Principal's Report

Principal Report 

Principal Report

End of Term 3- time to celebrate!

At our staff meeting last night, teaching teams shared many of the wonderful achievements for individual students and cohorts across all year levels. It was wonderful to see the growth in mathematics, letter/sound knowledge, word recognition, sporting excellence and so much more throughout this past term.

At our assembly tomorrow, we will be acknowledging many of our students in a range of achievements from Term 3. We hope parents will be able to come along and join the assembly (at the earlier time of 1.45pm) before we finish for our holidays at 2.30pm.

Footy Colours Day and walk-a-thon – tomorrow!

Our Annual Footy Colours Day and walk-a-thon is occurring on Friday 20th September- the last day of term. All students are encouraged to wear their favourite footy team colours for the day. We will have a parade with team songs in the morning (all welcome), followed by our fundraising ‘Walk-a-thon’ around the school. Parents/carers are encouraged to take part by helping with the tallying of laps, supervisions, or joining in the walk. Students should return their walk-a-thon sponsorship forms by Friday for teachers to add the number of laps for each student has completed, so that the forms and money can be returned by week 2, Term 4. There is a prize for the highest fundraiser.

At lunchtime on 20th September, students who have ordered a sausage and drink via Compass by 19th September, will be eating their special lunch.

The ‘Longest Kick’ competition during lunchtime this year has a special GUEST from the AFL Victorian Masters side . Carl CARIDI is Vice Captain of AFL Victorian Masters side and multiple Premiership Player in that division. There is a prize for students in the 3-6 (senior) and F-2 (junior) longest kick competition. Students are asked to bring a gold coin on the day to donate to the Cancer Council ‘Footy Colours’ fundraising program.

Victorian State School Spectacular

What an amazing day and evening of performing in the Mass Choir on Saturday 14th September. Our 24 participants at John Cain Arena, did an incredible job of singing, signing and joining in the matinee and evening performances in the VSSS. The performances were recorded and will be aired on Channel 7, and 7+ later in the year (I will ensure the time and date is advertised). A HUGE thanks to Mr Daniel Redfearn who led the rehearsals and managed the group through all their performances. It was a big day and I’m sure one everyone involved will remember for a long time!

Year 5/6 Science Fair

What a huge success our Year 5 and 6 Science Fair was this afternoon. As a culmination to the Science integrated curriculum learning from this term, Year 5 and 6 students researched, investigated, wrote about and displayed some amazing science experiences this afternoon. Thanks to all the parents/carers who provided the support and resources to enable this event to be so much fun learning for our students.

Responsible Pet ownership

Last Friday, our junior students has the opportunity to take part in the ‘hands on’ responsible pet ownership program. Students were able to pet some furry friends and learn all about what it takes to properly care for our pets at home. I am certain the children enjoyed their time interacting with animals and learning about responsible pet ownership.

Working Bee thanks:

On Sunday 8th October, we had a group of very hard working parents and some staff onsite to tidy our grounds and undertake some painting tasks around the school.

Many thanks to the following families for your donated time and financial support for our recent working bee:

Community Caring

Our Kind and generous ARPS community have been incredible in their support of a needy family at our school. We have had an overwhelming response from parents/carers with a mountain of baby supplies provided to the school to pass on to a family in need. Thank you to everyone for your support. We are not requiring any more resources or supplies at this time, thanks to everyone’s’ incredibly generous response!

Photographing and videoing at school

Recently, School Council reviewed a number of policies, including the recently updated Department of Education policy in relation to filming and photography at school.

A copy of the policy is available on our school website or at the office by request.

The purpose of the policy is to explain to parents/carers and students: 

• how Albany Rise Primary School collects, uses and discloses photographs, video and recordings of students 

• when parent/carer consent is required before photographing, filming and recording students 

• how consent can be provided and withdrawn.

Most parents/carers provide consent for the taking and using of photographs at the start of each new school year.

The policy also includes a link to an additional policy , regarding the taking and using of photographs of adults within the school, Link: Photographing, Filming and Recording Staff and Other Adults: Policy | education.vic.gov.au

Common courtesy, and this policy, suggests that the appropriate approach before taking a photo of any other adult on the school grounds, is to ask permission beforehand. As noted in this policy: Photographs, films and other recordings of individuals are considered personal information, and as such are protected by privacy law in the same way as other personal information.  

I am very appreciative of the efforts of all members of our ARPS community in adhering to both these policies when taking photographs in the school grounds.

10 better bedtime behaviours to try tonight

Recently, I have found myself in various conversations with parents/carers regarding bedtime routines and the importance of adequate sleep for primary aged children. The information below is from renowned parenting expert, Michael Grose. I hope families find some of the information about the importance of establishing regular ‘early to bed’ bedtime routines informative.

Parenting expert Michael Grose’s best ever tips

1. Make a regular bedtime.

Choose a bedtime for each child that suits their age and stick to it.

“The recommended amount of sleep for two to five year olds is 11-12 hours. The recommendation for primary age is 9-11 hours and for teenagers, it's 8-10 hours.” 

"For example, if a primary age child needs to wake up at 7am to get ready for school and if an average is 10 hours, then no later than 9pm for an upper primary school age kid - probably 8.30pm," For infants and toddlers, by 7pm is good, adds Grose.

2. Dial down the brain chatter.

According to Grose, to sleep well, you need to turn your brain off and start to relax, but it's easier said than done.

“From a personal perspective, I practice mindfulness. It’s a higher level practice and it doesn’t always work - but it’s useful if you do wake up during the night too."

3. Have a wind down time.

“Having a wind down time tells the body that sleep is coming. That means, no TV or digital stimuli and for parents and teenagers, no caffeine. Generally, everyone needs to start calming down. So Dads – don’t have the big wrestle with the kids five minutes before bed time.”

4. Differentiate between sleep spaces and the rest of the home.

According to Grose, you shouldn’t let children do homework on their beds. “Physically we associate location, for example there’s an association with the communication place in the home - that's where family talk time happens. Don’t contaminate your sleeping place with work - keep them separate."

5. Get the lighting right.“Good sleep hygiene means having a cave-like room,” says Grose. “Have a look – are there too many lights? A soft night light is fine – it’s preferable not to have one in an ideal world but there are genuine night fears in young children."

6. Lower the body temperature.

A bath is perfect for this, says Grose. Body temperature naturally dips at night, starting two hours before sleep and bottoming out at about 4am, according to research conducted by New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

For a deep sleep, soak in a warm to hot bath to raise your body temperature, then the rapid cool-down period immediately afterward will relax you.

7. Work with your child’s sleep cycle.

"The melatonin cycle is different for teens than it is for primary aged kids. Melatonin makes us go to sleep and our body produces cortisol to wake us up. We know with teenagers that that cycle is pushed back about an hour and a half. So melatonin kicks in about 10.30-11pm for teens and cortisol kicks in at 6.30-7pm. So teens are better off going to bed later, as their sleep cycle is later.

8. Don’t get into any bad habits.

According to Grose, one bad habit is kids crawling into your bed. "It’s quite common for kids to climb into your bed, especially after a life change like a separation. If you let them do it, what was a treat, now becomes the new normal."

Grose says if you establish good sleeping habits with kids in childhood, it carries across into adolescence.

9. Use a meditation app or sleeping tape.

Grose says, don’t think about sleep - but pleasant thoughts. "Close your mind down and stop the chatter. And that’s where mindfulness comes in – it’s like a tool. It makes you focus on your breathing. Try Grose's sleep tapes for children or mindfulness apps, such as the new Trolls-inspired meditation on Smiling Mind.

10. Differentiate between being in the bedroom and being asleep.

Set a bedroom time for say, 8.30pm for an eight year old. "For example, the child has had their story by then, and as a parent, I am going to disappear after 8.30pm."

According to Grose, sometimes the fight we have with kids is that they've got to be asleep. "They’re not going to go straight to sleep. Some need less than others."

"Say to them: what can you do to put yourself to sleep? They could look at a book perhaps and you leave them to put themselves to sleep. They start to regulate their own sleep. I think that’s a really useful distinction for parents – the distinction between being in the bedroom and being asleep."

Judith Drew

Principal