A Message from David...

Incredibly, we are already beyond the half way point of a very busy term and it will be the winter holidays before we know it.  This week is Education Week and the theme is 'Active Learners: Move, Make, Motivate’, which celebrates physical activity, hands-on learning and student voice in education. The students have engaged in different activities centred around this theme and celebrate all things education. 

We also participated in the 2023 National Simultaneous Storytime this week. This event occurs every year where a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. 

And tomorrow is National Sorry Day tomorrow which is then followed by Reconciliation Week. This year's theme is 'Be a Voice for Generations'. The theme encourages us to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives. Next week students will participate in a range of activities to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Mother’s & Special Person’s Day

We had a wonderful time celebrating all the mothers, grandmothers and other special people in our children's lives last Friday afternoon. We were treated to some beautiful weather and it was great to see so many people enjoying time together under Gumbuya and through the school grounds with their friends and families. 

A huge thank you to Fiona for her organisation of the stall and the event and to all the other volunteers that have worked behind the scenes to help create such a successful occasion for all of our families.

I hope all the mums and other special people in our community had a wonderful day on Sunday and were able to relax, get spoilt and enjoy the day with their loved ones.

Daily Review in Maths 

In 2023, we have a collective focus on deepening our knowledge of highly effective Mathematics instruction, to improve learning outcomes for all students.

As a staff, we have been learning about how we can ensure our students retain and consolidate key concepts and skills in Mathematics throughout each year of schooling. This term, teachers have introduced a ‘Daily Review’ at the beginning of Maths lessons. 

What is a Daily Review?

During a Daily Review, the teacher displays questions on slides (see below) that contain concepts and skills students have previously learnt. 

All students respond either chorally (out loud) or on mini whiteboards. The teacher then checks their students’ understanding.

Why 'Daily Review'?

• When students are responding to the Daily Review questions, they are retrieving information from their long-term memory and bringing it into their working memory. This helps students to strengthen the connections between new concepts.
• Reviewing previous learning helps students to recall concepts and skills effortlessly and automatically. 
• When students are able to automatically recall information, their brains have more space to apply their knowledge in different contexts and extend their thinking.
• Unless students practise skills and retrieve the information they have learnt, it will be forgotten. 
• Teachers are frequently checking students’ understanding in a range of areas of Mathematics They then use this information to plan targeted lessons.

Our next step is to work collaboratively as a teaching team to review our lesson structure in Maths, to ensure it reflects evidence-based practice and the science of how students learn best!

Cross Country

Our cross country team all showed tremendous effort and persistence at the Laverton District Championship last week. For a relatively small school, we were well represented in each age category and a number of our students qualified to progress to the next stage.

It was great to see so many of our Running Club regulars make it into the team and perform so well. I would like to thank Nancy for her continued support of these young athletes as well as their families that came to encourage and support our students. A huge congratulations to all the students that made the team and a special mention to the following who will progress to the next stage:

2/3 Excursion

Last week our 2/3 cohort had an excursion to the Melbourne Museum. This excursion is part of their Inquiry Unit, ‘The History of Melbourne’ and included a guided tour of the Melbourne Story exhibition. This experience helped develop the students’ knowledge and understanding of Melbourne’s history, including significant people, events and locations and how Melbourne has changed over the years.

Resilience Project Challenge - Gratitude

For Term 2, a group of students are running a Resilience Project challenge for our school. The first part of the challenge was to encourage students to practice being grateful (one of the key principles of the program) and they asked students to write or draw things that they were grateful for. There was a huge response to the challenge with many students writing notes sharing all the great things that are happening in their lives.

We are seeing the impact of the Resilience Project on our students as we are seeing many random acts of kindness occur at school and many students expressing gratitude for the big and small things they have.  I encourage you to continue practicing gratitude with your children each day. A simple way is to ask some of the following questions:

• What/who are you grateful for today? 
• What went well today?
• What do you appreciate about _________?
• What was a positive/win from today?
• What/who are you proud of this week?
• What has filled your cup this week?
• What is the silver lining of a challenge this week?
• What are you looking forward to tomorrow?

And here is a gratitude game you can play at home with your children and some additional resources provided by the Resilience Project:

Pupil Free Day

A reminder that next Friday (2nd June) is a pupil free day. As part of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement, all teachers are eligible for 2 professional practice days in 2023. These days are allocated to enable teachers to focus on the improved delivery of high quality teaching and learning.

In consultation with the staff and the school council, we have allocated the semester 1 professional practice day as a pupil free day. Teachers will be working on areas such as planning, assessment and reporting. TeamKids will be available for all day care on this day.

STEM

There was a hum of excitement early this week coming from outside the STEM room. There I found the year 6 students switching on and displaying their STEM creations for other students to see. The grade 6 students have been learning about how electrical circuits work. They had to explain how electricity or electrical currents travel and flow through a closed circuit. They then created a prototype to demonstrate how this electrical energy is transformed into heat, light, sound or motion energy. The full display is outside the STEM room and here are just some of the creations:

Exford Primary School Fundraiser

As mentioned earlier this week on Compass, tomorrow is a free dress gold coin donation fundraiser to support Exford Primary School after the terrible bus accident that occurred last week. All money raised will go to supporting the students affected by the accident, their families, staff and the wider Exford community. 

If anyone would like to provide a donation directly to the Exford community, here is a link to the Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/exford-families

Thank you for your support.

2024 Prep Enrolments

The timeline for prep enrolments has changed this year and all enrolment applications from parents/carers are to be submitted by Friday, 28 July 2023 and we will notify parents/carers of the outcome of enrolment applications by Friday, 11 August 2023. If you have a child beginning prep in 2024, please contact Jenny as soon as possible as this assists us greatly with planning. Additionally, please also let us know if you are not expecting to be at AGPS in 2024.

We are offering school tours for any families that are considering Altona Green for their 2024 prep child. The tours will be held on the following dates:

• 10:00am Tuesday 30th May
• 4:00pm Thursday 15th June
• 10:00am Tuesday 11th July
• 4:00pm Thursday 27th July

Please register your interest in attending any of these tours by completing the form here https://forms.gle/CtaRtWtoEiRygv8Q7, contacting the office 9360 0777 or via email altona.green.ps@education.vic.gov.au 

Stay well this winter

Symptoms of influenza (flu) can hit very quickly and may last several weeks. Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and others from getting the flu. Annual influenza vaccination is recommended from mid-April each year and is free under the National Immunisation Program for those at higher risk of complications from the flu.

Keeping our school community well

Parents, carers and students are encouraged to practice prevention measures, including:

• washing and sanitising hands regularly
• avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
• covering nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing · staying home if unwell and consulting a general practitioner (GP) or Nurse-on-call as required
• staying up to date with flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

Flu vaccinations

Flu vaccinations can be booked through GPs and pharmacies, many of which can also provide COVID-19 vaccinations. Flu vaccination is recommended for everyone aged 6 months and over.

Some people are more at risk of complications from flu and are eligible for free vaccination as part of the National Immunisation Program.

COVID-19 booster

The 2023 COVID-19 booster dose is available for everyone aged 18 and above.

Getting your booster dose remains the best way to prevent severe illness or hospitalisation, especially in people aged over 65 and those at higher risk of severe illness.

You can have your booster dose 6 months after your last dose or COVID infection.

Children aged between 5 and 17 years who are at risk of severe illness can also receive a 2023 booster dose. You can get your next dose at your local pharmacy or GP. To find one near you, refer to the vaccine clinic finder.

Take care,

David