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 |
Welcome to our Week 9 newsletter.
House Names:
It is with pride and excitement that we share with you our new house names. Going forward our houses will be named after animals, using the Bunurong language. We have received permission from the Bunurong Language Council to use these words.
Red house – COOLUP (emu)
Green house – WOORUK (frog)
Blue house – BULLUM BULLUM (butterfly)
Yellow house – KURBOROO (koala)
The renaming of our houses has been a project initiated by our Respectful Relationships leaders in 2020, where they sought permission from School Council to rename the houses and inquired as to how houses are named at other schools. Our 2021 leaders then surveyed the community as to whether we should name our houses after local geographical features, animals or plants. The community decided upon animals. Over 2022 and 2023, our Respectful Relationships leaders and staff have worked with the Bunurong Language Authority to bring about this change.
We would like to thank Kobi Sainty, the Language and Education Coordinator at the Bunurong Language Council, Eoin Blane, Leah Macdonald, Cait Fletcher and our Respectful Relationships leaders over the last four years for the roles they have played in helping us bring about this change.
Parent Opinion Survey:
Our 2023 Parent Opinion Survey results have been published. We are equal or above similar schools in all measures this year. We have particularly strong results in parent/community engagement, student safety and school ethos and environment. Of particular note, a focus over our School Strategic Plan, teacher communication is well above similar, network and state results. Thank you to all the parents, carers and guardians that took the time to provide this valuable feedback to the school. We look forward to further opportunities in 2024 to hear from our families.
Acting Assistant Principal:
Over the last semester we have had members of the School Improvement Leadership Team taking on the role of Assistant Principal. We would like to thank Leanne Peterson, Melissa McSweeney and most recently, Jess Johnston for the work they have undertaken in the acting Assistant Principal role. Not only have this provided these leaders with opportunities to further their leadership qualities, it has also played a critical role in strengthening connections between our leaders and our students, staff and wider community.
Lisa Phillips will take over the position for the next two weeks, starting on Monday.
Foundation Showcase:
Last Friday our Foundation students put on a sensational performance at our final Showcase. There were plenty of flies in attendance, but thankfully the rain held off. It was wonderful to see the foundation students perform their items with confidence. They included AUSLAN through ‘I can sing a rainbow’, the use of tapping sticks to ‘You’ve got a friend in me’, singing and dancing to the Locomotion, The Hello Song, Hokey Pokey and more! This was the culmination of our Performing Arts events for 2023, with our 5/6 musical production ‘Dreams in Motion’ and our year level showcases this term. We would like to thank Natalie Tideman and Stela Matthews for their coordination, expertise and enthusiasm throughout these wonderful community events.
Beach Swimming:
This week our Year 5 and 6 students were to head off to Mentone beach for their Beach Swimming Program, unfortunately the weather had other plans. There are plans in place for the re-scheduling of this well loved event.
Year 4 Bike Education:
The year 4 students have enjoyed the Bike Education Program over the last two weeks. With the weather forecast not looking fabulous for tomorrow, they have postponed the Big Bike Ride to next Wednesday. They year 4 teachers have sent out communication to families with further details.
Upcoming Events:
As we are heading to the end of the year, there are many upcoming events to note down in your diaries and calendars:
Saturday 2nd December - Years 1 & 2 Working Bee 10.30am – 12.30pm.
Monday 11th December - Curriculum Day – no students required at school.
Tuesday 12th December - Statewide Transition Day: Foundation 2024 Orientation Morning, Year 7 2024 Transition Day and F-5 Up day.
Wednesday 13th December - Year 6 Graduation
Friday 15th December - Meet your teacher morning, Christmas Concert afternoon.
Wednesday 20th December - Final day – finish at 1:30pm.
Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend and week ahead,
Amelia Busuttil.
It has taken us over three years but this week, on Monday night, we received approval and confirmation of the new Aspendale House names in Bunurong language from the Bunurong Land Council.
We want to thank our students who asked the initial questions and to all the students since, regardless of leadership roles who have carried on behind the scenes with work to make sure we could achieve this. Thank you too, to the staff who have supported the students the whole time and to Kobi Sainty and the Bunurong Land Council for helping us get final approval.
Dinosaur Facts Club has been a roaring success since its commencement early this year. The club was created by Eddie Morton from 2G and supported by APS staff Amy Gardiner and Jo Backstrom. The club runs a range of dinosaur related activities including games, toys, books, quiz’s, art’s and craft and educational worksheets. The club is usually run every 3 to 4 weeks on a Thursday for Foundation to Year 4 students. The club welcomes anyone who is interested in joining in on some dinosaur action.