Assistant Principal Update

Dear Parents and Carers

I would like to let you know that Shane was the successful candidate for the position of Acting Principal for Term 1. The school will continue to flourish under his lead.

The process to select a substantive Principal will occur during Term 1 next year. 

Our congratulations go to Shane.

Kind regards

Melissa Mackenzie

Assistant Principal Update

Hello everyone,

Welcome to Term 4 Week 9. 

Just a couple of weeks until we reach the end of yet another fabulous year of learning at APS.

Welcome to our new Grounds Officer – Peter Burack

We have recently appointed a new grounds officer who has joined the Alphington Primary School staff. Peter brings a wealth of building and maintenance service experience to the role, as well as a passion for grounds maintenance. Peter is currently working 8 hours per week across two days. He often commences work from 7am, working on Tuesday and one other day in the mornings. Please say hello and introduce yourself if you see Peter around the school yard. 

APS Writers Festival and Art Show 

We had the Arts and Writers Festival last Wednesday. It was yet another amazing display of our student's learning. It was wonderful to see so many families enjoying the wonderful writing and art displays. 

I am always so impressed by the level of expertise demonstrated by our students in the art pieces they create and the writing that is composed. We truly do have very talented students. 

This year staff were asked to nominate and select their favourite pieces from those student works on display. Of these we are going to frame some pieces to be displayed in the main administration building, so keep your eyes open for these in the coming weeks. 

A big thank you to all the students and teachers in preparing for the evening. A special mention to Michael for their efforts in coordinating the event.

Farewell Year 6 

We officially farewell our graduating Year 6 class of 2025 next Thursday evening. 

I have been extremely fortunate to have worked alongside Alan and Megan and our graduating students over the past few years, and it has been a privilege to have had the opportunities to support them in their academic, social, and sporting endeavours.

They have made a wonderful contribution to our school as the leaders this year and they have embraced all the different opportunities that Year 6 has provided them. 

I sincerely believe that the final year of primary school is one of the most memorable periods of your childhood and can set the tone for students as they transition into high school. I wish each Year 6 student the very best for the future.

Year 5 Portsea Camp 

Melissa and I attended the Year 5 Camp at Portsea today. The weather was stunning – which was nice given the first day of summer in Victoria brought snow to some alpine regions. We had a lovely walk down to the point and National Park. We then returned along the beach and the coastline. Lots of the students were impressed by the ‘mansions' and tennis courts. Having completed all the adventure activities over the last few years at Portsea, I decided to just go along for the more sedate activities today.

A big thank you to the teachers and parent volunteers for them time and effort organising and supporting the camp.

2026 Student Leadership Positions

This week Melissa, Andrew and I finalised the shortlist of 30 Year 5 students who will be interviewed as part of the Student Leadership program for 2026. As always it was an extremely challenging proposition as all students who delivered a speech provided many valid and compelling reasons for their leadership nomination. 

Student Leadership Interviews will be held next Monday 8 December. The interviews are intended to be relaxed and informal in nature lasting about 5 minutes. A predetermined list of questions relevant to the nominated positions is developed by the interview panel prior to the interview. Selected students are given the questions 5 minutes prior to their interview time so they can prepare some brief notes.

The final 20 leaders are selected from the shortlisted candidates. We will tell the students on Wednesday 10 of December and announce to the school at assembly on Friday 12 December. An official induction ceremony takes place early in Term 1 of the following year. All official Student Leadership positions will be issued with:

• A School Leader Badge and/or a School Leader patch       
• Official Leadership Position Certificate

2026 Annual Implementation Plan (AIP)

Our leadership team have completed the review of our 2025 Annual Implementation Plan and have almost finalised our 2026 AIP. The process for developing the school’s AIP is influenced by the Four-Year School Strategic Plan 2023-2027. For 2026 we have identified a vision for learning and well-being that sits above our three core priorities of Maths, English and Wellbeing; each with associated targets. We then develop three overarching strategies which inform the actions that staff will implement through our various levels of school improvement. 

2025 Semester Two Reports

Reports will be published on Compass on Friday 12 December. Teachers spend a lot of time ensuring reports are accurate and reflect a student’s achievement for the semester. Both student achievement and progress are included in the report. This includes providing a teacher judgement against the achievement standards, assigned as a score, that accurately reflects where each student is along the relevant learning continuum for curriculum areas taught during the reporting period. The updated reporting format now includes a series of content descriptions linked to the achievement standards, and a continuum which displays where a student is currently achieving, and allows teachers and families to see what students can do and where next steps for learning may be.

We encourage families to share and discuss the report with their child to develop an understanding of the learning and celebrate the achievements. If you wish to discuss our child’s report with their teacher, you can make an appointment to do so during week 11 of Term 4.

Enjoy your week.

Shane Wilkie

Assistant Principal