Prep Learning Community

After months of transition, social stories, new uniforms, clean haircuts, shiny shoes and 1:1 conferences, the big day was finally upon us on Thursday. Our 2022 Preps officially started their school journey at Armstrong Creek School. We had lots of smiles, hugs, kisses and a few tears (mostly from mums and dads) in the morning but were quickly into our learning and activities.

Already at school our Preps have made new friends, started learning to read through our phonics program, had lots of fun outside and have been exploring all the amazing learning equipment we have at school.

We are extremely excited to see what this year hold for our 2022 preps and watch them continue to learn, grow and develop at Armstrong Creek School.

Grade 1 & 2 Learning Community

A big ‘welcome back’ to all our fantastic Grade 1 and Grade 2 students! We hope all of our students and their families had happy and safe summer break.

It has been wonderful to see how settled everyone has been upon returning to school and how quickly positive relationships are being formed between educators, students and peers. I know all of the educators in our team have been so excited to receive such a wonderful group of students and look forward to supporting all students and their families throughout this year to come.

Over these first two weeks, we will be focusing on establishing a positive climate for learning. During all lessons, students will be working collaboratively to develop teaching and learning routines that will support them both inside and outside of the classroom.

It was wonderful to see learning back in action this week – particularly during our English block in the mornings where students have stepped seamlessly back in to their Sounds Write (phonics), Reading Fluency and Handwriting lessons. It’s so pleasing to see how students have stepped straight back into familiar routines, such as these, with ease and commitment!

This term’s topic will be focusing on Health and students will be inquiring into the essential question, ‘How can I be happy, safe and active?’ During this unit, we will be exploring the themes of emotions, personal strengths and problem solving.

We hope very much that 2022 will be a more settled and consistent year of schooling for everyone and look forward to seeing all of our students flourish and achieve personal success with their learning. It’s going to be a great year in the Grade 1 & Grade 2 Learning Communities!

Clarissa

(1-2 Leading Teacher)

Grade 3 Learning Community

Welcome back!

We have been very excited to welcome back all of our students and an additional few new faces too. Our Grade 3s have made a wonderful transition to their new learning space in Bells and have settled in very quickly.

A major focus at Armstrong Creek is our values of Care, Commitment and Collaboration. These are values we teach, model and celebrate with students. Over the first few weeks of term, the whole school has been focused on creating a positive climate for learning through a real focus on these values.

Students have discussed reading expectations, establishing a community of writers and exploring concepts around place value in maths sessions.

We are all excited to see where all our learning takes us this year. Have a look at these photos showing our students practising these skills.

Grade 4 Learning Community

Grade 4s were excited to get organised and rekindle friendships from previous years as well as welcoming a few new faces to our learning community.

This week we have begun our heavy focus on creating a positive climate for learning. This body of work is very important at the beginning of every year to teach and re-teach expected routines, processes, values and high quality learning behaviours all students need to be successful learners. Building on these routines takes time, but we know that prioritising this time now will create a comfortable, supportive and needs-based learning environment for all our learners.

The Grade 4s certainly have hit the ground running making a beautiful transition back to school. With a focused start like this the limit is endless for this group of eager learners!

Grade 5 & 6 Learning Community

Hi families,

Welcome back to the school year!

We have a had a great start in Grade 5 & 6, it has been exciting setting up our new learning communities in Cosy Corner. The Grade 5 cohort and the Grade 6 cohort will be separate this year, working in different portables, however they will be working together in their learning community with peers from their year level, collaborating with each other, as well as using the fabulous breakout workshop spaces that we have available.

We have been spending time getting to know each other and establishing a positive, safe and supportive learning environment. There are lots of new faces within our staff and students so it is important that we get to know each other and how we can work together in 2022 to have a successful and enjoyable year.

We're all looking forward to a fun, engaging and exciting year in Cosy corner!

Thanks

Luke Ryan on behalf of the Grade 5 & 6 teams

Secondary Learning Community

Welcome Back!

First off, I would to take the time to introduce myself. My name is Katelyn Leddy and I am the new Leading Teacher in the secondary community. It has been wonderful to meet all the students and staff and supporting the secondary community back to school. I have recently relocated from Melbourne and have been working in special education for the last 7 years. I am really excited to be joining the ACS community and look forward to a great year in 2022!

This week, the secondary community has been working hard establishing routines that will help our secondary students be successful. Students have enjoyed completing ‘Get to Know You’ activities, learning about expectations, setting up their learning communities and building relationships with both staff and peers. You can access your child’s timetable on Compass which goes into more detail regarding what students will participate in on a weekly basis. If you are unable to access Compass, please communicate with your child’s home group teacher for a copy or contact the administration staff for Compass log-in details or assistance.

This year in secondary we have our first official year of middle school (Years 7-9) and are introducing the ASDAN program to senior secondary as an alternative program to our VCAL courses. Students will have plenty opportunities to work with others within their learning spaces and collaborate with peers from other home groups. We are excited to have our first year of Year 12s and look forward to supporting them in their last year of school.

As we continue through Term 1 I will use this newsletter to communicate updates that are important to note for secondary students. If you need to share information with the school, please email your child’s home group teacher as the first point of contact for daily operations and concerns. You can also contact me through email at anytime using my email below.

Katelyn.leddy@education.vic.gov.au

I look forward to getting to know everyone throughout the year and wish everyone all the best in 2022!

Katelyn Leddy

Leading Teacher (Secondary Learning Community)

Dates To Remember

February 2022

March 2022