Principal's Report

Science Week 2025- Such fun!

It was wonderful to see so many families attending our Science afternoon event yesterday in the STEM room. Our Year 5 and 6 ‘Experts’ enjoyed sharing experiments and chemical reactions with young and older learners. Many thanks to Natalie Tzanatos (STEM specialist) for arranging the activities for our celebration of Science at ARPS, and for all the student leaders and teachers who assisted and led activities (and cleaned up afterwards). We hope everyone learned a few new science ‘tricks’!

Year 2 Sleepover

Our Year 2 students will be enjoying their first steps into the school camping program this evening, with a sleepover occurring at the school. Students will be learning about setting up their camp beds and sleeping bags, sharing a room with other students, taking part in fun group activities and games to develop social skills, having dinner and breakfast together and having a packed lunch. They will be learning skills for increased independence, including looking after their clothes and other belongings, get dressed and ready for learning with minimal support and following instructions in a camp-like environment. I am sure they (and the teachers staying overnight with them) will have a wonderful time and learn much from the experience.

Year 3&4 Camp- next week

Next week, our Year 3 and 4 students are heading off to Flinders to take part in a fabulous adventure camp at Golden Valleys Camp. The students will be at Camp from Wednesday 3rd September to Friday 5th September. We are thrilled to see that almost every student is taking part in this fantastic camp and we are sure the whole group will have plenty to learn and stories to tell when they return. Keep an eye on updates on Dojo and in the newsletter next week.

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey THE SURVEY IS STILL OPEN!

Thank you to the 12 parents who have already completed the survey.

WE WANT OUR PARENTS / CAREGIVERS / GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. 

The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 18 August to Friday 19 September 2025.All families are invited to participate in the survey. Please look out for the invitation via Compass.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / caregivers / guardians who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.

Results will be communicated to parents / caregivers / guardians through annual reporting and in the school newsletter. Last year we used the survey results to inform our Annual Implementation Planning and whole school review in 2025.Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.

Sunsmart- REMINDER HATS ON FROM SEPTEMBER 1ST (MONDAY)

A reminder that as the UV levels increase at this time of year, we need to be sunsmart! The Cancer Council recommend a combination of sun protection measures: 

1. Slip on some sun-protective clothing that covers as much skin as possible. 

2. Slop on broad spectrum, water resistant SPF30+ (or higher) sunscreen. Put it on 20 minutes before you go outdoors and every two hours afterwards. Sunscreen should never be used to extend the time you spend in the sun. 

3. Slap on a hat – broad brim or legionnaire style to protect your face, head, neck and ears. 

4. Seek shade. 

5. Slide on some sunglasses – make sure they meet Australian Standards. 

Our Sun Smart Policy specifies that all students must wear a sun smart hat whenever they are outdoors at school once the UV reaches 3. 

Please support our Sun Smart policy by providing a ‘sun smart’ hat for your child. Hats are available for purchase at the uniform shop.

Students without a hat from Monday 1st September will remain in a quiet, shaded space during lunchtimes and afternoon recess due to our ‘NO HAT, NO PLAY’ Sunsmart policy.

District Aths (68 selected students from Year 3-6)

Congratulations to all of the students who took part in the District Athletics competition today. We were strong competitors, with several of our students moving on to the Divisional Athletics competition later this year!

Footy Colours Day and Walk-a-thon- Last Day of Term 3- 19th September

Save the date! And keep an eye out for the sponsorship form for the Walk-a-thon, which will be out to families next week. Our annual Footy Colours Day and Walk-a-thon is occurring on the last day of term. Children are encouraged to wear their team colours to school, and classes will work with their teachers (and parents- all welcome) to cover as many laps around the school grounds as they can to help fundraising for the school. Students can also bring a gold coin to take part in the ‘longest kick’ competition, with funds raised towards the Footy Colours cancer council fundraiser.

More details and the walk-a-thon sponsorship form will be available next week.

Parent Requests for Grades in 2026:

How is the grade structure decided? 

At ARPS, our policy is to create a whole school grade structure which is either single year levels or multiage (across 2 year levels). The structure is dependent on the numbers of students in each year level, the dynamics of students in each year level, our knowledge of students in the school and the best operational timetable and staffing arrangements that can be created within the budget provided by the Department of Education. The exact class structure is often not finalised until all of our future enrolments for 2026 are confirmed. Parents should consider the likelihood that their child will be placed in either a single year level or a multiage class

Can parents choose teachers?

•            The short answer is no.

What can parents request?

•            That their child might be with (or not with) another student based on educational needs, or if there may have been a past incident or negative history with another student. Parents may request something like, having your child separated from a good friend to help them focus or have the opportunity to make new friends. 

Who do I send my request to?

Follow this link and complete the online form: https://forms.gle/nYSp7yyHBo617YzX9

Student class Place requests 2026

No later than Friday 16th October, 2025 (no exceptions)

How do we make grades for 2026?

We start by asking students to identify five ‘friends’ they might like to have in their grade for the next year. When we say ‘friend’, we mean someone who they would work well with, not always their best friend. Students have ample time and opportunity to be with their best friend, outside of school and classroom hours. Importantly we don’t guarantee these ‘five’ requests, usually students will get one or two of their ‘friend’ requests.  Sometimes not getting requests upsets students and their families. Invariably however, we find that students meet new friends (in their new grade) that they wouldn’t have met if we hadn’t encouraged mixing the grades, across their years at school. So, this is a deliberate strategy that supports students building their friendship groups across the years. 

Who makes the grades?

Classroom teaching staff and specialist teachers all contribute to making the grades. 

The Principal Class Team decides on the final grades. As a rule, we never make changes after the grades have been made. So please make your request before 16th October.

What factors do we consider when we make grades?

When we make grades, we consider things like: Academic capabilities / friendships / students’ behaviour. We want to ensure that grades have an even spread of boys and girls – we do not stream grades.

I trust this explains how we do this process; this is consistent with most schools.

Enrol Now for Foundation 2026! 

We are currently receiving strong interest for our 2026 Foundation enrolments and need to establish how many siblings of our enrolled students are due to start at ARPS next year. I would like to thank those families who have already enrolled their child for next year. If you have a child starting Foundation, please ensure you have completed their enrolment form as soon as possible. 

Lastly, but very importantly…

Congratulations to Mrs Laura Young and her family, on the safe arrival of their beautiful new daughter; Miley Elizabeth Young on 23/8/25. We wish Laura and all her family the very best 

Principal