Armstrong Creek School Newsletter

Principal's Report

Dear Parents, Families and Community members,

Welcome Back Grades 3-6!

 

It has been a wonderful to see the return of our Grade 3-6 students this week and they have certainly brought a wonderful energy with them as they have excitedly reunited with their friends and teachers.  While things are slightly different from early in the year, school actually feels like school again and we are very grateful for that!

ACS Beanies

Our ACS Beanies have finally arrived and they look fantastic!  Students with orders were given their beanies to take home over the last two days.

 

It is great to see so many students and staff wearing the beanies already, they are a fantastic addition to our uniform.

 

Please ensure they are labelled with your child's name before they are worn to school. 

Student Arrivals and Departures

I'd like to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank you for the care that all parents have taken with our requests to remain off-site unless absolutely necessary.  We understand that is a big change for most of you, but rest assured that once we hear further information about the easing of restrictions and what this means for schools, we will be in touch with revised planning.

 

As predicted, the afternoon's are significantly busier and as a result we have made some slight adjustments, with the additional 'stagger' of Grades 1-2 leaving the school gates at 3.05 pm. Please continue to exercise patience and understanding at this important time to ensure everyone leaves school and arrives home safely. 

 

Things you can do to assist further;

- Make a clear and consistent pick up or meeting point with your child

- If your child is likely to forget or needs a little extra support/ reminding, contact your child's home group teacher to assist

- Use the specified gates relating to School House Colours

- If your child is independent enough to meet you in close proximity but away from the school gates, please do so (particularly if this applies to a child in Prep-2, please inform your child's home group teacher of this arrangement)

- Continue to and only park in designated (legal) parking spaces. The yellow line in the gutter signifies a non-parking area. 

 

School Arrival (8:40 am to 8:55 am)

 

Late Drop Off

Each day student learning starts promptly at 8.55 am.

 

If students arrive at school after 8.55 am, please ensure that a parent\carer accompanies them to the office to be signed in on the Compass Kiosk before they head to their Learning Community.  Students will receive a pass to give to their teacher so that they know they have been signed in.

 

To reduce risk of adults congregating, there are some changes for dropping your child off in the morning which include:

  • Parents promptly drop students off and leave.
  • We strongly encourage parents driving to school to drop their child(ren) off in one of the neighbouring car parks (near the Community Centre, Sports Pavilion, Shopping Centre) and allow your child to walk into school.
  • Parents who are walking should drop off their child(ren) at the crossing and not cross the road.
  • Students are expected to enter via the following designated entry points, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed to;

Fearnley (Green) and Hollows (Yellow) Houses – Main Entry Gates near the Administration Building Fanning (Red) and Nolan (Blue) Houses – Entry Gates near Supervised Crossing Bike and Scooter travellers – Pedestrian Gate between the Community Centre and east boundary fence 

 

Exceptions

  • Some families may wish to discuss with school leadership a supported drop off plan if the proposed arrangements are likely to be challenging
  • We understand that not everything is predictable, so common sense will be applied on a day to day and case by case basis where students are having difficulty transitioning into school

School Departure (Staggered 3:00 pm, 3:05 pm and 3:10 pm)

Reducing adults congregating during student pickup is likely to be more challenging than morning arrivals at ACS with the large number of people leaving at one time. Therefore, we are required to provide two pickup times to ease the congestion during this time.Please make plans around the following dismissal times:

 

3:00 pm – All Preps and their siblings dismissed and exit via the identified gate (as per arrival)

 

3:05 pm- All remaining Grade 1-2 Students dismissed and exit via the identified gate (as per arrival)

 

3:10 pm – All other students dismissed and exit via the identified gate (as per arrival)

 

Note: 

Please stand back from gates and maintain social distance of 1.5 metres at all times from other parent and community members

 

Early Pickup

If a student needs to be picked up early, please call the school prior to pick up. Students will be waiting for parents in the office. Please knock on the office door and the office staff will organise for your child to leave with you.

Traffic Conditions

 

We have been informed by the Major Roads Projects Victoria that their will be traffic disruptions on Barwon Heads Road over the next coming weeks. 

 

Further details can be found on the News from the Office page.

Assembly Update

 

With the end of term fast approaching, please be aware that we will postpone the assembly scheduled for next week and hold this in the last week of term.

 

At this stage restrictions remain in place for parents and families to attend assembly; however, it is possible that we may gather students and staff for our last assembly of the term.

 

Due to the success of our Virtual Assemblies this term, we will consider how these might be maintained into the future.

 

I have also been asked a number of times this week about handing out Term 1 Awards. I've been a bit slack but will ensure I get these out next week!

Have a great weekend!

Evan Savage

Principal