​ASCOT NEWS
2nd September 2022, Term 3 Issue 2

Ascot Vale Primary School
‘Unique Learning Community’
Where we value:
RESPECT      RESPONSIBILITY      EXCELLENCE      EMPATHY      GRATITUDE
"Hands up, hands down. We are on Wurundjeri land."

BOOK WEEK FUN 
​see SRC News for details and more pics

Please click on the headings below to discover more. 
REMINDER: You can change the language at the top left hand corner of the webpage
FROM THE PRINCIPAL TEAM 
Dear Parents, Carers and Students,

Welcome to Issue 2 of Term Three’s Ascot News. Our editing team experienced some technical glitches last week. Hence the twice termly newsletter, that usually coincides with our School Council meeting week, is coming to you a week later this time. 
We hope you enjoy this edition, highlighted by 
  • Lovely images of our Book Week celebrations 
  • News of outstanding 2022 AVPS NAPLAN Results 
  • Camp Reminders & Updates
  • ​Term 4 events information

I would like to thank Ben and Jamie for stepping up to lead AVPS in Michael’s absence in Term 3 2022. They have both done an outstanding job of ‘assisting’ the principal to run the school. They have learnt there’s a lot that happens behind the scenes to ensure the smooth sailing of AVPS. Thank you and congratulations on a job well done to Jamie and Ben. 
We look forward to welcoming Michael Downing back from Long Service Leave at the beginning of term 4. 
Kind regards 
Sue
(Ben & Jamie)​
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Jamie Saggers, Acting Assistant Principal - Term 3
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Sue Osborne, Principal
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Ben Kline, Acting Assistant Principal - Term 3
KEY DATES & EVENTS 
Access our AVPS Key Dates & Events page AT THIS LINK.
​​THE RESILIENCE PROJECT (TRP) parent and carers hub
TRP UPDATE
Parent/Carer Support (click this link) 
Families can learn about Mindfulness as well as gain some insight into devices, online safety and the use of family tech agreements from the eSafety Commissioner.
 
 Tickets are on-sale for our Kids Show Tour with Martin Heppell  (click this link) 
We’re rapt to continue supporting student mental health with our first ever high-energy kids show tour around Victoria - ‘3 Happy Tricks’ with Martin Heppell. Tour tickets are available now, and you can catch us in the Term 3 school holidays in Frankston, Moonee Ponds, Narre Warren, Shepparton & Wodonga.

The Education Team
The Resilience Project


This following information is a repeat of TRP family parent/carer resources sent via Compass Alerts throughout term 2. 
​If you havent had a chance to visit the links, we highly reccommed you take a moment to do so. This program has benefits for the adults of the school community,  as well as children. 
Parents / carers may wish to change the language at the top left corner of the web page.

The Resilience Project - Parent & Carer Hub - Part 1
Throughout 2022, we will be working closely with The Resilience Project to support the wellbeing of our school community. 
​
The Resilience Project delivers emotionally engaging programs and provides evidence-based, practical strategies to build resilience.

Our Partnership Program consists of online presentations and weekly lessons for students, professional development for staff, and Parent & Carer Hub (inc. digital presentations) for our parent and carer community. 

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the Parent & Carer Hub with you. The videos are 5-10 minutes long and will walk through the key pillars of resilience: Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness. You’ll hear stories and be introduced to activities to show how these strategies can support our kids' learning and development, and also support you as parents and carers. 

This program is an important part of our school’s effort to look after the mental health of our community.

View the first presentation of the series here: Part 1: Meet Hugh and learn about The Resilience Project - https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/

In this presentation, Hugh shares a personal experience about his sister's battles with Mental Illness.
Note: This video contains a story about an Eating Disorder that may be triggering. Please consider this before watching. For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page. 
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Parent & Carer Hub | Part 2: Gratitude​
This week’s presentation from The Resilience Project focuses on Gratitude. 
Gratitude is paying attention to the things that we have right now, and not worrying about what we don’t have. We practise this by noticing the positives that exist around us.

Research shows that practicing gratitude rewires our brains to overcome the negativity bias (which can lead to anxiety and depression) and see the world for what we are thankful for. It is also shown to broaden thinking, and increase physical health through improved sleep and attitude to exercise.

View Part 2 of the series here - Gratitude https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/
There are many ways in which you can practise gratitude, including starting a Wellbeing Journal.

Source: Psychology Today

For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page

Hugh's Parent & Carer Hub | Part 3: Empathy & Kindness​
Empathy is our ability to put ourselves in the shoes of others to feel and see what they do. We practise this through being kind and compassionate towards other people.

Brain imaging data shows that being kind to others registers in the brain as more like eating chocolate than like fulfilling an obligation to do what’s right (e.g., eating brussel sprouts)!
Research shows that practising empathy, such as performing acts of kindness, taps into our brain’s ‘mirror neurons’, builds compassion and our behaviour becomes more social and community-based. 

View Part 3 of the series here - Empathy https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/
Here’s an activity to practise empathy and kindness:
  1. Reflect on someone in your life who could benefit from an act of kindness today. It could be a friend who would love some affirmation about their work, your pet who deserves an extra treat, or a family member who would love a phone call or text message. 
  2. Make a plan for who you are going to show an act of kindness to, and what you are going to do. 
  3. If you want to add accountability to your plan, share it with someone else and encourage them to do the same thing.
  4. Follow up with each other in a few days time, to ask how it went! 
Sources: Psychology Today, UC Berkeley, Greater Good Science
For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page.
​
Hugh's Parent & Carer Hub | Part 4: Mindfulness​
View Part 4 of the series here - Mindulness https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/
Mindfulness can be practised through meditation, yoga, flow-states and daily activities such as cooking. 
Source: UC Berkeley, Greater Good Science, American Psychological Association
For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page.

Hugh's Parent & Carer Hub | Part 5: Final
In the final part of The Resilience Project's digital series, Hugh shares an important message about allowing our children to experience adversity. 
The key to building resilience in our children is allowing them to experience failure, hardship, disappointment etc. As parents, we can be too quick to resolve our children's challenges which can deprive our children of enormous growth opportunities. These typically happen when we experience failure and uncertainty. As parents we should be there for our children when they fail, but not fight their battles for them.  
View Part 5 of the series here - Summary https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/

​Thank you for participating in this Parent and Carer Digital Presentation series. You can re-watch the videos and access activities and resources anytime via the Parent & Carer Hub. 

You can also stay up to date with The Resilience Project news and events by signing up to their Newsletter.

The Education Team
The Resilience Project
(03) 9113 9302 (option 1) [email protected]
PHENOMENAL AVPS NAPLAN RESULTS 2022
Congratulations to our year 3 and 5 students who achieved outstanding NAPLAN results in 2022. The overall school achievement levels in each of the major domains were so impressive that the school received a phone call from the regional office to congratulate us. How special is that?!

Individual reports will be sent home today with your children in an envelope. The instructions on the form will help you read the results. Happy Reading!

Here are the overall results for our school that prompted the happy phone call to the school on Thursday. Well done to the students and their parents, carers and teachers who have supported their learning in recent years. 

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BOOK WEEK 
Thank you to Lucy, Bridie and the Student Representative Council team who organised and hosted our Book Week event last week. This included a dress up day, special assembly and an even bigger emphasis on books and reading across the school for the week, with a special focus on the Children's Book Council  shortlisted books.

Please enjoy our 2022 Book Week photos just below and at the very end of our newsletter. ​
​CAMP NEWS 
Please find in the file below, our recently approved and uploaded AVPS Camps and Excursions Policy 

5 / 6 CANBERRA CAMP 
The Year 5/6 Canberra Camp is fast approaching; it is taking place between 10th-14th October, or week 2 of term 4 2022.

To help us all prepare, an online parent / carer information session will be held on Tuesday 13th September at 6:30pm. A link to this info session will be sent separately to all year 5 / 6 parents and we look forward to seeing you on screen then. 


YEAR 3/4 CAMP
The Year 3 / 4 Campaspe Downs Camp will be taking place between 14th-16th November, or Week 7 of Term 4. More information to follow in term 4. 
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camps-and-excursions-policy-aug-2022.pdf
File Size: 218 kb
File Type: pdf
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TERM 4 EVENTS 
Beyond the Classroom Event

​SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday 26th October 2022 between 4:00pm - 7:00pm

This will be a great opportunity for children to invite parents and carers into the classroom to showcase all the hard work they have been putting in to their learning throughout the 2022 school year. Students will share objects or outcomes of their learning that they are proud of. Rather than our usual Student Led Conference;  this will be an authentic opportunity for students to be proud of their own learning and share some of their goals that they have achieved.

Families will also have the opportunity to venture Beyond the Classroom to the Art Room and Japanese Room to celebrate the learning that has taken place outside of the classroom walls. 

​We look forward to welcoming community members to this event in week 4, term 4. 

Term 4 Trivia Night - for Parents and Carers
SAVE THE DATE: Friday 4th November 7:30pm in the School Hall. 
Please join host extraordinaire Richard Moody ( father of Honor Unit 2 & Grace Unit 4 and AVPS School Council Rep) and Sue Osborne for a planning meeting after school on Monday 12th September. This will be held in the Learning Studio / Library. 
Please register your interest in helping to organise this event at this online form (click link)
OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE (oshc)
oshc_newsletter_july.pdf
File Size: 796 kb
File Type: pdf
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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
SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS - members
2022 AVPS School Council Members:

PARENTS:
  • Annalise De Mel 
  • Meredith Ross 
  • Lela Drakulic 
  • Richard Moody
  • Scott Miller
  • Kate Mohay
  • Melinda Morpeth
  • Melanie Quin
STAFF:
  • Michael Downing 
  • Rozeena Sen 
  • Ben Kline 
  • Jason Simpson​
EXECUTIVE OFFICER 
Principal:  Sue Osborne ​
AUGUST MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
Our school council last met face to face on a dark and stormy winter’s night on Monday 22nd August. Although the thought of being out on such a night was not particularly pleasant, the memory of lockdowns a year earlier was worse still and the meeting ended up being most productive and enjoyable. This was thanks to the collective energy and input from our parent and staff volunteers.
Highlights of our August meeting included: 

  • A new tradition of checking in to identify personal highlights since the last meeting; a great way to strengthen connections and ease from a busy day to a productive night. 
  • A workshop on Child Safe Standards that identified AVPS successes and things we could improve upon in the categories of culturally safe environments, empowering young people, diversity and equity, and complaints processes. 
  • Robust conversation around boosting community connections and building the AVPS approach to fundraising. 
  • Allocation of a pupil free day for the term 4 Professional Practice Day - see key dates
  • Updates from Sub-committees:  Finance, Buildings and Grounds, Education & Policy and Outside School Hours Care (OSHC). 
  • At the conclusion of the meeting, we reflected on our meeting productivity by identifying the AVPS Norms of Behaviours or Protocols that resonated with us. This is a strategy that is implemented across AVPS staff meetings, which has helped to improve efficiency and effectiveness. See AVPS Norms & Protocols document.
POLICY SUB COMMITTEE
The AVPS Education and Policy Sub Committee of the School Council has been hard at work in recent months. Updates to our AVPS Policy/Procedure website in term three include: 
  • 23 new policies or standards have been uploaded 
  • 6 links to Department policies have been  included
  • 5 outdated policies have been removed

Newly uploaded policies or documents include these (click links to access): In addition, community consultation took place to help develop many of the policies above. 

The team are currently developing the following policies: 
  • Student Dress Code
  • Wellbeing Policy

Parents, carers, staff and students will be invited to provide input into these documents in the coming weeks.
BUILDINGS & GROUNDS SUB COMMITTEE
The buildings and grounds team have been overseeing a few projects recently. We have a newly installed shade sail in the courtyard next to Unit 6 which will provide more shade for students lining up and more importantly playing downball. We are further along in the process of upgrading our ‘Big Kids’ playground which is located at the end of the basketball court. We are hopeful to have this completed by year's end.

There is also a community working bee that will be taking place on school grounds on September 9th between 2-4pm.
All help is welcome.
OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE (OSHC) SUB COMMITTEE
The Ascot Vale PS School Council has established an OSHC  sub committee to oversee the contract renewal process in 2022 and 2023. This committee propose to:
  • evaluate the current OSHC provider, Camp Australia.
  • test the market to ascertain options available to the school under a third party managed model
  • follow the Department of Education and Training process to perform the evaluation and make recommendations to the school council
  • implement the new agreement effective January 1st 2024

The OSCH Sub Committee recently visited the ‘after school’ OSHC  program. Observations of the visit include: 
  • The positive impact that consistency in staff and service that Camp Australia has provided over a long period of time. 
  • Warmth and commitment of the on site staff, exemplified by a series of beautiful scrap books presented 
  • Deep pride in the school demonstrated by Camp Australia staff. 
  • Diverse activities offered. e.g. Guest speakers.
  • Deep connections between staff and children, inlcuiding a strong capacity for catering for students with diverse needs. 
  • Deep connections between staff and parents; a genuine fondness for each other was observed. 

The OSHC Sub Committee plans to seek feedback from our students and parent community about the OSHC program in term four. 

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ENVIRONMENT TEAM NEWS
Hi AVPS Community.
The Environmental Team have initiated a Friday Gardening Club which began last week. It is open for anyone who would like to do some gardening, help enhance our school grounds and learn a few things along the way too.

The seeds we planted grew into seedlings and are now growing happily in the unit 3 courtyard as well as outside unit 5. The gardeners will help water and weed garden beds and areas around the school, grow more seedlings to plant out and harvest our veggies (the silver beet is looking good). We would like to start to sell mint and parsley after school on Fridays which the team will package up.

We have a Working Bee coming up with the aim to prepare some areas for planting, weed around the school, disperse some compost and do a general clean up.

The Environmental Team will look at what we can plant and have asked all students to help in designing a garden bed which can include flowers to attract birds and bees as well as an edible garden and indigenous garden.

If anyone is looking for holiday activities, Federation Square is hosting Sustainable September. You can join in free workshops and learn about different ways to live more sustainably. An activity that looks great is called Flags to Bags on Tuesday 20 September, 10.30am-12.30pm in the Atrium. “Designed for primary-aged kids and early teens, this practical Waste to Wear workshop will teach kids how to repurpose old Fed Square banners and turn them into functional tote bags that they can take home.”

Tickets on sale for this event September 1st.
 
If you are interested in Sustainable September, here is the website
https://fedsquare.com/events/sustainable-september
 
Keep it green, The Environmental Team
HEALTH & PE NEWS
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BASKETBALL:
Last Friday 26th August, 18 Year 5/6 students competed in the Ascot Vale District Basketball Tournament at the Keilor Stadium.
 
Our girls team was represented by Victoria Baker, Enid Burke, Nuala Butters, Ruby Delaney, Emma Derriman, Nasma Hdad, Indigo Thompson, Lucy Walkom, Sophie Waters and Yvette Williams. After four very competitive games, they finished with 3 incredible wins and 1 loss.
 
Our boys team was represented by Dhrish Bahrunani, James Colbourn, Max Featherby, Saeed Hassan, Smith Jansz, David Lubansky, Noah Mullen and Xavier Vertigan. The boys came up against some very talented players and put their absolute best effort into each game, coming away with 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses.
 
A huge thank you to David Butters for taking time out of his weeks to train our players in the lead up to the event. Thank you Radha Butters for returning to AVPS and showing great leadership in her coaching and support throughout the day. Thanks to Paul Jansz for helping with all of the scoring, and a big thank you to our families who made it along to cheer both teams home.
 
ATHLETICS:
On Tuesday 6th September, 9 AVPS students will move on to the Divisional Athletics Championships to compete in their respective events. We wish the following students all the very best on the day and look forward to hearing about their experience:
  • Noah Steven – 1500m
  • Sophie Waters – 200m & 800m
  • Lucy Walkom – 800m & 1500m
  • Gizelle Leoni – Discus
  • David Lubanksy – Shot Put
  • Smith Jansz, Fletcher Grace, Brodie Walsh & Saeed Hassan – 4 x 100m Relay
 
SWIMMING:
Our Intensive Swimming Program is commencing on Monday 5th September. Please see Compass for details of the event, or the school story on Dojo for a slideshow to share with your children before Monday. It contains some reminders about the program, as well as some photos and other information that may ease some nerves.
If you have time, we encourage you to visit the pool over the weekend for a swim, or even just to look around.
 
WEEKLY PE SESSIONS:
P-2: We have been focusing on a range of basketball skills, including chest passing, overhead passing and bounce passing. We have been using ‘Piano fingers’ to help dribble the ball, pushing it down rather than slapping it. It has been fun to modify some of our favourite games, like Uncle Sam, and use these to help practise dribbling with the ball at different paces. We have been trying really hard to keep our head up and our eyes up when we can while dribbling.
 
3-6: We have been learning the skills involved in playing Ultimate Frisbee. Students have shown great focus in tracking the frisbee and using the crocodile technique to catch it. They have been using a strong flick of the wrist and ending their throw with their hand facing the target. In our matches, we have been working on leading into space when playing offense, and sticking to a player when in defence. 
SRC NEWS
Please enjoy these additional  book week photos.
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ASCOT VALE COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD
Please peruse the community notices in the files and slideshow below:
ascot_vale_yoga_flyer_2022.pdf
File Size: 2326 kb
File Type: pdf
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ascot_kindergarten_flyer_1_2022.pdf
File Size: 332 kb
File Type: pdf
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