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.
Event | Date |
PYPX Exhibition / Remembrance Day | 11th November |
Year 4 Bike Ed BIG RIDE 29th Nov | 18- 29th November |
Science Discovery Dome incursion Yr 3 Year 2 Enchanted Adventure excursion | 21 November |
Year 5/6 Beach Swimming | 25- 29th November |
Art Show starts at 3.40pm | 26 November |
Year 4 MiniBoss Incursion | 5 December |
Student Free Day | 9 December |
State Transition Day Foundation 2025 Final transition day | 10 December |
Year 6 Big Day Out | 11 December |
Dear parents and carers,
Dreams in Motion
What a spectacular start to the week we had with the Year 5/6 musical production, ‘Dreams in Motion’ debuting at the Frankston Arts Centre.
Over Monday and Tuesday, our Foundation to Year Four students got a sneak peak of Luigi’s quest to be the first pizza delivery person to deliver pizza to space before the school community got to enjoy the fun at our matinee and evening performance. We are so proud of our Year 5 & 6 students for their commitment and passion across the rehearsals and performances. The joy you displayed took the performance to a whole new level!
Thanks to members of the school community for your support of the performance, especially our Year 5/6 teaching and education support staff team, Luke Drohan (one of our instrumental teachers) and Nat Tideman & Stela Matthews, our Perfoming Arts teaching team.
We look forward to the junior school sharing some of their Perfoming Arts talent at our series of showcases across Term Four. These will be held on a Friday afternoon. Stay tuned to the newsletter for more information.
International Students
Tomorrow we farewell many of our international students. It has been terrific having them visit our school and learn with our students in the classrooms. Many friendships have formed and our students have gained a further insight into each others’ lives in different countries. I’d like to thank our international students and their families for visiting our school, our students for welcoming them and our staff for supporting them with their studies.
Year Three Camp
Our Year Three students and their teachers are having a fantastic time at Gundiwindi Lodge. Amelia has gone to visit them today and has made sure the sunshine has continued in the Dandenongs. We’re looking forward to hearing of their adventures when they return tomorrow.
Next Week (Book Week and Father’s/Special Person Afternoon)
Next week there are more exciting happenings at school. We will celebrate Book Week, with our character dress up day taking place on Tuesday. Our Library Leaders have planned other activities for our students to enjoy across the week.
On Friday afternoon, we will have our Father’s/Special Person afternoon. Our students will have activities to enjoy with their special person, including some Science Week activities. I will be at a PYP Conference on Friday so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all the Father’s and Special People in our students’ lives a happy Father’s Day and I hope they enjoy our Friday afternoon celebration if they can make it.
Parent Opinion Survey
Thanks to those of you who’ve had the chance to respond to the Parent Opinion Survey. You received an invite two weeks ago, offering you the opportunity to respond. The more responses we receive, the better we can understand the community’s opinion of our school. If you need the invite resent, please reach out to the school email address:
aspendale.ps@education.vic.gov.au
I look forward to seeing some of our Year Three and Four families at our working bee on Saturday.
Enjoy the rest of your week,
Tom
This week we made some fantastic cookies for inquiry. We made a normal batch with plain flour, and a batch with wholemeal flour. Our class did this fun experiment because we wanted to see what would happen if we switched one of the ingredients in the recipe. We have also done a bread experiment. We had to put 4 slices of bread in a plastic bag. One slice with nothing on it, one with butter, one with sugar and another with salt. We are recording what happens each day into a table.
On Wednesday the year 5's did a cookie experiment for our inquiry unit 'How the World Works'. Each class made two batches of cookies. One batch was a control, and the other batch had a variable changed. In 5G we changed the sugar from white to brown. We then got to observe and taste the control and the variable cookie that we made.
This week we were lucky enough to participate in an activity to make cookies. Every class had a vote to decide to change one ingredient. My class (5M) voted to change self-raising flour to wholemeal self-raising flour. Some people in our class were chosen to add an ingredient in. We did this experiment because we have recently started a new inquiry unit about science and have been partaking in experiments to broaden our knowledge of science.
Years 3/4 PARENTS and families please come along and join us for the TERM 3 WORKING BEE
SATURDAY, 26th August 2023, 10.30am –12.30pm
Dear families in Yr’s 3 & 4,
Term 3 School Working Bee will be held on Saturday 26th 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
AREA | STANDARD JOBS LIST JOB | EQUIPMENT REQUIRED School has a lot of equipment. If bringing your own, please clearly name this. |
Grounds & entrances | Removing sand, rubbish, leaves, from all asphalt & yard areas, paths, entrances, steps | Brooms and rakes, gloves wheelbarrows |
School Hall (if required) | Sweeping/blowing around exterior, clearing/killing weeds as required | Brooms, Blower, gloves, smaller container for weeds |
Sandpits | Raking and removing debris, tidying edges on long jump pit as required. | Rakes, forks, wheelbarrows, spades. |
Play equipment areas | Spreading/turning over soft-fall mulch | Spades, forks, rakes, wheelbarrows |
Weeding (if required) | Killing/clearing weeds –a) around fence line; b) within play equipment areas c) around all steps, porches, concrete areas. | Gloves, brush cutter, wheelbarrows, Smaller containers, gloves |
Drains | Clean out/sweep all drains. | Shovel, broom, gloves |
Gardens | Pruning, weeding, spreading mulch if required, some watering (from tanks) | Wheelbarrow, spade, rake |
Veggie Garden | Distribution of new soil for the garden to plant fruit trees. | Shovels, wheelbarrows, rakes |
Aspendale Primary School is a child safe organisation which welcomes all children, young people and their families.
We are committed to providing environments where our students are safe and feel safe, where their participation is valued, their views respected, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Our child safe policies, strategies and practices are inclusive of the needs of all children and students.
We have no tolerance for child abuse and take proactive steps to identify and manage any risks of harm to students in our school environments.
We promote positive relationships between students and adults and between students and their peers. These relationships are based on trust and respect.
We take proactive steps to identify and manage any risk of harm to students in our school environment. When child safety concerns are raised or identified, we treat these seriously and respond promptly and thoroughly.
Particular attention is given to the child safety needs of Aboriginal students, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, international students, students with disabilities, those unable to live at home, children and young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) and other students experiencing risk or vulnerability. Inappropriate or harmful behaviour targeting students based on these or other characteristics, such as racism or homophobia, are not tolerated at our school, and any instances identified will be addressed with appropriate consequences.
Child safety is a shared responsibility. Every person involved in our school has an important role in promoting child safety and wellbeing and promptly raising any issues or concerns about a child’s safety.
We are committed to regularly reviewing our child safe practices, and seeking input from our students, families, staff, and volunteers to inform our ongoing strategies.
Click here to view our school Policies