Ascot Vale Primary School
Ascot Vale Primary School
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ASCOT NEWS

14th March 2019, Term 1, Issue 3

 We value: ​Multi-age​​ learning, ​High Expectations​​ for all, ​Diversity​​, Creativity​​ & developing positive ​Relationships

KEY DATES

Term 1, 2019
Fri 15th March -  Yr 5 / 6 Inter-school Sport, 9:00am-11:00am
Mon 18th March - Assembly - Unit 1- Hall - 3:00pm
Wed 20th March -  Year 6-7 Transition - State Schools Expo @ Moonee Ponds West PS, 4:00-7:00pm
Tue 19th March - Year 5 / 6 Zoo Excursion & PSW Uniform Shop Open in hall 8:30-9:30am
Fri 22nd March -  Yr 5 / 6 Inter-school Sport, 9:00am-11:00am
Mon 25th March - School Council Meeting, 6:00pm - Staff Room
Fri 29th March -  Yr 5 / 6 Inter-school Sport, 9:00am-11:00am
Fri 29th March - Working Bee #1, 2:30-4:30, Please sign in at the table near oval
Mon 1st April - MVIMP Stocktaking day - students please bring instruments
Mon 1st April - Assembly - Unit 2- Hall - 3:00pm
​Fri 5th April - Cultural Diversity Day Celebration @ AVPS - wear traditional dress or 'orange'
Fri 5th April - Last Day term 1 - Children dismissed early at 2:30pm

Term Dates 2019
T1 31 Jan - 5 Apr
T2 23 Apr - 28 Jun
T3 15 Jul - 20 Sep
T4 7 Oct -20 Dec 
Remaining Pupil Free Days 2019 
Please arrange alternative care arrangements for your child / children on the following days.
TERM 2 - Friday 26th April
TERM 4 - Monday 4th November
Remaining Public Holidays 2019 
The school will be closed on the following days.
​TERM 2
​Monday 22nd April - Easter Monday

Thursday 25th April - Anzac Day
Monday 10th June - Queen's Birthday
TERM 4
​Tuesday 5th November - Melbourne Cup Day
Fresh Fruit Friday (FFF)
Parents / guardians, please save the following FFF dates and join fellow parents from your child / children’s units on Friday mornings from 9:00am to help prepare fresh fruit, which is delivered to classrooms to provide children across the school with a healthy morning snack each Friday.
We greatly appreciate this assistance - Thank you. 
​
TERM 1 - 2019​
​22nd March - Unit 5
29th March - Unit 6
​5th April - Unit 1

2019 Working Bees
2019 Dates are:
Term 1 – Friday AFTERNOON – 29th March - 2:30-4:30pm
Term 2 – Sunday MORNING – 5th May - 10:00-12:00
Term 3 – Sunday MORNING – 28th July - 10:00-12:00
Term 4 – No Working Bee Due to School Fete
Please click on the links above if you can join us at one (or more) of our working bee - Thanks, this will help us plan tasks accordingly.
​All participants will be required to register on the day – please report to the registration table from the start time. 

2019 School Tours
We encourage prospective families to attend one of our school tours to witness Ascot Vale PS in operation. These tours are scheduled to take place in term 2 2019 and are tailored mainly for families seeking to enrol their child/children in year prep / foundation for the 2020 school year. However, parents of older students wishing to transfer to AVPS in 2019 or 2020 are also welcome to attend.

Please click on a link below to book into a school tour.
AVPS 2019 School Tour 1     Tuesday 30th April 2019 - 9:30-10:30 am
AVPS 2019 School Tour 2    Friday 10th May 2019 - 12:00 - 1:00 pm
AVPS 2019 School Tour 3    Monday 20th May 2019 - 9:30-10:30 am
AVPS 2019 School Tour 4    Friday 7th June 2019 - 12:00-1:00 pm
AVPS 2019 School Tour 5    Thursday 20th June 2019- 9:30-10:30 am

Year Prep/Foundation 2020 Information Session
Please click on the link below to book into a this information session.
AVPS Yr Prep/Foundation 2020 Information Session - Wednesday 5th June 6:30-7:30pm - in Unit 2

ON TIME AT 9
Being late to school impacts the child, the teacher and the class, not to mention sets bad habits that in some cases can be hard to break. If punctuality patterns for individual students occur, we will seek individual meetings with families, and together developing attendance improvements plans. Please ensure your child is at school on time.
DET Every Day Counts -        http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/participation/everydaycountsprimparent.pdf

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FROM THE PRINCIPAL TEAM

CULTURAL DIVERSITY WEEK
AVPS will be celebrating Cultural Diversity Week in the final week of Term One. This is an opportunity for the school to celebrate the depth and breadth of cultural backgrounds represented at the school. Our AVPS theme for the week  will be ‘We are one but we are many'’. The children will take part in art based activities on the morning of Friday 5th April. On this day they are encouraged to come in traditional dress or to dress in the colour orange, symbolising cultural diversity.
Do you have a story of cultural celebration to share? If so, please see your child’s teacher if you are willing and available to share your own story with your child's class to help celebrate Cultural Diversity Week at AVPS.
For more information about Cultural Diversity Week in Victoria, please visit the Victorian Multicultural Commission website (click link).  

AVPS COMMUNICATIONS
COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
AVPS Staff recently identified that the school has at least (but possibly more than) 35 different methods for communicating  messages to and from our school community. This was identified in the context of a recent staff forum to begin drafting our 'Communications'  
policy.  This policy will aim to streamline our communications processes, outlining the ways in which information will be communicated by the school to the community; and suggesting the most suitable avenues for parents/guardians to communicate with the school. Please bear with us whilst we work out the finer details of our policy and procedures, as well as learn new methods of communications such as Compass, Class Dojo and the new Website. In the meantime, please note the following: 

PARENT DETAILS
Paramount to successful communications is 'up to date' parent details. Thank you to the many community members who have updated their details recently. Please contact the school if your email or mobile phone number ever changes, as the school relies on these two details being correct in order for successful communications to occur. 

COMPASS
We are transitioning towards 'Compass' being our preferred method of communication to our parent community. In the meantime, we will use a combination of compass alerts and school generated emails or text messages to get messages across to the community. 
All parents / guardians should have received Compass login information by now. Please contact the school office if you have not received your welcome letter.  Please find below some helpful tips to access the local permissions form and community calendar on Compass - under the heading 'COMPASS HINTS AND TIPS'. 

CLASS DOJO
Class Dojo  is being introduced across all classrooms and units to help achieve a more consistent approach to communications across the whole school. AVPS will provide professional learning to teachers (who are unfamiliar with Class Dojo) across the first two terms of 2019 and we expect this program to be functioning fully across the school by the end of term 2.
​
TWITTER
From tomorrow the AVPS Twitter feed/account will no longer be in use. ​

WEBSITE
AVPS admin staff are continuing to 'chip away' at updating our website. Pages recently updated include: Enrolment, Newsletter, Policies and Standards and School Performance Reports and Plans.

PARENT REP
​We are working out the most effective system of providing ‘parent rep’ updates. For newcomers to our school, these are regular updates specific to each unit sent to parents to help keep them informed, involved and connected to the school. We hope to have more regular updates up and running in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the school will provide updates via the compass app and school generated email. 

COMPASS HINTS AND TIPS
Please watch this space for helpful tools and tricks in using Compass effectively.

​What can you do in the next fortnight/ set up now in Compass? Try these two things....

1. Sign your child's Local Excursion permission form. We have moved our first permission form to Compass.
                   

To access: On the home page, under the My News feed (top right), click on the link under COURSE CONFIRMATION/SCHOOL PAYMENTS line in your feed - this should be at the top at the moment. From here, follow the prompts and complete the online permission form. What is local  permission?  From time to time during the year, units and/or groups of students will walk to local venues for excursions or as part of the sport/PE program.  Parents will still receive a note that will inform them of the excursion and any costs involved but where the children walk to the excursion, permission will have already been sought.  Local excursions are for walking only in the local or surrounding suburbs of Ascot Vale - they will never  include using any type of transport. This permission is for the entire 2019 school year. 
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2. Access our School Calendar, or COMMUNITY CALENDAR. Choose the CALENDAR icon (icon next to the HOUSE/HOME) to access the WEEKLY CALENDAR. Here, you will be able to see a few things. In the example below, the red arrows highlight what's in the Community Calendar and when. In the example below you can see the next scheduled assembly and when the uniform shop is next opened. The purple arrow highlights an event, in this case, a year 5/6 excursion to the zoo. You will only see an event (activity or excursion) if your child is part of it. The other fields in this example are the morning and afternoon attendance rosters for each child in this particular family. There are 2 students in this family. 

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​Please access the Compass guide for parents and families in the file below. 
parentbrochure.pdf
File Size: 2457 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

STUDENT SAFETY - BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL
There have been a large number of students arriving early to school without parent or carer supervision. It is the parent’s responsibility to care for students:
  1. travelling to and from school and
  2. outside the times of supervision before and after school
Supervision IS provided from 8.45am before school at to 3.45pm after school. Students must not be left attended outside of these times. 
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/spag/safety/Pages/supervision.aspx#link37

BIKES, SCOOTERS AND COMMUNITY SAFETY
Students and parents/ caregivers are reminded that bicycles and scooters are NOT allowed to be ridden on school property between 8.45-3.45pm. Bikes can be ridden after the 3.45pm bell as long as appropriate protection is used and that parents/ carers are supervising. We encourage students to ride to school however health and safety rules must protect pedestrians and our community members inside these times.  Students have recently been reminded by their teachers. We ask for your help with this matter. 

​SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTIONS

Thank you to those community members who nominated and/or voted in the 2019 AVPS School Council election to help choose our parent candidates.  Voting closed at 4:00pm Thursday 14th March 2019 and the results will be published early next week via email and compass. More information about School Council and the election process can be found at the following link: http://avps.vic.edu.au/parents--community.html under the heading 'School Council'.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL (SRC)
Students in Years 2-6 are currently holding unit elections for SRC reps in each unit. It is anticipated that successful candidates will be announced in the 28/3 edition of the newsletter and presented to the community at the following assembly on 1/4/2019. 

2020 YEAR PREP / FOUNDATION ENROLMENT PROCESS
AVPS is accepting 2020 Year Prep /Foundation enrolments if Ascot Vale PS is the closest Victorian Government Primary School to your family's residential address. Please note, your child must turn 5 years of age by the end of April in the year they begin school.
School Tours:
We encourage prospective families to attend one of our school tours to witness Ascot Vale PS in operation. These tours are scheduled to take place in term 2 2019 and are tailored mainly for families seeking to enrol their child/children in year prep / foundation for the 2020 school year. However, parents of older students wishing to transfer to AVPS in 2019 or 2020 are also welcome to attend. Please click on a link under 'Key Dates - School Tours' above to book into a school tour.

YEAR PREP / FOUNDATION PARENT INFORMATION SESSION - 5TH JUNE 2019
Please click on the link / heading above to book a place at this information session, which is designed for new families enrolling children in year prep/foundation 2020 . However, families of older students wishing to transfer to AVPS in 2019 or 2020 are also welcome to attend. This information session will be held on Wednesday 5th June 2019 6:30-7:30pm in Unit 2. Please enter the school via the main building in Bank Street.

Enrolment Form Due date
Enrolment forms are available only from the AVPS office (NB not available on line ). These forms and other information will be distributed at the school tours and information session to eligible families.  We request that parents/guardians please return enrolment forms and accompanying documents (if their child is due to begin in the 2020 school year) by Friday 28th June 2019 (last day term 2). This will help the school plan for staffing budgets and class structures for the following year.

YEAR 6-7 TRANSITION 
Families of Year 4, 5 & 6 students are encouraged to attend the Moonee Valley Schools Network Secondary School Expo to be held next Wednesday 20th March 2019, 4:00pm - 7:00pm at Moonee Ponds West PS, 150 Athol Street Moonee Ponds - in the gym.  See flyer below:
yr_6-7_transition_-_state_school_expo_2019_.pdf
File Size: 465 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

ALLERGIES & a reminder about CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS  
 We have a number of students with allergies at Ascot Vale PS who require specific management. Some of these students also suffer from Anaphylaxis, which is a severe allergic reaction to a range of allergens. These reactions can be life threatening for some students.
We therefore ask that all parents and caregivers DO NOT distribute food at any time without the direct permission of the regular classroom teacher.
​Our ‘Celebrating Birthdays at AVPS’ guidelines provide more details about this important school rule and is available online at:
http://avps.vic.edu.au/uploads/9/5/6/5/95656824/celebratingbirthdaysguidelines2017.pdf

TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OF STUDENTS
AVPS requests that parents, guardians, carers or visitors to our school who may be taking photos or videos (eg assembly, special events) please be mindful of their use of media, particularly when this may contain images of other students, either directly or in the background. Please be aware that there are a number of students who do not have permission for their image to be published online. Please also note, permission to publish is for the school only. We therefore request that parents, guardians, carers or visitors taking photos or videos be conscious that they do not have permission to publish images and ask that  images of other students are NOT posted online, including social media sites.
WORKING BEES
Please join us on Friday 29th March 2019 from 2:30 - 4:30pm for two short hours to help with the following tasks:
- Sweeping, weeding, pruning, tidying
- Cleaning of drains / stormwater pits
- Preparing decks for staining

It would be helpful if you could bring along gardening gloves, sun glasses, sun hat, wheelbarrows, shovels, yard brooms, rakes.
NB, the school does have limited supplies of these items - not enough for everyone though.
PLEASE SIGN IN UPON ARRIVAL AT THE REGISTRATION TABLE

​Kind regards
Sue Osborne  & Michael Downing, AVPS Principal Team
​​AVPS FURNITURE FUNDRAISER 
As a result of our capital works upgrade, AVPS has a large amount of excess furniture or miscellaneous items that need to be 're-housed , re-used or re-cycled'. We are very keen for these items NOT to end up as land fill, so please make us an offer or donation for any of the items appearing in the gallery below (click arrows to scroll). Items will be sold on a first come first served basis, most are available for immediate collection. Some items, such as the staff room and waiting room furniture will not be available until new furniture is delivered, in which case we will reserve the item/s for you.
Please see Kylie or Christina in the office to purchase or reserve an item, or call them on 03 9370 6507 to 'make us an offer'.
Please also contact us if you know of a charitable organisation that may benefit from unsold / excess items. Thank you.
 MVIMP 2019
The MVIMP program is well underway and it seems all is smooth sailing.
There have been some slight adjustments to our timetable, please note below.  Please remind your child that they must be prepared for their lesson, i.e. have their instrument and music with them on the day.  

We now have a MVIMP notice board on the outside window of U5. We will endeavour to keep timetables up to date and add relevant information to this space. In the coming weeks we will be updating all of our contact details and we plan to keep you informed about make up lessons. Please be patient, nailing down musicians can be tricky work!

Please be aware that we will be conducting a MVIMP instrument stock take on Monday 1st April 2019. Students are reminded to please bring instruments to school on this day even they are not scheduled for a lesson. Thanks for helping us keep track of our MVIMP assets. 

Please don’t hesitate to come and see us if you have any questions.
 
Thanks,
Jason and Amanda
 
Monday: Woodwind: Katherine Anderson Brass: Caitlin Taylor Percussion: Anthony Baker 
Tuesday: Cello Janet Butler
Wednesday: Violin and Viola: Les Gyori                
Friday: Woodwind: Katherine Anderson Bass: Simon Fisenden     
 
NEWS FROM THE SPORTING FIELD
Huge congratulations to every student who competed at the District Swimming Carnival on Friday the 1st of March! You all swam amazingly and I am very proud of all of you. A big thank you to all of the parents that came and cheered for all of our swimmers, your presences and support makes the day so much more enjoyable.
 
We have fifteen students moving on to the next level and swimming at the Divisional Swimming Competition on Tuesday the 19th of March, good luck to everyone that is going! All information for the event is on the window in front of Unit 4. Students who were chosen for this event please meet me by the shed at 2:00pm tomorrow (Friday 15/03) to receive a District T-shirt to wear on the day. Parents please be aware that you are responsible for getting your child to the event, thank you for understanding.
 
In PE for the past two weeks we have been lucky enough to have Anthony from Maribyrnong Tennis Club continue to come and develop student’s tennis skills. Students are loving having the ‘Trickiest Tennis Coach in the World’ training them and I am loving joining in and being able to help students and give those who need it more one on one coaching. Due to Anthony’s busy schedule only a few classes are able to receive his expert coaching, for those classes that are not participating in Tennis I have arranged a SEDA Netball clinic. The SEDA Clinic is a group of ten to fifteen students who are working towards their coaching credentials. Their teacher is present at all sessions helping when she can and so am I, this results in small group work were all students are able to get personalised training which will help further their Netball skills and personal fitness.
 
The aim for PE this year is to expose students to as many different sports and local clubs as possible to help them find that one sport that they are passionate about. If your child comes home talking about the sport they are doing in PE and want to continue it outside of school please come and find me and I can direct you to many local clubs.

Britt Stephenson - PE Teacher

​PARKING REMINDER –DROP OFF ZONES
Parents/visitors are reminded to please follow the  Moonee Valley City Council’s (MVCC) rules and regulations pertaining to parking and the drop off zone near our school. Some parents/visitors have been observed leaving their cars in the drop off zones, which impacts the efficiency of the drop off system and deems drivers at risk of being fined. MVCC parking officers regularly monitor these zones and issue fines for breaches of the rules. To ensure the zones work effectively, drivers should:
  • ask your child to head straight to the pick up zone once the bell rings –they will then be ready and waiting once you arrive
  • plan to arrive after the bell rings, not before, as you cannot wait in the zone
  • remain in your vehicle at all times
  • move forward to join the queue so that other cars can move into the zone
  • use the handbrake when the vehicle is stationary
  • not double park
  • not park across a pedestrian crossing or driveway
  • not undertake a U-turn in close proximity to the school
  • not use the staff car park as a drop off zone
What does the no parking sign (in the drop off zone) mean?
Drivers cannot park in the drop off zone during the times identified on the sign as this is only  to be used as a pick up or drop off zone during those times.
Vehicles are only allowed to stay in the drop off zone for two minutes. If you overstay this time limit, you may receive a parking infringement.
IN PARTICULAR - PLEASE NOTE – The Bank Street car park and lane way MUST NOT be used as a drop off zone or for completing U turns as this is a DANGEROUS  manoeuvre around small children.
We strongly encourage parents and carers to please follow the requests above in order to keep everyone safe, particularly our children.
We encourage parents / carers to park away from school and walk a short distance to avoid traffic congestion. ​

Please find more ' Safety Around Schools' information from MVCC below:
safety_around_schools_a4_flyer.pdf
File Size: 2502 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

UNIFORMS
PSW UNIFORM SHOP
Our school uniform is supplied by PSW Quality Apparel. This is available for new purchases in the following ways:
  1. Online​​. To order online, use the PSW website, ​www.psw.com.au and follow the prompts.
  2. Our AVPS Uniform Shop​​, which opens in the hall/canteen area at the following times:
    1. First Tuesday of the month from 3:00-4:00pm.
    2. Third Tuesday of the Month at 8.30-9.30am
      (See Key Dates section above and the Compass community calendar)

SECOND HAND UNIFORM STORE
Location​​: Learning Studio - upstairs
Prices​​: All items are $2.00 each
Times​​: - most afternoons by prior arrangement. Please text Nicole on: 0417 522 761
All Donations welcome. Please deliver to school office.
Thank you to Nicole Harvey (mother of Olivia & Elizabeth) who is the volunteer co-ordinator of our second hand uniform store.

Please note - there is currently a lot of winter stock available, please contact Nicole to prepare for the colder months ahead. 

OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS CARE (OSHC)

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OSHC phone:​​ 0423 795 247
Coordinator:​​ Dee Seneviratne

​How to get started ​​before using our programs you must register online for an account. Registering is quick and easy. Visit our website to begin www.campaustralia.com.au​​

Once registered you can make bookings and cancellations, view your statements and manage your details anytime of the day online. Keep in mind we are able to take bookings at short notice to help busy families. ​

Save on Care. ​You can save 50% or more on Before and After School Care fees with the ​non-means tested Child Care Rebate. Almost all families are eligible. To find out more, call our Customer Service Team on 1300 105 343 Monday to Friday

Please access files below to view the OSHC fortnightly report and/or the Camp Australia Holiday Program.
​
Dee and the OSHC team
camp_australia_-_newsletter_14th_march_2019.pdf
File Size: 461 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

camp_australia_-_holiday_program.pdf
File Size: 408 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

COMMUNITY NOTICES
Click arrows to scroll:

OPTIONAL PROGRAMS / EXTRA CURRICULAR

The following programs incur an additional fee:

MVIMP (Moonee Vale Instrumental Music Program)

This program has been operating for 30+ years and is managed in conjunction with: Ascot Vale West PS, Moonee Ponds PS, Moonee Ponds West PS.
TEACHER
DAYS
​YEAR LEVEL / ARRANGEMENTS
​Anthony Baker – Percussion
Monday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
Katherine Anderson – Woodwind (flute)
​Monday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
Simon Fisenden – Bass
Friday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
Katherine Anderson – Woodwind (saxophone & clarinet)
Friday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
Les Gyori –Violin and Viola
Wednesday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
Caitlin Taylor – Brass
Monday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
Lex Tier – Band
Thursday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
Janet Butler – Cello
Tuesday
​Year 3-6 fee paying students only
MVIMP co-ordinators Amanda McClure & Jason Simpson [email protected]

​Guitar

TEACHER
DAYS
YEAR LEVEL / ARRANGEMENTS
​Luke Collins
TBC
​Luke Collins : 0422 329 946 [email protected]

Piano

Currently full – accepting names for waiting list
TEACHER
DAYS
YEAR LEVEL / ARRANGEMENTS
Belinda Sun
​
​Ashley Dyer

Jessica Chan
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9:00-11:00am

​Tuesday 9:00 - 3:30pm

​Friday 9:00- 3:30pm
Joshua Cowie: 0413 884 067 [email protected]​

Dance Theatre

TEACHER
DAYS
YEAR LEVEL / ARRANGEMENTS
Raelene Brady
Tue: 5-8pm. Thu: 5-8pm, Sat: 9am-12pm
Raelene or Bruno:​ 0423 089 981 or 0421 859 540 [email protected]​

Soccer Time Kids

TEACHER
DAYS
YEAR LEVEL / ARRANGEMENTS
Soccer for 1-5 year olds
Sun 8.30am-12pm
 Preschool aged children Phone: 1300 476 223 www.soccertimekids.com.au

Kelly Sports

TEACHER
DAYS
YEAR LEVEL / ARRANGEMENTS
TBC
Wed 3:40-4:40
ENROL ONLINE:
www.kellysports.com.au/events
PHONE: 0403 149 391 EMAIL: [email protected]
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Location

Information


Why AVPS?
Principal's Welcome
Student Support
​Parents & Community
Learning
Enrol
Beyond Class
​Instrumental Program
Newsletter
Student Notices
School Dates
Policies & Standards
Reports & Plans
​

Contact Us

Bank Street, Ascot Vale VIC 3032

​email: [email protected]
phone: (03) 9370 6507
fax: (03) 9370 5150
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