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 |
Last Day - early dismissal | 20th December Year 6 Final Assembly starts at 12pm Early finish at 1pm |
Event | Date |
Student Free Day | 28th January |
Student's first Day | 29th January 2025 |
Dear parents and carers,
This week we farewell our Principal, Coby Larrieu at Aspendale Primary School.
As advised in last week’s newsletter, Coby moves to a position with the Department of Education to implement the Career Start initiative, which aims to improve the experience of graduate teachers in the first years of their career. Coby will work with graduate teachers and their mentors to accelerate the development of their professional practice and support their wellbeing. This has been an area of passion for Coby over her time as Assistant Principal and Principal, working with many of our current and former staff as they have progressed through the initial stages of their career.
Coby started as the Assistant Principal in 2013, looking to further develop the wellbeing practices of our school. This involved implementing the Kids Matter framework, extending our use of the ‘circles’ approach and restorative practices and even introducing many of the staff to yoga. As the Assistant Principal, she advocated for the increase in resourcing and awareness to support the needs of all students across the school. During this time, the school underwent significant rebuilding and she supported the school community to continue teaching and learning in different spaces across the school.
In 2018, Coby was appointed the Principal of Aspendale Primary School. Our school became an authorised International Baccalaureate World School, continued to achieve strong academic outcomes and strengthened our relationship with our Sister School in Nanjing, China. As this was occurring, Coby continued to increase wellbeing supports for our school community, including the implementation of the Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships program, with our school being selected as a Lead School, the appointment of a Wellbeing Support Officer and the establishment of the Positive Behaviour for Learning framework. She worked with our local member, the Hon. Tim Richardson, to extend and refurbish our school library. Coby led the community through periods of remote learning and in recent times she has sought opportunities for our school community to reconnect as we have transitioned back to the consistency of on-site learning.
Some of our students have shared their memories of Mrs Larrieu:
She always made birthday cards for us and she’s always kind and caring. Romany
She always makes people feel welcome. Maya L
She is thankful of our school community and shows kindness. Kai
Thank you for being so kind to Aspendale Primary School. Eilidh
She always comes to talk to us on our birthdays. Jack
When I started in Foundation she helped me find places around the school and to build friendships. Chelsea
She shares her smile with all of us and it helps us to smile. Eliza
She always helps everybody. Sophie
She’s made our school a good place. Alfie
She cares for our school and our community. Alfie
On behalf of the school community, I’d like to thank Coby for her dedication and support of our school, her advocacy for staff, students and families over eleven years and her promotion of the wonderful learning environment at Aspendale Primary School. We wish her well in her next position and thank her for investing in the next generation of educators.
Enjoy the rest of the week,
Tom
Please check out the important dates section of the newsletter to be across upcoming community events, including our Mother’s and Special People afternoon next Friday and our Education Week events.
Natalie Tideman - Specialist leader
Dear Parents and Carers,
It has been another exciting week at Aspendale Primary School. Mrs Scott began District Cross Country training and there was a large excited group of keen athletes on the oval dedicated to working on their skills. On Wednesday we had two excursions: Year Six went to Chinatown and the Immigration Museum and Year Three went to the Cranbourne Botanical gardens.
The Year Three excursion to the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens
As part of the Year Three’s new Central Idea, they visited the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens to learn about our indigenous history. The students spent the morning looking at the indigenous plants being grown in their gardens, before having sessions with educators who showed them how indigenous peoples used tools to survive. They learnt how to make food from native plants, they drank tea from lemon myrtle and used ochre to create artworks and share messages.
PYP links with the Visual Art program
Students in Year Three to Six learn about the lives of indigenous peoples. They look at how they used various tools, as well as communicate messages through creating a range of different artwork. In Term Two, Year Three students study images from the Melbourne Museum and other indigenous artwork and reflect on how and why they were made. Students are encouraged to create artwork by designing symbols and patterns to tell stories about their lives or about the lives of animals. Each year, Ms Tideman and Mrs Hale enjoy allowing students to create mixed media art pieces while learning about Australia’s important history.
ANZAC Day
Last week, in our specialist areas and also in other year levels around the school, students learnt about the significance and importance of ANZAC Day. In Performing Arts, students learn to sing The Spirit of the ANZACS which in turn teaches students about our armed services and the work they do. In STEM, Foundation to Year Two students touched on wildflowers in light of ANZAC Day and discussed the significance of the poppy and the process of germination. In Visual Art, students learnt about the poppy and its symbolic use and created a representation of a poppy, through a variety of art mediums. Our Visual Arts leaders: Ebony Jenkins, Gene Selter, Hugo Boonyarungsrit, Madeleine Hobson and Grace Roberts have been busily painting a sign to commemorate ANZAC Day which was proudly displayed inside the corridor at our main entrance of the school.
Here are some wonderful things are happening in our specialist areas this term:
Some APS students performed to a large crowd in Melbourne recently
Mila Wu in Year Four recently had the opportunity to be part of a dancing group to perform in the annual Melbourne Moomba parade. Unfortunately, due to extremely hot weather the event was cancelled. Mila Wu and her family are proud that she worked hard to rehearse her part in the event. Thankfully, they took pictures on the rehearsal day.
Evie Sarros in Year Two and Ida Sarros in Foundation were both selected to be part of a choir from many stage schools around Melbourne. They worked hard to rehearse many songs that they sang as a large group, to back up the Bjorn Again, ABBA tribute band, at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.
Ms Tideman and Ms Matthews and our school community are proud of you and your achievements. These experiences and memories will last a lifetime.
Australian Girls Choir participants
Each year we have a few students who perform with the Australian Girls Choir. This year Romany Fairweather, Abi Fairweather, Isabelle Woodman and Taija V are taking part. If you would like your son or daughter to try out for this please visit their relevant websites and get in contact with them.
APS Choir and Band - update
The APS Choir had the opportunity to perform together, for the first time this year, at Harmony Day, during assembly. There will be many future performance opportunities planned such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
APS Choir
The APS Choir rehearses on a Thursday lunchtime. Students in Years 1 – 6 are welcome to attend. It is recommended that students attend four rehearsals before being able to confidently perform at an event.
Visual Art
An exploration of colour
Students have been working hard to complete their first big piece of artwork for the year. Students have examined the art work of artists: Piet Mondrian, Eric Carle, Raewyn Harris, Rebecca Cook, Pete Cromer, Ken Done and Jenny Kee. Work is currently in the process of being hung in the main corridor of the school and in some of the learning spaces. Ms Tideman and Mrs Hale would like to acknowledge our Visual Art leaders who assisted with the hanging of this work.
Students are currently completing the final steps to their portrait task, which ties in beautifully with the PYP Who We Are and Where We Are in Place and Time.
Art Show this year – Term Four
Later this year, Mrs Hale and Ms Tideman will hold our biannual Art Show in the gym and surrounding areas of the school. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to showcase their favourite piece of work to the school community. In the past we have had silent auctions and a few interactive musical activities for family members to participate in or just listen. We look forward to planning and putting this together for you later this year. The date in Term Four is to be confirmed.
Year Six Legacy Artwork has now been installed - Year 6 2023
We are so proud of the beautiful work which is now on permanent display in our vegetable garden area. Please see our image attached.
STEM
The first two weeks of Term Two our young scientists in Foundation to Year Two delved into the magical world of plants, exploring their essential needs and unique features. In Years Three and Four, students have been sharpening their classification skills by distinguishing between living and non-living things through the seven life processes. Meanwhile, our Year Five and Six students have been unraveling the mysteries of microorganisms, with a fascinating focus on yeast's role in the art of bread-making. We will continue to delve deeper into our PYP framework theme of ‘How the world works’ and concepts of change, causation, form and function throughout the term.
Physical Education
Athletics and Cross Country training began on Wednesday 1st May afterschool. Please make sure you return your forms to Mrs Scott to enable you to participate.
Chinese
Our Year Six students visited the Chinese Museum and Chinatown. This visit is a significant part of the Chinese curriculum and it also links directly into our Year Six PYP migration unit. The students will have the opportunity to explore the rich history of Chinese immigration to Australia and delve into the depths of ancient Chinese history. Images and further information will be included in next week’s newsletter.
Ms Tideman
Specialist leader
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).