Victorian State School Spectacular- this weekend!

After many months of rehearsals and long days of practice, our group of 23 students performing in the mass choir will be on stage at John Cain Arena this Saturday 13th September. I am so excited to be able to attend this year as a spectator, whilst Daniel Redfern (Performing & Visual Arts specialist teacher) and Mia Rowland (Year 1/2 teacher and musician) take on the role of leading and performing with the group on Saturday.

It is a long day of performances and student management, from 10.30am in the morning till 10.00pm at night. Students have a matinee performance and then an evening performance during the day.

Today, the students are off again at one of their last 2 rehearsals, with a very early start and a late return back to school both days.

The Victorian State School Spectacular is recorded by channel 7 each year and replayed on television during Term 4. Be sure to look our for our students performing in the Mass Choir when you see the recording later this year!

Participation in the Victorian State School Spectacular is an extracurricular activity at ARPS, one of many options available for extracurricular learning (during and after school), along with instrumental music, Chess club, robotics, choir, coding, garden club and so much more!

More information about extracurricular activities can be found on our website or within this newsletter.

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey THE SURVEY IS STILL OPEN!

Thank you to the 27 parents who have already completed the survey.

WE WANT OUR PARENTS / CAREGIVERS / GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is open online from Monday 18 August to Friday 19 September 2025.

All families are invited to participate in the survey. Please look out for the invitation via Compass.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / caregivers / guardians who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.

Results will be communicated to parents / caregivers / guardians through annual reporting and in the school newsletter. Last year we used the survey results to inform our Annual Implementation Planning and whole school review in 2025.

Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.

Footy Colours Day Walk-a-thon 19th September - Reminder

Albany Rise Primary School is again conducting our annual ‘Footy Colours Day’ fundraising walk-a-thon on Friday 19th September (last day of Term).

Students will be provided with a sponsorship form, which they can fill in with sponsorships/donations from family and friends to donate for each lap of the school that they walk.

On 19th September, all students will return their sponsorship forms to school (usually by at least the day before) and then walk several laps of the school (usually between 3-10 laps for each child). Teachers will confirm the number of laps each child has completed and return the forms home for students to collect their donations. Parents/Carers are welcome to help on the day.

The monies and forms are then returned to school on (or before) Friday 17th October (Term 4) to be in the running for a great prize! /so you can catch up with your supporters over the holidays and ‘collect’ your donations!

On the day (19th September), our Parents Association will be running a separate special ‘Footy Lunch’- paid for via Compass ($5) and a ‘Longest Kick Competition’ during lunchtime (Gold Coin Donation to take part); more great prizes! Funds from this competition go to the Cancer Council ‘Footy Colours Day’ fundraising efforts.

Students can wear their favourite Team Colours on the day!

What a great way to end the term!!

Parent Requests for Grades in 2026 (REPEAT):

How is the grade structure decided?

At ARPS, our policy is to create a whole school grade structure which is either single year levels or multiage (across 2 year levels). The structure is dependent on the numbers of students in each year level, the dynamics of students in each year level, our knowledge of students in the school and the best operational timetable and staffing arrangements that can be created within the budget provided by the Department of Education. The exact class structure is often not finalised until all of our future enrolments for 2026 are confirmed. Parents should consider the likelihood that their child will be placed in either a single year level or a multiage class

Can parents choose teachers?

• The short answer is no.

What can parents request?

• That their child might be with (or not with) another student based on educational needs, or if there may have been a past incident or negative history with another student. Parents may request something like, having your child separated from a good friend to help them focus or have the opportunity to make new friends.

Who do I send my request to?

Follow this link and complete the online form: https://forms.gle/nYSp7yyHBo617YzX9

Student class Place requests 2026

No later than Friday 16th October, 2025 (no exceptions)

How do we make grades for 2026?

We start by asking students to identify five ‘friends’ they might like to have in their grade for the next year. When we say ‘friend’, we mean someone who they would work well with, not always their best friend. Students have ample time and opportunity to be with their best friend, outside of school and classroom hours. Importantly we don’t guarantee these ‘five’ requests, usually students will get one or two of their ‘friend’ requests. Sometimes not getting requests upsets students and their families. Invariably however, we find that students meet new friends (in their new grade) that they wouldn’t have met if we hadn’t encouraged mixing the grades, across their years at school. So, this is a deliberate strategy that supports students building their friendship groups across the years.

Who makes the grades?

Classroom teaching staff and specialist teachers all contribute to making the grades.

The Principal Class Team decides on the final grades. As a rule, we never make changes after the grades have been made. So please make your request before 16th October.

What factors do we consider when we make grades?

When we make grades, we consider things like: Academic capabilities / friendships / students’ behaviour. We want to ensure that grades have an even spread of boys and girls – we do not stream grades.

I trust this explains how we do this process; this is consistent with most schools.

Parent Contributions 2026

By the end of November, we will inform the school community of the Parent Payments for 2026. The Department of Education has asked schools to itemise the payments. The cost for Parent Payments is discussed and approved at our Finance and School Council meetings prior to being announced to the school community.

Are you leaving ARPS in 2026?

We ask that you let us know if you are moving or have enrolled in another school in 2026. We require this information as soon as possible to establish grade structures for the start of the new school year. If your child is currently in Grades Foundation – 5, and will not be at Albany Rise in 2026, please notify the school office in writing / email as soon as possible.

End of Term

A reminder that Friday September 19th is the last day of Term 3 and students will be dismissed at 2:30pm. Please make sure that your child is either collected at this time or enrolled into the Camp Australia Out of School Hours Care program.

Judy Drew

Principal

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