Principal's Report

I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the generous individuals who made our recent Emergency Services Day a resounding success. A sincere thank you to the dedicated members of the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Ambulance Victoria, Victoria Police, and the State Emergency Service (SES) for generously volunteering their time to educate and inspire our students about the vital work they do. All of the stations that students moved through were a great combination of information, questions and hands-on activities which engaged all students. It was great to see so many familiar family faces with a number of parents being part of the day through their involvement with their respective emergency service organisation. A special shout-out goes to our committed parent and CFA Captain, Will Hodgson, and our staff member, Peta Dibb, for their tireless efforts in organising and coordinating this event. 

Though the festive spirit is rising and the taste of impending summer holidays is emerging for students, we certainly have not slowed down at school with a large volume of excursions and activities occurring. The Grade 5 and 6 students were involved in a Science Excursion to the Gene Technology Access Centre last week (GTAC) which is a program within the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment program that  ACPS participates in. Students were challenged with designing and prototyping solutions to addressing the emerging pollination issues occurring for bees. Sticking in the science domain, Grade 3 and 4 students visited Science Works last week as a culminating event within their Inquiry unit this Term. I know they all had a fantastic day and enjoyed engaging with all of the exhibits and interactive components. Our Swimming Program also kicked off this week with Grade 5 and 6 taking part in lessons each morning this week. This will be followed by Grade 3 and 4 next week and the the Prep - 2 students the weeks after. I was fortunate to join our Choir students last week as they visited Bupa Aged Care in Templestowe and performed a range of Christmas Carols for the residents. It makes me so proud to see our students giving back to the community and experiencing the positive impact that they can have on others. 

Preparations have commenced for 2024 Shrek the Musical Jnr with students submitting audition recordings for Principal roles, attending call backs and starting preparations for ensembles. A huge thank you to Gavin Andrew and our parent volunteers for running the first workshop day last Friday. I was amazed with the progress made in only a few short hours with the students starting to develop stage positioning and learning some of the main songs. 

A huge thank you to our staff and parent volunteers that continue to go above and beyond with their time to provide such breadth in our learning programs by supporting these activities out of the school. 

Policy Reminders

A quick reminder of a couple of our important policies that we use to keep everyone safe, healthy and happy at school. 

SunSafe Policy

Please check that your child has a hat in their classroom or in their bag for each day. As the weather continues to get hotter, students must wear a hat outside, unless an exemption has been approved by the school. 

Allergies

We have a number of students at the school with anaphylactic nut allergies. This may be caused from ingestion or just by physical contact with a surface or person that has contact nuts. We therefore ask that students not bring any types of nuts or nut spreads to school in their lunches. 

Thank you for your support of these, and all, of our school policies that work to make school the safest place it can be for everyone. 

Have a lovely weekend. 

Daniel Webber

Principal