Principals Weekly Update

Dear Armadale Community,

Week 3 already of Term 3 and how quickly the weeks are flying by. It is one of the coldest weeks so far yet it’s not something that deters the children, they still enjoy all the outdoor play, games; gardening and construction in the sandpit, they run around on the courts in shorts and short sleeved polo tops.

Responsibility Starts with the Little Things

One of our school values is Responsibility, and this is our current whole-school focus. We have noticed an increasing number of jumpers, lunch boxes and drink bottles being left around the school grounds each day. Developing responsibility is an important life skill, and families play a vital role in helping children build these habits.

You can support your child by:

Naming all clothing and belongings.
Encouraging them to carry their own school bag.
Helping them pack and unpack their bag each day.
Checking that their bag is zipped up so belongings don't fall out.
Reminding them to return their Learning Portfolio, homework, library books and reading bag to school on the correct day, including ensuring their Learning Portfolio is returned every Friday.

These small, everyday routines help children become more organised, independent and accountable for their own belongings. Thank you for partnering with us as we work together to develop responsible learners.

Positive Classroom Management Strategies

We are excited to be working with James Marnell, our Positive Classroom Management Strategies (PCMS) instructional coach, throughout this term and next. PCMS is a whole-school approach that supports teachers to establish consistent classroom expectations, strengthen positive learning environments and maximise learning time for all students.

James visited our school for the first time last Friday. He is currently supporting 20 schools, and following his visit, he sent the email below early on Monday morning. His feedback is a wonderful reflection of the positive learning culture and strong teaching practices already evident across our school.

Hi APS Team,

I hope you had a great weekend. Thank you so much for your time on Friday. I was blown away by your beautiful school environment and how engaging it was for students. I have always seen the importance of students being outside and exploring their environment and your students are very lucky with the dynamic playground they have, which you have obviously put so much time and thought into.

James was taken to see our nature, habitat and kitchen gardens and whilst there is so much learning that occurs in these spaces, they also have highly positive impacts on the children’s mental and physical wellbeing. “ Wellbeing isn’t separate from academic success, it’s the foundation of it’.

Melbourne AFL Players Visit APS

Players from the Melbourne Football Club visited our school on Tuesday 28th July

It was wonderful to have the players speak to all the children over 2 sessions and Max Gawn emphasised the importance to all the children of having fun when playing any sport. I was incredibly impressed with the questions our students asked. These included:

“ How do you cope when an umpire makes a decision against you that you know isn’t right?”

Flynn Hampel asked Max about how he feels given, “if he is selected to be in the All Australian team later in the year, he will be the only player to have been selected 9 years in a row?”

Another student asked “How do you support players who haven’t had a great day on the field?”

All the players commented that our students had asked some very clever questions.

We have some free ticket offers available at the office from the Dees if any families would like to take advantage of this to support the last 3 home games the Dees are playing.

Casual Clothes Day

A huge congratulations to our Year 6 PFA Fundraising Team for organising and running a very successful Casual Clothes Day. Thanks to the incredible support of our school community, the event raised $1,210 towards the students' goal of purchasing monkey bars for our playground.

The team also took on the enormous task of making and distributing popcorn to 242 students across the school. While they quickly realised just how big the job was without the support of parent volunteers, it proved to be an invaluable learning experience. Their teamwork, organisation, problem-solving and perseverance were put to the test, and they should be incredibly proud of what they achieved.

It has been wonderful to see students from every year level enthusiastically supporting the fundraising efforts and working towards a shared goal. We look forward to the team's next event, Crazy Hair Day on Friday 4 September, as they continue raising funds to make the monkey bars a reality.

PFA School Disco

The disco is on tomorrow night, Friday 31 July starting at 5.00pm -6.00pm for P-2 and Years 3- 6 are dancing from 6.30 -7.30pm.

Thank you to our PFA and Year 1 parents who are working very hard to ensure all the children have a fabulous time tomorrow evening. Parents please remember to stay for the disco and help supervise your children to ensure everyone is safe and has a wonderful time.

The Protectors Theatre Workshop

The Protectors Theatre workshop is on tomorrow in the afternoon for the children in Prep -Year 2 .

All of the children who experienced the workshop last week in Years 3-6 enjoyed it very much and spoke very highly about what they took away from the workshop.

Rochelle Cukier

Principal

Rochelle.Cukier@education.vic.gov.au

Connie Apostolos

Assistant Principal

Connie.Apostolos@education.vic.gov.au