Principal's Report
Dear Parents, Families and Community members,
Thank you Dehlia
After three and half years and a tremendous amount of commitment, energy, professionalism and positivity, Dehlia Dawson (Assistant Principal) has left the ACS community.
This is a really bitter sweet moment for myself and our school community as Dehlia has been one of the founding staff at ACS and someone who has taken a lead role in our school establishment and continuous improvement journey throughout. Dehlia and her husband Jeremy immigrated from South Africa more than 12 years ago; have made the difficult decision to head to Northern Queensland to seek not only the warmer climate, but a wonderful career opportunity for Dehlia as Principal of Rockhampton North Special School.
This is such a well-deserved opportunity for Dehlia and I know our community, whilst no doubt feeling a range of emotions reading this news, wish her well. Although we will greatly miss Dehlia and everything she has brought to ACS on a daily basis, we will forever be thankful for the contribution she has made to our great school.
On Wednesday 17/3/2021 we held a special assembly for the students to thank Dehlia and to be able to recognise and celebrate all of her wonderful contributions to the school. Students and staff presented Dehlia with handmade roses (her signature flower) letters and cards; and of course, there was a hug or two as well!
We wish Dehlia all the very best as she embarks on her new role - THANK YOU DEHLIA!
Harmony Day
On Friday the 19th of March, we invited staff and students to represent our diverse cultural backgrounds by wearing traditional cultural dress or the colour orange in celebration of Harmony Day.
The Prep students investigated different texts about diversity and belonging to help them create their own book, demonstrating how although we are all different, we belong together at Armstrong Creek School.
The grade 1 & 2 students learnt about Harmony Day by exploring the meaning of culture, diversity and respect. They investigated each other’s cultural backgrounds and the diverse sounds of music from different cultures.
The grade 3 & 4 students have been investigating what life may have been like for Australia’s First Nations People, early settlers and convicts, writing imaginative diary entries. We would like to give a special shout out to Tomomi for sharing her cultural dress and background with the school.
The Secondary students completed a number of activities for Harmony Day. They conducted research and made a short film clip to celebrate Australia’s cultural diversity. It was then presented at assembly and we would like to share their hard work with you here in the newsletter.
Crazy Hair Day
As a very successful Term 1 draws to a close, our school captains thought it would be a wonderful idea to celebrate all of our students' achievements, by organising a Crazy Hair Day to be held on Thursday 1st April (last day of term)!
At ACS we are so lucky to have access to a high-quality education, and we are aware that unfortunately this is not the case for all children in the world.
To help every child have access to a good education, we will be asking each ACS student to please bring a gold coin donation along with their crazy hair.
All funds raised will be donated to the organisation, Change for Children. If you would like to further read about this organisation, please click on the following link: https://changeforchildren.org/.
The total amount of funds raised will be communicated via our newsletter in Term 2.
We look forward to seeing some outrageous hair styles on the last day of term!
Chloe Hayden 'Difference is not Less'
On Tuesday 23rd March Chloe Hayden visited our school for a “Difference is not Less” presentation. She spoke to the secondary school students about her life story and self-growth as a young adult. Chloe is an Australian autism advocate, actor, you-tuber, singer and award winning public speaker. It’s her passion in life to inspire and encourage acceptance for others in all walks of life, with a main focus on educating people about autism.
Key messages of Chloe’s presentation included:
- making her difference work for her - because difference doesn't mean less.
- if anyone ever tells you that you are too old for Disney you are not - you don't need that negativity in your life.
- finding your eye sparkle - that passion that is uniquely you and brings you happiness.
- making sense of yourself in a world that doesn’t make sense to you can be challenging.
The students all listened attentively and asked some fantastic questions at the end. Thanks to Chloe for taking the time to speak to us. It was a valuable experience which was so well received as our first in school activity after Covid-19 lockdowns.
Lightning Premiership
On Friday March 19, the Grade 5-6 students went out to represent the school in the Dooliebeal District Summer Lightning Premiership. The children competed against 5 other local school in Basketball, Tee Ball and Cricket. The students had such an amazing day and represented the school wonderfully. This was also the first time students got to wear the new sports uniforms.
A huge congratulations to all students and thank you to all teachers for helping making the day such a success. Special mention must go to the boys basketball team for finishing runners up on the day.
VCAL Easter Stall
Our VCAL students are holding an Easter Stall next Tuesday 30th March and Wednesday 31st March during lunchtime as part of their VCAL studies.
It is a not-for profit event with the proceeds going to the Bellarine Catchment Network.
Please ensure students bring cash with them to purchase on the days listed above as there will be no IOU's.
Items for sale: (All chocolate will be milk chocolate)
- Chocolate Egg: $1.00
- Handmade chocolates: .50 cents
- Mixed lolly bags: .50 cents
End of Term Early Finish
Our last day of Term 1 is Thursday the 1st of April with an earlier finish time of 2:10pm.
Assembly will be held from 1:40pm where our end of term awards will also be announced.
As this is our last newsletter for the term, enjoy the events of next week and have a relaxing Easter and holidays with your families. Take care and enjoy!
Evan Savage
Principal