Principal Update

2027 Student Free Days – UPDATED - PLEASE NOTE NEW DATES

APS Fair Wrap Up 

What a fantastic School Fair we enjoyed last Saturday. Despite some uncertain weather forecasts leading into the event, the smiles, laughter and excitement certainly won on the day.

Events such as our School Fair are only possible because of the extraordinary efforts of so many members of our community. 

On behalf of the school and School Council, I would like to sincerely thank the CEF Fair Committee - Kylie Troy-West, Linda Besenyei, Steph Bink, Zoe Warne, Luke McKinnon, Pavlina Petrovski, Jonathon Bink, Wynand De Jager, Jacq Larson, Honi Rosenwax and Mike Chen.

Thank you also to all of our stall managers/leads, parent volunteers and staff members who contributed their time and energy throughout the day.

A special acknowledgement to the following individuals who took responsibility for coordinating one of our Stalls or Activities.

A special acknowledgement must also go to our administration team. Thank you to Luke, Liliana and Lauren for their contribution behind the scenes.

There are also two very special recognitions this year:

• Thank you to Antonette and Matthew C, who celebrated her 10th year of organising the much-loved Mystery Bags. This has become a wonderful fair tradition and a highlight for so many students.

• Thank you to Lisa G, who has run Mad Science at the fair for many years. This was Lisa's final fair in this role. We are incredibly grateful for her contribution and the enthusiasm she has brought to this activity over the years.

   

To everyone who volunteered, attended, donated and supported the fair, thank you. The event was a tremendous success and a wonderful celebration of our school community.

Planning for 2027

The Department funds schools on an average of approximately one teacher to 25–26 students. Where schools choose to operate classes below this ratio, the additional cost is reflected in the Student Resource Package (SRP). Consequently, we review class structures and compositions each year to ensure we continue to manage our resources responsibly while meeting the learning and wellbeing needs of students.

We anticipate maintaining 19 classes in 2027 and are currently reviewing staffing, class structures and student placements. Our priority remains balancing responsible resource management with the learning and wellbeing needs of all students. We have seen an increase in Prep enrolments for 2027 and will run four classes. We have also had significant interest for enrolments in other year levels. Below is a breakdown of our 2027 class structure. 

Curriculum Day – Monday 2 November

Staff will undertake professional learning as part of our Curriculum Day working collaboratively in mixed year level teams to review the priorities of our 2026 Annual Improvement Plan (AIP). Using the traffic light system, we evaluate whether the key actions have been completed, developing, or not commenced/removed. Following the review of the 2026 AIP, teachers moved into their Curriculum Implementation Group teams (English, Maths, STEAM, Empowerment, Inclusion) and develop their key priorities, strategies and actions for 2027. Luke and I will work with the school leadership team in a couple of weeks on our Leadership Planning Day to utilise this information in developing our 2027 Annual Implementation Plan.

We will also spend some time focusing on our teaching and assessment priorities, with a session on utilising cohort reading data from the DIBELS assessment to identify and action whole class, small group and individual reading targets led by our school Speech Language Pathologist Meg. 

Alan will lead staff through a session related to our continued work on the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 (VTLM 2.0) and responsive teaching – providing students multiple opportunities to respond during explicit teaching and continually checking for understanding, addressing student learning needs in a timely manner.

The final session of the day will be ‘Putting Faces on the Data’ and unpacking the 4-year academic targets set following our school review and the completion of our 2023-2027 School Strategic Plan. The goal of the session is to take each of the long-term targets and start to understand what these mean in terms of the individuals and groups of students over the year. Keeping in mind that the 2027 target for Year 3 students relate to our current 2026 Year 2.

By 2027 increase the percentage of Year 3 students achieving NAPLAN proficiency levels as follows:

• Exceeding in Writing from 16% (2023) to 25%
• Exceeding and Strong in Numeracy from 88% (2023) to 90%

By 2027 increase the percentage of Year 5 students achieving NAPLAN proficiency levels as follows:

• Exceeding in Reading from 50% (2023) to 55%
• Exceeding and Strong in Writing from 88% (2023) to 90%
• Exceeding and Strong in Numeracy from 83% (2023) to 87%

Staff analyse our various student data sets and identify an appropriate target for students aligned to the updated NAPLAN bands. (Needs additional support, Developing, Strong, Exceeding) and set a realistic target for those students in years P-5 based upon their current levels of achievement. As a school we can set learning goals for these students in the specific learning areas to target our teaching across the curriculum. This ensures we are appropriately challenging all students at their point of need, with consideration to the overall improvement of our school in relation to the teaching of literacy and numeracy, and the 4-year strategic targets.

APS Colour Fun Run – TOMORROW - Thursday 29 October

Get ready for an afternoon of colour, fun and community spirit! Our Colour Fun Run will take place at Alphington Park from 1:30–3:00pm.

Lunch will be earlier than usual, from 12:30–1:30pm. Classes will be timetabled to complete the course, with additional activities throughout the afternoon.

We will return to school for a 3:00pm celebration assembly, including a special surprise draw for students who have raised $10 or more for the Starlight Foundation.

Shane Wilkie

Principal

Alphington Primary School