Principal's Report

Multicultural Harmony Day – a wonderful learning experience

What a fabulous day our students enjoyed for our Multicultural Harmony Day and incursion on Friday. Students were able to join in dancing, create artwork, research other cultures and enjoying sharing knowledge of their own personal experience with different cultures and costumes.

Many thanks to all the families who supported the event by helping students with their outfits and attending the parade in the hall on Friday morning. I am sure all of the students learned much from the experiences on the day, and the ongoing learning about different culture as part of our whole school curriculum plan.

House Athletics Day today 

Students in year 3-6 enjoyed a wonderful day of running, jumping, hurdling, throwing… and more today at the House Athletics carnival. Our PE teacher, Nick Fergus, did a wonderful job of planning all the events and ensuring that students were well prepared for the day. It was great to see so many students in the House Colours and supporting their team. 

Grandparents (and special friends) Day F-2 this Friday (tomorrow)

We are looking forward to seeing many of our younger students enjoying the company of their grandparents or special friends tomorrow morning. We hope may families will come back in the afternoon for our Colour Fun Run!

Classroom visits and teacher meetings

Throughout the year, our school encourages families/parents/carers to visit the school for a range of activities. This could be as a volunteer for excursions or daily reading with junior students, attending grandparents’ days and open nights, or speaking with teachers during scheduled parents/teacher and Student Support Group (SSG) meetings.

Parents/carers who wish to discuss their child’s learning or wellbeing at any time, are encouraged to contact the teacher (ideally via Class Dojo or call the office) and schedule a time to meet. Parents/carers hoping to meet at an impromptu time, especially during class time, are likely to be disappointed as the teacher will be focussed on the students in front of them, and unable to give parents/carers their full attention. Additionally, teachers have planning and professional learning meetings frequently before and after school, so a scheduled appointment is essential to ensure the best possible communication between home and school. Parents/carers are reminded that teachers have a duty of care to the students from 8.45am-3.45pm, and it is not appropriate to expect a meeting with a teacher or a classroom visit during these times, without prior communication with the teacher.

School Council Update

Our Annual Reporting Meeting and election of office bearers for school Council occurred last night (Wednesday 26th March). The meeting allowed a celebration of some of the wonderful achievements, particularly in student wellbeing outcomes from 2024. The committee is eager to continue to build community connections and create a high effective and positive learning and wellbeing school environment.

A copy of the Annual Report will be available on the school website in coming days.

Absenteeism

A recent Herald Sun article highlighted the growing rates of absenteeism in Australian schools. At ARPS,  we have certainly noticed a drop off in line with national data. In 2024, we sat below the federal government’s 2030 target of 91% attendance,  (the national average is 88.6% - see table 2 below), however it was not that long ago that we were sitting over 90%:

 The second key measure is the percentage of students who miss more than 20 days in a school year. Again, so far in 2025, ARPS has a positive result, with only 2% of students at the 20 day or more absent mark. However, another 15% of students have already had 10 days absent, and many have already had 5 or more this term; these students are on track to meet the 20 days absent mark- a concerning risk factor for long term learning.

Covid has certainly played a part in student attendance, but this is a nationwide trend that goes back to 2015. School refusal is on the rise and many experts argue that this is due to the impact of social media on young people.

Importantly, I want to discuss the essential aspect of you children being connected to friends in person, rather than online. We know that there are significant health benefits to being connected face to face with friends. It’s good for our mental health and our physical health. More and more we are hearing about how a student couldn’t come to school because it was raining or too hot, or there was a sports carnival that weekend, or they had had a busy week, or they were up late watching TV or iPads. The other key driver of absences is family holidays during term. Sometimes the timing is unavoidable, but we would appreciate it if family holidays could be kept to a minimum in term. 

We understand that life brings challenges, but we also know how important it is for children to be at school. Attending school is a critical part of a young person’s development and in some cases, students are up to 2 years behind on the developmental continuum due to missing out on vital social interactions in their early years. The effect that this has on learning and future socialisation is enormous and missing more school is not the answer.

Strong student attendances are directly linked to student achievement and social development. Our goal is to reduce the number of students missing 20 or more days per year from the 2024 result of 36%, to less than 10%. Our wellbeing team is working very hard to develop engaging activities and provide support to students, but we also acknowledge that there are some school tasks that just need to be done, because it’s in each student’s best interests. In short, we need the help of parents to reduce absenteeism. Please, if your child is healthy, we implore you to make sure that they are at school. 

EASTER RAFFLE: Donations Please!

This year our Easter raffle will be drawn at our last assembly on Friday 4th April. We are asking for your help by donating items for the prizes. eg chocolate eggs, Easter toys or anything else that relates to Easter. Donations being dropped at the office will need to be received by 2nd April please.

Raffle Tickets are available on Compass NOW.

Judy Drew

Principal