We hope you all had a lovely long weekend and are surviving this crazy weather. On Tuesday, in true Melbourne style, we were treated with a beautiful, clear and warm morning followed with an afternoon of torrential rain which turned Gumbaya into a lake! Oh, and aren't the mozzies a real treat at the moment!

Despite the chaos of the weather, AGPS has enjoyed a great fortnight with many fun experiences for the students. Teachers are busy assessing students and are celebrating the tremendous growth that the students have made. We only have a few weeks left of the 2022 school year and there is so much going on in that time!

Grandparents' Day

Last Friday we loved welcoming all the grandparents and other special people into our school. It was lovely to meet many of the grandparents and really appreciate the effort that many had put in to get to this event - we heard that some grandparents had travelled great distances to visit their grandkids at our school! The students were so proud to show their grandparents around the school and classrooms and to show them their work.

A huge thank you to Fiona and her team who volunteered her time to organise this event (and many other events this year). We are so appreciative of all your effort to help make this such a special event for so many in our community.

Personal Toys at School

We have recently had a number of incidents where students have brought in their own toys from home and they have been lost or damaged. We are strongly encouraging all children to refrain from bringing in their toys to school, particularly if they are valuable and/or precious. If there are individual circumstances where bringing toys to school is required, please discuss this with your child's teacher.

Transition Program and Step Up Days

Positive transitions are so important for all of our students and we are really proud of the robust and comprehensive transition program that we offer for all of our students, from our 2023 preps through to our year 6 students making their way to secondary school.

The transition program for our current students includes:

24/11 - Step Up Day 1
1/12 - Step Up Day 2
13/12 - Final Step Up Day - at this transition session the students will be placed in their 2023 class with their 2023 teacher in their 2023 classroom. This is when all parents will be notified of their child's class and teacher
13/12 - Statewide Transition Day - all Year 6 students attending government secondary schools will participate in this 6-7 transition session

We are also really looking forward to welcoming our 2023 preps next week. Prep transitions go over a number of weeks and ensure that our newest members of our community feel comfortable and confident when they join 'big school' next year.

Prep Breakfast

A message from Assistant Principals for the day - Lilly & Brigitte

We interviewed Eddie, Clementine, Ryan, Ellia, Luca and Ella from our lovely preps. They had a wonderful time with all of their friends in the investigation room for morning tea. They said there was a lot of different food options. We asked what they would rate their experience, they all said 10/10. They told us that some of the options for morning tea were, cereal, buttered or jam or both on toast, fruit such as oranges, manderins, apples and cucumbers, there were museli bars too. They also had water to drink. After their morning tea they brushed their teeth and watched Bananas In Pyjamas and all loved the day.

- Brigitte and Lilly

Floyd's Fundraiser

Floyd's Poppy, or as he is affectionally known as, 'Boppy' has Prostate Cancer and Floyd (1R) has been growing his hair long and will shave it to raise money for prostate cancer. He has already raised $1,500 and is going to shave his hair at school on Thursday 1st December. We kindly ask that students wear casual clothes and bring a gold coin donation which will go towards raising money for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

There are two other ways to also support this amazing gesture by Floyd:

Prior to the 1st December, you can donate cash to your child's classroom teacher and at the end of each day we will tally the total for each class and display the ongoing total at the front office.
Make an online donation on the following link https://fundraise.pcfa.org.au/s/1196/1244/s

This is a fantastic cause and let's all get behind it. If we raise at least $1,500 before the day, Cam has agreed to shave his head as well! The grade that raises the most money will get a Zooper Dooper each. Jenny will put up a display in the front office with a tally so we can see how close to our goal we are getting.

Year 1 Excursion to Skeleton Creek

Our Year 1 students have been learning all about our local community and environment and went on a walking excursion down to Skeleton Creek where they explored the area and discovered lots of information about its significance and what they can do to help keep it beautiful.

And it was a nice surprise when 1D found one of the hidden KEFARs that were put around the community during one of the lockdowns last year!

Staff Appreciation

We recently celebrated Staff Appreciation Week at Altona Green. It is a great opportunity to recognise and celebrate our wonderful staff for all that they do. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of our staff throughout this year. I am constantly amazed at the positivity, enthusiasm and creativity of our staff and am so proud of all of their contributions to making AGPS such a special place. The level of care and support that they provide for all of our students is outstanding - THANK YOU!

And a huge thank you to all the families that showed their appreciation with kind words, gifts, cards and other goodies. The staff certainly felt appreciated!

2/3 Circus Performance

We really enjoyed the 2/3 Circus Performance on Monday afternoon. The 2/3 cohort have been working on their acts and costumes during their weekly performing art lessons with Sarah. There was a wonderful sense of fun with each of the classes and it was great to see the joy on the students' faces when up on stage.

A highlight for us was seeing some of the students overcoming their fears, being brave and getting up on stage in front of an audience. We are proud of you all! Thanks to all those involved getting this up and running.

Team Kids