A Message from David...

It's hard to believe we are already into our 3rd week back in Term 2! We have had a really positive start to the term and everyone came back from the holidays (and then the shorter week 1) looking refreshed and energised for the term. Term 2 is always a really busy one with a whole range of events and activities for the kids to look forward to along with the great teaching and learning programs that the teachers have put together for them. Please make sure you check out the Term 2 Curriculum Newsletter page of this newsletter to see the great things your child/ren will be learning about this term. 

Term 2 Events

We have lots of exciting events and activities planned for Term 2. Further details about all of these events will be sent via Compass and future newsletters.

• Mother & Special Person's Day (12th May) - We invite all mothers and special people to attend a picnic at the school from 1:30pm - 3:15pm.  You will be invited to have lunch with your children and then attend a special session in the afternoon in their class. 
• Athletics Carnival & Prep - 2 Sports Day (15th May) - Our Year 3-6 students will be participating in our Athletics Carnival at Newport Athletics Track and our P-2 students will enjoy a tabloid sports/games day at school. 
• ES Day (16th May) - A day to thank and celebrate our wonderful Education Support Staff
• Education Week (19th - 23rd May) This year’s theme Celebration of Cultures highlights the diversity of our communities and the importance of every child feeling safe and welcome at school.
• Reconciliation Week (27th May - 3rd June) Theme: Bridging Now to Next, reflects the ongoing connection between past, present and future. Bridging Now to Next calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.
• National Simultaneous Storytime (21st May) - AGPS is joining in the annual event 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. 
• School Disco (Thursday 3rd July) - a fun event for the students to celebrate the end of term. Our JSC will be selecting the theme for this event and details will be published later this term.
• Excursions and Incursions - There are a range of different excursions and incursions that are being planned by the different teaching teams to support the Term 2 curriculum programs.

Golden KEFAR!

During our final assembly of Term 1 we were thrilled to announce the very first GOLDEN KEFAR award winners! The Golden KEFAR award is a new addition this year and is to acknowledge one student per cohort who has consistently demonstrated the KEFAR values across an entire term, along with showing a strong commitment to their academic & social development. The award is presented only four times per year (last assembly of each term) to illustrate to our community the significance of the award.

The Golden KEFAR award winners were presented with a special golden certificate and an amazing golden KEFAR badge. Congratulations to the following students:

Year 6-7 Transition

We are in the thick of the Year 6-7 application period and I know many families have been exploring secondary schools to make an informed decision for their child for 2026. To check which secondary school’s zone you are in, please go to www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au and type in your home address.

A reminder that the transition forms need to be completed and returned to school at the latest by Friday 9th May (Tomorrow!). It is a very tight timeframe to then prepare the information for the distribution to the secondary schools so your adherence to the timeframe is greatly appreciated. 

To further support students to feel comfortable during this transition, Laverton College kindly opened their doors to our Year 5 & 6 students last term for the 'Big Day Out' excursion. During this excursion, our students got a taste of secondary school life and participated in a range of classes and activities, including science, P.E. and woodwork. They also were lucky enough to have a special lunch provided to them from their canteen. We really appreciate the effort from the staff at Laverton College to put this event together for our kids and know that it will help many who may be feeling anxious during this important time.

Cross Country

31 of our students from grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 competed in the 2025 District Cross Country event held at Queen of Peace Primary School on Friday the 2nd of May. We had a glorious sunny day where all of our students showed the KEFAR values. Thanks to all students who gave their best effort on the day Nancy, David, Sammy, Lily and all of the parents that helped out on the day and came to cheer on team green!

GOOD SPORTS AWARD WINNERS

After the day, David and I awarded 2 Good Sports Awards to students who were just like KEFAR and those were to Oscar in 2/3S and Alexus in 23S. Congratulations to those students. Amazing work!

-Travis (P.E. Teacher)

Student Attitude Towards School Survey

In the coming weeks we will be conducting student surveys with all students in years 4-6. The surveys provide students with an opportunity to share their voice which supports us to improve student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction. The survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

Participation in this survey is voluntary. If you do not wish for your child to do the survey, please opt out via email to your school: altona.green.ps@education.vic.gov.au. Please do so before 13/5/25, stating that you wish to opt out of your child’s participation, along with their name and year level.

Student-Led Lunch Clubs

Each term we are inundated with requests from keen students to form and run new lunch clubs. This term, these students were asked to present their ideas to our school captains and convince them that their club should be selected to run during Term 2 lunch breaks. There were a range of great ideas and the school captains had a really tough time whittling it down to the 5 that were selected. Well done to all the students who presented and congratulations to those who were selected. 

The term 2 lunch clubs are below:

2026 Prep Enrolment

If you, or someone you know, have a child starting school in 2026 please ensure you collect an enrolment form and bring it in by Friday 25th July. Please contact the office for an enrolment form or download from our website. Due to increasing demand for places at our school, we would appreciate if you could complete the enrolment forms as soon as possible so we can start planning accordingly.

Tours are also available for any families who wish to see our school. Please see below for upcoming tour dates: 

Attendance

We want all kids to come to school every day. Attending all day, every day helps students build their learning and maintain strong social connections with their friends and teachers. Each lesson provides a foundation for the next one, making it easier to learn the next concept. Every day counts – each day a student misses puts them behind and has flow-on effects:

We understand that there are circumstances where your child cannot attend school but we encourage all parents and carers to prioritise and promote attendance - school is better when your child is here! Please see this article for further information.

We would also like to remind everyone of the process for late arrivals and early departures (as posted on Compass):

• Please pick your child/ren up at either 11:00am; 11:30am; 1:30pm or 2:30pm as picking up during instruction times disrupts the whole class/school.

• If your child is going to be late or leave early, please do not put this on Compass - Jen will do it when they arrive or leave.  Please only put all day absences on Compass.

Jen Armstead is our school's attendance officer. Her role is to monitor attendance and support families that may be having difficulty getting their child to school. Please contact Jen if you have any questions or concerns about attendance.

I hope you all have a great weekend and are able to spend time spoiling and celebrating the mums and other special people in your families.

Take care,

David