Principal's Report
Dear Parents, Families and Community members,
Welcome to our Week 3, Term 4 Newsletter.
I'd like to extend my thoughts and best wishes to those in our school community and beyond who are currently being affected by the floods across Victoria. Whether it be directly or indirectly, events such as this have a huge impact on so many.
I am aware that many communities have had their school's effected, some with the prospect of returning to Remote Learning for the rest of the year such is the damage.
As a community not so directly affected, I encourage you and your children to think about the impact of the flooding and whether or not there might be even the smallest of things we can do to support. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact the school and we will consider sharing more broadly how we might reach out to these communities in need.
And now onto much brighter news...
Wakakirri 2022 National Festival Awards
Armstrong Creek School Receives Major Award in National Festival Armstrong Creek School has taken home a NATIONAL STORY AWARD - for excellence in performing arts and raising awareness about Mental Health for their performance 'The Pandemic ' as part of the 2022 National Wakakirri Story-Dance Festival.
I am sure you will agree our students have done an amazing job in representing themselves and our school so well, in what is a truly inspiring and uplifting performance. Well done to all and particular acknowledgment and thanks to our talented Performing Arts Teacher Bec Wik, who was supported by Bec Del Bianco and Janelle Levy in coordinating, choreographing and producing this performance and providing a wonderful experience for our students along the way.
You can see the performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve0akK71nPM and make sure you check out the 'Positive Climate for Learning' page of this newsletter for more information from Bec.
End of Year Event
You may have noticed your child bring home some raffle tickets within the past week. These are to be sold for $2 each and there are many amazing prizes up for grabs.
If you would like some more tickets, please come into the office!
Year 3 Professor Bunsen Incursion
Professor Bunsen is a science educator, author and entrepreneur. The Year 3’s invited Professor Bunsen to deliver an exciting and engaging demonstration to support their Inquiry theme of Term 4 focused on Physical Science – “Is it heating up?”
Professor Bunsen’s presentation focused on the influence heat has on matter. Such as, heat being a form of energy created by the motion of molecules. He engaged the students in a very engaging and informative lesson that covered:
* What happens when matter gets heated? How can we explain the changes using a particle model?
* Discuss sources of heat (friction, electricity, chemical, sun) and find the sun to be the biggest provider
* Heat effects: colour changes, melting, deformation or expansion, combustion (demonstrate steam engine and other heat engines)
* Find that water is an amazing absorber of heat!
Secondary Christmas Stall
For those new to our ACS community, we wanted to share something incredibly exciting that our Secondary Team and students are very proud of!!!
Every year our secondary students work hard during the term to build various skills through project based learning, this includes researching, designing, creating and making various products to sell to our families and our school community.
Today and over the coming weeks we are excited to share with you some of the items our secondary students have created so far and will be selling at our annual Secondary Christmas Stall at the end of term. Some of the products include terracotta pots with succulents (grown at school) and water colour coasters.
This is just a taster and there is so much more to come….but we could love to see you there (more information and details to come).
Day for Daniel
Get red, RED, ready for Day for Daniel 2022!
Day for Daniel is Australia’s largest day of action to raise awareness of child safety, protection and harm prevention.
We will be celebrating this day on Thursday 27/10/2022 and our senior secondary students have some fun activities planned for the students and staff.
For a gold coin donation, staff and students are encouraged to wear “Red” on the day, the colour that represents child safety and the Daniel Morcombe Foundation. More information about the Daniel Morcombe Foundation can be found here.
Students will also have an opportunity to participate in the "Guess How Much" Red Lolly Jar Game – Secondary students will be going to each Learning Community on Thursday 27/10/2022 to collected guesses from students on how many lollies are in the jar. 1 guess will be 20c and 3 guesses will be 50c.
Cupcakes will also be available for the staff (sorry students!!!) in the staff room for $1 each and all of the money raised will be donated on behalf of ACS to the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.
Please reach out to our friendly office team should you have any questions.
Canteen Update
Just letting you know that the last day that the canteen will be open for 2022 will be Fridays the 16th of December and will not be operating in the last week of Term 4.
As always, you can find the menu & 'how to order' on Compass under the Community Icon / School Documentation / Parent Information / Canteen.
Book Club - Final Issue for 2022
Book Club provides a fun and convenient way of bringing the best in children's literature into your home. It’s packed full of exciting books from best-selling authors, popular titles and series that kids love, as well as products and books that make perfect gifts for younger siblings who may not be at school yet.
Ordering from Book Club is easy—simply go online and place your order and then Scholastic’s ‘book elves’ take care of the rest. Before you know it, your child will have a lovely surprise to take home once their order gets delivered to their classroom. (All the details are on the back of each catalogue Issue).
Please note: All orders MUST be paid for online via the LOOP ordering system at www.scholastic.com.au/LOOP
CASH PAYMENTS CANNOT BE ACCEPTED AT THE SCHOOL OFFICE
Orders to be placed online by TODAY Friday 21 October, 2022
When ordering from Book Club, you are not only helping your children, but you are also helping your school—20% of your spend goes back to your school in valuable Scholastic Rewards, which are used to buy classroom resources.
For more information about Scholastic and Book Club, visit www.scholastic.com.au
World Teachers Day
This year, World Teachers’ Day is on Friday 28 October. It is an opportunity to say thank you for the incredible contributions teachers make to our community.
As we have our Curriculum Day then we will celebrate our wonderful teachers on Monday 31/10/2022 and Tuesday 1/11/2022.
We will recognise their passion and how teaching has extended beyond the classroom to maintain connections through flexible learning.
We will be celebrating World Teachers’ Day by providing staff a morning tea from PACC and a lunch from our ES Staff and a few extra surprises!
You can get involved by sending a message of thanks to a teacher who is making, or has made, an impact on your life using #thanksvicteachers on social media. Don’t forget to tag the Department of Education and Training (the department) so we can see all your messages.
Head to the department’s World Teachers Day webpage for resources to help you celebrate World Teachers’ Day 2022, including ‘Thank You’ card templates.
NDIS Vic Pathways to Post School Life Webinar
While the NDIS Victorian Pathways to Post School Life flier has been distributed during Term 3 and 4, the last presentation of this Webinar is next Monday, 24th Oct.
The Webinar is a fantastic opportunity for families to learn about many options for students post school life and covers NDIS available programs to support inclusive lifestyle and/ or employment options. The information is excellent for students and their families in planning student post school life.
Attendance
Parents\Guardians are legally required to ensure their child attends school every day or to provide an explanation for their child's absence. They have an obligation to notify the school as soon as possible on the day of the absence using the school’s preferred method (Compass) or inform the school in advance of any upcoming absences.
We request that Parents\Guardians complete an absence via Compass where possible.
If you are unsure how to complete this, please find the guide on Compass by clicking on the Community Icon \ School Documentation \ Parent Information \ Compass \ Compass Parent Guide (this is also attached below).
A child missing one day a fortnight will miss four weeks in a year, and more than a year of school by Year 10. It is important that children develop regular attendance habits at an early age.
Take care and enjoy!
Evan Savage
Principal