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. 

Getting to Know you Interviews:

Thank you to all the families that attended this week’s Getting to Know You Interviews. Building strong trusting relationships between teachers, parents/carers and students is an important part of developing a sense of belonging within our community. Along with providing families the opportunity to share information about their children with the teacher and the teachers being able to share how students have settled into the new year level.

 Wellbeing Focus of the Week:

This week the school wide Wellbeing Focus is: Keeping our hands and feet to ourselves.

This links into our school wide goal of Continuing to promote respect, kindness and a sense of belonging amongst our school. This is an important behavioural expectation as it keeps ourselves and other safe. Students have been learning about what it looks like to use safe hands and safe feet at school.

Breakfast Club:

Breakfast Club has been buzzing over the last few weeks, with our attendance numbers hitting the 90s. Thank you to Mrs Macdonald, the Community Leaders and other students for helping out. It’s terrific to see our school community gathering in the courtyard and spending time together.

District Swimming:

Wishing all our swimmers competing at the District competition on Friday the very best of luck. We know that you will all demonstrate our school values and compete for APS with pride! Thanks to Katie Scott for your organisation in the lead up to this event.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community:

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy is available via request from the office, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents | vic.gov.au (www.vic.gov.au) . This information is also available in ten community languages:

* Amharic            * Arabic          * Dari               *Gujarati                          * Mandarin          * Somali         * Sudanese   * Turkish     * Urdu                 * Vietnamese

Enjoy the first weekend in March!

Amelia Busuttil

• Please note that donations of books and baked goods have now been closed. Further details about where, when and how to donate your baked good prior the event, will be provided in next weeks Newsletter.

• We are overwhelmed by the community support and response to our event and thank you for this.

Playful Learning in Year Four 

This year we are embarking on a new adventure in Year 4 - Playful Learning.

What is Playful Learning?

Each week the students will work together in groups or pairs to negotiate, plan, decide and create together in playful ways. Playful Learning is an opportunity for the students to lead their own learning, explore the unknown, and find joy in learning. By bringing together thinking, emotions, and the physical and social aspects of learning and play, we are building curiosity and social skills in a meaningful way.

Playful Learning does not mean the students are just playing games or that anything goes. In play, there are rules of the game, and Playful Learning sets up boundaries in which experimentation and creativity can take place.

Why are we practising Playful Learning?

Aspendale Primary School is an IB PYP school. As part of our mission, we aim to develop lifelong learners who care for themselves, others and the community around them. By having a focus on social development during Playful Learning, we are able to create opportunities where the students have joyful experiences, are socially interactive, and are actively engaged. These experiences help them learn, develop skills, gain information, and think more critically, creatively, and collaboratively.

Want to find out more?

The Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero has more information and research about the Pedagogy of Play.

Next Wednesday morning at 8.20, we will be running a volunteer induction session.

All volunteers (parent/carer/helpers) who wish to support in classrooms, on excursions , camps etc. need to attend one of these sessions and have a current Working with Children’s Check. These sessions outline our Child Safe Standards and expectations. 

The session will be on Wednesday 6th at 8.20 am in the Foundation Young (FY) classroom. 

If you are a volunteer who was not able to do it last year, this is your chance. If you have completed the induction session in the past 12 months, you do not need to complete this induction session. Please contact your child's teacher if you require more information. 

APS - VIOLIN AND VIOLA LESSONS 2024!

Introducing Peter O’Shea

Aspendale Primary School has a new violin and viola teacher this year!

Our new violin teacher is Peter O’Shea. Peter is a vibrant local string teacher. Peter has experience in teaching both individuals and groups, and is currently working both in schools and home studio settings.

Peter has studied at Monash University and University of Melbourne. He enjoys playing a teaching a diverse range of World Music (Fiddle Music) AMEB, ANZCA and Suzuki repertoire and pedagogy.

He has produced is own Elementary Violin teaching Book “Violin Fever Volume 1”.

We look forward to having Peter become part of the Instrumental Teachers’ team at APS and part of the community.

Please contact Peter directly if you would like to find out further about our program run by Peter.

Peter O’Shea (B.A. Music, Grad Dip Music, Dip Music.)

Email: posheamusic@gmail.com

Phone: 0409193004