End of Term

With only three weeks remaining, there is still so much happening at AGPS! Here are some of the upcoming events:

We will be holding the prep information night (remotely) for the 2021 preps on the 1st December
5/6 students will be participating in their open water swimming session at the Altona Life Saving Club
We have more transition sessions planned (internal step-up days and 2021 prep transition)
Grade 6s have their graduation evening on the 14th December
We are also really excited to have been able to plan a Year 6 sleepover at school after graduation. AND the Year 6s are now able to go to Adventure Park on the 16th!
And we are going to have a whole school fun day/Xmas day on the 10th December. This will include a modified Christmas concert (details will be sent via Compass) and, more excitingly, a DUNK THE TEACHER event!!

Tutor Learning Program

In response to the significant disruption to student learning throughout 2020, the Department of Education has announced a Tutor Learning Program for all schools for 2021. Each school will receive funding to employ tutors to the school to address any learning gaps due to the interrupted year of school.

At Altona Green, we will appoint an experienced full-time teacher as a tutor to lead our intervention program across the whole school. The tutor will use a combination of evidence-based intervention practices to support students that have not reached the levels of academic achievement that we would have predicted had we not had such a disrupted year of learning. Intervention practices will include a combination of in-class support as well as withdrawal programs for those that require additional intensive instruction.

Our staff will be using student achievement data throughout the year to ensure that this extra resource is strategically targetting the needs of the individuals across the school and we anticipate that different students will be part of the program at varying points of year based on the needs of the cohorts.

2021 Class Structures

Each year we spend countless hours scrutinising over organisational structures for the upcoming year to maximise the learning opportunities for all of our students. We consider the needs of all of our individuals, both academic and social/emotional, and propose, discuss and debate over possible combinations and structures that will set all students up for success in 2021. AGPS is not bound to any particular structural model (straight or composite) and make these decisions based on our in-depth knowledge of the individual students that make up our community with the aim of creating the most effective classes for student learning.

For 2021 we have decided on the following class structure:

3x Prep Classes
3x Year 1 Classes
5x Years 2/3 Classes
4x Years 4/5 Classes
2x Year 6 Classes

Our rationale for this structure is that it allows us to create balanced classes so we can best cater for the academic and social needs of all of our students. We believe that all students need to be provided with the appropriate level of challenge no matter where they are at within the continuum of learning and this is not bound by age or year level.

We are also highly aware of the interruptions to learning this year for all of our students and see the above model as the most effective in supporting all students and addressing any learning gaps that may have occurred due to the interruptions.

We also recognise the importance of the foundation year of schooling in setting up our students for success and how, due to remote learning, our current prep students have not had the opportunity to build the foundation that they would typically if they were able to participate in on-site schooling for the year. This model allows us to keep the current preps together so we can build upon and strengthen the important foundational skills, knowledge and routines needed for our students.

Sometimes there are mixed reactions to composite versus straight classes and these articles here and here may be useful if you would like to find out more.

One concern that has been raised to us about having composite classes is that their child will not be academically challenged. All classes (both composite and straight) in all schools have students with a wide range of learning needs that span many curriculum levels. The role of the teacher is to ensure that they know all of their students, assess, plan and develop appropriately challenging learning goals and tasks and teach to the point of need. We would like to ensure all parents and carers that we have a focus on growth for all students at Altona Green and our teachers work hard in their teaching teams to ensure that their teaching and learning programs are carefully designed and implemented and each student's progress is carefully monitored.

2021 Specialist Subjects

Our 2021 Specialist classes for P-6 will be:

the Arts (including Visual Arts and Performing Arts)
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
Physical Education
Languages (Italian)

We will also be continuing with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program with Kitchen class for Years 4-6 and Garden classes for Years 1-6.

Buildings and Grounds Voluntary Payments

You may remember that parents had the option of a $50 voluntary payment at the start of the school year to contribute to the improvement of our school buildings and grounds. We had a number of generous families and we would like to inform you that the extra funds raised have been used to contribute to the cost of improving our outdoor spaces this year. This includes the new outdoor games and painting to create a more welcoming, fun and engaging playspace, line marking for the basketball courts and new basketball backboards (yet to be installed). We have received many positive comments from the students when they finally saw the improvements earlier this term.

Changes to Restrictions

We received some welcome news on Wednesday evening when the Department of Education published a list of changes that bring us closer to being back to normal. Here is a summary of the changes:

Visitors are now permitted on-site. They must still wear a mask indoors and outdoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained. Any visitors that are on-site for longer than 15 minutes must also sign in at the office to support contact tracing
Drink taps are now permitted for student use
We are no longer required to have staggered finish times and all students will be dismissed at 3:15pm (see yesterday's Compass note)
Parents and carers are now permitted to attend our Year 6 Graduation. Information about this will be sent to the relevant people shortly

Sorry for the lengthy read this fortnight! I hope I have been able to provide some clarity around our decision making when planning for 2021. These decisions are always difficult to make and we work incredibly hard to do what is right for all of our kids.

Hope you all have a great couple of weeks and can enjoy the relaxed restrictions and glorious weather.

Take care,

David

Leap into Learning