Acting Principal Update

Welcome to week 5.  We’re now already halfway through the term with just over a month until the Easter break. Things are really starting to settle into a groove with classroom learning well underway in all curriculum areas. The upcoming long weekend will hopefully be chance for students to recharge before the final month of term. We have had several incursion events recently, as well as quite a few upcoming, including the Year 6 Camp following the Labour Day weekend.

A reminder to families that extra-curricular activities such as incursion and excursions are user pay events covered by the incursion/excursion levy. Camps are extra and you will receive notification to consent and pay for these closer to camp dates.

Thank you to those families who have made these payments already and to those families who may also have made voluntary contributions. 

School Safety Reminder

Yesterday there was a man having a medical episode in the streets surrounding the school. The school enacted a soft lockdown where staff attended all gates and escorted students directly into classrooms. He did not enter the school grounds. The police and ambulance were notified and arrived following the man relocating to the parklands. 

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful staff who acted calmly, collaboratively and with our students’ safety and wellbeing at the forefront of their actions. I reminded staff that it is not by chance that we respond in such ways, but due to our ongoing commitment to reviewing, updating and practising a range of processes that ensure we are prepared for what eventuates during a school day. 

We have increased the school security with the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV), and we are now locking the external gates to the school once the bell goes at 9:00am. Entry to the school during school times is via the Yarralea Street office gate. 

As I write this before 8:30am there are several students in the yard. These students are not supervised as the school provides a duty of care from 8:45am. Can families please remind your children that they should not be at school before 8:45am unless they are supervised by a parent. 

Each of these measures is to ensure that we can provide a safe environment for students while attending APS. 

School Council Election Ballot

We have had an overwhelming response to the call for parent School Council nominations. We have 5 parent positions available on School Council, and due to the number of nominations exceeding this, we are required to conduct a ballot. You will have seen information posted on Compass regarding the upcoming process. 

Each person who is eligible to hold a position in the parent membership category is provided a ballot. So, most families will receive two ballot papers. Current School Council members are not eligible to vote.

On Thursday 26th February, the eldest child in each family will receive an election pack per parent containing statements from our candidates, a ballot paper and 2 envelopes. 

Voters must clearly mark using an ‘X” against the five (5) nominees they wish to vote for. You vote will be invalid if you vote for more than 5 candidates. 

You can cast your vote in two ways. 

1. Delivering or arranging for delivery of the completed ballot (in the envelope) to school by Wednesday 4 March 4:00pm.

2. Post the completed ballot to the school. If you wish to cast your vote via post, please ensure the vote is posted in time, so it reaches the school by Wednesday 4 March 4:00pm.

    

All registered voters name and address must be included in the voting register. Please ensure you read the instructions carefully to ensure your vote counts

The ballots will be counted on Thursday 5 March from 8:30am and the poll declared on Friday 6 March.

Lauren is the main point of contact for any enquiries regarding the upcoming election.

NAPLAN 2026

NAPLAN Online will be held for students in Years 3 and 5 from next Wednesday 11 March through until Friday 20 March. Teachers in Years 3 and 5 have been supporting students in preparation for NAPLAN by working through the online platform, practising the different tasks that are assessed during NAPLAN and covering wellbeing topics related to NAPLAN. It’s just a one-off point in time test. It can help us with what to teach next. Just do your best. 

Families of students in Year 3 and 5 should have received a Compass Post last week with the parent information sheet attached and the draft NAPLAN timetable. 

A final reminder that if you do not wish for your child to participate in NAPLAN then you need to contact the school by March 6 so that we can provide you with the documentation to withdraw your child from the tests.

Reading at APS

At APS we are guided by the evidence based, Big 6 of Reading.

• Oral language
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Vocabulary
• Fluency
• Comprehension

To be an effective reader requires skills and understandings in decoding, text use and text analysis. Each of these skills and understandings is crucial, but they all take place within an overall focus on meaning making, which is the central purpose of all literate behaviour.  Meaning making must be central to the teaching of reading.  At APS all teachers teach phonics explicitly, alongside supporting students’ literal, inferential and evaluative comprehension and to support students’ interest, engagement and enjoyment with books and other texts that they read and view. 

Alphington Primary utilises a range of resources to provide a systematic and differentiated approach to the teaching of reading for all students. It includes: 

• providing a range of explicit teaching opportunities during modelled, shared, guided and independent reading.
• explicitly teaching phonemic awareness and phonics so students can identify the sounds of English and decode written text.
• explicitly teaching students text specific vocabulary and strategies to support the development of comprehension. 
• Explicitly teaching and providing multiple opportunities for students to develop as fluent readers, learning about reading rates, prosody, expression and accuracy.
• supporting students’ understanding, interpreting, critically analysing, reflecting upon, and enjoying written and visual, print, and non-print texts.
• reading and viewing a wide range of rich and authentic texts and media, including literary texts, short stories, poetry and plays as well as popular fiction and non-fiction works.
• active engagement with texts during literature circles and Book Club sessions to develop knowledge about the relationships between texts and the contexts in which they are created.
• providing opportunities for whole class, small group, and individual instruction.
• carefully monitoring students’ reading progression and establishing individual reading goals which are revisited regularly as part of our daily reading program.

Student behaviour & wellbeing

As we enter the second half of the term it is common for students to begin feeling tired, and/or easily overwhelmed. This will often lead to conflicts occurring in the playground, sometimes over quite minor incidents. We are very conscious of this and are ensuring we continue to follow our school’s behaviour procedures when investigating and dealing with behaviour concerns. 

The best way for us to support students is to encourage them to report any incidents to a teacher as soon as they identify a problem. On most occasions staff can manage incidents in a timely manner bringing a resolution and restoring justice. We also try to remind students that when an incident is reported, generally, staff talking to students will be adequate. This sometimes is misunderstood by students as ‘the teacher didn’t do anything’, as they expect a strong consequence to be enforced. Nevertheless, we want to thank those families who continually remind their children to report incidents to the teacher and then inform us through the normal avenues if further investigation is required.

Quantum Race Team Excursion

Students who submitted an EOI to participate in the 2026 APS Race Car 3D Printer Challenge have been selected and will have their first official session next week when they get the opportunity to go to the Thursday session of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Brody and Jack are very excited to be attending the 2026 Formula 1 Grand Prix with the APS Race Team Club. To support Print-A-Car Project, students will attend the Schools Driver Learning Program at the Melbourne Grand Prix at Albert Park. The purpose of the program and excursion is to inspire students to pursue their interests in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and understand the diverse pathways and careers that STEM and the motorsport industry can offer. The program has a range of exciting and innovative exhibitors, interactive workshops, informative career seminars and STEM-based challenges that will develop new learning and interest in STEM. 

Have a great week everyone!

Shane Wilkie - Acting Principal