A Message from David & Cam

Welcome back to Term 3. I hope all of our families were able to enjoy a well-earned break and spend some quality time together over the holidays. While the end of last term was a difficult one for our school community, it has been wonderful to see our students return with smiles on their faces, ready to learn and reconnect with their friends. We have an exciting term ahead, with plenty of learning opportunities and school events to look forward to. Check out the curriculum newsletters page of this newsletter to find out more about what your child will be learning this term.

Vale Katey

As we begin a new term, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of our much-loved teacher, Katey, late last term.

Katey made a lasting difference to the lives of many students, families and colleagues during her time at Altona Green Primary School. She brought warmth, care and dedication to her work each day, and her kindness and commitment to our students will leave a lasting mark on our school community.

The weeks leading up to the holidays were incredibly challenging for our school community. I want to thank our staff, students, families and the wider community for the incredible support you have shown during this time. The kindness and compassion shown in so many different ways has meant so much to Katey's family and to all of us at AGPS. Although incredibly difficult, this has been a reminder of the strength of our community and I feel so grateful to be part of such a caring community when support was needed most.

Thank you again for your kindness and support. While we miss Katey enormously, we will remember her with great fondness and are so grateful for the time we had with her and the positive difference she made to our school. 

Farewell Jen

At the end of last term, we said goodbye to Jenny as she retired after many years in our school office.

It's hard to put into words the impact Jenny has had on our school. She has been a constant for so many students, families and staff over the years, always greeting people with a smile, helping solve problems and making everyone feel welcome. She has been an important part of what makes AGPS such a special place.

The outpouring of appreciation during her final week was something truly special. The office was overflowing with cards, flowers and gifts, and there were plenty of tears as students, families and colleagues stopped by to thank her for everything she has done. It was a wonderful reflection of the difference Jenny has made to so many people.

Jenny leaves with our sincere thanks and best wishes. We hope retirement brings plenty of opportunities to relax, spend time with family and enjoy everything that comes with this next chapter. Thank you, Jenny. You will always be part of the AGPS family.

Breakfast Club

It is fair to say our first Breakfast Club for the term was a success, with plenty of students enjoying a healthy breakfast and a great start to the school day! A huge congratulations to our School Captains, whose leadership and organisation helped make the morning run so smoothly. They did a wonderful job organising the food and equipment, welcoming students, preparing breakfast and creating a welcoming atmosphere for everyone.

Breakfast Club is open to all students and will run every Thursday from 8:30am. We'd love to see even more students come along. If you have some time to spare, we're always looking for parent and carer volunteers to help make Breakfast Club possible. Please contact me or the office if you would like to help.

Attendance  

We would like to celebrate the fact that 61 students had 100% attendance in Term 2!

Congratulations to the Prep cohort for again having the highest percentage of students with 100% attendance! Attendance is an area that we will continue to focus on and hopefully our percentage of students with 100% attendance per term will increase over time. 

14% of our student population had 100% attendance - well done to those students. This result is very similar to our first term 100% attendance result of 16%. Let's see if we can achieve 20% perfect attendance in Term 3!

One day absent per fortnight means that over the course of a year a student will miss 4 weeks of learning. If you have any concerns over your child's attendance, please contact Kylie or Cam.

Disco!

One of the highlights of the term for many of our students was the annual AGPS Disco. This year's movie theme was chosen by our Junior School Council, and we loved seeing all the creative costumes. 

Events like this simply wouldn't happen without the incredible support of our parent community. The disco is entirely organised and run by parent volunteers, and we are so grateful for the time, energy and enthusiasm they invest to create such special, memory-making experiences for our students.

A huge thank you to Leanne and the wonderful team of parent volunteers who planned, set up and ran the event. The gym looked fantastic, the music kept everyone on the dance floor, and the smiles on our students' faces said it all. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the end of another great term.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the night such a success!

Starting or Leaving AGPS in 2027??

Enrolments for Prep 2027 are now open, with all enrolment applications due by Friday, 31 July 2026.

If you have a child starting Prep in 2027, please contact Casey as soon as possible, even if you haven't yet completed the enrolment paperwork. Knowing how many Prep students we can expect is incredibly important and helps us make informed decisions about class structures, staffing and resources well in advance.

We also ask that families let us know as early as possible if your child will not be returning to Altona Green Primary School in 2027. This information is just as valuable and plays a significant role in our planning for next year.

Thank you for helping us plan ahead and ensure we are well prepared to provide the best possible start to the 2027 school year.

Interschool Sports

Recently our senior students have represented the school by competing against local schools in the Interschool Sport competition. Students competed in soccer, netball, & softball & AFL. All of our teachers commented on the positive and respectful manner in which our students supported each other and represented our school. Our softball team won their competition and will progress to the next stage! We wish them the best of luck and know that they will represent our school wonderfully well!

Camps

Along with the terrific curriculum programs for Term 3, it is camping season! Please see below for a snapshot of each of our camps. More detailed information will be communicated by the relevant teams closer to the camp dates.

Year 2 Anglesea Camp (Wednesday 16th September - Thursday 17th September) This year will be the fifth year that we have attended this camp. It is a wonderful camp that is a fantastic first school camping experience for our students. 

Year 4 Camp Allambee (Wednesday 26th August - Friday 28th August) This camp is an adventure camp and the feedback from last year's students & staff was overwhelmingly positive. The camp will challenge the students in a very supported setting. Information about this camp will be communicated shortly. 

Year 6 Canberra Camp (Monday 7th September - Friday 11th September) Our annual pilgrimage to Canberra is also approaching! Preparations are well underway. This camp is a wonderful 'rites of passage' experience for our Grade 6 students and provides many memory-making experiences! We can't wait!

NAPLAN

Whole-school and individual student NAPLAN data has been made available to us, and we are pleased to share that our students have continued to perform very well on these tests and we have again received very pleasing whole-school results. We have continued to have a large percentage of students receive 'exceeding' or 'strong' results in many of the assessments and our overall results when compared with similar and network schools has remained very strong. These results align with our improved academic results in our other school-based assessments and show that the improvement strategies in place are having the desired impact.

Individual Student NAPLAN reporting

Families will be able to collect their child's NAPLAN results from the office shortly. A Compass note will be sent out when they are ready.

The NAPLAN assessments measure student achievement in Numeracy, Reading, Writing, Spelling, and Grammar & Punctuation and the results are presented in 4 proficiency levels. These are:

• Exceeding

• Strong

• Developing

• Needs additional support.

Students’ NAPLAN reports provide valuable information to teachers about how we can continue to support your child.

Each set of NAPLAN results is an important milestone but it’s also important that students know that one result does not define them – these results provide a snapshot of student achievement at a point in time and are about making sure every student gets the support they need so they can continue to get the best from their schooling.

Grade 6 to 7 Transition

The Transition process is well underway with all students that were offered a place in a State Secondary school receiving a letter from David late last term. Acceptance slips for those students that were offered a place were included with the letter. It would be appreciated if they could be returned to your class teacher by Friday 7th August at the latest please. 

We hope you have a great weekend.

Take care,

David & Cam