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. 

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Important dates:

Event	Date
School Disco Yrs 3-6	11th October
Kingston Division Athletics	11th October
School Council	15th October
ACMI Foundation Excursion	30th October
Curriculum Day	1st November
Foundation 2025 Transition Sessions:	31st October, 7th,14th, 21st November.
Melbourne Cup Day (Public Holiday)	5th November
PYPX	11th November

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Dear parents and carers,

 

Welcome back to Term Two! We have enjoyed the Autumn sun at the start of the week and we are looking for our jumpers and jackets in the second half.

 

It has been terrific to see our students reconnecting with their peers and teachers over the week. They have reestablished their learning routines and are looking to make gains across the curriculum with their teachers and support staff over Term Two.

 

The Minister of Education, the Hon. Ben Carrol MP, has made a short video message to share with parents.

https://vimeo.com/933088690/2bf575e8ee

 

The video again highlights the opportunities for students to make learning gains in Term Two. It also references the ministerial policy regarding mobile phones in Victorian government schools. Mobile phones should be handed in to the classroom teacher in the morning. They are then securely stored for the day. Smart watches that have similar functionality to mobile phones must be switched to ‘school mode’ during school hours, alternatively they can be handed in for storage. If your child is bringing a mobile phone with them, please check that they are handing it to their teacher.If you need to contact your child during the school day, please contact the school office for assistance. The Mobile Phone - Student Use Policy can be located on the school website.

 

Child Safe Standards

On Monday, we had our annual Child Safe Standards presentation at our staff meeting. This is something we take seriously at Aspendale Primary School and it was a good opportunity to revisit our practices and policies regarding this. Part of this session involved alerting staff to our Complaints Policy. It is important that members of our community, including students and their parents and carers, feel that their concerns are heard. I have included a link to the policy section of our website where you can read more about our Child Safe and Complaints policies.

https://www.aspendale.vic.edu.au/page/9/Policies

 

Photo Day

Monday is an exciting day at Aspendale Primary School. We will have the team from SchoolPix for our annual School Photos day. Parents and carers should have received information about this and details as to how to order photos at the end of last term.

We look forward to seeing our students with big smiles and wearing their uniforms with pride on Monday.

 

ANZAC Day Commemorations

Aspendale Primary School has several opportunities to commemorate ANZAC Day this year.

I will be attending Legacy’s 92nd ANZAC Commemoration Ceremony with our School Captains. We will attend the ceremony and then lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance on behalf of our school community.

Our Community Leaders are at the school front gates each afternoon selling ANZAC Day badges to support the Legacy Appeal.

Next week, classes will discuss the importance of ANZAC Day and why we take time each year to observe the day.

On ANZAC Day, our students have the opportunity to participate in the ANZAC Day march, organised by the Longbeach RSL. If your children would like to participate, they can meet Leah Macdonald and myself at Sherwood Lane at 9:00 on Thursday morning. They will need to wear school uniform. Leah will send more information in an email to the school community.

 

We are looking forward to another wonderful term, working with our school community, to support our students development in all areas.

 

Tom Pearce

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Wellbeing News

Showing Kindness

Imagine a world where you can succeed by being nice.
Where we all pay it forward.
Where people look out for each other.
It all starts with an act.

 

This year we have a whole school focus on showing kindness. Kindness can be defined as being friendly, generous and considerate but it encompasses so many more things.

Randomactsofkindness.org has great ideas for home and school for showing kindness including the calendar shown below:

 

 

 

Student Wellbeing Protective Behaviours Program

Over the next few weeks all year levels will be conducting sessions regarding protective behaviours and keeping their bodies safe. Statistics regarding unwanted sexual activity in children are a concern, and as such we believe all children need to be empowered to be able to talk about their bodies and follow the mantra, “We all have the right to feel safe”. Sessions will cover topics such as saying no, identifying body early warning signs, types of secrets, consent, and establishing a safety network. More detailed information regarding the lessons will come out in fortnightly parent emails. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher or myself at any time. 

Leanne Peterson

Wellbeing Learning Specialist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Premiers’ Reading Challenge is again under way and already in the first few weeks we have had over 100 students register which is fantastic!

This program is a great way for students to share and record their reading experiences from both home and school. Once registered, students will be provided with their own login details to record the books they read online.

All students completing the challenge receive a certificate and book to encourage their continued love of reading. If you have not registered yet there is still plenty of time to do so by picking up a form from your classroom teacher and dropping it in to the box outside the office. If you have any queries please speak to Leanne Peterson (Year 5), Sarah Cornell (Year 5) or Caitlin Beer (Year 1).

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April is Autism Awareness Month and APS recognises and values our different brilliant students. 




   

Posters created by our Media Leaders: Matilda and Keeley
    

To celebrate Autism Awareness Month, Year 6 put a spotlight on the condition. After exploring the science behind Autism (and neurodiversity in general) students learnt about famous people who are Autistic. 


Some students wanted to highlight: 

- Autism is where your brain acts differently to other people and they see the world differently to other people in the world.

- They might  have better strengths than other people but they also might have worse strengths than other people.

- They will need a quiet space or some alone time to get them focused again.

For many of the students, the highlight of the chats were the tips and ticks shared annoymously for neurotypical students (non-Autistic students) to help make our spaces more inclusive:



- There were reminders about noise! And comments about different textures; some students even shared how they cut tags from their clothing because they are too distracting. Many students shared how they loved their friends but sometimes found it hard with bigger groups. 


Below are some of the highlights students identified about the discussion. They were asked to record 1-2 take aways from the chat. Year 6 will be continuing these discussions behind April. 

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It has been around 10 years since the Bring Your Own Device program started for Years 4, 5 and 6. We’re considering what this will look like in 2025 and beyond. It may look a bit different for the Year 4s in 2025.

 

We wanted to share this with the community in case you are planning on making a purchase of a device in the near future. Please hold off for the moment, and we will communicate a decision by the end of Term 2.

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Hi APS Families,

 

 

This is call out for any spare, outgrown and unwanted uniform you would like to donate to resupply our stock in sickbay.  We are specifically after a few pairs of shorts in the smaller sizes, 4, 6 and 8.  Coming into the colder months, a few pairs of tracksuit pants would be very much appreciated in the above sizes also.

If you could please bring them to the office that would be greatly appreciated.

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