School Council President

2023 seems like it has slipped by so fast and yet so much has happened at our wonderful school this year. It has been the most positive and exciting year for ACPS in quite some time and 2024 is looking to be even better.

The joy, happiness and optimism of our students and staff is obvious, as is the connected and welcoming atmosphere at the school. An environment like this is not created overnight - it takes a lot of work from everyone involved, including not just our students and staff, but also our families who contribute so much.

The positive and welcoming environment has been clear to see, both in the attitude of our students towards school and in the broader school community. It has also been reflected in the enthusiasm and commitment of our parents and friends to organising fundraising events.

Our trivia night was a huge success financially, but just as importantly, socially, and combined with the Warrandyte Festival stall and other events meant that we had our most successful fundraising year in my eight years at the school.

2023 has been a busy year for our buildings and grounds. We held several productive working bees, had our dry river bed built, and refurbished several portables to convert them in to collaborative working spaces ready for STEM learning next year.

Thanks to a grant from Community Bank Warrandyte, we are having a new play area in the style of the dry river bed built over summer. We also have a major refurbishment of the toilet block planned starting in 2024, funded by a grant of nearly $500,000 that we received from the State Government Minor Capital Works Fund.

On behalf of the school community, I would like to thank Meredith Thornton for all she has done for us in her time at ACPS. You would not be able to find someone who loves our school more than Meredith does and she has been a major positive influence on the culture at our school.

Meredith left us in term 2 for Waverly Meadows Primary School in what was meant to be a temporary Acting Principal role. They quickly decided that they loved her so much that they wanted to keep her and she is now the Principal there. Congratulations!

Thank you Meredith for living, breathing, and teaching our school values. We will never forget to "be kind" and we wish you all the best for the future at your new school.

Daniel Webber started as our substantive Principal in term 2 and immediately made a positive impact. It can sometimes be difficult changing principals, particularly when it is someone who is new to the school, but it now seems like he has been here forever (in a good way!).

Daniel has very quickly built strong relationships with students, staff, families and has been warmly welcomed by our school community. He has already had a great impact this year and I know he has even bigger plans for 2024.

Farewell to those families who are finishing your journey at ACPS and we wish you success for the future. You have been a huge influence on our school and we hope that you have enjoyed and learnt from your time with us.

Thank you to everyone who has served on the school council this year and I look forward to one last meeting next year before the 2024 council takes over.

Enjoy the break and I wish you all safe and happy holidays and a merry Christmas.

Jimmy