Newsletter 15.10.2021

Issue 16


Principal Update

Dear Community,

It is with great pleasure that I write my first newsletter as substantive principal of Ardeer South Primary School. I feel so fortunate to be leading such an incredible school community into the future. I have worked with some incredible leaders and have always aspired to be the best person I can be and to work hard to achieve personal and professional goals. Something I am extremely proud of is the honour to be Ardeer South’s first female principal. This position is an honour and I can only hope that in the coming years I can teach all of the students learning at Ardeer South that they have the power to be the best they can be so that they can create a better world.

News and Updates

Return to School - We are all very excited to be welcoming back our students onsite in the next few weeks. As of next week, Prep students will return three days a week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) and Years 1&2 students will return two days (Thursday and Friday)

During week 4, from October 26th onsite learning returns for the Years 3&4 (Tuesday and Wednesday and Years 5&6 (Thursday and Friday). Refer to communication that was sent by Brock for drop off and pick up procedures and covid safe practices. 

Canteen

The canteen will not be operating until Monday 8th November when all students are fully returned to school. 

Shade Sails Grant

Good news! We recently applied to a grants program through The Victorian School Building Authority to fund new shade sails over an outdoor learning space. Our application has been successful which means a $25,000 grant for our school to install a new shade sail. I now have four weeks to get some quotes together to submit to the VSBA. This is exciting news for our students and school and I will keep you updated as this project unfolds. 

I am excitedly anticipating next week having students finally back onsite. 

Andrea Markham

Principal




Assistant Principal Update

Return to School Guidelines - Week 3

I know we are all excited to finally begin welcoming back our students in the coming weeks. From next week, the staggered return will begin. As aligned with the DET guidelines, these arrangements will be in place until all students resume full-time onsite schooling on the 5th of November.

Prep students - From next week, will be on-site each week from Monday to Wednesday until Friday the 5th of November

This means Prep students will be on-site on the 18th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 26th, 27th of October and the 3rd and 5th of November. 

Grade 1/2 students - From next week, will be on-site on Thursday and Friday until Friday the 5th of November

This means 1/2 students will be on-site on the 21st, 22nd, 28th, 29th of October and the 4th and 5th of November.

Grade 3/4 students - Will continue remote learning next week, then on-site on Tuesday to Wednesday from the 26th of October until Friday the 5th of November

This means 3/4 students will be on-site on the 26th and the 27th of October, and the 3rd and 5th of November.

Grade 5/6 students - Will continue remote learning next week, then on-site on Thursday to Friday from the 26th of October until Friday the 5th of November

This means 5/6 students will be on-site on the 28th and the 29th of October, and the 4th and 5th of November.

Please note that other than the dates above, the remote learning program that has been in place will continue. This also includes the on-site supervision provision where children from authorised workers with an appropriate permit may be eligible to access on-site supervision on days outside of the dates indicated above. 

Drop Off and Dismissal Processes:

Under the current restrictions, only essential workers and students can enter the school grounds. As we have done in the past, we will address these requirements using processes that reduce congregation and ensure only authorized people enter the school grounds.

Drop Off:

From Monday the 18th of October, the school gates will be opened by the School Leadership Team at 8:30 AM each morning. During this time, only the students will be able to enter the school grounds. Please do not drop off your students any earlier than this time as there will be no supervision and they will not be able to enter the school grounds. If you require supervision before or after school, please contact the office to enrol your student in our Before and After School Program which will be running every day as an essential service.

Dismissal:  

With families unable to enter school grounds, we will be dismissing students from 3:15 PM on the oval behind the school, as we have done in the past. This process was developed previously in consultation with the community and allows for dismissal to take place in an open-air environment that reduces congregation and is off the school grounds. Students will be lined up with their classroom teacher and will be dismissed once visual contact has been made with the appropriate parent or guardian.

We understand that these processes are not ideal and we would certainly prefer to reconnect with you all on the school grounds again. Hopefully, these restrictions will not be in place for a long time so that we can return to our 'usual' drop off and dismissal processes in the near future.  

Density Requirements:

As aligned with the DET advice, we are encouraging our teachers to reduce congregation with other year levels and to conduct learning wherever possible in open and large environments. This will also apply to our staff interacting with each other. We also encourage parents to limit contact with other community members wherever possible during pick up and drop off times.

Face Masks:

The current DET guidelines require all school staff and students over the age of 12 to wear a face mask unless a lawful exemption applies. Please note that an exemption that applies within our school environment allows our teachers to remove their face masks for educational purposes, such as sharing appropriate mouth movements when teaching a reading lesson.

Hygiene:

An early emphasis of the return to school program will focus on reinforcing appropriate hygiene habits within the school grounds. This includes regular washing of hands and providing students with access to a hand sanitiser. Please note that under the current hygiene guidelines, sharing of food is not permitted for any reason within the school grounds. 

Mental Health and Wellbeing:

As a school, we recognise that this return to school process may be particularly stressful for students, staff and families. We ask for support from families to help us identify challenges that your children may be facing, including changes in behaviour or engagement with learning. Above all, it is important for all members of our community to be kind to each other and provide support through this difficult time. Please reach out to the school if there is anything we can do to support you and your family through this transition.

Farewell

I would also like to take a moment to announce that I have accepted an Acting Assistant Principal position at Springside Primary School and that today is my final day at Ardeer South Primary School.

I have absolutely loved working at Ardeer South over the past two years and I will treasure all the memories created with our students, staff and families. Thank you to each of you for welcoming me into your community and for the opportunity to work with you to help your little people be the best that they can be.

I leave the school proud of the work that has taken place during what has been a transition period over the last two years. The school has a wonderful staff, beautiful students and is backed by a community who wants the children to succeed. I am sure there are great things still to come for all students at Ardeer South!

I know everyone on our staff is excited for the gradual return of our students in the coming weeks and it is a shame that I will not have a chance to reconnect with you all in person. Please take care of each other through this crazy time and reach out to the school if there is anything you need to support you and your family through this transition.

Best of luck for the future.

Brock Wilson

 

 

 

 

 

 



Prep Cohort

Welcome to Ms Emily Chambers who this term will be replacing Mrs Awada in Prep B. Ms Chambers has already had an opportunity to meet many of the students each morning via their remote learning sessions.

A very, very big thank you to all the Prep families for their continued support throughout this extended remote learning period. There were many days when technology failed, students were tired and motivation appeared low. However, we have all pushed through as a team and have made it to the end.

The Prep teachers are looking extremely forward to seeing our beautiful and smiling Preps back onsite on Monday. This term will focus largely on continuing to build upon the skills in Literacy and Numeracy as well as a big focus on the wellbeing of our students.

ALL Prep students are required back onsite on Monday!

 



1/2 Cohort

We had a fantastic start of the term in the Grade 1/2 space. We all shared the highlights of our school holidays and wrote some beautiful letters to our friends. We also spent the week practising gratitude and checking in on our emotions, something that we will continue to do throughout the term.  We are all feeling very thankful for the return to school on Thursday in week 3.

In Mathematics we worked on transformations, students did a fantastic job taking photos of various transformations. We also commenced our unit on time. We are excited to learn about where we see time in our day to day lives and how to represent time on a clock. We have also enjoyed taking part in show and tell, quiz's, a virtual beach trip and drawing in our morning circle.

We are so proud of the seamless transition back to school and are looking forward to an exciting Term 4 full of learning and celebrating being back in the classroom together. We look forward to sharing the amazing things we have coming up this term.

  



3/4 Cohort

The 3/4 students have been creating a photo essay of their experience in lockdown. They have taken photos that relate to their experience of lockdown. In small groups, the students have been using Padlet to post their photos and write about why this photo is important and how it makes them feel. We have also been focusing on developing our punctuation skills and each student has an individual goal that they are working on. During these small groups, the teachers have been working with each student on their goal. The 3/4 teachers have been so proud of the work that the students have put into their photo essays and working towards their punctuation goals.





 





5/6 Cohort

Welcome back everybody!

The grade 5/6 cohort has transitioned smoothly back into remote learning.

We have already had a virtual poetry excursion, exciting activities and a WHOLE cohort Morning Circle! It’s been lovely to see all of their smiling faces in the mornings as well as great discussions generated in our small group sessions. Let’s see what the 5/6’s have been up to in the last two weeks..

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Poetry

This term for writing we have started working on poetry. During our small-group sessions, we have been looking at different poetic devices that help us write free-verse poetry. We have discovered that the 5/6 cohort has some AMAZING poets, and we have selected a few to showcase down below…

Book Club

We are excited to announce that ASPS has ordered brand new books! These books will be used as part of our 5/6 Book Club where students will participate in reading groups and discuss what they are reading. They will each be given a roll in their Book Club groups and have been practising these rolls as part of their reading activities this week. These exciting new roles are Summariser, Word Wizard, Discussion Director, Artful Artist. We’re looking forward to starting Book Club when we return!

Division

We have begun looking at different learning strategies for solving division problems this term. The 5/6’s have been working through keynotes on division of whole numbers, repeated addition and division of decimals. We even had a whole-class WebEx where we worked on remainders together!

Vanessa 5/6C


Saige 5/6A


Beyonce 5/6A



Student of the Week

OCTOBER 8th & 15th 

Name

Class

Achievement

Tait

Prep A

For displaying independence in logging onto WebEx and Showbie each day. Keep up the great work Tait!

​​Isabella

Prep B

For your wonderful recount of the story Belinda and using capital letters in your writing. You created a beautifully coloured display to show that you can count the numbers 1 to 20 and extended your learning by writing the numbers as well. Excellent work Isabella!!

Nhu

1/2A

For demonstrating the school value of responsibility. Nhu has made a fantastic start to Term 4 engaging in all Remote Learning commitments. During the week, Nhu did  a wonderful job capturing pictures of herself demonstrating her understanding of facial expressions when identifying emotions.

Dahir

1/2B

For consistently logging in each day, completing tasks independently and hopping online when he needs assistance with certain tasks or has questions. 

Joseph

1/2C

For showing the school value of effort. Joseph has been working so hard with his reading and Miss Caudwell and I are so proud of the amazing work he has been doing. He is hardworking and has such a positive attitude. We are so proud of you Joseph!

Isa

3/4A

For your self-assessment using the ‘Bump It Up Wall’ to improve your writing and set a new goal. Well done!!

Nikola

3/4B

For completing all of his learning tasks this week. Way to start the term off strong! Keep up the awesome work!

Bekim

3/4C

For his phenomenal description of photographs that he took, depicting what ‘lockdown’ was like for him.

Saige

5/6A

For her thoughtful and reflective poetry writing. Keep up the good work!

Poasi

5/6B

For making a big effort to remember to read with Mrs ST each day. Top stuff.

Kha

5/6C

For writing fantastic free-verse poetry using multiple poetic devices that we have worked on this week. Well done!

Kathy  5/6B

Tutoring

For her commitment to the process of writing a Free Verse Poem about Lockdown. Well Done, Kathy.

Samah

Prep A

For her outstanding contribution during remote learning and her effort in uploading her work to Showbie on a regular basis. Well done Samah.

Madison

Prep B

For showing the school values of effort and responsibility in all aspects of her learning. She always puts 100% effort into her work and takes responsibility for her learning. Madison ensures she attends the morning meetings and uploads her work. Fantastic work Madison!

Malachi

1/2A

For demonstrating the school value of responsibility. Malachi has made steady improvements attending and submitting daily learning tasks. He attended his reading conference with minimal reminders and applied his personal best when asked to respond to questions about the book.

Aadi

1/2B

Aadi, you are one little super star. Aadi joins each and every WebEx with myself and Ms Rossini. Aadi proudly shows me his spelling and writing each day. Aadi and I wrote a fun recipe yesterday about how to make a healthy salad. Aadi helped me to remember a heading, ingredients and steps! What a champion Aadi.

Sahar

1/2C

For her amazing reading during her conference and hard work this week. She is always respectful and motivated towards her learning. Sahar created a fabulous plan for a narrative and I am so proud of her efforts this week. Keep up the great work!

Maine

3/4A

For your great reasoning showing understanding of chance activities. Thank you for your hard work in WebEx meetings.

Jemimah

3/4B

For always being willing to support her peers in any way she can. Thanks for all the great work that you do, Mimah!

Vlera

3/4C

For regularly uploading her work onto Showbie and being willing to take risks and share her work with the class. Well done!

Johnny

5/6A

For creating interesting and thought-provoking questions about his reading.

Mary

5/6B

For producing an outstanding standard of work in all subjects, well done on your commitment to learning Mary.

Bisrat

5/6C

For writing some wonderful poetry this week and using the poetic devices that we have been working on.

Johnny 3/4C

Tutoring

For his commitment to attending Tutoring sessions during Remote Learning, and his commitment to his Photo Essay images, for his Writing Task.

Angelica 3/4A

PE

For her hard work in PE during remote learning...great job!