Covid Update

We are well into Term 1 now and so far we have seen fairly minimal interruptions to the usual school programs and routines. I would like to express my gratitude to the whole school community for their support during the past few weeks with the changing restrictions, adhering to our guidelines, participating in precautionary rapid testing, keeping children home when unwell and communicating with the school.

The number of positive cases at our school continues to remain low with no larger-scale outbreaks occurring. This can be attributed to the vigilance of the parents and carers and adherence to the health and safety measures across the school. We always take a very cautious approach to maintain the health and safety of our community and follow all DET and Dept Health guidelines and I thank you again for supporting us with this.

As the wider community eases restrictions, I would like to clarify a few restrictions that are applicable at a school site:

Face masks are to be worn indoors by adults and children in Year 3 or above
We continue to ask that parents and carers continue to refrain from entering school buildings. To enter school buildings, including the main office, visitors must have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine or have a valid medical exception (with limited exceptions).
QR code check-in is no longer needed when entering the school buildings
Volunteers working in close proximity to staff and students are required to have a third COVID-19 vaccine

P.E. News

Laverton District Swimming Carnival

The Laverton District Swimming Carnival was held last week and from all reports, our students were amazing. All the students put in tremendous effort in their events and should be really proud of their achievements. Nancy informed me that there were a number of new students participating this year and the amount of parental support was really impressive.

A special mention goes to Perryn, who was won the championship final and therefore was the fastest female in freestyle. Amazing effort, Perryn!

Year 5/6 Open Water Swimming

Last Friday, the year 5 & 6 students visited Altona Beach for an open water swimming excursion as part of our swimming program. The excursion gave the students experiences to gain the knowledge to be safe in and around water as well as important first aid and CPR knowledge and skills to help others if needed. There was a combination of information and practical sessions and was run by Life Saving Victoria. Thanks to Nancy for organising this important event for our students.

Running Club

Running Club is held every Monday morning at 8:15am (and on Fridays if it is unable to run on Monday) and has been really well attended this year. It has been great to see so many new members join this year. A special mention to all the new preps who are showing great persistence as they rack up the kms. It has also been great seeing lots of parents and some younger siblings join in!

Thanks to Nancy for organising all of the sporting events for our students to participate in. There is a lot of effort behind the scenes to get these experiences up and running for our students and I know our students, staff and parents are really grateful for the work that you do.

Buildings and Grounds Update

Toilet Upgrades

Barring a few supply issues and some trade shortages, the toilet upgrade near the gym is moving along nicely. We discussed the progress at a recent site meeting and are hopeful that this stage of the project will be completed around the 18th March. Once this block is completed, the team will then begin works to upgrade the toilet block closest to Gumbuya and the staff toilets. Here are some progress photos taken this week:

Safety

Early Arrivals

We have seen an increase in children being dropped off or permitted to attend school well before it is safe to do so in the mornings before school. A reminder that schoolyard supervision does not begin until 8.45am. TeamKids provides a great morning program that begins at 7.00am where children can be cared for and supervised until 8.45am. If a parent is not able to supervise their children then they should not be left on the school grounds as is not safe. We ask for your support with this.

Traffic Safety

You will have noticed that we were able to get new road markings and signage along Victoria St to highlight to oncoming traffic that there is in fact a school around the bend and to slow down! Increasing the visibility of the school zone (particularly at the northern end of Victoria St) is important in ensuring the safety of our community when entering and exiting the school grounds. You can also support us to keep our community safe by adhering to the parking regulations (including not double parking as this makes visibility of children difficult) and crossing the road using the designated crossing (say 'Hi' to Fiona as you cross!).

Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS)

We are pleased to be able to work with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in partnership with the Department of Education in the Mental Health in Primary Schools research project. The project is aimed at building the capacity of Victorian primary schools to better support student mental health and wellbeing. AGPS is a 'business as usual' school and will participate in the research through staff and parent surveys. By participating we will gain access to school-specific data as well as resources and professional learning tailored to our school's needs.

Meet and Greet

We would like to thank the teachers, parents and carers that attended our Meet and Greet session last week. This event is important in helping to build the home-school partnership and ensuring we are set up for success for 2022. The feedback I have received has been very positive and thankfully there were minimal tech troubles for the event! If you were unable to meet with your child's teacher, I encourage you to contact them to arrange a time to discuss your child's needs.

Assemblies

Please note that our school assemblies on Fridays are being held via Webex at present, due to the Department of Education guidelines for limiting cross-cohort activities. Our school captains have been doing a wonderful job hosting the assemblies via Webex where we have been able to recognise and celebrate our KEFAR award winners for the fortnight.

We are hopeful that later this term we will be able to hold an in-person assembly again and invite parents, carers and families along.

Italian

I always love when students come to my office to share some of the great work that they have been doing in class. This week I had the pleasure of seeing Isabelle and Brooklyn's wonderful video that they had made in Italian and I would love to share it with you all. Enjoy!

https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.6825621d-e6c6-46e0-b951-13ec033bd1ed&share_token=M6WOmsRkSkKW8C_H1njWRw&mode=share

Parent Information Sessions

Supporting Literacy at Home

Amy recently hosted two highly successful parent information sessions for our prep parents. We had many prep parents attend and the feedback from the parents that attended was very positive. The sessions focussed on supporting children with early reading development and provided a range of supportive strategies that parents could use with their child at home. Thank you to all that attended and to Amy for hosting. The session slides and a video will be made available in the near future.

2023 Prep Information Night

A reminder that we have our 2023 prep information session coming up on the 30th of March. If you know anyone that has a child that will begin prep in 2023 please ask them to register their interest in attending here https://forms.gle/REG8J4MKkpy7EXVE9 or through our office. Details of the event can be found on our website or via our Facebook page.

C.S.E.F. - Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps 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.

Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct 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