Principal's Message

Principal Report 

Communication and collaboration between home and the classroom teacher is a vital aspect of school life that enables students to achieve their very best. At ARPS we aim to provide a range of options and opportunities for parents/carers to communicate with classroom teachers on all aspects of school life, including special events, social and emotional learning.

Contact between teachers and parents/carers often occur through impromptu face to face meetings before and after school, usually to share a brief snippet of the day, a positive action that was observed, or a celebration of learning progress. 

For contact and communications that may require further discussion or actions, connection through ClassDojo with the teacher is a regularly used option. An example may be if a student has left a uniform item at school (eg. Hat), a parent may ask if the teacher is able to locate it. It may be that the student is having difficulty with a homework task, and the parent needs more information to support their child.

Sometimes, a meeting between the classroom teacher and parents/carers is requested to share information that will support the child at school. For new students, this is strongly encouraged, to support the teacher ‘getting to know’ your child. If a student has demonstrated a need for support in their social skills development, or academic progress has plateaued, a meeting with parents/carers and the teacher to develop an Individual Education Plan or Behaviour plan is appropriate. For students with a disability or additional needs, regular Student Support Group meetings are held each term to set goals and track progress, often with the input from kay support personnel (eg. Occupational Therapist or Speech Pathologist).

School leadership, myself included, value the feedback from parents/carers regarding our communication processes and practices. I encourage members of the school community to make contact with the school at any time if you require further clarification or support to ensure the best possible outcomes for all our students.

Musical UPDATE – Less than a week to go!

COSTUMES- Most of our students in Year F-4 have now tried on their costumes and are ready for our full dress rehearsal on Monday 16th October at Wellington Secondary College. We are hoping for dry weather on the day, as students will be walking to Wellington Secondary College to eliminate bus costs for all students. Ann Dunford (grandparent) and Bronwyn Clarke (Parent) along with several other members of the Parents Association, have been working day and night to sew, collect and sort all of the costumes for students across the school. We certainly could not have managed the organisation of costumes without the support of all our wonderful parents.

For our Year 5 and 6 students, we have costumes organised for all our main cast. We have managed to limit further costs to parents for our production this year, by allowing our Year 5 and 6 students in the mass dance to create their own costumes from items they already have at home. We are looking forward to seeing what creative ideas these students come up with.

Tickets- Are almost sold out. If you have not purchased tickets yet, here is the link: https://www.trybooking.com/CLKKV

Raffle –  the raffle tickets for our wonderful hamper and prizes went out to students today. This is a Parent Association fundraiser with prizes including gifts and vouchers valued at $100 and more. Raffle tickets will also be on sale at the venue on both nights, with the raffle being drawn on Night 2 (Thursday 19th October).

Referendum BBQ @ ARPS- HELP NEEDED PLEASE

We are in need of a few more helpers for our BBQ at referendum day on Saturday 14th October. Any time that parents/carers can spare would be helpful, even if it is just 30 minutes. We cannot run this fundraiser without parent/carer support. PLEASE contact the office to arrange a time to support the Parents Association with our BBQ. Many thanks to the parents who have already signed up!

FACILITIES UPGRADE – Plans and Timeline   

At our meeting with the builders late last week, it was exciting to learn that many of our new toilets and facilities will be available to students by mid-November. The student toilets currently being upgraded near the administration building, are due for completion next month. This toilet block will be a ‘gender neutral’ set out toilets, with all students able to use any of the toilets. The design allows for both high levels of supervision of the area as well as very private individual cubicles. I am sure the students will be thrilled with these new facilities once completed.

The student toilets closest to the classrooms, are due for initial building works and demolition from November this year, to be completed in Early February 2024 (hopefully within the first week back in the new year). These will be girls and boys separate toilet blocks, also with very private cubicles.

Below are some of the design drawings to show how the completed facilities will appear once completed:

School Conflict:     From time to time, at school like at home, there will be situations where children may not see eye to eye, have a disagreement or even something physical may occur. When recounting an incident they will always tell the story from their perspective; an accidental push could turn into a deliberate shove. Please note that the best way to deal with any situation that arises at school is by contacting your child’s teacher or the school to discuss the matter. If a restorative chat has not already taken place, the teacher will investigate the situation and get the full story by talking to those involved. If there is a problem they will help your child to find a solution and inform you. In any community there can be problems and issues and we need to work together to make sure that our problems continue to be small ones that can be dealt with, rather than escalating into big ones that can be hard to solve. Along with asking that parents do not contact or confront other children or parents, please don‘t discuss any concerns in front of your child/ren as they do not have very well developed social filters and can often blurt out overheard information at an inappropriate time. Thanks for your trust in us. 

Global Conflict: Many in our school community are affected by the devastating events in the Middle East and all of us are upset and disturbed by the awful events depicted in media footage and images. We are aware that students of diverse backgrounds, including Jewish and Muslim students, may be significantly affected by public events, mainstream media coverage and social media at this time. Please be assured that all staff are aware of the extreme emotional toll on many in our community at this time and our support staff will continue doing all they can to support all our students. It is possible that extremely distressing scenes from the conflict may be posted online in coming days. Please ensure your children are aware of where they can find support in the event they come across such images, and I endorse the Helping my children after trauma: A guide for parents resource.

SWIMMING 2023

Our school arranges a whole school (F-6) swimming program for the last few weeks of Term 4. In coming days, parents will receive a Compass notification regarding the upcoming Swimming program arrangements, venue, costs and days the program is running. The schedule for the swimming program is generally determined by the pool, and by the numbers of students in each year level at the school who are attending (which we hope will be every student).

Swimming instruction is part of the Victorian Curriculum, with explicit instruction of swimming skills required for all students. The Department of Education partially subsidises the cost of the swimming program, to support the inclusion of all students in the program.

We also encourage parents to volunteer to support the program (especially for our younger students). Parents who are helpers at the pool MUST have a current Working With Children’s Check card.

DOGS ON SCHOOL GROUNDS (AND OTHER ANIMALS)

Families are reminded that at ARPS, we adhere to a ‘No dogs on School Grounds’ policy. Many of our students are not familiar with dogs. Some may have allergies or are fearful of dogs, despite how small or friendly the dog may be. If you have any questions about this, please contact the office, or refer to our ‘Dogs and Animals on School Grounds’ policy, which can be found here: https://albanyrise-ps.vic.edu.au/about-us/policies/

Excerpt from Policy:

Use of school Grounds & Construction

Currently, we have a large number of workmen and vehicles within the school grounds on any given day, including weekends. We ask that parents/carers remain with students on the grounds if arriving before 8.45am or staying after 3.45pm for the sake of student safety, particularly with vehicles regularly driving across the asphalt outside school hours.

Additionally, families are reminded that the school grounds and buildings are NOT a public place, and the use of grounds and facilities is determined by the principal. Community members should not be using the school grounds or facilities on weekends without the knowledge or permission of myself or other authorised persons, especially with current working occurring, for everyone’s safety. 

Also, student toilets are for ARPS students only. Visitors to the school (including secondary school students collecting siblings) can use the facilities in the admin building, or in the function room when open (eg. Breakfast Club, information sessions, etc).

Extra Curricula @ ARPS:

KidsUnlimited- Runs a Soccer program after school every Monday at 3.30pm. All students can attend this user pays program. To book a place see details in flyers in this newsletter. https://www.kidsunlimited.com.au/ 

Junior Rockers- is our instrumental music program. This user pays program offers individual and small group tuition in keyboard, guitar and drums. Contact the office for details or visit our website. https://juniorrockers.com/ 

Lunch orders

Our school uses Classroom Cuisine for students have lunch orders. Lunches are ordered online and delivered straight to the school. https://classroomcuisine.com.au/ 

Parents are reminded that the Staff Car parks at the front and rear of the school are not for parent parking. Parents with a valid disabled pass may use the designated space at the front of the school..