School Life @ ASPS

Inclusion Day

On the 30th of August, we celebrated Inclusion Day! We sold rainbow shoelaces and rainbow badges to raise money to buy Mini Pride Flags for each classroom. In total, we collected $255! A lot of people wanted to buy more of the rainbow ribbon badges, so we may be buying more to sell next term. Thank you all for getting all of your kids to dress up, our photo turned out amazing! Check it out:

Your Community Reps, Adele and Arya

Why Inclusion Day and LGBTIQA+? 

The Department of Education Policy for LGBTIQA+ Student Support is very clear, "Schools must take reasonable steps to eliminate discrimination on the basis of sex, gender and sexuality."

What does this look like in a Primary School? 

At ASPS, we're commited to the mandated Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships program which ‘supports schools and early childhood settings to promote and model respect, positive attitudes and behaviours. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.’

“Respectful Relationships does not teach radical gender theory. It is a primary prevention initiative to reduce family violence. Respectful Relationships promotes respect and gender equality and helps students learn how to build healthy relationships. It prepares students to face challenges by developing problem-solving skills and building resilience and confidence. Schools involved in the Respectful Relationships initiative are building a culture of respect and gender equality, by looking at their practices and policies to drive meaningful change.

The Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence recommended Respectful Relationships be introduced to all government schools (Recommendation 189). Evidence presented to the commission showed that family violence is the most pervasive form of violence perpetrated against women in Victoria.”

The Respectful Relationships program enables our students to explore relationships and inclusion in an age-appropriate way. For example, on days such as Inclusion Day, students from Prep engaged in activities such as:

• Building strengths through cooperative games
• Being kind and being brave
• Problem Solving Games: Can everyone play?
• Friendly or unfriendly decisions?
• Fair and friendly play
• Sharing the play space and equipment

Learning about the importance of acceptance and inclusion must start from Prep, particularly when considering the prevalence of family violence and mental health statistics for LGBTIQA+ Australians.  The critical importance of developing habits around inclusive behaviours, attitudes and language are highlighted in the ABC article below. 

With regards to Sexuality and Consent Education, students from ASPS participate in the EveryBody programs run by trained  facilitators from Sexual Health Victoria. The Year 5 program will commence shortly after the upcoming holiday break. An additional article from the Better Health Channel is also included below as a resource to assist families when having conversations about relationships and sexuality (we used to call it sex education).

Uniform Shop.

Just a reminder from the uniform shop – please remember to pack your hat. Term 4 is 'no hat, no play'. 

To purchase hats and other uniform items, our shop is open on Fridays between 8.45am - 9.15am onsite.

Alternatively, you can order online via flexischools.com.au  

2nd hand donations can now dropped off at the main office. Two green donation bins can be found inside the entry into the main office.

Volunteering at ASPS

After reviewing our current processes, we have developed a Parent/Volunteer Helper Handbook.

Going forward, all volunteers at ASPS (sporting events, classroom reading, excursions, SAKG, canteen etc.) will be required to read this handbook and return the two signed forms, along with their WWC, to the office.

Once this has occurred, then you can volunteer at ASPS.

Please find the Parent/Volunteer Helper Handbook below: