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. 

NAIDOC week

This week Aspendale Primary School has been celebrating NAIDOC week. Across the school students have been recognising and celebrating the contributions First Nations people have made to Australia, through the theme of ‘Keeping the fire burning’.

Each morning, students across the school have acknowledged country over the loud speaker to start the day.

Our Media/Respectful Relationships leaders have made daily videos that have:

• increased our understanding of the significance of NAIDOC week
• explained this year’s NAIDOC poster, sharing their reflection that it symbolises rebirth from fire
• explained the word ‘deadly’ can mean ‘cool’
• shared their understanding of totems, especially Bunjil and Waa
• reminded us of the traditional custodians, the Bunurong peoples of the Kulin nation, and explained that our school used to be wetlands.

They have also been running a daily quiz where they have taught us more about First Nations people and their achievements.

Thanks to Cait Fletcher, our Year Six leaders and our staff and students for again embracing NAIDOC week and furthering our knowledge.

International Students

This week we have welcomed seven international students and their families to Aspendale Primary School. Over the following weeks we will host several other students. Our visiting students have shared how friendly the Aspendale Primary School community has been and how much they are looking forward to learning with them. I am proud of the way our students consistently embrace the opportunity to meet new students, expand their understanding of other cultures and to make new friends.

New Basketball/Netball Court

After ongoing consultation and endorsement from our School Council, I am pleased to share with you that we will be resurfacing our basketball/netball court and adding three new rings. The new court will be composed of synthetic turf and situated in the same position as our current basketball/netball court. Our three new basketball/netball rings will be positioned between the existing court and the school oval. This work is due to commence in Week Three, weather dependant, and we will continue to update the community about arrangements for this project.

NAPLAN Reports Distributed

Our Year Three and Year Five students received their individual NAPLAN results yesterday. As always, we are proud of our students and the way they apply themselves to their learning.

We are making our way through the data to identify ongoing areas of strength for our school and areas for future development of our teaching and learning programs. It was pleasing to see that the proportion of Year Five students at our school with high relative growth was above similar schools in both reading and numeracy. Our percentage of students in the Strong or Exceeding bands was above similar schools in Year Three and Year Five in many of the assessed areas.

Olympics Celebration

The Olympics is fast approaching and Katie Scott and our Year Six students have prepared a whole-school celebration for Friday 26th July. The morning session will see an Opening Ceremony extravaganza and in the middle session students will participate in multi-age activities, replicating Olympic events, that have been organised by our Year Six students.

Today Tom Bennett, one of our Year Six students, represented our school at the State cross country championships. We are proud of the way Tom has pursued his goals this year and we look forward to congratulating him on his run today.

Enjoy the end of your week,

Tom

What a week we have had celebrating NAIDOC at APS!

 While the official NAIDOC Week took place over the school holidays, APS doesn’t want to miss out - we celebrate NAIDOC Week our first week back.

We had many events, activities and chances to keep the fire burning! Our NAIDOC Week celebrations are a chance to put a spotlight on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders contribute to our community. APS is proud of how we continue to embed, explore and listen to different perspectives in our community.

What a week to celebrate First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth! Thank you very much to the students and community who supported our events.

Acknowledgement of Country

To start the morning off, each day students accross the school, in all year levels have read the Acknowledgement of Country over our loudspeaker. Some year levels have spent time this year, learning about how to write their own Acknowledgements of Country.
Other year levels have used the Acknowledgement that the APS community has written in the past year - visible on our school websites front page.
It has been lovely to hear the variety of Acknowledgements that all recognise the lands of the Bunurong Peoples of the Kulin Nation. 

Watch the videos below to see a recorded version of the year levels Acknowledgements…if your year is not there, it is on its way!

  

Thank you to the Year 6 Leaders who jumped in to make announcements and support the other year levels as they spoke over the loudspeaker. 

BUDDIES FUN TIMES
 

Andrew and Niels in 6F were taught the Foundation’s version of the Acknowledgement of Country in preparation for their performance at assembly on Friday:

Andrew: This week, we learnt the Foundation’s version of the Acknowledgement of Country. We learnt it with respect. We think it is good because it uses some Indigenous language - it helps us talk and respect some of the language. 

Niels: I also like how we have moves. It was good. I liked how our Buddies taught us. 

Year 3 KAHOOT

Inspired by their Where we Are in Place and Time inquiry, a few Year 3 students have taken an amazing action. Over the past few weeks, I have been lucky enough to advise and support  Arlo, Joe and Kai as they created a Kahoot to share their knowledge. They had a practice run with a few Year 6 students before having a greater turn out at lunchtime today. 

Torres Strait Islander flag

Two of our Community leaders- Molly and Liv wrote letters to our local Parliament members about our very worn Aboriginal flag and our solo Torres Strait Islander flag. They spoke about how when we are inside the hall, we don’t have an TSI flag. We were lucky enough to receive this flag a few weeks ago. Absolute legends! 

Activities in classes

Across the school, students have been listening to Indigenous artists, exploring past and present NAIDOC posters and artwork, engaging in great discussions and celebrating how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders contribute to our community.  

Choir

Thank you to Ms Tideman and the APS choir! We know how hard you have been rehearsing over the past weeks in preparation of your NAIDOC inspired performance at assembly on Friday.

RR/Media Leader’s videos

Each day, videos have been shared with the school community. These videos were researched, scripted and filmed by the Respectful Relationships/Media Leader. 

Each video contains a mystery game - each RR/Media Leader pairing went away and researched Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders that they felt had an impact on our community. Based on what they learnt, these students then created 3 clues hinting at who these well known figures were. It was a delight to see students research, inquire into and share their knowledge about scientists, artists, sportspersons, totems and historical figures. 

Thank you Zac, Hayden, Gracie, Mali, Matilda, Keeley, Lucy, Curtis, Louis and Finn. 

Da Jia Hau Aspendale PS!

You may have noticed across the school, we have suddenly had a group of students arriving who are learning Australian English! They are wearing our uniforms and have been welcomed into classes from Foundation to Year 6. 

This week we welcomed the first seven of our International students from across China. 

Our International student program provides APS students with amazing opportunities. Not only do they have the chance to make a few more friends, but they get to engage with our Chinese program in an authentic and active way. Students get to speak, play and learn alongside students from a completely different country.  It also supports our students as they continue to develop their knowledge about the world, supporting our PYP program and other curriculum connections. 

Thank you very much to Ms Ma for all your work with this program. Your ability to jump between Mandarin and English without dropping a beat, impresses all the students and staff who get to hear it! 

We asked Sarah in Year 6, how her first week at APS has been and she said:



Which translates to:
It is a bit hard as I don't always know what the teacher and classmates said. The Australian accent is hard to understand but all the classmates and teachers here are friendly. I like it. I have had lots of fun here!

Thank you as well to our Chinese/Mandarin Leaders who took our new friends on a school tour and check in with them in the yard.  Over the next few weeks, we will continue to have students arrive and spend a short time with us. We may even have a chance to hear them speak at assembly during our ‘Chinese phrase of the week’ lesson!

~ Cait Fletcher & Hong Ma

Chinese program coordinators 

**Please note this is a ticketed event as numbers are limited**

There are a few tickets left (via QKR) but don't worry, if you don't get a ticket or are unable to come, we still have you covered!! THE AUCTION IS OPEN TO EVERYONE AT APS!! - items are listed below.

If you can't be there on the night to bid on an item, please sms Chrissy on: 0406 066 484 by 6pm on the 26th July.

Be sure to put in your name, the item you want to bid on and your bid please 

Those with tickets, keep an eye out for some info about the evening. Its going to be amazing!

Thanks everyone for your support.

Due to overwhelming support for our exciting and well over due Trivia Night of fun, auctions and raffle prizes, we have nearly sold out of tickets.  Get in quick to secure your spot. Invite your friends, neighbours or family (strictly adults only) along to this fabulous night.

A huge THANK YOU to those who have already purchased tickets, your support is greatly appreciated. 

 

We look forward to being able to provide new and updated equipment for our students (your children), including playground upgrades, with the proceeds from our Trivia Night.

 

Check out these incredible auction items available exclusively at our Trivia Night!

Uniform Store Update:

We warmly welcome State Schools Relief as Aspendale Primary School’s new uniform supplier from the start of Term 3 (Monday 15^th July).

Items will be available for purchase in store or online.  Most uniform items will be available from the start of Term 3 . 

Store Address: Factory 1/8 Johnston Court, Dandenong South VIC 3175

Hours of Operation: 8:30am and 4:30pm, Monday to Friday

Contact Phone Number: 03 8769 8400

We have OT availability!

We have 3 new OT's starting with us in the coming weeks, who will be ready to take on new clients! If you have any participants or families looking for OT, we can help!

To get started, complete our online referral form linked below:

Arliam Allied Health Referral Form

Our service area is as follows: Bayside, South, South-East or Eastern Metro Melbourne areas.

We also have limited availability for Speech Pathology services,

for school aged participants!

Warm Regards,

The Arliam Allied Health Team

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