Principal's Report

 Principal Report   

Principal for the Day

Three weeks ago, Mr. Lewis did a great job of being Principal for the Day.  I had another rest last Friday, when it was Ms. Padfield’s turn to run the school for the day, and she did an outstanding job!  From yard duty, to reading student work and the important job of awarding stickers, to giving out Student Acknowledgments and reading out announcements at assembly, there was no job that Ms. Padfield couldn’t do! Well done! 

Victorian State School Spectacular Town Hall rehearsal

Yesterday and today, some of our students have been attending the Victorian State School Spectacular at John Cain Arena for the final dress rehearsals in preparation for the performances on Saturday.  Most of our students will be performing in the Mass Choir – we are sending them best wishes for a great performance (or, should we say “break a leg”?) Shout out goes to Hudson, who has a special back stage role.  Chookas!

Taking Photos at School

It is lovely to be able to look back at your child’s primary school journey through photos. We remind parents that while at school (assemblies, sports days, etc.) you are only able to take photos of your own child.  Taking photos of other children without express permission from that parent (particularly if posting online) is not allowed. We thank you for your cooperation. 

Footy Colours Day and Walk-a-thon- Friday 11th September

Our annual Footy Colours Day and Walk-a-thon is occurring on Friday 11th September. Children are encouraged to wear their team colours to school, and classes will work with their teachers (and parents- all welcome) to cover as many laps around the school grounds as they can to help fundraising for the school. Keep an eye out for the sponsorship form for the Walk-a-thon. Students can also bring a gold coin to take part in the ‘longest kick’ competition, as part of our fundraising efforts.

District Athletics Day

What a great day!  Our students showed great sportsmanship and supported each other at the District Athletics Day yesterday.  Thanks to Mr M for organising our students to attend.

 Well done to all!

Some of our students have now made it through to Division Athletics.

Congratulations to the following 8 students for making it through to the next level - DIVISION!

Dilitha. H - High Jump, 9/10 year old boys

Lidia. K - 200m, 9/10 year old girls

Sarah. W - Shot Put AND Discus, 9/10 year old girls

Daniel. E - 100m AND 4x100m Relay, 11 year old boys

Michael. K - Hurdles, High Jump AND 4x100m Relay, 11 year old boys

Archie. H - Shot Put AND 4x100m Relay, 11 year old boys

Reegen. F - 4x100m Relay, 11 year old boys

Skylar. D - 100m, 11 year old girls

Invitations and information regarding the DIVISION Athletics Competition, to be held on Wednesday 7th October, will be communicated within the next week.

Parent Opinion Survey - closes Friday 18 September 2026.

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Carer Opinion Survey and is seeking your feedback. Your opinions are important to us and will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. Thank you so much to those parents The survey will be conducted online and only takes 20 minutes to complete. It can be completed on any internet enabled device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.The survey is available in English and 10 other languages: Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. If you require assistance in another language, resources may be available for you. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school if you require assistance in anotherlanguage. Details of how to complete the survey are on your Compass parent portal. If you have any questions or issues, please contact the office. 

The fire brigade came – but no fire!

Our Foundation students had an exciting incursion where they learned important fire safety skills, what to do in an emergency and how to stay safe. 

Camps

Next week, Year 3 & 4 students will be heading off to camp.  Then in the last week of term, our 5 & 6 will also be attending camp.  Thank you to the teachers, who have done a lot of preparation work to ensure that the camps are both educational and fun! 

Year 2 Pyjama Party

We are looking forward to the Year 2 Pyjama Party on Thursday 10th September.  With pizza for dinner, games, a movie and disco, the excitement amongst our Year 2 students is palpable!

Father’s/Special Person’s Day Stall

On Thursday 3rd September, we will be having our Father’s Day/Special Person’s Day stall.  Please make sure that you purchase a voucher on Compass and bring a bag on the day to get the goodies home.  Thanks so much to Christina and the team for organising this for our families. 

STEM Afternoon

We had a great turnout for our afternoon of experiments to celebrate Science Week in the STEM room!  After school on Wednesday 19th August, we invited families to come and experiment with electricity!  Students made squishy circuits, lemon batteries and electric cars. Our students – and their families – were very invested in creating movement and light. Thanks go to Ms. T for securing the funding and organising the activities for a Science afternoon – what a great opportunity!

Book Character Parade Day is coming!

Ms Foley is doing a great job of reminding us to get ready for Book Week! Our Book Character parade will be on Friday 4th September.  We cannot wait to see the fabulous book characters that will be visiting Albany Rise Primary School then!

Bunnings BBQ

What a glorious day it was last Sunday for our Bunnings BBQ.  In total, we had 17 adults from our school community run our fundraising event.  A huge thank you to those behind the BBQ and those who bought a sausage.  Thanks also to Mrs. Wilkinson, who helped with setting up and replenishing supplies through the day. 

2027 classes

Selecting the best fit classes for each cohort is an incredibly complex exercise. If you would like to let us know of a situation that affects class structures for 2027, please email Jane.Capon@education.vic.gov.au by Friday 18th September. We can’t make any promises, but we like to take your views into account. 

Playgroup has arrived at Albany Rise! 

The Albany Rise Primary School Playgroup is officially in session!  After the morning drop-off, if you have children aged 0-5 years (who are not already at school), you are welcome to come to the Function Room where we will have a variety of toys and activities set up for the children to play, and parents/grandparents are welcome to have a cuppa and a chat.  Families from outside our school community are also welcome. Gold coin donation if you can.  Huge thanks to Ann Dunford, who has kindly offered to facilitate our playgroup on Monday mornings 9.15 -10.30am during school terms. 

Tours

If you know of any families who would like to see our school in action, we offer group tours, which run on most Mondays at 9.30am. We can also offer individual tours at other times. Please call the office for more information. 

Toys at ARPS 

We know how important play at lunchtime and afternoon recess is for our students.  However, towards the end of last term, we noticed more and more, that students were bringing personal toys to school. These items became a distraction in class, and a cause for distress in the playground, as items were lost and broken and causing many disputes and misunderstandings.  These issues were then spilling into the classroom, with teachers spending valuable learning time on solving these issues. Therefore, with the exception of balls, we are asking parents for their support in ensuring that all other toys are left at home.  If you have any queries around this, please do not hesitate to contact Jane on Jane.Capon@education.vic.gov.au

Brain Food 

 We know how important healthy eating is for learning! For some school children, the only time of the day that they eat fresh fruit and/or vegetables is during Brain Food time at school. For this reason, Brain Food time is privileged for fruit and vegetables only (this does NOT include fruit juices or other food).   This is something that most schools practice each day, sometime between 9am and lunch time (11.30am).  We thank you for your support of this initiative. 

Outside of School: sport or other activity - Achievement of the Week 

We know how important physical activity and sport is for our students and to our school community, which is why we privilege time at school for PE and sport. We also know that we have some very talented students who participate in sports and activities outside of school.  

We would love to celebrate their achievements! If your child has received an award or progressed to the next level of their activity outside of school (be it sporting or otherwise) , please let us know and we would love to celebrate their achievements in our newsletter. Please contact Mr Mottershead with information and a photo, or email through to our school office on Albany.rise.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Jane Capon