A Message from David & Cam...

Student Leadership

Junior School Council (JSC)

The JSC are an integral part of our overall student leadership team and have an important role in shaping our school to be the best that it can be. Each year, a member of each class from 3-6 selects a representative based on an application process. All of the students who put in an application did a great job articulating the reasons why they would like to be on the council, along with some terrific ideas to make our school better. 

Congratulations to the following students who will form the 2025 JSC. We look forward to seeing what great ideas you come up with!

Library Monitors

We were also thrilled to announce our Library Monitors at the last assembly. These students have been selected as they are responsible, organised and hard-working and we know that they will take great care of our library. Congratulations to the Library Monitors for 2025!

School Council

As recently posted via Compass, the votes of the ballot have been counted and I can now declare the following people as the 2025 school council:

Parent Category

• Victoria Reynolds
• Nicole Thompson
• Tom Brockbank
• Kevin Vandoorne

School Employee

• Cameron Andrews
• Amy McFarlane

They will join the existing members:

• Ben O'brien (parent)
• Kevin Miller (parent)
• Greg Abson (parent)
• Fiona Holmesby (parent)
• Zach Mullenger (school employee)
• Ainsley Gravett (school employee)
• David King (school employee)

Thank you to everyone who nominated to be a school councillor and to those that voted in the ballot. I would also like to thank the outgoing members, Melissa McVay and Haley Ballingall for their years of service on school council. They have all contributed significantly in various ways during their years on council and we are so grateful for all they have done for the AGPS community.

The AGM and first school council meeting will be held on Thursday 20th March at 6:00pm at the school.

Meet our new PE Teacher, Travis!

Travis Wood had his first official day with us yesterday after spending time with his growing family at the start of the year (welcome, Leo!). Travis will be teaching many of your children in PE this year and will be with us on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Travis has kindly put together some info about himself below so we can all get to know him a little better. Welcome, Travis!

Curriculum Day

On our recent Curriculum Day, all staff engaged in professional learning to enhance teaching and learning at Altona Green.

Teachers and Education Support staff engaged in professional learning focused on supporting all learners and setting meaningful goals for Individual Education Plans. We also launched the AGPS Instructional Playbook, a resource developed by our teachers that outlines our guiding principles (Big Ideas) and core teaching techniques across the curriculum. The purpose of the Instructional Playbook is to make our instruction visible, provide high-impact teaching techniques, and promote consistency across the school to ensure our teaching has the greatest impact on student learning.

We then focused one of our four Big Ideas—Check for Understanding—through the instructional technique Pair-Share. Teachers watched videos of Pair-Share in action and set goals to refine their use of Pair-Share in their practice. We look forward to continuing this work throughout the year.

Maths Olympiad & Grade 6 Extension Maths

It has been another productive, thought provoking fortnight in the world of Extension Maths! Our Olympians have been working on developing effective strategies for solving unfamiliar problems, as well as learning some new concepts along the way!

The Grade 6 Extension students have been working on applying their knowledge of multiplication in a problem solving context. Students from both groups have demonstrated a very positive attitude to their learning and have enjoyed being challenged in a supportive and collaborative setting.

Have a go at this problem:

In a group of five children, the average weight of each child is 36kg. When a sixth child joined the group, the average weight of each child became 37kg. What is the weight of the sixth child? 

JSC News - Harmony Week 

Harmony Day (21 March 2025) is part of Harmony Week, which celebrates Australia's amazing cultural diversity. During this week, schools celebrate inclusiveness, respect, and a sense of belonging for all Australians, from the traditional custodians of the land to those who have come from many countries around the world. 

Friendship Bracelets​ Exchange

The JSC would like to celebrate Harmony Day by making 'Friendship' bracelets. We encourage all students to make a Friendship Bracelet (from paper, loom bands, beads, materials) and bring to school on Friday March 21st. Students can swap their ‘friendship’ bands with other students throughout the day.

If you are unable to make a friendship band at home, students will have the chance to make a Friendship bracelet on the day during snack and lunch time. 

JSC will also run activities at snack and lunch time on Harmony Day - Friday March 21st

NAPLAN

This week is the beginning of The National Assessment Program  - Literacy & Numeracy (NAPLAN). These are online assessments that our Grade 3 & Grade 5 students sit. The teachers have supported the students to feel comfortable with the testing format and ensure that they are familiar with the types of questions that they will be asked.  The testing schedule is as follows:

Further information can be found on the official NAPLAN website: https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan

AGPS Choir is Back!

We are thrilled to announce the much-anticipated return of our AGPS choir! This year, Andrea and Kate S will lead the choir, which is open to students in Grades 3 to 6 who have a passion for singing and performing. 

The choir meets every Thursday during lunch for rehearsals as they prepare for a variety of performances throughout the year, including assembly, our school fete, Christmas at Central Square, and year-end celebrations, among various other events. 

If your child is interested, please encourage them to sign up using the sheet pinned to Andrea’s classroom door during recess or lunch. Only 30 spots are available in the choir this year, so act fast! 

Where is the Green Sheep?!

One of our favourite annual traditions is when the preps and their Year 6 buddies get together and hunt for the green sheep all across our school. It is great to see the buddies both young and old working together to decipher clues that lead them all over our school grounds. It is not only a great activity to help the buddies build their relationships but also a great way for the preps to become more familiar with all of the key areas of our school. I hope they all found the elusive green sheep!

The buddy program is such an important part of building school connections and helping our newest community members to feel happy and safe at school. The buddies will meet many times throughout the year and build a special relationship that can last years. We look forward to seeing all the great things they will get up to!

Parent Information Sessions

2026 Prep Information Night

We have our 2026 prep information session coming up on the 25th of March. If you know anyone who has a child who will begin prep in 2026 please ask them to register their interest in attending by contacting our office via phone (03 9360 0777) or email (altona.green.ps@education.vic.gov.au). 

Details of the event can be found on our website or via our Facebook page

Thanks for a great fortnight. We hope you all have a great weekend.

Take care,

David & Cam