Dear Parents,

Welcome to the final edition of our 2024 School Newsletter.

The end of the school year always brings an opportunity to reflect on the months gone by and celebrate another successful year for our community. This week, students got to experience some time together with their new class and teacher for 2024. This invaluable experience allows everyone to transition successfully and start building the positive relationships necessary to succeed at school.

Welcome - Prep Parents 2024

While students were in their new classes for the Step Up morning, the School Improvement Team had the opportunity to welcome the families who are new to our school. We hosted our Parent Induction session providing a glut of information to support parents to get the most out of their experience with our school. Please if you see other parents in the yard that look new to our school, help them feel welcome by introducing yourself and sharing the grades of your students. It can be overwhelming for parents just as it is for their kids when starting a new school so a supportive network and others who can help you navigate your way through is important feature of what makes our community so strong.

2024 Staffing Update

This year our Step Up morning was more important than ever with our school growing to beyond 300 students in 2024 which means we will be opening up 2 additional classes. Furthermore, we will be bidding farewell to some of our current staff including; Sue James will be taking on a 12-month contract to support Leveled Literacy Intervention at another school, Eden Buckley has successfully picked up a position to teach in regional Victoria in 2024, Kim Miter - Will be joining the foundation staff of Wimba Primary School set to open in 2024, Zaid Farhadi has accepted a Learning Specialist Position at Davis Creek Primary School. On behalf of our community thank each of the staff members above for their service to our students and wish them the best for 2024 and beyond.

More classes also means new staff joining our growing team. I'd like to officially welcome Leila Soltan, Chelsea Cawen, Lisa Thai, and Catherine Bui who will all be teaching in classrooms next year.

Furthermore, I am excited to announce that in consideration of the extensive feedback from parents and students, we will be introducing Performing Arts as part of the Enrichment Learning Program for 1 hour a week with every student from Prep to grade 6. We have secured Ms Kim Pearce to lead our program. Ms Pearce brings her extensive experience in this space having led Performing Arts at Cairnlea PS and successfully coached children in Calisthenics Victoria. Lastly, We will also be welcoming back Mrs Jenny Foxwell from maternity leave as she returns part-time to teach Italian to students in grades 3-6.

Our staffing profile for 2024 instills us with great confidence that our high expectations and relentless focus on excellence will continue and strengthen.

End of year Christmas Carols & Kids Entrepreneurs Market

Our end-of-year Christmas Carols and Kidpreneurs Market will be held on Friday the 15th of December at 1:30 pm; we hope that all families can join us as we celebrate all our achievements in 2024. The event will begin with the gates opening and giving Parents time to purchase from the Kidpreneaur market. After a successful day at the Altona Beach Market, stock is limited so get in quick. Families are asked to bring a picnic rug to sit on and wear a hat during the Christmas Concert All families are asked to sit behind students in the viewing area to keep the walkways to the side safe for transitions.

Each class with then perform their Christmas carol which we hope everyone will sing along to. Songbooks are provided when you enter through the gate so please do your best to sing along.

This is also the day we will announce our 2024 student leaders and draw the winners of our Major School Fundraiser! There is still time to purchase more tickets. Tickets can be collected from the office or your classroom teacher. Tickets are $2 each or 5 for $10.

All proceeds collected on the day will go toward the purchase of new Take Home Reading Books for Student Libraries in 2024

Grade 6 Big Day Out

To celebrate the successful completion of primary school, our grade 6’s will be attending a Graduation Big Day Out at Adventure Park Geelong on Monday 18th December. Students will spend an action-packed day at the water park. In addition, they will enjoy a BBQ lunch, followed by dinner at a restaurant. They will also take a stroll to the Geelong waterfront where they will have an opportunity to take some memorable photos of their primary school friends.

Last Day Whole School Assembly/ Grade 6 Graduation Certificates

On behalf of students and staff, I would like to extend an invitation to all families to our end-of-year assembly on Tuesday the 19th of December at 12:45 pm; we hope that all families can join us as we celebrate all our achievements of 2023. Our students will entertain you with performances they have been preparing for the day. We hope all of our families can attend this end of year event and engage in our celebrations.

This is also the day we will present our grade 6s with their graduation certificates and announce our school leaders for 2024.

EXCITING NEWS - NEW PLAYGROUND!

You may have noticed the fences around Diamond Avenue Reserve well pulled down earlier this week. The construction team has now begun the work to erect a new fence to match the rest of the school with Diamond Avenue Reserve now no longer accessible to the public. This has been the result of many months of negotiation which included the building of a new public playground behind the football oval. Once the fence is up it means our revitalisation and integration of the reserve area of our school can begin. We will kick things off by installing a new 3-6 Play Equipment and Ninja Warrior Course! Works will take place over the summer break so it can be ready for use at the beginning of the school year. This was decided up in response to the extensive survey feedback from parents and students about what they wished for most at our school right now.

The course was designed in consultation with our 2023 Junior School Improvement Team (JSIT) and I thank them for working together with us to make this happen. See the picture below for a concept drawing of what the course is expected to look like.

2023 has been an exceptional year for Albanvale Primary School. From our students, excellent NAPLAN results being published in the Herald Sun to the success of our first-ever Colour Run celebrations and everything in between. Our community has given everything to achieve excellence together in every way. We are in a phenomenal position as we approach our school review in Term 1 next year and set the benchmarks that we will aspire to for the next strategic plan. It has been a privilege being the Principal and leading a community so dedicated to improving the lives of each other every day. I wish you and your families a safe and refreshing summer break. May it leave you feeling recharged and refocused, ready to bring even more energy to drive excellence in 2024.

Seasons greetings,

Michael Uzunovski

Principal

Albanvale Primary School

APS Christmas Stall

Thursday 14th December 2023