Principal's Report
By Judith Drew
Principal's Report
PLEASE STAY SAFE AND WE WILL SEE YOU ALL ON THE 15th July
Principal Report
It has been a busy term of learning, connecting and improvement at ARPS during Term 2, with much to celebrate as we head into our winter holiday break. At our staff meeting last night, teams of teachers presented some of the highlights, growth and successes from the term, demonstrating just how much students, staff and parents have achieved over the past 11 weeks. We were very impressed by the incredible progress of our Foundation students in writing showing how many students are now independently using their known words and sounds, using beautiful handwriting skills and completing whole pages of written recounts of personal experiences.
We were also pleased with the whole school implementation of a rewards system through School Wide Positive Behaviour practices in every classroom. Students have enjoyed celebrating their excellent behaviour through recognition at assembly and in our ‘whole school rewards’ points system. Tomorrow students will enjoy a ‘Pyjama Day’ to recognise the positive behaviours across the school and respond to student choice of reward through the ‘tally jar’ system. I am sure it will be a fun day.
Our Student Attitude to School Data was also recently made available. This data was obtained from the survey of Year 4-6 students recently completed in relation to their experiences and perceptions of life at school.
We were very pleased to see that, compared to 2023, our results showed great improvements in all domains that all Year 4-6 students responded to in the survey:
| Factor | 2023 | 2024 |
| Differentiated Learning Challenge | 80% | 88% |
| Effective Classroom Behaviour | 69% | 76% |
| Effective Teaching Time | 78% | 83% |
| Stimulated Learning | 70% | 84% |
| Attitudes to Attendance | 74% | 83% |
| Motivation and Interest | 67% | 75% |
| Perseverance | 60% | 79% |
| Self Regulation and Goal Setting | 72% | 83% |
| Sense of Confidence | 65% | 84% |
| Advocate at School | 76% | 86% |
| Managing Bullying | 58% | 77% |
| Respect for Diversity | 68% | 77% |
| Sense of Connectedness | 67% | 81% |
| Sense of Inclusion | 84% | 87% |
| Student Voice and Agency | 54% | 62% |
| Effort | 69% | 80% |
| High Expectations for Success | 87% | 94% |
| Teacher Concern | 63% | 76% |
There are always opportunities for improvement with this data through seeking feedback and examples of best practice. I found the insights and feedback from our Student Voice Team group today, regarding the data from different cohorts (including the different data distributions for boys and girls) very informative.
Working Bee 23rd June
It was wonderful to work with so many families and students at our Working Bee on Sunday. This hard working group managed to move all of the soft fall into the playgrounds, and completed a huge amount of tidying, hedging, weeding and clearing in the large garden space to the north of the school, and some at the front and asphalt areas. It was lovely ot have a chat and enjoy a BBQ at the end of all our efforts on the day.
It was also lovely to be able to take students into this area to investigate this great learning and play space during this week.
Many thanks to the following families for their donations and support on the day:
| Kinross family | Hanna family |
| Green family | Summersett family |
| Qin family | Padfield family |
| Horua family | Fraser family |
| Ivonnella family | Jayaseleara family |
| Michael Mottershead | Firaz family |
| O’Shea family | Vanh family |
| Chau family | Styczen family |
| Akuratiyage family |
Maths News
Mathletics
We encourage all students to access their Mathletics account at home or at school. It is a great resource to help students practise their Maths skills in an interactive way using technology. If your child does not have access to the internet at home to use Mathletics, arrangements can be made with your child’s teacher so they can access Mathletics at school.
Certificates are awarded automatically through the Mathletics system and are monitored by classroom teachers, and displayed at school.
Families are encouraged to promote the use of Mathletics at home, especially on those cold, winter, indoor days! Link: https://login.mathletics.com/
Sports News
Junior Athletics Day
Our Foundation to Year 2 students enjoyed a fabulous House Athletics session today with the event facilitated through a grant and provided by Kelly Sports (external providers). Students learned how to jump low hurdles, compete with resilience and positivity, and celebrate their own successes and those of their peers. And our students used up lots of energy! What a great experience for our younger students.
Invitation: Hotham NDIS Forum
The Hon Clare O’Neil MP, Federal Member for Hotham, invites you to a NDIS Forum with The Hon Bill Shorten MP, Minister for NDIS.
This forum will be for anyone wanting to better understand the NDIS. It will also be an opportunity for Minister Shorten to gain an insight into our community’s concerns, challenges and needs.
Tuesday, 16 July 2024
6pm - 7.30pm (Panel commences 6pm sharp)
Accessible venue: Register here (https://www.clareoneil.com/NDIS) for your free ticket and to be notified of the venue in Hotham closer to the event. Please feel free to contact the Hotham office at 03 9545 6211 or Clare.Oneil.MP@aph.gov.au with any questions or for registration support.
Clare wants to make sure you are heard even if you cannot make the event – so please email Clare.Oneil.MP@aph.gov.au with a question, story or feedback for Minister Shorten and they will collate as an insight into our community's needs.
Judy DREW
PRINCIPAL