A Message from David & Cam

Annual Report

Last term, we shared our Annual Report at the Annual General Meeting. This report is an important way for us to keep our community informed about how we are going, what we’ve been focusing on, and the difference it is making for our students.

It outlines our key improvement priorities and the impact these are having on both learning and wellbeing. It also includes a range of data we use to track our progress and identify where to next.

We are really pleased with the progress reflected in our 2025 results. The data aligns with what we are seeing every day in our classrooms and reinforces that our improvement work is making a difference. It’s particularly encouraging to see more students achieving above their expected level, alongside a continued reduction in the number of students working below.

You can access the full report, including more detailed data and information about our progress, on our website or via the link below.

Strategic Plan Headline Statements

Our 5 Headline Statements:

• Unconditional positive regard

• How well we teach = how well they learn

• High expectations

• Together we are better

• Every minute counts

The Headline Statement in focus for this newsletter is Together we are Better:

Farewell, Deb!

Debbie McKenna has officially retired following her period of leave. We were pleased to acknowledge her contribution and say goodbye as a whole school community at our assembly on Friday, before coming together again after school with a smaller group of current and former colleagues, along with her family, to farewell her more personally.

Deb began her AGPS career in 1991 and has been a committed, passionate and supportive teacher to generations of kids and their families. She will be sorely missed around here and we are all so grateful to have had such a wonderful person as part of our community for such a long time.

We all wish you the absolute best in your retirement and thank you for all that you have done for our school!

Year 6-7 Transition

We are in the thick of the Year 6-7 application period and I know many families have been exploring secondary schools to make an informed decision for their child for 2027. To check which secondary school’s zone you are in, please go to www.findmyschool.vic.gov.au and type in your home address.

A reminder that the transition forms need to be completed and returned to school at the latest by Friday 8th May (Tomorrow!). It is a very tight timeframe to then prepare the information for the distribution to the secondary schools so your adherence to the timeframe is greatly appreciated. 

To further support students to feel comfortable during this transition, Laverton College kindly opened their doors to our Year 5 & 6 students for the 'Big Day Out' excursion. During this excursion, our students got a taste of secondary school life and participated in a range of classes and activities, including science, P.E. and woodwork. They also were lucky enough to have a special lunch provided to them from their canteen. We really appreciate the effort from the staff at Laverton College to put this event together for our kids and know that it will help many who may be feeling anxious during this important time.

Cross Country

We had a large team of our students from grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 represent AGPS in the 2026 District Cross Country event held at Queen of Peace Primary School last Friday. We had a sunny but windy day where all of our students showed the KEFAR values, persisted when things got tough and showed great sportsmanship to all the other competitors.

A special shoutout to our 9/10 boys where we had 6 of the top 10 finishers and to our medallists, Gracie (1st), Max (2nd) and Duke & Ellia (3rd)

ANZAC Day

Our school captains represented our community at the ANZAC Day Dawn Service in Altona. They were excellent representatives for our school, embracing the significance of the occasion. They proudly wore medals honouring family members who have served, while also representing the wider community groups they are part of.

We were also very proud of the students who created a beautiful commemorative wreath for the service. The time, care and thought that went into the design was clear, and it was wonderful to see it displayed at the Altona RSL as part of their ANZAC Day event.

Opportunities like this are an important way for our students to connect with the community and reflect on the significance of ANZAC Day, recognising the service and sacrifice of those who have served.

Student Attitude Towards School Survey

In the coming weeks we will be conducting student surveys with all students in years 4-6. The surveys provide students with an opportunity to share their voice which supports us to improve student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction. The survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

Participation in this survey is voluntary. If you do not wish for your child to do the survey, please opt out via email to your school: altona.green.ps@education.vic.gov.au. Please do so before 11/5/25, stating that you wish to opt out of your child’s participation, along with their name and year level.

Student-Led Lunch Clubs

Each term we are inundated with requests from keen students to form and run new lunch clubs. This term, our school captains developed an application process for students to complete to lead their own club. There were a range of great ideas and the school captains had a really tough time whittling it down to the clubs that were selected. Well done to all the students who applied and congratulations to those who were selected. 

The Term 2 lunch clubs are below:

New Furniture

You may have noticed new student tables in classrooms across the school. This is an exciting upgrade and provides a more modern learning environment that better supports our teaching and learning practices. We have also begun updating classroom seating, with new chairs already in our 4/5 classrooms, and will continue this work across the school over the coming years.

As part of this upgrade, we had a number of surplus tables and chairs. We were pleased to partner with Donations in Kind through Rotary https://rotarydik.org/, who collected the furniture so it can be reused in schools across the South Pacific, supporting students and communities beyond our own.

Industrial Action

As previously communicated via Compass, the AEU has scheduled a series of area-based half-day stop work actions as part of ongoing industrial action. Each region has been allocated a specific date, with our region scheduled for Thursday 4 June.

The AEU has advised that the proposed stop work action has been suspended for the next two weeks. While this period does not include our originally allocated day, it may be extended depending on how negotiations progress.

We will keep you updated as soon as we have further information, and appreciate that any uncertainty can make planning care for your child/ren challenging.

2027 Prep Enrolments 

If you, or someone you know, have a child starting school in 2027 please ensure you collect an enrolment form and bring it in by Friday 31st July. Please contact the office for an enrolment form or download it from our website. Due to increasing demand for places at our school, we would appreciate if you could complete the enrolment forms as soon as possible so we can start planning accordingly.

Tours are also available for any families who wish to see our school. Please see below for upcoming tour dates: 

We hope you all have a great weekend!

Take care,

David & Cam