Assistant Principal Update

Message from Melissa to School Community

I would like to let you know that I have made the decision to retire at the end of the year. APS has been an absolute honour to lead for the last 10 years, and I am handing the baton on with great pride and sense of achievement. 

I am so fortunate to come to school each day loving what I do and to find myself in such a supportive and thriving community. Every day the students bring a smile to my face with their enthusiasm, care and potential. They are passionate about striving to be the best they can be, and I feel positive about the influence I have had with their zest for life. 

We have built an empowered staff who are dedicated professionals striving to improve their practices, collaboratively ensuring every student at APS is successful. 

We embrace the community and their support in so many ways which really helps to make APS the amazing place that it is. 

There will be a process in the next few weeks to appoint an Acting Principal for term 1. 

The process to appoint a substantive Principal will occur during term 1 next year. 

I look forward to the next 8 weeks and hope to catch up with many of you. 

Kind Regards

Melissa Mackenzie

Principal

Hello everyone,

Welcome to week 3 of Term 4. 

I would like to congratulate Melissa on announcing her retirement today. Over the next couple of months, the school community will come together to celebrate her 10 years at APS. What a great achievement. The staff and Leadership Team, along with School Council will have more details on how we will come together to farewell and thank Melissa so watch this space! It will be a great way to celebrate Melissa's time as Principal at APS.

Already we are well underway with assessments in preparation for Semester Two reporting. From my early conversations with staff, the standout point is the amazing progress and achievement our students have made this year.

Last week I was lucky enough to head along with the Year 6 students on their trip to ACMI. Students explored the history of computer gaming and began developing ideas for their own game design unit. Students were also able to meet with young game designers who have been selected to develop their games as part of the Young Game Designers program. 

Northcote High Public Speaking Contest

Tomorrow Megan and some Year 6 students will be attending the Northcote High Public Speaking.  Jordi, Clem, Jayden and Sophie were selected by their peers and teachers to represent APS. All Year 6 students were invited to prepare a speech on the topic ‘The Power of One.’ We wish all students the best of luck in delivering their public speaking presentations tomorrow. 

Moderation

Over the next few weeks during our staff Professional Learning sessions, we will be moderating samples of learning in English and Maths. Last week staff moderated students’ achievement in writing and next week we will focus on reading and then maths.

Moderation is the practice of teachers sharing and developing their understanding of what learning looks like by examining examples of different types and quality of students’ work and comparing these with formal standards and success criteria. The practice gives teachers the collaboration structure and processes to look closely at evidence to establish: 

• What is to be learned? 

• How is learning progressing? 

• What standard has been achieved?

Moderation enables discussion about: 

• How to interpret the Victorian Curriculum F-10 Achievement Standards 

• What students need to learn to meet Standards 

• What success looks like.

Learner Dispositions

Over the past two years APS has been embedding our Learner Dispositions as part of our student wellbeing program. The Learner Dispositions are explicitly taught and fostered through the curriculum learning students do in each of their school subjects. We aim for students to continually look to engage and develop the dispositions positively to support them to learn as much as possible.

Determination

Optimism

Creativity

Collaboration 

Reflection

Sun Safety

With the arrival of spring and greater UV exposure, all students are required to wear a broad brimmed hat if they are in the playground. Those students without hats must be in the shade. There are four designated areas in the school which provide shade for students. Under the 3 Level Learning Centre, under the Ornamental Pear Trees, in the Northwest part of the forest and under the shade sails at the southern end of the school. Please speak with your children about the importance of being sun smart.

World Teacher’s Day 2025

World Teachers’ Day is held internationally on 5 October. As it falls during the school holidays in many parts of the nation, Australia celebrates a little later, the last Friday of October each year. This year we will be celebrating in Victoria on Friday 31 October. World Teachers' Day is a chance to recognise and celebrate the incredible contributions teachers have made in Victorian communities. As a school we will acknowledge our teachers with the support of the School Council.

Closed Circuit Television Installation (CCTV)

Alphington Primary School has decided to use a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system at our school.

Our school has an obligation to ensure the school environment is safe and secure, and fulfil our duty of care to students, staff and visitors.  The CCTV system will assist our school to fulfil these obligations and to prevent and manage other inappropriate behaviour on school grounds. CCTV will also provide enhanced capability to protect our school’s assets against vandalism and theft.

We are following Department of Education and Training policy requirements for the design, installation, management and use of the CCTV systems. 

This policy is available at: CCTV in Schools – Installation and Management.

We have just completed the evaluation and assessment of quotes received from the DET approved CCTV installers and appointed Innotec as our preferred CCTV installation contractor. We are now in the process of finalising the design, ensuring our hardware requirements are in place and arranging possible installation dates.

You can also find the CCTV Privacy Notice on our school website with more information about our school’s use of CCTV before it is rolled out in 2026.

If you have any questions or concerns at this stage, please contact me through the usual channels. 

Enjoy your week.

Shane Wilkie

Assistant Principal