We acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal custodians of the lands, waterways and skies of the Bunurong Peoples of the Kulin Nation where we gather, learn and grow at Aspendale Primary School.

We pay our respects to past and present Traditional Custodians and Elders of all nations,  and their ongoing cultural, spiritual and educational practices.  

We extend this respect to all Torres Strait Islanders and any First Nations peoples who learn or visit these grounds. We thank you for sharing and caring for the land we are learning on.

New version of the Acknowedgement of Country
Above is an updated Acknowledgment of Country that has been written in consultation with staff, students and members of our community. We recieved positive feedback and approval from our friends at the Bunurong Land Council in 2023. 



Aspendale Primary School commemorated Reconciliation Week.
We understand that for many members of the APS community, this is a challenging time.

Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Now more than ever, these conversations are important to be having. 

As a school, we commemorated the week by focusing on developing our sense of community and connections with a whole school event. 

Our School Captains made a video during camp to commemorate the week. It starts with our school's Acknowledgement of Country. You can watch the video here. 


Thank you to Gus, Surina, Warren & Edie for helping create the video. You all did an amazing job understanding the purpose of the week. 

Harmony Week at APS has been about embracing the different languages and cultures that make up our community and how we can foster our diversity to promote belonging.
We’ve seen activities taking place in classrooms, and with buddy grades, while the student picnic on Wednesday was enjoyed by all and our students have thoroughly engaged watching our Harmony Week videos. Thank you to Mike and Harry our Respectful Relationships Leaders for their work on these videos , our Chinese Mandarin Leaders Marion, Emma, Ellis and Mason for their contributions and our Media Leaders Paisley, Maddi, Amy, Darius and Sienna for their roving reports from students across the school. Thanks to Ms Fletcher for her support and work in helping prepare the videos and activities across the week.

NAPLAN:

The Year 3 and Year 5 students have now completed the series of NAPLAN assessments. The students demonstrated our expected behaviour of ‘Work through challenges calmly’ and ‘Try your best and give things a go’ throughout the assessment period. Congratulations to all the Year 3 and 5 students, and to the rest of the APS community for following our expected routines that create a calm and orderly learning environment.

Oval Playground:

Construction is now complete on our new oval playground. The temporary fencing will be removed on Friday, ready for our students to trial it out. As the playground is located in our Year 2 -6 play space, it is designed for children of this age. Initially, we will have a timetable for students in Year 2 – 6 to ensure they can all have a turn.

Thanks to the team from Safe Play Australia for installing this great new playground. Thanks once again to the fundraising efforts of our community and the students for their creative design ideas!

Annual Report to School Community and School Council

On Tuesday, Tom led our School Council Annual Report to the school community meeting. Following the sharing of the annual report, we held our first meeting with our new School Council for 2025. We will introduce our new members in another newsletter.

Intensive Swimming Program:

Year 3 and 4 students will begin their intensive swimming program on Monday 24^th March, through to Friday 28^th March. Foundation – Year 2 will participate in week 10 (Monday 31^st March – Friday 4^th April).

End of Term:

As we near the end of term 1, we would like to remind families that there is an early dismissal on Friday 4^th April at 2:30pm.

Enjoy the rest of the week,

Amelia

Hello everyone, 
This term, students across all year levels have been engaged in exciting hands-on learning experiences, developing their mathematical thinking, problem-solving skills, and real-world connections. Here’s a snapshot of what each year level has been working on!

   

Foundation
Our Foundation students have been busy building their number sense by learning to correctly form numbers 1-10 and developing key counting skills, including touch, move, and sight counting. They have also been practising subitising—instantly recognising the number of objects in a group. In measurement, students have been directly comparing objects to determine which is longer, shorter, or the same length. They have also had fun investigating capacity, using hands-on activities to explore how much different containers can hold and using language such as “holds more,” “holds less,” and “holds the same.”

Year One
In Year One, students have been developing their number sense by exploring number sequences that increase and decrease. They have been using physical and virtual materials, number lines, and charts to recognise, represent, and order numbers. Recently, our focus has shifted to measurement, with students measuring and comparing the length of objects in our learning spaces. Using informal units such as icypole sticks, dominoes, and unifix cubes, students have been deepening their understanding of measurement concepts while learning the language of length.

Year Two
Our Year Two students have been developing their understanding of place value by exploring how numbers can be represented in different ways. They have been using counting collections to compare and order numbers, applying the concepts of "greater than" and "less than" to build their number sense. Students have also been working with number lines to estimate and position numbers accurately, strengthening their ability to make reasonable estimations and improve their mathematical reasoning.

Year Three
Our Year 3 students have been working hard on place value, addition, and subtraction this term. They have also been learning about 2D and 3D shapes and their properties. A highlight has been tackling the vertical method for addition and subtraction, giving it a red-hot go and building confidence in new strategies! Through problem-solving and hands-on activities, students have been strengthening their number fluency and mathematical reasoning.

Year Four
This term, our Year Four students have been refining their addition and subtraction skills through targeted group work, where they have explored different strategies and algorithms, including the split and partitioning methods. In measurement, students have been investigating length using formal units, applying their place value knowledge to convert between millimetres and centimetres.

Year Five
Year Five students kicked off the term with some thought-provoking “challenging tasks” from Jo Boaler at YouCubed, encouraging them to think critically and develop problem-solving strategies. They then spent several weeks deepening their understanding of place value before moving into targeted groups to refine their addition and subtraction skills. By working at their own level, students have been able to consolidate their understanding and apply their learning in meaningful ways.

Year Six

In Year Six, students have been investigating the special properties of prime, composite, and square numbers, using this knowledge to solve mathematical conjectures. As part of our inquiry learning and Harmony Week celebrations, we explored data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Students analysed real-world data to develop their understanding of percentages, decimals, and fractions, before creating bar, column, line, and pie graphs to visually represent their findings.

It has been a fantastic term of learning in Mathematics. We look forward to seeing students continued growth and enthusiasm next term!

Thanks,
Megan Thomas
Numeracy Leader

Hey there!
Just in case you missed it... APS is turning 100 this year!


Throughout the year we will showcase in our Newsletter and school FB posts, photos and artefacts from our past.

Today, we acknowledge and thank the founders of our school from 1925.

APS 100 Years Celebration & Afternoon Tea

We look forward to another opportunity to celebrate our 100 Years of Learning at APS. 

Please note: School Tours are for past students, families and/or staff. 

(RSVP required)

Students attending the gallery after school must be accompanied by an adult.

If you know any past students, families and/or staff, please forward the following invitation and RSVP link to them also. https://forms.gle/HVz35ciF4Wrg1Jw7A

World Maths Day

Mathletics World Maths Day is Coming Up!

Get ready to celebrate World Maths Day! On Wednesday, March 26, students around the globe will take part in one of the world’s largest online mathematics events using Mathletics. This exciting day is all about fostering a love of maths through engaging and interactive activities that build problem-solving skills, confidence, and a sense of fun.

At our school, we will be incorporating a range of hands-on and digital maths challenges to inspire our students. World Maths Day encourages participation at all skill levels, helping students see that maths is all around us – from cooking to shopping and even playing games!

Get Involved at Home!

Families can join in the fun too! Here are three engaging maths activities that you can do at home.

Count and Sort Treasure Hunt
Turn everyday objects into a maths adventure! Gather small items like buttons, blocks, or toy animals. Ask your child to count them, group them by colour or size, and even create simple addition or subtraction problems using the objects. This activity helps develop number recognition, counting, and early problem-solving skills.

Maths in the Kitchen
Cooking is a fantastic way to apply maths in real life. Let your child help measure ingredients, double or halve a recipe, or estimate cooking times. Discuss fractions when cutting fruit or dividing a pizza and compare weights using kitchen scales. These tasks reinforce measurement, multiplication, and division in a practical and tasty way!

Budgeting Challenge
Give your child a small budget (e.g. $25) and ask them to plan a simple meal or shopping trip. They can look through grocery store catalogues or online prices, compare costs, and ensure they stay within budget. Encourage them to calculate discounts, work out price per item, and reflect on the best deals. This real-world maths challenge builds financial literacy and problem-solving skills.

Mathletics

World Maths Day

Mathletics World Maths Day is Coming Up!

Get ready to celebrate World Maths Day! On Wednesday, March 26, students around the globe will take part in one of the world’s largest online mathematics events using Mathletics. This exciting day is all about fostering a love of maths through engaging and interactive activities that build problem-solving skills, confidence, and a sense of fun.

At our school, we will be incorporating a range of hands-on and digital maths challenges to inspire our students. World Maths Day encourages participation at all skill levels, helping students see that maths is all around us – from cooking to shopping and even playing games!

Get Involved at Home!

Families can join in the fun too! Here are three engaging maths activities that you can do at home.

Count and Sort Treasure Hunt
Turn everyday objects into a maths adventure! Gather small items like buttons, blocks, or toy animals. Ask your child to count them, group them by colour or size, and even create simple addition or subtraction problems using the objects. This activity helps develop number recognition, counting, and early problem-solving skills.

Maths in the Kitchen
Cooking is a fantastic way to apply maths in real life. Let your child help measure ingredients, double or halve a recipe, or estimate cooking times. Discuss fractions when cutting fruit or dividing a pizza and compare weights using kitchen scales. These tasks reinforce measurement, multiplication, and division in a practical and tasty way!

Budgeting Challenge
Give your child a small budget (e.g., $10) and ask them to plan a simple meal or shopping trip. They can look through grocery store catalogues or online prices, compare costs, and ensure they stay within budget. Encourage them to calculate discounts, work out price per item, and reflect on the best deals. This real-world maths challenge builds financial literacy and problem-solving skills.

Mathletics

Looking for more? Don't forget to log on and complete your Mathletics at home. 

We encourage all families to take part in these fun and educational activities. Let’s celebrate Mathletics World Maths Day together and show how numbers shape our world!

Happy counting!

Another huge THANK-YOU to Dana & Dude Balloons and Events for supplying the wonderful balloon displays for our 100 Years Celebration afternoon on Friday 16^th May.

Thank- you Dana!