Principal's Report

 Principal Report    

 Congratulations!

Congratulations to our School/Vice School Captains, our House/Vice House Captains and our Duty Leaders on receiving their leadership badges at our special ceremony yesterday afternoon. We thank Eden Foster MP and our School Council President, Chris O’Shea, for giving up their time to make this a very special occasion for our Students Leaders. I know our students will do an amazing job in their respective roles.

Sports Gala Day

Our Year 5 & 6 students had a fabulous day today at the first of two interschool sport Gala Days. Students participated in Tee Ball, Volley Stars, Hot Shot Tennis and Cricket Blast at various locations around Mulgrave. A big thank you to Mr M for the mountain of organisation that goes into this day, ensuring that the students have previously trained up in the rules and skills required, and also to our staff and parents/grandparents who went along to support our students. Go ARPS!!!

Student Voice Team Representatives

Elections are wrapping up in Year 3-6 classes for the Student Voice Team (formerly JSC and Student Voice Team combined).  There will be one elected student from each 3-6 class, with a limited number of written applications also accepted.  Written applications close today Friday 27th February. We will announce the team shortly, and provide details of when their badges will be presented. 

An important message from some of students, Siheli & Indi:

New School Council

As you are aware, last week we called for nominations for our 2026/2027 School Council.  We had four parent positions vacant, and we filled four parent positions, therefore there is no need for an election.

We need parent help when it comes to School Council – we must have more parents on School Council than staff. We so appreciate these parents who are volunteering their time to support our school. Congratulations and a huge thank you to parents who nominated for a new, two-year term on School Council:

• Chris O’Shea (returning)
• Christina Conway (returning)
• Kelly Lewis (welcome!)
• Anastasiya Kurenkova (welcome!)

They join other parents who have one year remaining in their current term:

• Jade Horua
• Aleisha Kinross
• Amanda Lewis
• Nanvett Legha

We would also like to acknowledge and thank our departing School Council members, Andrew Muller and Paul Scolaro.  We appreciate you for volunteering your time and you contribution to support our school through the School Council.  Andrew took on the role of Treasurer to help guide and explain school finances to council, and we appreciate your guidance and expertise. 

Of course, if School Council does not suit, there are so many ways that you can support your child’s school and connect with our community. Please email Jane at Jane.Capon@education.vic.gov.au if you would like to help. Thank you!

Brain Food

We know how important healthy eating is for learning! For some school children, the only time of the day that they eat fresh fruit and/or vegetables is during Brain Food time at school. This is something that most schools practice each day,  sometime between 9am and lunch time (11.30am) where students are able to eat fruit and vegetables.  For some students, this is the only time of the day that they will actually eat fruit or vegetables.  For this reason, this time is privileged for fruit and vegetables only (this does NOT include fruit juices).   We thank you for your support of this initiative. 

Outside of School: sport or other activity - Achievement of the Week (Repeat)

We know how important physical activity and sport is for our students and to our school community, which is why we privilege time at school for PE and sport. We also know that we have some very talented students who participate in sports and activities outside of school.  We would love to celebrate their achievements! If your child has received an award or progressed to the next level of their activity outside of school (be it sporting or otherwise) , please let us know and we would love to celebrate their achievements in our newsletter. Please contact Mr Mottershead with information and a photo, or email through to our school office on Albany.rise.ps@education.vic.gov.au

REMINDER:  At school, students must wear hats when outside (Repeat)

All students at all government schools in Victoria are required to wear hats outside at school when the UV rating is 3 or above.  Typically, this is every day in Terms 1 & 4 but sometimes happens in Terms 2 & 3.  The UV rating is now high enough to cause skin damage every day.  Please ensure that your child brings their SunSmart school hat to school every day. Students without a SunSmart school hat will be required to sit under the shade sails between the oval and basketball courts, near the sandpit. We also encourage students to wear sunglasses and bring & apply sunscreen before going outside.

NAPLAN 2026 (Repeat)

NAPLAN is a national literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Year 3, 5, 7 & 0 sit each year.   It is the only national assessment that all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.  As students progress through their school years, its important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy.  Whilst is does not replace a child’s report, which is a comprehensive assessment of the child’s progress over a full semester (two terms) of learning, it does allow parents to see how their child is progressing against national standards over time. 

This year, NAPLAN testing for Year 3 and Year 5 students will be held between 11th March and 23rd March 2026.  Information will be sent home early next week to provide specific times and test dates to Year 3 and Year 5 families.

Free resources for families of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years.

The Department of Education has launched an Easing into adolescence webpage for families of students aged 10 to 14 (Grade 5 to Year 8). 

The webpage has information and strategies you can use to help ease your child into adolescence and secondary school. These include: 

• a guide to emotion coaching. Staff from The University of Melbourne’s Tuning in to Teens Kids program developed the guidance.
• how to support your adolescent with their studies and more generally. Parenting expert and clinical psychologist Andrew Fuller helped develop this resource.

Subtitles for videos by The University of Melbourne on the webpage are available in 10 languages. You can select your preferred language on the translations page.

For questions about these resources, contact the Strategic Partnerships, Transitions and Student Voice team. You can email them at Secondary.School.Transition@education.vic.gov.au.

Birthday Free Dress (Repeat)

We know that every single day at school is important for learning and connection. Of course, we want to celebrate with our students when they have a birthday! Late last year, we introduced the practice of students coming to school in free dress on their birthday.  This seems to be working very well and will be continuing this year. Students are looking forward to being at school on their birthday, and also, it is easy to spot who has a birthday to make sure they have a great day!  

Thank you!

Jane Capon