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. 

Dear parents and carers,

What a surprise Amelia and I got when we walked into the staffroom on Tuesday at recess. The staff room table was full of kind words, cards and pictures from our fabulous students sharing their reflections on us as leaders. Some of these included our stylish dress sense, our knowledge of dinosaur facts, our Lego collections and our distribution of stickers. We feel very appreciated by all of our students, our staff and the wider community and enjoy the privilege of leading our school.

It was wonderful to see our Foundation students eagerly heading off to visit CERES yesterday. They spend the day learning about sustainability, enjoying the natural environment and playing together on the amazing playground.

Our Year Five students visited Frankston yesterday as part of their How We Express Ourselves Unit of Inquiry. They spent time exploring the Frankston Arts Centre and completing the Frankston Arts Trail. Their inquiry culminates with their performance in our upcoming ‘Dreams in Motion’ concert in Week Seven with our Year Six students.

NAPLAN results have been distributed to families and we have started looking at the results to inform our practice and improvement work as a school. As mentioned in previous newsletters, the reporting of NAPLAN results has changed this year with a move from statistical-based bands to curriculum-based bands. We are keen to continue to understand the new reports so that we can continue to consolidate what is working and identify areas for improvement. Some initial reflections include:

• Almost 10% more children than similar schools in both Year Three and Year Five in the strong and exceeding bands for Numeracy, a reflection of our focus over the last two years on Numeracy improvement.
• The percentage of students in the strong and exceeding bands in both Year Three and Year Five was above similar schools for Reading and Grammar & Punctuation
• The percentage of students in Year Five in the strong and exceeding bands was above similar schools for Writing and Spelling
• The percentage of students in Year Three in the strong and exceeding bands was at or below similar schools for Writing and Spelling

We will continue to analyse the results further to inform our improvement work this year and our planning for our next School Strategic Plan.

Over the term we are providing findings from our recent School Review report. This week I’d like to share the panel’s findings around Teaching & Learning. The panel identified strengths from the previous School Strategic Plan as being:

• the strategic focus and resourcing of improvement work in both Writing and Numeracy, the increased consistency in practice and the increased professional knowledge
• the alignment of curriculum documentation and the consistent delivery within year levels
• the visibility of the PYP language, processes and transdiscisplinary inquiry approach across the school
• the expansion of the learning enhancement program and participation in the Victorian High Abilities Program

Potential areas of focus for the next School Strategic Plan that the panel identified included:

• precision around data to inform curriculum planning
• increased clarity around the F-6 approach to reading

On Tuesday, each family should have received an invitation to participate in our Parent Opinion survey. This is a Department-managed, anonymous survey and I would encourage all families to share their thoughts on our school. The survey helps us to understand what is working, the impact of areas of the school we have been trying to improve and areas for continued focus. The more voices we hear from, the better we can understand where we are at. There is more information further in the newsletter.

Enjoy the rest of your week,

Tom Pearce

Acting Principal

PS For those of you who are interested, a lot of our staff have been appreciating ‘The Imperfects’ podcast, created by The Resilience Project. I have benefited from the two episodes below in my own life:

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/podcasts/s4-ep-31-hamish-mclachlan/

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/at-home/podcasts/s4-episode-33-dr-kiran-martin/

For our enquiry unit, Year 2 have been investigating forces. We explored the feature and stability of bridges and then collaborated to design and build our own.

Once completed, we tested out our bridge designs to see whether they were functional. Our brief design was to build a bridge that was at least 30cms long and could hold up to 300 grams of weight. 

They all had so much fun up at Valley Homestead. 

Some of the highlights included:

• Abseiling
• Dual Flying Fox
• Vertical Challenge

The Year 6s were especially lucky to have snow for their day up on the mountain as they expected the day to more resemble a ‘mud day’ with the warm temperatures and sunny weather.

Years 3/4 PARENTS and families please come along and join us for the TERM 3 WORKING BEE 

SATURDAY, 26^th August 2023, 10.30am –12.30pm

Dear families in Yr’s 3 & 4,

Term 3 School Working Bee will be held on Saturday 26^th August at 10.30am for the parents and students in your child’s class.

Each term the Buildings and Grounds Sub-committee of the School Council organises a working bee aligned to 1 or 2 levels of the school. You are asked to attend just one Working Bee each year. Any amount of time you can contribute will be greatly appreciated, even one hour would be great, as a number of labour-intensive tasks are planned for these mornings.  It’s also a great way to catch up with the other Year 3 & 4 parents!

The convenor for this Working Bee will be Mr Kevin Riant Please see Kevin upon your arrival, to go through the OHS Volunteer Induction.

Light Refreshments will be provided at 12:30pm for all adults and children!

TO ASSIST WITH PLANNING, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK PROVIDED BELOW TO RSVP

https://forms.gle/X8UMPpXR7zAw6KpH9

Thank you in advance for contributing to the maintenance and beautification of our grounds to the benefit of all students.

Yours sincerely,

2023 School Council Buildings and Grounds Sub- Committee