Dear Armadale Community,

I hope you are all well and it’s hard to believe that we are only 4 weeks away from Christmas! I know all your calendars are already full and even I have young grandchildren’s ballet and dance concerts to attend, family catch ups; school functions; farewells to Principal colleagues who are retiring, our own Carols by Daylight concert at Fed Square, where I know Armadale Primary children will be the showcase performers. Thank goodness I have already bought my 2 tickets!

Keeping in mind the increasing intensity our families will be experiencing in the next 4 weeks the school has responded by ceasing formal homework from December 1st onwards. I have already had many positive comments from our families who are appreciative of us lessening the cognitive load on children at this time of year. Of course, please continue to read with and to the children, play all types of games with them, card games, scrabble, challenges and puzzles that will continue to engage children in learning.

The teaching focus over the next 3 weeks will focus on “Transition” and this just won’t involve moving up to the next year level but taking a deep dive into our core values and how they can be strong anchor points in considering the changes that will be experienced next year as children move on to the next level or to high school in the case of our Year 6 students.

Relationships: the opportunity to develop positive relationships with a new teacher and classmates and become familiar with a new learning space.

Responsibility: the opportunity to develop a stronger sense of responsibility for my learning, my actions and contributing to the school and the wider community to make it a better experience for all. How can I be more organised and take greater responsibility for my belongings and my learning space.

Resilience: continuing to strengthen my sense of resilience and being able to bounce back from negative experiences and look forward to each day at school.

Reflection: the opportunity to reflect on my learning this year, where I am on the learning continuum in my learning areas and look forward to the next steps in my learning growth and the opportunities to be stretched and challenged.

Respect: strengthening my sense of self-respect and respect I have for others in my class and my school and wider community.

Carols by Daylight Concert Sunday December 3rd at Federation Square

We welcome the support and participation of parents and friends for this large event. Without their support we couldn’t hold this special annual event which showcases and supports musical talent from primary schools to universities and other not for profit in The Arts organisations alike. Parents will need to purchase tickets if you would like to watch the children perform at the concert. Please click on the link to purchase tickets. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thank you so much to Albert Chen of Year 34A!

I was delighted to have Albert approach me a fortnight ago with a special letter and envelope. In the envelope was $50.45 that Albert raised himself from busking in the city and he said that he would like the money to go towards our new STEM room. Our STEM room has already been set up adjacent to the Community Room and all of our classes will have lessons in there next year. We will be offering a range of coding, robotics, engineering, design and technology to all of the children. How exciting that we can further enhance a range of curriculum enrichment opportunities to all of our students.

Supporting the “For every Child Fully Fund Public Schools campaign”.

Thank you to those parents who signed the postcards yesterday afternoon with the 2 representatives from the Australian Education Union. If any other parent would like to sign a postcard which will be sent to the Prime Minister, asking for government schools to be fully funded, these are available in the office.

Learning Bulletins

These are the last of the learning bulletins for this year and I would like to acknowledge all of the work our teachers have dedicated to the content and information communicated to you in these bulletins. Not only are they written with the purpose of strengthening your understanding of the learning your child is experiencing, but they also support you to continue to strengthen the concepts taught at home and they come with a work sample of what your child has learnt, providing you with a snapshot of where the children are in the learning. By comparison, I know other settings where a newsletter only goes out once a term informing parents of the learning taking place in the class.

Enjoy your week ahead.

Rochelle Cukier

Principal

Rochelle.Cukier@education.vic.gov.au

Kitchen Garden