Principal Update

While the mornings are chilly the days have been beautiful! 

We have been focusing on acknowledging efforts made by students in relation to the school values. At assembly over the last few weeks I have congratulated students for looking after each other, taking time to ask questions of others, showing interest in others and showing respect for our environment. We really enjoy highlighting the positive things we see and feel proud of the efforts so many of our students make. 

Congratulations to Tallulah and Rani who ran a hugely successful ‘APS Biggest Morning Tea’. They provided a juice drink and fruit and raised a whopping $463.50. The generosity of the community for this event was astounding and the determination, organization and persistence of these two students was admirable. Thanks to everyone for their participation. 

This Friday students can dress in the colours of our First Nations people and on Thursday the 6th of June the Year 6 Events Action Team are holding a fundraiser to also commemorate Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week. More details further in the newsletter. Money from this fundraiser will go to a charity called Red Dust.

The SRC are hosting a ‘Thank a First Responder Day’ on Wednesday 12 June. They are encouraging students to dress-up and donate a gold coin. All money raised will be donated to the SES which is the first responders they chose to support. 

We have finalised the new Year 3/4 play equipment and placed the order. I would like to thank the team of students who volunteered for this role and have given up much time to discuss, survey, analyse data, study the designs and hold votes across the year levels to come to this final design. The process began last year and has undergone a rigorous process with installation expected in September. The money needed for this project is made up of: $40,000 from the 2023 and 2024 Fairs and $10,000 from the 2022 Color Run. We also have some money set aside for the Gaga Pit that the students want. We are planning on having the shade sails over this area taken away and cleaned during this time. 

I wrote a few weeks ago about not bringing dogs into the buildings and I am again appealing to parents to respect our learning areas and support them being safe places for all to be in. We have students who are frightened by dogs and others who for cultural reasons are not able to be touched by dogs. Inside buildings is not the space for dogs. We will be putting notices on doors to remind parents of this. 

As parents you will know of the ‘ups and downs’ in behaviours that your children go through. We also experience this at school as students learn to play and interact with others. In the classroom teachers are strategically placing students in groups so as well as academic learning they are also learning socially. Working with others is a life skill that begins at pre-school and continues throughout the years of schooling. At times you may hear about incidents that happen at school. There is a clear process that we as a school undertake when an incident occurs. We ask that you contact the school directly if you are concerned. If your child is directly involved in an incident then you can expect a call from the teacher who dealt with the situation. We pride ourselves on very few issues to deal with, we work on a positive learning environment and include social learning in this. We have been congratulating students for their friendliness, ability to support each other and taking positive steps to resolve issues. It is all part of learning. 

Our Year 4, 5 and 6 students will be completing the Attitudes to School Survey over the next fortnight. We use this data to analyse how our students are feeling, the programs we are implementing and any areas we need to focus on. A snapshot of this data will be shared late term 3 when we receive the results.

A reminder that Friday 7th June is a Student Free Day as we head into the long weekend. TheirCare will be open on the Friday please book directly with them.

Have a lovely week

Melissa Mackenzie

Principal