Assistant Principal Update

Welcome to week 6.  

We’re now already halfway through the term with just over a month until the Easter break. The upcoming long weekend will hopefully be a chance for students to recharge before the final month of term.

Basketball Court Resurface

Today works commenced on the basketball court resurfacing. The first stage is to grind the surface back to create a smooth flat surface. The basketball court will be out of bounds for just today as these works are undertaken. The next step – painting the court - will happen in the next couple of weeks once all the materials are delivered. The court will again be out of bounds for the duration of the works. The area will be cordoned off with no access. Once the multiple coats of surface paint have been applied, new markings will go down. We anticipate that this process will take approximately one week. We have installed a new ring to replace the one that was broken. However, once the court resurface has been completed, we will have new backboards and rims installed.

Once again, we acknowledge the works of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and all the students and families who supported the SRC fundraising efforts during the 2024. These have allowed us to carry out these upgrade works. 

Additionally, I have included below a wonderful persuasive letter that I received from a student early last week reiterating the importance of providing a safe and well-resourced school. I have responded individually to this student and requested that I include a picture of his letter so our community can see what strong advocates our students are for their school.

Reading at APS

At APS we are guided by the evidence based, Big 6 of Reading.

• Oral language
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Vocabulary
• Fluency
• Comprehension

To be an effective reader requires skills and understandings in decoding, text use and text analysis. Each of these skills and understandings is crucial, but they all take place within an overall focus on meaning making, which is the central purpose of all literate behaviour. Meaning making must be central to the teaching of reading.  At APS all teachers teach phonics explicitly, alongside supporting students’ literal, inferential and evaluative comprehension and to support students’ interest, engagement and enjoyment with books and other texts that they read and view. 

Alphington Primary utilises the resources from the Literacy Toolkit to provide a systematic and balanced approach to the teaching of reading. It includes: 

• providing a range of explicit teaching opportunities during modelled, shared, guided and independent reading.
• explicitly teaching phonemic awareness and phonics so students can identify the sounds of English and decode written text.
• using strategies to explicitly teach comprehension strategies. 
• supporting students’ understanding, interpreting, critically analysing, reflecting upon, and enjoying written and visual, print, and non-print texts.
• reading and viewing a wide range of rich and authentic texts and media, including literary texts, short stories, poetry and plays as well as popular fiction and non-fiction works.
• active engagement with texts during literature circles and Book Club sessions to develop knowledge about the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they are created.
• providing opportunities for whole class, small group, and individual instruction.
• carefully monitoring students’ reading progression and establishing individual reading goals which are revisited regularly as part of our daily reading program.

Sandpit use

The sandpit in the Prep/1 area is a very popular play space. Often almost overflowing with students utilising the toys and space. With the help of some very hard-working Year 4 students, we have topped up the sandpit with an additional two cubic metres of sand. Additionally, there are new toys available, which are very popular. We have an easy to install cover for the sandpit to ensure the space remains free from animals and wildlife when not in use. Each day our teachers on yard duty endeavour to cover the space to ensure the safety of students when using the sandpit. We have noted that members of the APS community are utilising the sandpit outside of school hours. We are fine with this happening but do request that the cover is returned to its position to ensure the space remains safe and hygienic.

NAPLAN 2025

NAPLAN Online will be held for students in Years 3 and 5 from next Wednesday 12 March through until Monday 24 March. Teachers in Years 3 and 5 have been supporting students in preparation for NAPLAN by working through the online platform, practising the different tasks that are assessed on during NAPLAN and covering wellbeing topics related to NAPLAN. 

It’s just a one-off point in time test. It can help us with what to teach next. Just do your best. 

Families of students in Year 3 and 5 should have received a Compass Post last week with the parent information sheet attached and the draft NAPLAN timetable. 

A final reminder that if you do not wish for your child to participate in NAPLAN then you need to contact the school by March 7 so that we can provide you with the documentation to withdraw your child from the tests.

Student behaviour & wellbeing

As we enter the second half of the term it is common for students to begin feeling tired, and/or easily overwhelmed. This will often lead to conflicts occurring in the playground, sometimes over quite minor incidents. We are very conscious of this and are ensuring we continue to follow our school’s behaviour procedures when investigating and dealing with behaviour concerns. 

The best way for us to support students is to encourage them to report any incidents to a teacher as soon as they identify a problem. On most occasions staff can manage incidents in a timely manner bringing a resolution and restoring justice. We also try to remind students that when an incident is reported, generally, staff talking to students will be adequate. This sometimes is misunderstood by students as ‘the teacher didn’t do anything’, as they expect a strong consequence to be enforced. Nevertheless, we want to thank those families who continually remind their children to report incidents to the teacher and then inform us through the normal avenues if further investigation is required.

Quantum Race Team Excursion

Students who submitted an EOI to participate in the 2025 APS Race Car 3D Printer Challenge have been selected and have had their first session today. It was an introduction to the expectations of the project and the different elements each student will need to contribute to ensure a successful team.

Brody and Andrew are very excited to be attending the 2025 Formula 1 Grand Prix with the APS Race Team Club. To support Print-A-Car Project, students will attend the Schools Driver Learning Program on the Thursday session of the Melbourne Formula 1 Grand Prix at Albert Park. The purpose of the program and excursion is to inspire students to pursue their interests in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and understand the diverse pathways and careers that STEM and the motorsport industry can offer. The program has a range of exciting and innovative exhibitors, interactive workshops, informative career seminars and STEM-based challenges that will develop new learning and interest in STEM. 

Class Liaisons

Class liaison parents fulfil an important social and cultural role within our school community. The role is essentially a link between parents in the class, in relation to school social events, and between parents and school committees and sub committees. Communication involves the organisation and management of such events, being cognisant of privacy and confidentiality. 

The tasks typically carried out each year include:

• Organising a social evening or occasion for the parents of the class on occasions throughout the year
• Coordinating acknowledgement of teachers work on behalf of teachers. e.g. World Teacher’s Day
• Coordinating assistance at other school events, if requested, including events organised by the Community Events & Fundraising Committee
• Encouraging parent participation at social events organised by the school community e.g. collecting names for a class table at a Trivia Night event
• Disseminate information/requests in relation to school events e.g. costumes for school concerts.

We are still seeking class liaisons for the following classes:

                - 5M       - 5J         - 4B        - 1E        - All Prep Classes

We will hold an information morning on Friday 7 March from 9:15am onsite on Level 1 of the main administration building. 

Have a great week everyone!

Shane Wilkie - Assistant Principal