Principal's Report

 Parent/Teacher conferences

It has been wonderful to see such a high up-take of the opportunity for parents/carers to meet with teachers and celebrate student learning from Semester 1. Students in Years 3-6 have worked hard on creating work to share with parents to showcase their learning and progress, including slideshows and bookwork. It has been lovely to see these 3 way conferences occurring across the school on Wednesday night.

For parents yet to book a time to meet, there are still times available on Monday and Wednesday next week for most classes.

Meetings/Conferences of 10 minutes each, are available on the following days/times:

• Monday 30th June (3.40-4.40pm – all classes except 4/5N)
• Wednesday 2nd July (Year 3-6 only – 3.40-4.40pm, 4/5N – 3.40-5.40pm)

Please go to Compass to book your times: https://albanyrise-ps-vic.compass.education/ 

We are eager to celebrate your child’s learning achievements throughout semester 1 and discuss next steps on their learning journey. 

If you have difficulty being available for the times provided, please contact your child's teacher to arrange another time.

Specialist teachers are also available to speak to parents about any aspects of their program and student progress. To book a time to talk to a specialist teacher, simply call the school and request a meeting. Specialist teachers availability (day of work) are as follows:

Teachers are eager to communicate student learning progress with parents/carers. Parents can request a meeting with teachers at any time throughout the year. There is no need to wait until mid-year conferences if you need to have a chat about your child with a teacher.

Student mid-year reports have been available for parents to read on Compass since Monday 23rd June. 

Teachers spend a considerable amount of time and effort gathering data and assessment information to complete student reports. We are grateful to the parents/carers of 49% of our students who have taken the time to read the reports on Compass since their release on Monday this week. 

Musical Update

Badges went on sale this week, as part of our promotion and fundraising efforts for our whole school musical production. There are 8 wonderful designs for students to choose from. Badge prices are:

1 badge = $2

3 badges = $5

8 badges = $10 (this is a full set)

Tickets for our musical production will be on sale from next week. This year we are excited to be able to include the cost of access to the video recording of the production into the seating price, meaning families will not have to pay extra to access the video of the production. Purchasing a ticket includes free access to the video of the musical.

Ticket costs for 2025 are as follows:

Adult ticket = $20

Child ticket (12 and under) = $12

Family (2 adults and 2 children) = $60

Ticket purchase revenue helps to cover the cost of creating and purchasing costumes, art consumables for creating props, the commission for the rights to the purchased script, lighting and sound technician costs, and more.

Working Bee- Thanks!: 

Many thanks to all of the families who assisted with our Working Bee on Sunday 22nd June. The small crew of hard working parents (and some staff) managed to complete many tasks, including; weeding, planting, trimming plants, moving soft fall in 5/6 playground, and updating displays in the Year 3-6 corridor. A big cleanout of some storage spaces also occurred, with the group enjoying a tasty BBQ at lunchtime.

Thanks to the following families for their support on the day, and for the donations to the school for working bee supplies:

DISCO- tomorrow!

Our Albany Rise Parents Association DISCO is tomorrow Friday 27th June. The theme for this year is 'Glow DISCO'.

If you would like your child/children to participate in the disco then please complete the payment and consent on Compass by Thursday 26th June (today).

The Disco will be free-dress (with as much 'glow' as you wish').Tickets for entry are $5. Please bring coins and preferably small notes for chips, water/juice, glow sticks and more. (Named purse or envelope is useful).

Foundation - grade 2      DISCO 4:45pm-5:45pm sharp and 

Grade 3-grade 6               DISCO 6:00-7:15 sharp 

This event should be paid for via compass before arrival. 

Important Information about our Uniform Supplier and Shop – UPDATE

Our Contract with Aplus Schoolwear (current supplier) will finish on 30th June. There will be no more sales of uniform on site or online from Aplus Schoolwear from this date.

The shop at the school will not be operating after Tuesday 24th June. All current backdated uniform orders will be able to be collected from the school office after this date. No new orders will be able to be made after 30th June. Orders can still be made online up to this date.

Our new supplier is Spartan School World, Noble Park. Instore trading at Noble Park and online trading will commence from Monday July 28th (week 2, Term 3). Our school website and the store online purchasing website will be updated by 28th July, for parents to access online purchasing.

From 1st July to 27th July, uniform sales will not be available to parents/carers for Albany Rise branded uniform (a total of 8 school days, onsite and online).

Parents wishing to purchase uniform now, can still do so online until Monday 30th June. Link: https://www.aplusschoolwear.com.au/ShopPage.aspx?Labels=ALBANY%20RISE

NAIDOC week

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. 

At ARPS, students will be involved in research, story telling, information sharing, reading and writing as part of our school’s learning about NAIDOC week and broader understandings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture.

You can find out more about NAIDOC week here: National NAIDOC Week | NAIDOC 

 Pre- Review Self Evaluation (PRSE)- Final Reminder

This year, Albany Rise Primary School is undertaking a whole school review. Schools undertake a school review every 4 years to inform the direction of the school’s 4-year School Strategic Plan (SSP).

Thank you to the small number of parents who have completed the informal parent survey so far. There is still time for more parents/carers to complete the survey.

Parents/carers have a very important role in the Pre-Review Self Evaluation (PRSE), during the PRSE, we ask parents about their experiences, opinions, ideas and possible opportunities they would like to be considered when developing a new strategic plan. Over coming weeks, I will be asking parents to provide input through various platforms, including a simple online survey. 

PLEASE take the time to complete this simple survey: https://forms.gle/BhSRmF2LgfZ7i3LP7

Final day of Term 2- arrangements

Finally, a reminder that the last day of term for students is Thursday 3rd July. We are having a ‘celebration day’ for students to acknowledge the excellent school values shown throughout the term. The celebration day on 3rd July is a Pyjama Day! Students can come to school in (suitably appropriate and warm) pyjama’s, slippers and even dressing gowns to have a fun last day of term. There will be a brief assembly at 2pm on Thursday in the Hall. School finishes at 2.30pm next Thursday.

A reminder, Friday 4th July is a Curriculum Day. There are no students at school on this day.

Judith Drew

Principal