2022 APS Newsletter Issue 12


Junior School Council Report

Hello everyone,

My name is Lisa and I'm the Vice School Captain. Today I will be talking about two important things that have been happening in the past week and an upcoming event.

Firstly, The grade 5/6s went to the Athletics District Day to compete in different sports like 100m race, 800m race, long jump, hurdles and 400m relay. We could pick between discus or shotput and high jump or triple jump. There were 7 schools including Trinity primary school, Richmond West, Richmond Primary, St Joseph, Collingwood College, Yarra Primary and Abbotsford Primary school. There were different groups depending on our age.

Secondly, this week was Science Week and on Monday everyone got to do some fun activities about science. Foundations to Grade 2 did a variety of fun activities like Tornado in a Bottle, Mirror maze, Chromatograph and Magnetic fields.



Grade 3s and 4s did an activity about smell and taste and Grade 5s and 6s did activities about surface tension and DT challenge.


Lastly, Book week is coming up next week. Next Friday all students are allowed to dress up as their favourite book characters and we have a book parade right after the assembly.



That's all from me and I hope you will have a good weekend!


              Lisa



Principal's Report

Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members,

The last fornight has been busy and eventful.

Berry Street Education Model Day 4 Training

Last Friday, all APS teachers attended the last day of the Berry Street Education Model training on trauma-informed practices. We were very fortunately to have the Director of Education at Berry Street, Dr Tom Brunzell, himself, deliver our training.



Every staff member finished the day feeling extremely inspired and we are looking forward to discussing a whole school approaching on implementing some of our learnings.

The day was also massively successful thanks to the support of Richmond High School, who provided the venue and catering. We are very grateful for the arrangements.




Global Learning and Engagement Symposium

Yesterday, Lizzie and I attended the Global Learning and Engagement Symposium run by the DET International Education Division. This year, the theme focused on global engagement as an avenue for promoting intercultural understanding, student voice, student agency and student leadership.



While APS has been on the forefront of the intercultural understanding with our extensive global engagement program, student voice, student agency and student leadership are concepts we are hoping to unpack over this semester and focus on next year as part of a more concentrated effort to work on Goal 2 of our School Strategy Plan 2020-2024.

We enjoyed two very thought-provoking keynote presentations as well as practical workshops offered by the Centre of Multicultural Youth and Asia Education Foundation on activating student agency through global issues and tackling racism at school.




Creation Creation

Year 5 and 6s attended a performance at Arts Centre Melbourne, focusing on a range of mysterious questions posed by children to the general public aged from 8 to 102 years old. Questions from the origin from the black hole, and what the world will look like in 2000 years' time inspired an on stage performance enjoyed by all of our students.



On the way to and back from the performance, Year 6 students each left a storybook they have recently working on, in various corners of the city for people to enjoy. The book authors are anonymous but we have created an email address to seek feedback. Who knows? Maybe you will bump into a copy of our APS orginal stories too?



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Have a great weekend and maybe we will see you at the Trivia Night tonight?

Zhōumò yúkuài!

Stanley xiaozhang

2022 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

2022 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

WE WANT OUR PARENTS/CAREGIVERS/GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. We encourage all families to participate in this survey. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be conducted from Monday 15th August to Friday 16th September.

Please refer to detailed instructions on Compass, posted by Lizzie on 11 August, to access the survey.



Talking Tools - Conversations around how children feel

Dear Parents,

Please find attached here some resources that I have found that can be useful tools in structuring conversations around how children feel.

The first is Volcano Head, which is a metaphoric tool that can used when talking about the build of emotions and anger management. Another segment helps the parent/adult identify the signs.

The second is What to do with Worries. It can help children identify anxieties, but then also allow them to explore solutions.

The third resource is called Safety Detective. Many students are feeling fearful and anxious following Covid and this tool can assist them with exploring their feelings.

I hope these resources can be useful for you too.

Caroline Wilkins.
Student Wellbeing

 



The Fathering Project - Playing and Learning & RSVP for Term 3 Events




If you haven't had a chance to join the Dads Group online for access to resources, the link is here!

We now have the dates for the Semester 2 Events!

Save the date:

  • Term 3 - Friday, 2 September @ Brogan's Way (5-7pm)
    • $10 for tour; drinks from $5
    • RSVP (to Shane) required
  • Term 4 - Friday, 18 November (Time TBC)


Upcoming Events

Monday, 22 Aug - Friday, 26 Aug
Book Week

Friday, 26 Aug
Assembly (9:05-9:45am)
Book Week Parade (9:45-10:20am) 
Maths info Session (10:30-11:30am) 
Book Week Rotational Activities (11:20-1pm; students only)

Friday, 2 Sep 
Term 3 Common PD Day (PUPIL FREE DAY)
Term 3 Fathering Project Event @ Brogan's Way (5:00-7:00pm)

Friday, 9 Sep
Assembly (9:05-9:45am)

Thursday, 15 Sep
Moon Lantern Festival (5:00-7:30pm)

Friday, 16 Sep
Early Finish at 2:30pm

Community Noticeboard

SCHOOL HOLIDAY SPORT PROGRAMS


DIGITAL TRAINEESHIP PROGRAMME


Calling parents and community members aged 18 or older.

Sharing this very exciting Digital traineeship and education opportunity!

A chance for an enthusiastic person to build a career in IT and receive funded support and industry experience throughout!

Kangan TAFE are keen to recruit local people including public housing residents.

Details on how to apply are in the flier or at https://promotions.kangan.edu.au/DIGITALTRAINEESHIP