Assistant Principal Update
Shane Wilkie
Good afternoon, and welcome to week 7. Another amazing week at APS with several events keeping staff, students, and families busy as we head towards the end of the term.
The week kicked off with District Athletics on Monday 26 August with 49 Students representing APS at the Ivanhoe District Athletics Carnival. It was an excellent day with the boys placing second overall in the district and several girls securing selection to compete in the Division Trials. Next week Year 3 and Year 4 are heading off to Camp and we have our Prep/1 Concert next Wednesday evening. There are so many events coming up in the last month of this term that I recommend keeping a close eye on the school calendar.
Quantum 3D Print-a-Car Challenge
Last Thursday Brody and I attended the first heats of the 2024 Quantum 3D Print a Car challenge. The two school teams who progressed to the heats following months of working at school as part of the STEM club were visibly nervous as the first race start approached. Would the car work? Would it make it to the finish line? Would it be fast enough?
While the actual race time trial is an important aspect of the challenge. The next phase of judging involves reviewing the teams portfolios and checking the cars technical specificiations and applying any deductions. We have yet to hear if either team will progress to the finals in November, but we are extremely proud of the students efforts. A big thank you to the families who transported students to the event and to Brody who has developed an awesome STEM club this year with fantatsic rsults for all involved.
Maths Association of Victoria – MAV Maths Talent Quest:
In my last newsletter I reported that a group of Year 5 students had submitted a class entry to the Maths Talent Quest. Their entry; Property Playbook: A young Aussie’s guide to buying their first home investigated the different types of maths required to purchase a dwelling in our local area.
This week we received the results, and the students were awarded a High Distinction, scoring over 85% on the marking rubric. All entries that have earned High Distinctions are invited to attend an award ceremony on the morning of Thursday 17th October at Storey Hall, RMIT University, Melbourne CBD. For class entries, two student representatives can attend with up to two teachers. The students in the group have decided to use a random wheel spinner to select one male and one female representative to attend. We will provide further details to those students closer to the event.
STOMP Dance - https://www.trybooking.com/CUYST
Year 2-6 students are working on their concert dances in the gymnasium on Monday and Tuesdays with Kira and Izzy from STOMP Dance. The effort, enthusiasm and engagement has been excellent, and all classes have gotten through the choreography for a whole dance. A spectacular effort. Students will spend the next four weeks completing their class dances, while the Year 6 students are working on the script development, acting, props and programs. There will be a whole school dress rehearsal on Tuesday 17 September at the Ivanhoe Girls Grammar Performing Arts Centre (PAC). The performance will also be held at the PAC from 7:00pm on Thursday 17 September.
Tickets for the performance will go on sale through TryBooking this Friday 30 August, and will be on sale until Friday 9 September. Tickets will be $25 each for adults and $20 for concessions. There will be a 2 ticket per family limit to ensure all students are able to secure tickets for the 500-capacity venue. A second release for additional tickets of any unsold seats will go on sale on Monday 9 September.
https://www.trybooking.com/CUYST
Grandparents Day & Book Week Celebrations
We had an amazing day Last Thursday with Grandparents Day and our Book Week celebrations. The day started with a whole school assembly in the gymnasium and the Book Character Dress Up Parade. It was by far the largest crowd we have ever had, with the audience 4-5 deep around the outside of the parade space. All the students, and staff, looked amazing in their different costumes. There was lots of celebration of literature throughout the day, including grandparents and families being invited into classrooms to join in with our literacy morning.
Alphington Primary School even made it onto the Department of Education LinkedIn page with several students promoting the joy we get out of book week here at APS. Check it out on the link below.
UPDATED INFORMATION: Book Week Performances
To continue our Book Week celebrations, we have again booked Meerkat Productions to provide our students with a dramatic representation of the book Timeless by Kathy Canby, which has been nominated for an award as part of book week. The production team have put the final touches to this year's adaptations and are excited to start performing.
The APS performance will be now held on Thursday 12 September 2024 at 9:30am for students in Prep, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4. The team at Meerkat have adjusted their program so that we could accommodate the students attending camp.
Timeless by Kate Canby - Emit (whose parents turned back time to name him) is surrounded by busyness. Dad is too busy to read stories, Mum is too busy to play games and Emit’s brother and sister are simply too busy doing nothing to do anything, at all. Emit tries everything he can think of to get more time, he tries to catch it, wait for it, but it’s not until Emit tries to buy some time that he learns the secret which is, if you want time, you have to make it.
RMIT Pre-Service Teachers
Alphington Primary School supports the development of our educational workforce. A part of this means mentoring beginning education students as they complete their degrees and courses. Throughout each academic year we accommodate a variety of Pre-Service Teachers. This week we have 5 students from RMIT University commencing their pre-service teaching placement at APS. Students will spend 3 weeks working in classrooms with their mentor. The students are working in Year 3, Year 4, and Year 5. We welcome them to APS and wish them the best in their ongoing learning.
Wellbeing at APS – Circle Time
Circle Time is a teaching strategy which provides a structured mechanism for solving problems, in which all participants have an equal footing. Circle Time affords the opportunity for the teacher and class to communicate with each other about issues which promote self-esteem and positive behaviour.
Circle Time should not be regarded as a sanction, and as children begin to understand the mechanism, they will ask the teacher for a Circle Time session when they think it is necessary.
Where Circle Time is developed across levels in a planned, developmental way, many teachers report that it makes significant impact, in developing children’s skills and attitudes.
There are the rules by which Circle Time will proceed most effectively. Ideally students make up their own rules as part of their classroom agreements although there are some which are well-considered examples. Such as:
• You can only talk when you are holding the ‘talking stick’
• Everybody listens when someone else is speaking
• Everybody has the chance to speak
• Always keep the circle shape
• Everyone has the right to pass
• Listen respectfully to what a person says
• Children may disagree with a statement but no one should be put down
• No statement or answer is wrong
• Nobody should be mentioned by name
• Children can only talk about their own issues, not someone else’s.
Class Splits
In previous newsletters I have discussed our process for splitting classes when we are unable to secure a Casual Relief Teacher (CRT) due to staff absence. In the past fortnight we have had several absences and there have been occasions when we were unable to get a CRT. This meant we did a class split. I would like to acknowledge teachers who are flexible and adaptable to ensure that for those couple of classes who were split, we were able to do it across their year level and all students continued their curriculum program as planned.
Term 2 and 3 are traditionally terms when we see an increase in staff absence due to the cooler months. Coupled with staff leave entitlements and the ongoing staffing challenges in education we envisage that we will need to split classes at times.
We do not split Prep classes ensuring they always have consistency in their rooms and curriculum programs. We also endeavour not to split year levels where there are only two classes, but this is not always possible. Fortunately, all our classes are below the DET recommended class size of 26 students, so class sizes splits can be effectively managed, and students can continue their curriculum programs with minimal disruption.
Have a great week everyone
Shane Wilkie
Assistant Principal
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