Principal's Report

 Musical – A celebration!

Our students performing last night had a wonderful time dancing, acting, singing and learning stagecraft at our first performance of ‘The REAL Story of Alice in Wonderland’. It was fabulous fun, with lots of laughs to be had!

We are looking forward to another great night tonight for our second (and final) performance. Many thanks to all the families who supported our school by ensuring we had a ‘full house’ for both of the evening performances.

Raffle prizes were won by..

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• Charlie S     12R  

• Lily M           45N 

• Daniel K       56C 

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Some more pictures from Night 1 and 2:

We have developed a display of artefacts created for the musical production. Almost all of the artwork, costumes and props were created from recycled materials- and they look amazing. The display is in the Community Hub near the office; parents/carers and families are encouraged to come and see the display over the next few weeks.

We hope to have the link for the video of each of the nights available to all those who purchased tickets, very soon!

Year 5/6 Camp:

Our students in Year 5 and 6 are enjoying a wonderful time at Camp  Kangaroobie.

PHOTOS:

Book Character Parade is Monday 18th August (9.05 am in the Hall)- The first day of our Book week activities.

Do you have your outfit organised yet? I cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with this year!

The theme for this year's Book Week is "Book an Adventure!". This event is a celebration of books and Australian children's authors and illustrators, with schools and libraries across the state participating. 

Birthday Book Adventure

Each state and territory will hold a Birthday Book Adventure on Saturday 23 August.

Hosted by the State Branches, this will be a day of celebration that will bring readers together to enjoy themed activities, storytelling, and connections to 80 years of literary magic.

Find out more: https://cbca.org.au/childrens-book-week/

Children's Book Week turns 80 in 2025

SCIENCE WEEK IS COMING UP!:

Come along to the STEM room on Wednesday 27th August for a fabulous hour of science and technology. Things to make, do and see.....

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey 

WE WANT OUR PARENTS / CAREGIVERS / GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 18 August to Friday 19 September 2025.

All families are invited to participate in the survey. Please look out for the invitation via Compass.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents / caregivers / guardians who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.

Results will be communicated to parents / caregivers / guardians through annual reporting and in the school newsletter. Last year we used the survey results to inform our Annual Implementation Planning and whole school review in 2025.Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.

Mobile Phones Under 13

In recent weeks a story was doing the rounds in the media about a recent study into the use of mobile phones by children under the age of 13. 

The study, published in the Journal for Human Development and Capabilities, discusses the global rise in smartphone and social media use and how it has dramatically reshaped childhood and adolescence. It looks at the effects of smartphone ownership before the age of 13 on mental health and wellbeing. 

The results showed that the relationship between earlier smartphone ownership and poor mental health outcomes in early adulthood, particularly among females, especially when paired with access to algorithmically curated social media (which is pretty much all social media), profoundly diminishes mind health and wellbeing and is associated with increased symptoms and diminished functioning across a range of domains, with consequences extending into education and civic participation. 

Accessing social media and smartphones is often an unsupervised gateway that disrupts key developmental activities such as person-to-person relationships and sleep. It also exposes children to harmful content online including violence, ideologies, deepfakes and inappropriate images.

As the age at which children receive a smartphone continues to decrease, the “data suggests a concerning trajectory toward a population with higher rates of aggression, suicidal thoughts, feelings of detachment from reality, and diminished self-worth, emotional control, and resilience.”

The study found that, “globally, the age of access to social media accounts for approximately 40% of the overall association between age of smartphone ownership and mind health. Other significant contributing factors include poor family relationships (13%), cyberbullying (10%), and disrupted sleep (12%). Notably, 68% of the negative impacts associated with poor family relationships and 63% of the negative impacts associated with cyberbullying are downstream of age of first social media account.”

The authors of the study call for restrictions on the use of smartphones and social media, similarly to what we see with tobacco, alcohol and driving, based on a child’s developing mind and body during these critical formative years. This is of course what Australia will be introducing later in the year with a world first ban on social media by the Federal government.

Connecting with other people is the essence of humanity. School is one of the best places to achieve that, but so too is joining a club and actively engaging in in-person social activities outside of school hours. I would encourage all families to look into the study and make an informed choice regarding smartphone access for primary school aged children. 

One option that all parents have right now, is to empower themselves when it comes to their child’s use of technology. Setting boundaries and limits early can have many positive benefits over the long term. 

Enrol Now for Foundation 2026! 

We are currently receiving strong interest for our 2026 Foundation enrolments and need to establish how many siblings of our enrolled students are due to start at ARPS next year. I would like to thank those families who have already enrolled their child for next year. If you have a child starting Foundation, please ensure you have completed their enrolment form as soon as possible. 

Judith Drew

Principal