Principal's Report

 Principal Report   

Father’s Day/Special Person’s Day stall

Our students love to select a special gift for their father or special person in September.  Our wonderful parents/grandparents make this opportunity possible – big thanks to Christina for organizing and coordinating the Father’s Day stall for our students.  We also send our thanks to the other amazing parents who helped out on the day.  We hope that Dads and special people in our community had a lovely Father’s Day!

Book character Parade

There is nothing like finding a book that you love and immersing yourself in a great story! (Although we must make note that non-fiction books were also represented!) On the 4th September we held our Book Character Parade as part of our Book Week celebrations. Congratulations to our library monitors, Hannah and Chelsea, who were recognised for the wonderful work they do in the library.  Students celebrated their favourite books and characters with a parade in the morning that was enjoyed by all.  Many thanks to Ms Foley, who did a superb job of organising.  

Year 2 Pyjama Party

Last night, our Year 2 students had a pyjama party after school. Students were so excited to eat a pizza dinner together, participate in activities when it was dark at school, such as a disco with lots of dancing and singing, some games, and a movie night. Thanks go to Ms Price, Ms Morlin and Ms Paolucci for organising such an enjoyable evening for our students!  (And of course, Ms Capon and Mr M joined in the fun, too!)

Year 3/4 camp

Our Year 3 & 4 students experienced camp life at Forest Edge camp last week.  Students reported that they had an unforgettable experience, where they were challenged to give everything a go. Special thanks to Ms Redford, Ms Ngew, Ms Morlin and Micheala for supporting our students at camp. We are sure everyone would have needed a good sleep on return!

Wellington SC & Port Phillip excursion

Ms Ngew has been facilitating some fantastic work in the area of sustainability for our students.  Please be sure to have a look later in the newsletter for information about our students attending the Wellington Secondary College’s Biodiversity Conference and the Year 3 & 4 excursion to Port Phillip Eco Centre. Thanks Ms Ngew for finding these great opportunities for our students!

Taking Photos at School

It is lovely to be able to look back at your child’s primary school journey through photos. We remind parents that while at school (assemblies, sports days, etc.) you are only able to take photos of your own child.  Taking photos of other children without express permission from that parent (particularly if posting online) is not allowed. We thank you for your cooperation. 

Footy Colours Day and Walk-a-thon- Friday 11th September

It was a beautiful day for a Footy Day!! Despite instructions for everyone to wear black and white (!), we had a great assortment of footy colours today.  We started with our parade, went on to our Walkathon with icy poles and a sausage sizzle, and finished up with the Longest Kick competition. 

 We had an army of parent/grandparent helpers to help supervise the Walkathon, distribute icy poles, cook and serve the sausages, and help out with the Longest Kick competition.

 Thank you so much! We would also like to thank our Wellington Secondary students for assisting our students with the Longest Kick competition – it was great to have you here! Thanks also to our SEDA student, Luka for assisting today (and most Fridays this term) with today and sport in general.

 Thank you, Mrs W, for making sure we had enough supplies.

 Big thanks to everyone who helped and we hope you had a great day! (Hot ‘pies!)

SWPBS reward day – Monday 14th September

Be sure to check further down in the newsletter for details of our very special reward day organised by Dana, which is happening on Monday!!

Congratulations, Emma!!

Congratulations to Emma, who has progressed to the next level of gymnastics!  Well done!

Parent Opinion Survey - closes Friday 18 September 2026.

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Carer Opinion Survey and is seeking your feedback. Your opinions are important to us and will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. 

Thank you so much to those parents who have already completed the survey.The survey will be conducted online and only takes 20 minutes to complete. It can be completed on any internet enabled device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.

The survey is available in English and 10 other languages: Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

 If you require assistance in another language, resources may be available for you. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school if you require assistance in anotherlanguage. 

Details of how to complete the survey are on your Compass parent portal. If you have any questions or issues, please contact the office. 

2027 classes

Selecting the best fit classes for each cohort is an incredibly complex exercise. If you would like to let us know of a situation that affects class structures for 2027, please email Jane.Capon@education.vic.gov.au by Friday 18th September. We can’t make any promises, but we like to take your views into account. 

Playgroup at Albany Rise! 

The Albany Rise Primary School Playgroup is officially in in session!  After the morning drop-off, if you have children aged 0-5years (who are not already at school), you are welcome to come to the Function Room where we will have a variety of toys and activities set up for the children to play, and parents/grandparents are welcome to have a cuppa and a chat.  Families from outside our school community are also welcome. Gold coin donation if you can.  Huge thanks to Ann Dunford, who has kindly offered to facilitate our playgroup on Monday mornings 9.15 -10.30am during school terms. 

Tours 

If you know of any families who would like to see our school in action, we offer group tours, which run on most Mondays at 9.30am. We can also offer individual tours at other times. Please call the office for more information. 

Toys at ARPS

We know how important play at lunchtime and afternoon recess is for our students.  However, towards the end of last term, we noticed more and more, that students were bringing personal toys to school. These items became a distraction in class, and a cause for distress in the playground, as items were lost and broken and causing many disputes and misunderstandings.  These issues were then spilling into the classroom, with teachers spending valuable learning time on solving these issues. Therefore, with the exception of balls, we are asking parents for their support in ensuring that all other toys are left at home.  If you have any queries around this, please do not hesitate to contact Jane on Jane.Capon@education.vic.gov.au

Brain Food

 We know how important healthy eating is for learning! For some school children, the only time of the day that they eat fresh fruit and/or vegetables is during Brain Food time at school. For this reason, Brain Food time is privileged for fruit and vegetables only (this does NOT include fruit juices or other food).   This is something that most schools practice each day, sometime between 9am and lunch time (11.30am).  We thank you for your support of this initiative. 

Outside of School: sport or other activity - Achievement of the Week 

We know how important physical activity and sport is for our students and to our school community, which is why we privilege time at school for PE and sport. We also know that we have some very talented students who participate in sports and activities outside of school.  

We would love to celebrate their achievements!

 If your child has received an award or progressed to the next level of their activity outside of school (be it sporting or otherwise) , please let us know and we would love to celebrate their achievements in our newsletter. Please contact Mr Mottershead with information and a photo, or email through to our school office on Albany.rise.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Jane Capon