Principal Update

Our strong desire to involve students in the development of their school has seen me meeting with a group of keen play equipment enthusiasts. Two students from each Year 2, 3 and 4 class gather to explore what could be featured in the new Year 3/4 equipment. 

All fundraising money from this year will go towards the purchase and installation of new equipment. So far we have discounted the trampoline, flying fox and tall spider nets. 

The Play Equipment team are conducting a tally of what all students in these classes would like to see. We’ll shape that into a list and seek three designs and quotes. We will know more about the costs then but are expecting that next year’s fundraising will also be needed for this major expense. 

A few events to keep in your diary are the P/1 concert this Thursday (tomorrow), the Student Free Day on Monday where the staff will complete some data analysis and planning and spend some time report writing. We have the OHMP concert on Sunday 12 November for all those students who learn an instrument at school.

Our projected enrolment for 2024 is 350 students. A slight increase from this year. We will offer 17 classes. Our decision to offer straight classes in each year level rather than multi-age means that the numbers are not even. We will have Prep classes of 17 and the Year 6 classes will be 25. We have had a lot of interest from families wishing to come to APS and our usual practice is to only accept families that are living in the area or where we have space. We will have a number of new families joining us next year and we welcome them into the school community. 

2024 Class Requests

We invite parents to write to me if they have a particular request regarding their child’s class placement for the following year. This request must be on educational grounds. Requests for a particular teacher will not be considered. If you feel compelled to make a request then please ensure it is in writing to myself no later than COB Tuesday 14 November. Each student will be asked to list 5 friends they would like to be in a class with and they do their best learning with. This becomes part of the puzzle along with teacher advice, academic performance and other aspects which need to be considered. This year we are trialing a program ‘Class Solver’ to create the class lists. Staff will review these and make changes accordingly but we expect the process to be more efficient by using the program. 

The Year 6 students have begun their work on the ‘positive mark’ they leave in the school. This year they are working with artist David to paint the inside of the concrete blades at the front of the administration building. He will work with the students to incorporate their ideas into a mural which they will also help paint. Shane has more details in his section and it is an exciting project that I’m sure the students will feel very proud of. 

Have a great week

Melissa Mackenzie

Principal