Principal Team Report
Upcoming Important Dates
Term 2
20 June: Term 2 Celebration of Learning
23 June: Last day Term 2 (2:00pm dismissal)
Term 3
10 July: Term 3 Starts
11 July: Parent Forum: Reading at ASPS
10-21 July: Parent Teacher Interviews
14 August: Parent Event: Dr Justin Coulson (6:30pm - 8:30pm)
Student Free Days
6 November: Teacher Professional Practice Day
2023 Year 5/6 Production
A huge congratulations goes out to our wonderful Year 5 and 6 students for their performances in last week's production, 'A Funny Thing Happened in the Library'.
Heartfelt thanks to our directors, Stuart Jones and Patricia Stanton, the Year 5/6 teachers and all of the staff and parents who helped on the night. More photos and a Production report are included in the School Life @ ASPS page of the newsletter.
2023 Translated Semester 1 Reports
We are delighted to offer families that speak a language other than English, the option of a translated Semester 1 Report. Please complete the following google form:
https://forms.gle/kcPgEm5SLDTKvzPZ8
if you would like a copy of your child’s report translated. Please reach out to Darien Hunte (Darien.Hunte@education.vic.gov.au) if you have any questions.
ASPS Recognised at Statewide Principals Conference
Visible Wellbeing: As part of this year's DET Statewide Principal Conference at the Convention and Exhibition Centre, Professor Lea Waters spot-lighted ASPS for our Visible Wellbeing approach and associated student wellbeing data (as recorded in the annual Student Attitudes to School Survey. Professor Waters praised our school for demonstrating that despite global declines in wellbeing, schools such as ours, through a targeted approach, can lift wellbeing outcomes for students and staff (measured as Life Satisfaction). This data was presented alongside positive shifts in teacher wellbeing pedagogy over the past 3 years.
This work in developing an embedded approach to wellbeing has also led to a nomination for the 2023 Victorian Education Excellence Awards with our school's Senior Education Improvement Leader, Erika Bienert, providing the following endorsement:
"Auburn South Primary School are committed to excellence, and improving whole-school outcomes through strategic planning and improvement initiatives, and prioritising collaboration as the vehicle to lead the vision, values and culture of the school. The school demonstrates excellence in the ongoing delivery of whole school professional learning, with an emphasis on authentically integrating wellbeing into all aspects of the teaching and learning program.
The school demonstrates a structured and collaborative approach to analysing school and student data and have seen a significant increase in student wellbeing data since implementation. The work of the team is strongly focused on FISO 2.0 and the importance of learning and wellbeing outcomes being intrinsically linked.
This work has been shared at IE Area level and has resulted in many schools visiting Auburn South which shows the schools commitment to positively building the reputation of the Victorian government education system as a lighthouse school in this area."
Numeracy: ASPS was also invited to present our school's work on developing approaches in Numeracy. This presentation, delivered by our assistant principal, Rhian ap Rees and our Numeracy Leaders, Amy Shen and Kathy Arnold was part of a broader presentation on the Riversdale Network (Boroondara and Whitehorse Schools) for its work in leading cohesive improvement in Numeracy.
To support our school's strategic focus on numeracy, staff have been working with leading consultant, Professor Peter Sullivan. Professor Sullivan will be running a parent forum in Term 4 to support our community's understanding of how students at ASPS are being challenged, supported and engaged in the key learning area of Mathematics.
Parents & Carers as Valued Learning Partners
The following upcoming events have been organised to support parents in understanding school endorsed strategies that build wellbeing and support learning.
Celebration of Learning: In addition to the sessions below, all parents and carers are invited to attend a school-wide Celebration of Learning on Tuesday 20 June (3:45pm - 5:20pm).
In small groups and with the support of teachers, students will share learning highlights and achievements from Semester 1. Specialist teachers will also be offering interactive sessions for students and their parents to attend. Please book via the link below.
Topic: The Parenting Revolution
Guest Speaker: Dr Justin Coulson
Date: 14 August (7:00pm - 8:30pm)
Early Bird Tickets:
Early Bird on sale until 3:00pm Friday 23 June
Parenting strategies to support connection wellbeing and your child's basic psychological needs. See the video from Justin below for details (click 'Learn More' when prompted if video doesn't play automatically). Part 2 of this session (held later in Term 3) will be focus on the approaches used by ASPS to promote positive student behaviour, relationships and wellbeing.
Topic: Reading at ASPS
Date: 11 July (6:30pm - 7:30pm)
Reading and academic success are inextricably linked! At this session, parents and carers will build a deeper understanding of the school's approach to teaching reading. Parents and carers will also learn strategies to support their children's reading at home. This session is relevant for all Prep- Year 2 families and parents will children who might be struggling with early reading skills.
Topic: Cyber Safety Project Webinar
Dates: Term 1 and 2 sessions available on-demand.
All ASPS families have free access to the following Cyber Safety Project webinars. Click on the image below to access past and upcoming webinars.
School Toilet Project
The school toilets are an essential facility that we expect our children to feel comfortable and safe to utilise. We want to ensure we uphold this standard at ASPS, so the School Improvements Committee has committed to making this a priority in 2023.
We ask all families to complete this short survey with each of your children.
To fully understand how our children feel about the toilets, the areas for improvement and any behavioural issues that may be underlying, we want to hear firsthand from our kids, to make improvements in the right way.
Research shows that clean, pleasant and safe toilet facilities have an impact on children’s short and long-term physical and mental health and learning outcomes. Read more about The School Toilet Project (a national campaign) and the research behind why we should find ways to create a more uplifting space for our children: https://www.enlighteneducation.com/school-toilet-project/
Let's turn our school toilets into a clean and positive space!
If you’d like to join our project team, please contact: Jane Khoo (khoovi@yahoo.com).
Thank you and regards,
The ASPS School Toilet Project Team
(Lisa, Jane, Jemima, Amanda, Anthony, Georgina, and Phoebe)
School Improvements Committee | School Council