Dear Armadale Community,

What another fabulous week the children have all experienced and congratulations to all those students who represented Armadale Primary in the Southport District Athletics Carnival at Duncan McKinnon Oval.

New Learning Portfolio

This is the second time our Learning Portfolios have come home, and they will be sent home this afternoon. These portfolios provide a wonderful opportunity for parents and carers to partner with us in their child’s learning and have meaningful conversations about their progress.

Take some time to look through the portfolio together and invite your child to share their learning experience with you. What are they proud of? What have they learned? What do they think they could strengthen or work on moving forward? These conversations help promote responsibility and learner agency, encouraging children to reflect on their learning, recognise their strengths and take ownership of their next steps.

We would love to hear about the conversations these portfolios have opened up at home and how they have helped you connect with your child’s learning.

Our Focus on Respect

Our focus at the moment is supporting our children to understand what the value of Respect looks like, feels like and how it is demonstrated in our everyday school life. During our whole-school meeting, children explored examples of what being respectful does not look like and then worked together to identify what we want to see and hear when we are showing respect.

We are encouraging children to show respect for themselves, others and our shared environment. This includes listening when others are speaking, using kind and considerate language, respecting personal space and belongings, caring for our school spaces and resources, and treating our classrooms, gardens, Library, Italian, Music, STEM and Art rooms with care.

These conversations provide an important opportunity for children to think about how their words, choices and actions demonstrate respect and how they can help create a school community where everyone feels valued, safe and included.

Book Week

Book Week (24–28 August) is fast approaching and Miss Sozzi has organised a fabulous range of activities and experiences to celebrate the joy of reading!

Please remember to pay for all of the Book Week activities on COMPASS so that the children don’t miss out. Throughout the week, children will have opportunities to engage with wonderful authors and enjoy exciting incursions that bring books and stories to life. These experiences are designed to inspire a love of reading, introduce children to new authors and stories, and remind us of all of the joy, imagination and wonder that books can bring.

Our wonderful Book Parade is on Tuesday 25 August at 9.00am, and all parents are welcome to stay and enjoy the parade. Start getting those costumes ready now if you haven’t already! The staff are also doing something special for the children, so there is plenty to look forward to throughout the week.

PFA Gala Event

The PFA Gala Event is on this Saturday night at The Orrong Hotel. Thank you to all the parents who are supporting the school at this wonderful fundraiser. It is not only an opportunity to raise funds to improve our school facilities, but also a fantastic way to connect with and celebrate our wonderful APS community.

This year, funds raised will go towards improving the safety and accessibility of our front entrance, including relocating the front entrance and front office and providing ramp access. These improvements will make it easier and safer for everyone to access our school, including families with prams, people using wheelchairs and our elderly community members.

We hope everyone attending has a fabulous evening and enjoys the opportunity to come together as a community. There is also an opportunity to support the school through the auction items, which were posted on COMPASS yesterday. Every contribution helps us continue to make APS an even more welcoming, safe and accessible place for our community.

Year 3/4 Camp – An opportunity for Learning About Responsibility

Year 3/4 students are off to Camp at The Ranch at Cape Schanck on Monday, August 17th!

If your child is in Year 3/4, you will have noticed the excitement building as their three-day camp approaches. For some children, this may be their first time sleeping away from home, and it is understandable that they may be feeling a little anxious. Please reassure them that Camp is an opportunity to have fun, challenge themselves, overcome fears and experience the thrill of being outdoors and working as part of a team.

Camp also provides a wonderful opportunity for learning about responsibility. Children will be expected to take responsibility for their own belongings, manage their luggage and sleeping bag, keep track of their personal items and look after their space. These are valuable skills that we encourage children to practise and develop at school.

Please take some time over the weekend to allow your child to practise managing their own luggage, sleeping bag and personal belongings independently. Less is more when packing! The aim is for children to be as independent and responsible as possible throughout their camp experience.

Rochelle is heading up to Camp on Tuesday and is looking forward to seeing the children having a fantastic time, challenging themselves and embracing this wonderful opportunity to learn, grow and take responsibility.

Rochelle Cukier

Principal

Rochelle.Cukier@education.vic.gov.au

Connie Apostolos-Thermos

Assistant Principal

Connie.Apostolos@education.vic.gov.au

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