A Message from David & Cam...

Welcome to AGPS!

A warm welcome to all of our new families that have joined the AGPS community this year. We have a large number of students across Years 1-6 and 4 incredibly keen prep classes joining us this year. We have been most impressed with how well everyone has settled in and are really proud of how our existing students have made everyone feel welcome. It has been a joy to see new friendships form as well as seeing and hearing happy children playing outside with their friends.

We couldn't be more proud of the way all the students have started the school year. Everyone is so settled and excited to learn! Thank you all for your support in making the start of the year such a positive one.

Here are some pics from the playground on the first day of school:

And here are some really excited big brothers, sisters and cousins welcoming their prep siblings/cousins to our school:

Resilience Project

A major initiative this year is the implementation of The Resilience Project (TRP) throughout our school. TRP will focus on three main concepts - Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness and our students will learn about these concepts through the teaching of Emotional Literacy. The objective is for the students to be able to apply these concepts in their everyday lives through a series of structured lessons. Every student will receive a journal where they will complete their activities. 

The staff have undertaken professional learning on TRP on our Curriculum Day and in the first week of school and are really enthusiastic about implementing the TRP and the positive impact that it will have on our students. You can read more about TRP at https://theresilienceproject.com.au/

Student Leaders

We are really proud to announce our student leadership group for 2023

All of these students put a tremendous amount of effort into their applications and really considered their roles as leaders and what they can offer the school. I know that they will all be great role models for our younger students and will work diligently to make our school even better. Cam and I look forward to working with them all and supporting the development of their leadership skills. 

Meet Our New Crossing Guard - Joyce!

We have a new friendly face to see each morning and afternoon! Please welcome Joyce to the AGPS community.

Buildings and Grounds Projects

We have another big year planned for our facilities and grounds with 2 major projects underway. 

The first is the upgrade to our sporting facilities (see the design below). This project has been funded through the incredible fundraising efforts of previous years. This is such a wonderful achievement for our community and we cannot thank you enough for your continued support and the support you have shown towards all of our fundraising efforts! The project is planned to start in March.

The second is the upgrade to our play spaces through the inclusive school fund. There are 2 areas within our grounds that have been targeted for improvements - alongside the current playgrounds and the ship playground (see proposed designs below). The aims of the project are to create inclusive play spaces and sensory gardens with specific design elements to support all students. The plan is to create additional structured play spaces with a combination of imaginative, nature, sensory and passive play elements. This project is planned to be completed by the end of 2023.

We also have 6 cubby houses that were kindly built for us by the Men's Shed and we want to turn them from this...

to this...

If you are creative, don't mind a paintbrush and are happy to help out, let us know as we would love to arrange a painting session to get these done. 

Planning Week

This week is planning week for each of our Professional Learning Teams (PLTs). Each team was released from the classroom for a day to partake in their planning day.

Planning days are dedicated to the work of our teams and their focus on student learning. PLTs engage in student data analysis to inform their planning for the term ahead. Teachers work collaboratively to plan engaging, targeted learning experiences for their students. They may also undertake professional learning together, based on their shared goals for their teaching practice and student learning. 

Meet & Greet

Our annual Meet and Greet is scheduled for next Wednesday 22nd February from 3:30-6:30pm for grades 1-6. This is an opportunity to meet your child's teacher so that we can build a strong home-school partnership. 

The Meet and Greet session is not a Parent/Teacher interview. Teachers will not be reporting on your child's progress at this time. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for parents to share important information about their children and to get to know the teacher. Formal Parent/Teacher interviews will be held mid-year and you are able to arrange times to meet with your child's teacher as needed to discuss any concerns or to find out about your child's progress.

Please book your Meet and Greet session time via Compass by selecting the Conferences tab in the side menu or at the top of your Newsfeed.

Traffic Management

We would like to reiterate some important safety reminders about school drop-off and pick-up:

• Park your car prior to a 100% stop, with the engine off, prior to your children exiting the car
• Ensure that your children exit on the curb side
• Ensure that you and your children cross at the designated crossing area
• Use the roundabout and not enter the staff car park to turn around
• Adhere to the speed limit of 40km per hour
• Please do not do U-turns and utilize the roundabout

We would also like to remind everyone that the staff car park is only accessible to staff and parents/carers that are accessing TeamKids. We have had a number of students walking/riding in the car park and this is a serious safety concern.

Thank you for your cooperation with this.

Volunteering

Altona Green relies on the support and efforts of volunteers to provide wonderful experiences and a great environment for our students. Please see below for ways that you can volunteer and support our school:

• Parents and Friends have planned many events that benefit our school and many of these can only operate with volunteer support. Keep an eye out for communication from Parents and Friends in the newsletter and joining the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1711670309087291/) for opportunities to help out and meet other parents. Parents and Friends also have an online volunteer sign up form here https://signup.com/go/NAryeRX where you can register your interest in volunteering.
• Trish is also always looking for help to keep our beautiful gardens beautiful! If you are able to help out in the gardens, please get in touch with us (email, phone or in person). Any help is appreciated.
• In-class support - if you would like to support in the classroom, please get in contact with your child's teacher and/or specialist teachers.

Communication

Here is an overview of the different communication methods of our school community:

• Compass - Our main form of communication. This includes consent and payment for excursions/incursions/camps, bookings for parent/teacher interviews, student reports, important school dates and fundraising activities
• Upcoming Dates - Important upcoming events are published via the newsletter and as a stickied Compass notification (stays at the top of your Compass newsfeed)
• Newsletter - Published fortnightly on Thursday (alternate week to assembly)
• Facebook - We primarily use Facebook to celebrate events and achievements and to share images and videos
• Seesaw - Parents and carers can access their child's Seesaw learning journal to gain insights into the classroom. This includes student work and learning goals. This can also be used to communicate with the classroom teacher
• Curriculum Newsletter - Each teaching team publishes a curriculum newsletter early in the term. This provides information about different curriculum areas that your child(ren) will be focusing on for the term
• Contacting your child's teacher - If you would like to discuss a matter related to your child please arrange a time to meet with your child's teacher. This can be arranged by sending an email, sending a message via Seesaw or contacting the office.

Reminders

As we begin a new year, it’s a good chance for some reminders:

• Please make sure all of your child’s belongings are labelled clearly with their name.
• The staff car park is only for staff during the hours of 8am - 4pm.  Students are not permitted to walk through this area as it’s not safe.
• Any visitors to the school must come through the main front gate and report to the office.
• We very much value support from families.  If you or a family member would like to assist please apply for a working with children check (this is free).  Once you receive your card, please bring it to the office so that we can photocopy it and keep it on file.  Further information about how you can help at school will be published in the future
• Terms 1 and 4 are hats on terms.  All students are required to wear a sunsmart hat during sport and break times. Hats (as well as other uniform items) can be purchased from the uniform shop.
• The uniform shop is located in the BER near the Elizabeth Court gate are and is open on Tuesdays 8:30 – 9:00am and Thursdays 3:00 – 3:30pm.
• All students needs to be in full school uniform. 
• Any students who arrive after 9:00am must sign in at the office and collect a late pass. Students arriving at school late must be accompanied by an adult or the parent needs to call the office to explain the reason for being late.
• Parents are reminded that playground supervision (teacher on duty) is provided before school from 8.45am and after school until 3.30pm. Students should not be in the school grounds before or after these times unless supervised by their parents or an adult

C.S.E.F. - Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. 

Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

Please give a copy of your Health Care Card to the office or email me a copy of your card to:altona.green.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Annual Privacy Reminder

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website here.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Dari
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese.

Thank you all for a wonderful start to the year. I look forward to what will be a really exciting year.

Take care,

David & Cam