A Message from David & Cam

Welcome Back!

A warm welcome to you all and a special welcome to all of our new families that have joined the AGPS community this year. We have had a great start across the school and we love seeing the huge smiles and very excited children entering the school grounds each day. We are also so impressed with how kind, friendly and welcoming our kids have been towards each other, and particularly towards our students who have joined us this year - just like KEFAR!

We couldn't be prouder of the way all the students have started the school year. Everyone is so settled, positive and excited to learn! We have heard many positive messages from the students about their new classes and teachers and how happy they are to be back at school. Thank you all for your support in helping to make the start of the year such a positive one. 

Here are some pics from the playground on the first day of school:

And here are some really excited big brothers, sisters and cousins welcoming their prep siblings/cousins to our school:

I would like to once again send a special welcome to our new staff members who have joined AGPS this year. All of the following people have slotted in beautifully at AGPS and bring a wealth of experiences, passions and enthusiasm to our team.

We welcome:

• Gislaine Sirmovics (Prep Teacher)

• Katey Tarr (Year 1 Teacher)

• Genevieve Villaflor-Gozon (Year 2 Teacher)

• Alicia Scibberas (Year 2 Teacher)

• Jemma Riddoch (Year 3 Teacher)

• Matt Irons (Year 4/5 Teacher)

• Kate Kitanovski (Education Support)

• Kylie Hunter (Learning Specialist Mental Health & Wellbeing)

A reminder of some changes for 2026:

• Learning Specialist Mental Health & Wellbeing - Supporting student wellbeing continues to be a growing priority for our school, and we were eager to expand our wellbeing team to strengthen the support we offer. We are very pleased to welcome Kylie Hunter as our new Learning Specialist in 2025. Kylie will work alongside Liz to provide additional expertise and extra layers of support for our students and families in all areas of mental health and wellbeing. 

• Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden - As you will all know, Trish's retirement this year has left a hard-to-fill hole in our school and the SAKG program has been put on pause during the second half of the year. We are really excited to announce that this role is going to be shared next year by two very familiar faces - Vera Andreevski will be taking the role of kitchen specialist and Liam Moore will be our new garden specialist. Vera and Liam have been very busy over the break and the first weeks of school setting up the program and we are very excited to get it up an running again starting next week!

• Literacy Intervention - A real strength and success of our school over recent years has been the wonderful Treehouse program run by Loretta that provides additional literacy support to select students who require a little more than our typical everyday instruction. Next year we have added Aimee Seguna to the intervention team as an additional layer of support across our school. Aimee will run a similar program to Loretta with the aim of ensuring that no students get left behind.

2026 Class Details

Camps, Sports & Excursion Fund (C.S.E.F.)

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (C.S.E.F.) helps eligible families to cover the costs of camps, excursions and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible.  The card must be in the parent’s name, not the student.

Payment amounts this year are $150 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made directly to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

Please give a copy of your Health Care Card to the office or email me a copy of your card to:altona.green.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Your card must be valid as of the 27th January, 2026.

Fundraising

In 2025, our school community achieved an incredible fundraising total of $65,094.97. This is a truly outstanding effort! This remarkable result is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our Parents and Friends Committee, along with the generosity and support of our entire school community. Every event, donation and contribution has made a difference. These funds are already being put to work, with a strong focus on purchasing high-quality literacy resources to support teaching and learning across the school. 

A huge thank you to all of our families, staff and community members who supported our fundraising efforts this year. Whether you volunteered, attended events or made a donation, every contribution made a difference. A special thanks to our amazing Parents and Friends Committee for the time and energy you give to our school - we are incredibly grateful!

Kitchen Garden is Back!

Hello A.G.P.S families and community,

We’re so excited to share the wonderful news that the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden (SAKG) Program is restarting at our school this year!

The kitchen garden is a special place where students get their hands dirty, grow fresh produce, learn practical life skills, and discover the joy of cooking and sharing food together. It’s all about curiosity, teamwork, healthy choices, and connecting with nature — lessons that extend well beyond the garden and kitchen.

This year, we’re looking forward to creating a vibrant, welcoming space for our students, staff, families, and wider community. Whether it’s planting, harvesting, cooking, or simply learning where food comes from, the SAKG program brings people together in such a meaningful way.

We can’t wait to see the smiles, the learning, and the delicious creations that will come from the kitchen and garden this year. Thank you for your continued support — we’re so excited to begin this journey together.

Warm regards,

Vera & Liam 🌿🍎

Family Picnic

We are very much looking forward to our family picnic this afternoon. This event is always a great way to welcome our newest families as well as gathering our whole school together. 

This year we are running a scavenger hunt for a bit of fun and a great way to explore our school. There will be a map to follow with activities, puzzles and challenges to complete. We know it will be a great evening to have a laugh and enjoy the company of family and new and old friends.

We hope to see many of you there!

Volunteering

Altona Green relies on the support and efforts of volunteers to provide wonderful experiences and a great environment for our students. Please see below for ways that you can volunteer and support our school:

• Parents and Friends have planned many events that benefit our school and many of these can only operate with volunteer support. Keep an eye out for communication from Parents and Friends in the newsletter and joining the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1711670309087291/) for opportunities to help out and meet other parents. Parents and Friends also have an online volunteer sign up form here https://signup.com/go/NAryeRX where you can register your interest in volunteering.

• In-class support - if you would like to support in the classroom, please get in contact with your child's teacher and/or specialist teachers.

Kitchen Garden Volunteers

• Our wonderful Kitchen Garden program cannot run without the support of volunteers. Vera & Liam would really appreciate help in both the kitchen and garden during lessons as well as general help with preparation in the kitchen and care of the gardens. If you can help please get in touch with us (email, phone or in person). Any help is greatly appreciated.

Volunteer Induction Form

• All volunteers who work at the school are required to read the Volunteer Handbook and complete the volunteer induction form here: Volunteer Induction Form or via the QR code at the office.

Student Achievement

We would like to congratulate Zoe (4/5H) for her amazing achievment of coming 1st in long jump at the recent Regional Athletics Championships! This means Zoe progresses to the State Championships! What a superstar!!

We always love hearing stories of student achievement, both big and small, from beyond the school grounds. Please share any student achievements you have either via email or phone as we would love to share and celebrate with you!

Communication

Here is an overview of the different communication methods of our school community:

• Compass - Our main form of communication. This includes consent and payment for excursions/incursions/camps, bookings for parent/teacher interviews, student reports, important school dates and fundraising activities

• Upcoming Dates - Important upcoming events are published via the newsletter and as a stickied Compass notification (stays at the top of your Compass newsfeed)

• Newsletter - Published fortnightly on Thursday (alternate week to assembly)

• Facebook - We primarily use Facebook to celebrate events and achievements and to share images and videos

• Seesaw - Parents and carers can access their child's Seesaw learning journal to gain insights into the classroom. This includes student work and learning goals. This can also be used to communicate with the classroom teacher.

• Curriculum Newsletter - Each teaching team publishes a curriculum newsletter early in the term. This provides information about different curriculum areas that your child(ren) will be focusing on for the term

• Contacting your child's teacher - If you would like to discuss a matter related to your child please arrange a time to meet with your child's teacher. This can be arranged by sending an email, sending a message via Seesaw or contacting the office. 

Assemblies

Our assemblies are a wonderful way for the whole school to come together and celebrate all the student achievements. Our school captains plan and prepare to host each assembly and always make it a great event for our community. In addition to handing out KEFAR and Running Club awards, each assembly features a performance by one of the classes where they showcase something they have been learning about.

Here is the list of upcoming assemblies and the classes performing. We look forward to seeing you there.

Reminders

As we begin a new year, it’s a good chance for some reminders:

• Please make sure all of your child’s belongings are labeled clearly with their name.

• The staff car park is only for staff during the hours of 8am - 4pm.  Students are not permitted to walk through this area as it’s not safe.

• Any visitors to the school must come through the main front gate and report to the office.

• We very much value support from families.  If you or a family member would like to assist please apply for a working with children check (this is free).  Once you receive your card, please bring it to the office so that we can photocopy it and keep it on file. 

• Terms 1 and 4 are hats on terms.  All students are required to wear a sunsmart hat during sport and break times. Hats (as well as other uniform items) can be purchased from the uniform shop.

• The uniform shop is located in the BER near the Elizabeth Court gate and is open on Tuesdays 8:30 – 9:00am and Thursdays 3:00 – 3:30pm.

• All students need to be in full school uniform. 

• Any students who arrive after 9:00am must sign in at the office and collect a late pass. Students arriving at school late must be accompanied by an adult or the parent needs to call the office to explain the reason for being late.

• Parents are reminded that playground supervision (teacher on duty) is provided before school from 8.45am and after school until 3.30pm. Students should not be on the school grounds before or after these times unless supervised by their parents or an adult

Policies

The start of the year is also a good time to draw your attention to our school policies. The full list is here: https://www.altonagreen.vic.edu.au/policies/ however there are a few policies that I would like to highlight:

• Student Dress Code (Uniform) - Please familiarise yourself with the compulsory items listed in the appendix as well as the uniform items not permitted.

• Dogs at School - dogs are not permitted on the school grounds due to health and safety concerns. If you are walking to school with your dogs, please arrange for your child to meet you at the gate.

• Mobile Phones - students must hand their mobile phones to the office at the beginning of the school day where they are kept securely for the day.

• Personal Property - we encourage staff and students not to bring items of value to school, or to obtain appropriate insurance for such items.

Pick Up/Drop Off Safety Reminders

We would like to reiterate some important safety reminders about school drop-off and pick-up:

Staff Carpark

• The staff carpark is ONLY available to parents/carers if they need to access TeamKids. Please do not park in the staff carpark or walk/ride through there.

Traffic/Road Safety

Please ensure the following:

• Park your car prior to a 100% stop, with the engine off, prior to your children exiting the car
• Ensure that your children exit on the curb side
• Ensure that you and your children cross at the designated crossing area (say 'Hi' to Joyce!)
• Use the roundabout and not enter the staff carpark to turn around or do U-turns along Victoria St
• Adhere to the speed limit of 40km per hour

Thank you for your cooperation with this.

Annual Privacy Reminder

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website here.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Dari
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese.

Thank you all for a wonderful start to the year. We look forward to what will be a really exciting year.

Take care,

David & Cam