Dear parents and carers,

Book Week

What a fantastic community event on Tuesday morning, full of excited, dressed-up children and joyful grown-ups all sharing their passion and love for children’s literature. The weather ticked all the boxes for us and we were able to fill the courtyard with a vast assortment of characters. Pizza and Tacos showed us all what great friends they are, Pig the Pug was on his best behaviour and Skullduggery Pleasant was on the case. The theme of Book Week is to ‘Book an Adventure’ and our dress up day, combined with showcasing shortlisted books for 2025 in classrooms, have reminded us of the opportunities reading opens us up to with each turn of the page. Thanks to everyone for embracing the fun of Book Week together.

Daffodil Day

Today is Daffodil Day and it was wonderful to see a group of our Year Five students taking action by promoting awareness and raising funds to further cancer research. The students sold daffodil pins for $5. These will be available again tomorrow.

Finding the Spark

Our second full rehearsal took place today for our Years 5 & 6 musical production, ‘Finding the Spark’, which will be performed at the Frankston Arts Centre on Monday 25th August. Our students have done an outstanding job of working together to play as a band and master their dances and this has all come together with our two rehearsals. The audiences from our junior schools have furthered the buzz of excitement and our staff and students look forward to sharing the show with our community in our two performances on Monday. Tickets are still available if you’d like to attend the show.

Continuous Reporting

Yesterday our fourth round of continuous reports were published via the Sentral Parent Portal. These reports provide families with a point in time snapshot as to how their child is progressing in regards to the units of work their child has recently completed. Thanks to our families for engaging with these documents and to our teaching staff for preparing them.

Kinder Visits

This week we have enjoyed welcoming the children from Nola Barber kindergarten to our school. They have spent time in our classrooms and enjoying our play spaces. We look forward to welcoming our other feeder kindergartens over the coming weeks.

Curriculum Day

At School Council this week our final curriculum day for 2025 has been approved. This will take place on the 14th of November.

Kingston Commnities of Practice

Today our school hosted staff from our local cluster, Dingley PS, Kingswood PS and Aspendale Gardens PS, to observe and provide feedback on our implementation of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0. This year we have been furthering our ‘enabling learning’ practices through the embedding of whole school learning routines and how staff encourage them, as well as furthering staff understanding of the science of learning and sharpening our teaching practice in regards to explicit instruction.

It was affirming to hear the observations of our visitors. They noticed the awareness and reduction of cognitive load, the clear, calm learning routines across the school and the high number of opportunities to respond, ensuring our students were engaged throughout the lesson.

Parent Opinion Survey

The annual parent/caregiver/guardian opinion survey from the Department of Education is now live. An email was sent on Tuesday with the link and instructions as to how to access it. I encourage as many parents and carers to complete the survey as possible as the information we gather from the survey helps us to understand what is working at our school and what we need to continue to develop. The more voices we here from, the more complete this feedback can be. Thanks for taking the time to complete the survey and continuing to support our school.

As Book Week draws to a close, I hope you can take some time to share a cherished book with someone else in the late winter sunshine.

Tom

Tickets On Sale Now – Finding the Spark! 
Join us for an unforgettable night as our talented students light up the stage in this year’s school musical, Finding the Spark! Full of energy, heart, and original flair, this production is not to be missed.

Secure your seats now by purchasing tickets here: https://artscentre.frankston.vic.gov.au/Whats-On/Search-All-Events/Aspendale-Primary-School-Finding-the-Spark 

With a focus on preventing body dissatisfaction and serious eating issues, this session provides information and practical tips to help parents better understand and promote positive body image and healthy relationships with eating and physical activity in the home. It provides practical strategies to be a positive role model, reduce the impact of risk factors in a child's environment. The session also explores when to be concerned and what you can do, including referral and support information.

Date: 1st September 2025

Time: 7pm – 8.15pm (AEST)

Via Zoom (time-limited recording available)
Register: HERE

Cost: $15pp

For info: Full registration link https://events.butterfly.org.au/portal/event/?id=EP_Raising_Body_Kind_Teens4046978637&Name=01/09/25%20RBBC

Smile Squad is back - you will need to complete a new consent form for 2025

Dear families,

The Smile Squad team from Better Health Network Parkdale are coming back to our school on 25^th August.

Smile Squad is the Victorian Government free school dental program.

This means all students can get a free dental check-up at school.

How to access free dental care

We need your consent before we can provide services. Consent is usually provided by a parent or guardian.

Sign up to Smile Squad at: https://bit.ly/smilesquadvic

OR use the below QR code:

Please complete and submit the consent form by 25^th August 2025.