some things you can do to prepare and protect yourself and your family:

• If your child has ever had asthma: talk to your doctor about what you can do to help protect your child from the risk of thunderstorm asthma, including updating your asthma action plan. Taking an asthma preventer properly and regularly is key to preventing asthma, including thunderstorm asthma. 
• If your child has hay fever: see your pharmacist or doctor for a hay fever treatment plan and check if you should have an asthma reliever puffer. These are available from a pharmacy without a prescription.
• If your child has hay fever and experiences wheezing and coughing: it is important to make sure they don’t also have asthma. Speak to your doctor about an asthma action plan.   
• Where possible, avoid being outside during thunderstorms from October to December, especially during the wind gusts that come before the storm. Go inside and close your doors and windows. If you have your air conditioning on, turn it to ‘recirculate’.

Protect yourself this pollen season – managing asthma and allergies matters.

COLA for Hire!

Our new Covered Outdoor Learning Area (COLA) is NOW AVAILABLE FOR HIRE!

Contact Michael Wainwright (Assistant Principal) if you or your affiliated sports organisation are interested in hiring this great area (before-school, after-school & weekends). 

This all-weather area can be set up for NETBALL, BASKETBALL, SOCCER/FUTSAL and many other sports and outdoor activities!

Ways to Volunteer at ASPS

With our school continuing to welcome back parents onto the school site, Term 4 is a great time to re-engage as a school volunteer.  The following always need small armies of enthusiastic parents:

• Parents Association Committee (email: auburnsouthparents@gmail.com if interested)
• Kitchen Garden Program (see SAKG page in newsletter)
• as a canteen team member or casual helper
• class events and excursions
• Parent Green Team

If you would like to find out more, please contact the office or myself for further information.