Assistant Principal Update

Welcome to Week 2 of Term 2. I trust everyone has had an enjoyable week. I hope everyone has settled back into the routine of school following the Easter Break. Today we held our Anzac Day Commemoration at a special assembly. It was a wonderful commemorative service led by our Year 6 Student Leaders. A special acknowledgement to all students, who demonstrated wonderful respect and listening for the duration of the assembly. 

A reminder that Friday is a Student Free Day and tomorrow is the ANZAC Day Public Holiday.

Semester 1 Reporting

Reports will be sent home via Compass on Friday 21 June. Teachers will be commencing reports this week. 

Families will receive information about reports in the coming weeks. The semester reports will have two main areas for the class teacher to provide information to families. The first is what the student has achieved. This is where teachers provide details as to what the student has achieved across the curriculum areas of English, Mathematics, Integrated Inquiry, and comments on each student’s personal and social development. The second box will provide families with areas for improvement, with details as to how this can be achieved.

APS Fun Run

Yesterday’s Fun Run was a great success with all students from Prep to Year 6 having the opportunity to participate in a fun and inclusive running event. Students in the younger years completed laps of the oval at Alphington Park, earning points for their house. Students in Years 3-6 completed 2-3 laps of the 1km track to earn points for their house and to gain qualification for the upcoming District Cross Country.

A big thank you to Natalie for doing a great job organising the APS Fun Run and to the many parent volunteers who supported with marshalling and timing of races. It was also fantastic to see so many families in attendance supporting.

District Cross Country

The Ivanhoe District Cross Country will be held on Monday 13th May at Chelsworth Park  in Ivanhoe. The top 10 fastest times in the boys and girls 9, 10, 11 and 12 age groups will be selected and will receive their permission forms via Compass.

Through discussion with Natalie and the class teachers, and weather dependent we have planned to hold two training sessions during lunch on Thursdays. Sessions will be approximately 15-20 minutes in length – with activities focusing on race strategy and simulating the length and intensity of the 2km and 3km distances and students’ times.

Bully Stoppers Program

Bully Stoppers supports all members of the school community to understand, prevent and respond to bullying. 

The 3 main features of bullying are:

• the misuse of power in a relationship
• it is ongoing and repeated
• it involves behaviours that can cause harm.

Bullying can happen at home, at school or online. It is never okay, and it is not a normal part of growing up. The Bully Stoppers online toolkit supports teachers, principals, parents and carers, and students to work together to help prevent and respond to bullying.

STEM Expo

Our annual Science & Technology Expo will be held on Wednesday 15 May. Students in Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 will be working on projects in class as part of their Term 2 Integrated Inquiry Unit. Students in Year 3-6 will also be working on STEM Expo projects in class, however some students in these year levels may have additional tasks to complete as home learning. More information about the STEM Expo will be shared in the coming weeks.

Year 6 Action Teams

Students in Year 6 have continued to develop their Action Teams programs in supporting our local Early Childhood Education providers. Yesterday a group of students visited Yarralea Kindy and lead a range of activities as part of their action plan to give back to our local community. We are extremely proud of how confident and comfortable students are when working with the younger students, and the time and effort they have put in to supporting and preparing activities.

Have a great week everyone!

Shane Wilkie

Assistant Principal