Welcome to Our New Staff

Over the past few weeks, we have been pleased to welcome a number of new staff members to AGPS, including several Education Support staff, a Speech Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, an intervention teacher and a classroom teacher in 1K.

These appointments are an important part of our commitment to supporting every student to achieve their best. Having a Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist as part of our growing Allied Health team strengthens the support we can provide across the school. They work alongside our teachers to build their knowledge and skills, help identify and respond to students' needs, and ensure we continue to provide high-quality learning opportunities for every child.

We are very excited to have these new staff members join our team and know they will make a positive difference to our students and our school community.

Please welcome:

Education Support Staff:
- Zoe Cameron
- Keri Beegoo
- Ethan Brown
Speech Pathologist - Rebeca Lou
Occupational Therapist - Rebecca Saveski
Intervention (upper primary) - Ash Painting
1K Teacher - Rachel Farfaglia

Behind the Scenes: Team Goal Setting

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside our teaching teamsas they developed their team goals for the term. Led by our Leading Teacher, Amy, these sessions focused on identifying the learning priorities for each year level and planning how we can achieve the best outcomes for every student.

What always impresses me is the depth of knowledge our teachers have about their students. They use assessment data alongside their understanding of each child to identify patterns across the cohort, celebrate areas of success and pinpoint where further learning is needed.

From there, each team develops a clear goal and agrees on the teaching approaches that will have the greatest impact. They identify where students need additional support, where greater challenge is needed and how they will monitor progress throughout the term.

Being part of these conversations reminds me how knowledgeable, collaborative and committed our staff are. Their expertise and dedication are among the greatest strengths of AGPS and play an important role in ensuring every child has the opportunity to succeed.

Remaining Term 3 Whole School Events

Book Week - Book Week runs from the 17th-21st of August. It is always a great week with lots of activities centred around our favourite books. The highlight is always the dress up day - we cannot wait to see all the creative costumes!
Father & Special Person's Day - We invite all dads and other special people in our students' lives to attend this event on the 4th of September. Details of this particular event are currently being finalised and further information will be sent via Compass.
Camps:
- 26/8 - 28/8 - Year 4 Camp Allambee
- 7/9 - 11/9 - Year 6 Canberra
- 16/9 - 17/9 - Year 2 Anglesea
Assembly - Assembly runs alternate weeks to the newsletter and is held in either the gym or under Gumbuya depending on the weather. The remaining assemblies this term are:
- 7/8 - 4/5F
- 21/8 - 3A
- 4/9 - 3B

Prep 100 Days of School!

It is always such a joyous occasion when the preps reach 100 days of school. All year they have been counting the days and getting increasingly excited about the 100 days celebration that will come. Finally, the day arrived and it was so nice seeing the excited smiles and wonderful 100-themed costumes as the preppies entered the school.

The whole day was filled with a range of fun activities, games and celebrations! We are so proud of the prep students and all that they have achieved in their first 100 days of school. They are a fantastic group of students who are all like KEFAR!

Congratulations preps (and prep teachers and ES)!!

Student Achievement

Noah - BMX World Championships

A huge congratulations to Noah on his outstanding achievement at the 2026 UCI BMX World Championships.

Competing in the Boys 8 category against riders from countries including the USA, New Zealand, Chile, Brazil, France, Canada and Japan, Noah raced brilliantly through the heats to qualify for the Round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals.

Despite an unfortunate start in his semi-final race, Noah finished an incredible 13th in the world!!! What a fantastic achievement, Noah! We are so incredibly proud of you!

Curriculum Day Professional Learning

During our recent Curriculum Day, we were fortunate to learn from our Occupational Therapist, Rebecca, who led a professional learning session on executive functioning. Staff explored the role executive functioning skills play in learning and gained practical strategies to support students with planning, organisation, attention, self-regulation and task completion in the classroom.

Staff also participated in a session led by Liz and Kylie, focusing on accommodations and modifications in the classroom. Together, we explored how we can make appropriate adjustments to ensure every student can successfully access the curriculum while maintaining our high expectations for all learners.

These professional learning opportunities continue to build our staff's capacity to create inclusive classrooms where every student is supported, challenged and able to thrive.

Remaining Pupil Free Day - Monday 2nd November

We have one final pupil free day on Monday 2nd November (day before Cup Day) which will be a report writing day.

Maths Extension

Maths Olympiad

Our Mathematicians have recently sat the third Olympiad Test. Their enthusiasm in attempting very challenging problems is very refreshing and shows a willingness to explore and investigate various mathematical strategies.

Grade 45 Maths Extension

Cam has been working with our very capable Grade 45 students once a week to provide an additional maths lesson alongside the normal teaching & learning program. The aim is to challenge the students in both content and the capacity to explain their thinking in solving a variety of problems that are both closed-ended (one solution) and open-ended (many solutions). These sessions build on the strategies and knowledge that the students already have and provide the opportunity to attempt problems with a greater level of complexity.

Working Bee - 13th September

We're looking forward to our upcoming Working Bee on Sunday 13th September. It's a great opportunity to come together as a community and help keep our school looking its best.

We will be tackling a range of gardening and light maintenance jobs around the school grounds, and there's something for everyone - no special skills required! Whether you can spare an hour or stay for the morning, every helping hand makes a difference.

More details will be shared closer to the date, but for now, please pop it in your calendar. We hope to see lots of families there!

Starting or Leaving AGPS in 2027??

Enrolments for Prep 2027 are now open, with all enrolment applications due tomorrow -Friday, 31 July 2026.

If you have a child starting Prep in 2027, please contact Casey as soon as possible, even if you haven't yet completed the enrolment paperwork. Knowing how many Prep students we can expect is incredibly important and helps us make informed decisions about class structures, staffing and resources well in advance.

We also ask that families let us know as early as possible if your child will not be returning to Altona Green Primary School in 2027. This information is just as valuable and plays a significant role in our planning for next year.

Thank you for helping us plan ahead and ensure we are well prepared to provide the best possible start to the 2027 school year.

We hope you have a great weekend.

Take care,

David & Cam

Classroom Cuisine