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. 

I had the pleasure of joining the Year 3 students and staff at Gundiwindi Lodge last Thursday as they embarked on their first school camp. With the glorious mountain backdrop, the students challenged themselves with activities such as the giant swing and flying fox, while also using their teamwork skills for the low ropes course and initiatives challenges. After lots of encouragement from all the students, I gained some courage and went on the giant swing (along with other staff and parent volunteers). The kookaburras also turned up for a bit of a laugh at my screams, that certainly echoed through the hills. Taking on the challenge gave me a far larger appreciation for the courage and bravery that our students showed by giving the giant swing a go. What champions!

A big thank you to our staff, the Gundiwindi Lodge staff and our parent volunteers for making the Year 3 camp such a success!

The celebration of a love for reading was in full swing on Tuesday. The whole school came together in the courtyard for our annual Book Week Character Parade. It was fantastic to see the variety of creative costumes for individuals and groups of students and staff. I’m happy to report that the couple of Bad Guys who ran the school for the day have taken on hero status, as per the book’s narrative. Make sure you keep reading, as there are some fabulous photos later in the newsletter.

We are excited to invite our Fathers and Special Friends into the school on Friday 1^st September.

2.00-2.15pm - Choir/Musical Performances – Gym

2.15-3.15pm – Classroom & Whole School Activities

This week we have had a number of incursions and excursions that support our Units of Inquiry. The Year 5s had a Twisted Science incursion linking to the line of inquiry - scientific processes, where students delighted in mixing chemicals. Earlier in the week, the Year 5s participated in Mind Masters in an online incursion, with a focus on resilience. Our Year 4s headed off today to The Briars to investigate a sustainable house in order to support the design of their own eco-friendly houses.

Next week, we have 28 Year 5 students participating in a Play (Positivity, Leadership and Activated Youth) program. The group of students will be trained to facilitate a range of games with their younger peers. The focus of the program is to enhance wellbeing, social connectedness and school engagement. We were selected by School Focussed Youth Services (SFYS) to undertake this program as part of an evaluation through Resilient Youth and The University of Adelaide. The Play leaders and their younger peers from Year 2 will complete surveys to provide feedback to the evaluation team.

We would like to wish our Netball Team all the best on the courts as they compete today at the State Finals. We’ll give an update in our next newsletter.

Thanks to those of you who’ve had the chance to respond to the Parent Opinion Survey. You received an invite three 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

Thank you to all the families that turned up and used some muscle power for our Year 3 and 4 working bee last Saturday. Our playgrounds are looking fabulous with the added mulch and the garden beds are prepared, ready for new plants.

Wishing you all a fabulous Friday and lovely weekend.

Amelia.

Year 5 Update

What an action packed Week 8 Year 5 has had. 

We have been fortunate enough to have not one, but two incursions this week. 

Mind Masters Incursion

On Monday morning for our wellbeing session, we were lucky enough to have the Mind Masters call us (incursion) to teach us about resilience. Our year 5 classes were sent on a mission to help secret agent “James Blond” teach Dr Mojo (who had lost her mojo) about resilience. In the end, the students worked out that resilience means being able to bounce back when things get hard. We also learnt that when you make a mistake you can learn from these moments. In 3 episodes, we helped Dr Mojo get back her mojo, and one of the things that helped us do it was the BINGO acronym.

B - Believe 

I - I can't do it YET

N - Need help? ASK!

G - Give it a Go

O - Optimism

• Ivy and Lucy E 5G

Twisted Science Incursion

In Year 5 on Tuesday Week 8, we were lucky enough to have an incursion that was presented by two staff members from Twisted Science. 

During the incursion we were exploring different chemicals. We learnt about what would happen if we mixed specific chemicals together. Some of the materials that we used were a petri dish, a syringe, different chemicals and we also used red cabbage that acted as a natural acid-base indicator. We observed different changes such as smell, touch and appearance. 

It was important that all Year 5 students wore safety glasses during our experiments. Everyone had a great day. 

• Sam and Bailey 5G

Year Five and Six students:

Thank you for sharing your singing, acting and dancing talents with our school community. I couldn’t be prouder of your singing and acting abilities shown during our performances. Ms Matthews and I were overwhelmed by your level of confidence, enthusiasm and maturity in which you have conducted yourselves, in acting out your roles. Your efforts in learning to play your chosen instrument, rehearsing your acting lines and dances are very much appreciated and acknowledged. I do hope that you go on, to develop these skills further, in secondary school. Please do!

Our leads:  Minka, Matilda, Rory, Willem, Warren and Willow

You are amazing and we certainly appreciate the hours of hard work, the minutes of your lunchtimes and recess that you dedicated to our show. Your level of talent is outstanding and we truly hope you continue this in years to come.

*Mr Pearce had a vision for the show and presented his wonderful idea to us which we instantly loved.

*Ms Matthews spent her holiday writing the script. She put this musical together: from a musical, drama and dance perspective. Ms Matthews then wrote the script and created the musical from start to finish. I love humour in the script and the references throughout the show to known places in the world, and also locally. You spent time ensuring all the students who wanted to have a part, could have a line to say. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with you on this Stela, with your extensive knowledge of all things band, drama and music related. The success of this musical is a credit to you and to the months of work and long hours that you put into it. What a huge success it was!

*Our Year 5 & 6 Class teachers, Stela and I, helped to rehearse our choreography and acting roles and each teacher had a specific role in the organisation of our musical. Thank you so very much!

The teamwork, effort and dedication shown towards the show, by the Year 5 and Year 6 teams has been fantastic.

This show has taken lots of people to put together, we have been working on it since March this year, and there are many people to thank.

We would like to thank the following APS staff members:

Stela Matthews— Script writer, music arranger, director, choreographer and conductor for classes: 5B, 5G, 6F, 6M & 6P.

Nat Tideman—Producer, event organiser & prop design; director, choreographer and conductor for classes: 5M & 5P

Angelique Matthews— Script editor, co-choreographer for 5B, 5G, 6F, 6M, 6P & the opening and finale dances.

Jack Powell—Sound and imagery arranger using QLab; Year 6 teacher & leader

Jude Hale— Imagery (digital backdrops); backstage assistance

Leah Macdonald—Poster design; make-up for leads & Martians; Year 6 teacher

Cait Fletcher - Ticket promotion & Year 6 class teacher

Corey Grindley—Excursion coordinator & Year 5 class teacher & leader

Jacqueline Bladier—Program design & ticket promotion

Leanne Peterson—Costume design, coordinated and helped to source costume items, As an Assistant Principal – a huge help to us, this we will be forever grateful. In addition, you were also a Year 5 class teacher & our whole school event organiser

Fiona McNally—Year 5 class teacher, make-up assistance & assistant choreographer for 5M

Kylie-Ann Freshwater—Script binding; teaching aide

Mel Beech—Teaching aide

Shey O’Brien – backstage assistance

Sophie Conway—Follow spot and teaching aide

Ellie Beech—Follow spot assistance & instrumental tuning

Tom Pearce —Principal—For your continued support and guidance with our musical, and for getting our program to print

Amelia Busuttil—Assistant Principal—For your continued support and guidance with our musical

Amelia Mastorakos – Business manager (Financial assistance), selling our programs

Amber Demmler- Office administration – phoning parents, making announcements, program

Matthews family – for helping to sell our programs

Judy Prosser- Office administration – phoning parents, making announcements, program

Katie Scott – for letting us use your classroom (gym) for weeks upon weeks of rehearsals and for often changing your plans at short notice.

Luke Drohan – our instrumental music teacher (Keyboard and guitar) – We can’t thank you enough for the time and effort that you’ve put into bringing our bands together with your accompaniment. You have such talent. You assisted us in many ways and were always there when we needed you. Please give him a round of applause.

And finally, thank you to our wonderful community for supporting your child and the musical. It was lovely to perform to a large crowd and see the smiles on the students faces as they performed to you.

Natalie Tideman

Performing Arts teacher