Principal's Message

REMINDER: School finishes at 2.30pm tomorrow. Office closes at 2.45pm.

Principal Report 

Celebrations and Farewells are a feature of this final week of Term 3. This week on Wednesday afterschool, teaching staff met to share an celebrate the many fabulous achievements of the past 10 weeks. During Term 3, students across all year levels have demonstrated incredible progress in the Writing skill, whilst using the '7 Steps' writing program. In Mathematics, students in every class have been working hard on their Ninja Maths skills and eagerly working towards their assessments to move to their next Numeracy challenge.

A huge feature of this term has been students from Year 2-6 taking part in the Camping program. Teachers all agreed that the responsibility, engagement and enjoyment students demonstrated whilst taking part in the Sleepover and Camps this term had been outstanding. 

Additionally, the hard work rehearsing and preparing for our whole school Musical Production has been a rewarding and enjoyable aspect of our Performing Arts curriculum. Today I had the wonderful opportunity of working and rehearsing with staff and students at all levels to 'fine tune' aspects of our upcoming performances in Term 4. There are further updates 

The greatest highlight shared by teachers at our meeting this week, was the care, calm and collaboration shown by students and staff in cohorts across the school. As I visit classes each day, it is very pleasing to see students so engaged and excited about their learning in classrooms, online and outdoors. I am looking forward to a very productive and positive Term 4.

Tomorrow, we say farewell to Natasha Polites (Education Support) who is seeking opportunities outside education in the future. We wish Natasha all the best on her adventures beyond Albany Rise Primary School.

EXCITING FACILITIES UPGRADE NEWS

From today, building works on our $1.06 million new toilet and facilities upgrade will commence. HOORAY!

A compound with sheds will be established under the smaller blue shade sail, near the admin building. Parents are asked to ensure all students (F-6) use the toilets in the other building (near Year 3/4 classrooms) for the foreseeable future, until works on the toilets in the admin building are completed (if required before or afterschool). Parents/visitors needing facilities must use the toilets in the admin area.

Staff let children know this today and reminded children to keep WELL AWAY from builders and the compound. If a ball goes into the area, students cannot go after it, etc. Students are not to talk to builders, without teacher supervision.

It is always a good idea to name balls (and all items bought to school) so if the items are in a place that is difficult to access, the item can be returned to the named owner later. 

We are really excited about the construction of our new facilities and I look forward to providing updates in newsletters and Dojo messages over coming months.

Musical

All students have now had information about Costumes for our Musical. We are hoping students have their named items in a plastic bag to school by the end of this term. We have an amazing team of parents and grandparents supporting staff to sew, design, create and organise costumes for all of our students. Parent/carers support from home on this front is also greatly appreciated.

Tickets for the Musical have been on sale for a week. We are thrilled with how quickly the tickets for both nights have been sold online. If tickets sell out, we may be able to release a few spare seats. Best to get in early to ensure a seat on the night.

Tickets can still be purchased here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1114329

Rehearsals for dances, actions and songs still continuing for all students. Today's rehearsals showed just how much progress the students have made over the weeks through practice and learning with STOMP and staff instructions. Thanks to parents for all the support from home also!

On the performance nights (18th & 19th October), there will also be programs available (thanks to our Performing Arts teacher, Daniel Redfearn), a raffle (thanks to our Parents Association team), Choir Performance, Food and Drinks available for sale at intermission, and of course a fabulous performance to enjoy! I am really looking forward to our community coming together next Term for our first 'full blown' musical production since 2019!

Footy Colours Day & Walk-a-thon - TOMORROW

Tomorrow is our annual Footy Colours Day celebration, and Walk-a-thon fundraiser. There are several components to the day tomorrow:

9.00am- Footy colours parade, celebrating AFL teams and their songs. Students can wear their team colours and bring a 'gold coin donation' to support Cancer Research and support. More information about this community fundraiser is here: https://www.footycoloursday.com.au/ 

9.30am- After our parade, students will take part in our Walk-a-thon to raise funds for the school facilities and grounds. Parents are welcome to come and take part in the walk, or help with the 'marking' of students to count the number of laps undertaken in the walk. The weather is looking great, so we hope many parents will come along and support students on the day.

From 11am- students will be having a special 'footy lunch' order through Compass. Thanks again to our parents for helping with the distribution of lunches tomorrow.

11.40am- Students in year level groups take part in the 'longest kick' competition. We have Aaron Green (parent) support the event with resources from the local Auskick program. It should be a lot of fun! Winners will be announced at Assembly at 1.45pm.

RUOK Day

Today is RUOK day. This is a great opportunity to consider those around us, and ask the question 'Are you okay?'. Listening can be just want a friend may need. There are may supports for students and families who need some additional care and attention at times of stress and adversity. You can find our more here: https://www.ruok.org.au/ 

HATS

With the weather warming up, NOW is the time to find those School Hats for the hotter weather in Term 4. Our school SunSmart policy ensures students stay safe in the sun by enforcing the use of hats at all times outside on 'high UV' days. With our Walk-a-thon tomorrow, I would expect all students to have a School SunSmart hat (not a cap or beanie) to wear to stay sun-safe in the sun. Please remember to name all hats!

KidsCo

Our KidsCo team will not be offering a holiday program these holidays, but continue to provide wonderful care students attending for before and afterschool care at ARPS. With the school facilities upgrade occurring (including asbestos removal onsite in the first week of the school holidays) staff, students and community members will be excluded from the school grounds. We hope with increased numbers at KidsCo in the future, the program can offer a holiday program for other holiday periods.

You can book online here: https://oshc.kidsco.net.au/oshc-albany-rise/ 

KidsUnlimited

Our afterschool soccer program will continue on Monday afternoons (3.30pm) at school in Term 4. Parents can enrol students via this link: https://ku.zone/explore

Junior Rockers

Did you know we have an instrumental music program (additional to our Performing Arts program) for small group and 1-1 lessons in guitar, keyboard and drums? You can enrol your child through this link: https://juniorrockers.com/schools/albany-rise-primary-school/

Parents are reminded that the Staff Car parks at the front and rear of the school are not for parent parking. Parents with a valid disabled pass may use the designated space at the front of the school..

Parent Requests for Grades in 2024 (REPEAT):

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 education 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/9wcG9mhRwGvN2bHv7 

No later than Friday 13th October, 2023 (no exceptions)

How do we make grades for 2024?

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 13th 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.