15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

From the Principal

NEVR Concert

On Wednesday night I attended Hamer Hall at the Arts Centre in the city for the North East Region of Victoria (NEVR) Youth Concert. Along with a range of ensembles, orchestras, soloists, bands and dancers, the night featured 21 of our Ashy Out Loud chorists performing in a 200 strong choir. They performed four songs in front of a crowd of nearly 2,500 people. It was a wonderful opportunity for the students and their families to be part of such a important night celebrating performing arts in Government schools.  The night's performance was the culmination of many hours of rehearsals for our choir both at school and at other schools. They all showed dedication and commitment! We need to send a big thank you to Ms Jespersen who was the driving force in what is now the school's second time being part of the big show. She was ably assisted by staff members Sarah and Carolyn who gave up their time to be with the choir through their journey.  

 

Year 5 Camp

On Monday 61 Year 5 students will be heading off via bus to Camp Manyung in Mt. Eliza for their 3 day/2 night camp. For many, this will be their first camp experience, and for others, it will their first time away from home in any way. It's an important step for students as they grow in independence and responsibility, but it's also a big step for many of their parents too! I remember when my eldest daughter first headed to camp and the wait for her to return. In the end these experiences help to build resilience as they continue to grow and encounter more challenges through their school life. I thank the staff attending - Bella, Mr Purdy, Miss V, Mr Worlley, Mr Baker, Indigo and Miss Whitehead, for volunteering their time to look after the students. Safe travels!

Learning Specialist Appointment

With Miss Abbott's recent departure on maternity leave, we are pleased to announce Angela Lloyd as Acting Learning Specialist for the remainder of this year. Mrs Lloyd joins Miss Simon in the Learning Specialist role, which is focussed on improving the teaching and learning of our school. 

What's that song?

Ever wondered what that song was at the start of the school day blaring over the PA? Well, they are selected by students. Specifically, any students that manange to tip all 9 winners in our weekly footy tipping competition get the chance to select the songs heard at the  start of the day, at the end of recess and the end of lunch. This week we had a never seen before number of 19 winners! You'll be hearing their songs over the PA until the next winning tipper gets their chance. 

Education Support Staff Appreciation Day

This weekend marks Education Support Staff Appreciation Day, where we say thank you to the various ES who are part of our community. The ES role is a wide one with a range of positions. We have our classroom aides - Sarah, Carolyn, Deb and Matt, who work with students in classrooms. Our office/admin team of Mel, Simone, Nicole and Indigo come under the ES umbrella, as does Mrs Robinson in our library. ES play numerous vital roles in our school. They give extra support to those who need it, they organise so much of our day, they attend to our bumps, bruises and cuts and they make sure our library has fresh books!

15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

Yr 6 News

The students have settled well into Term 2 and are enjoying every part of it! It has been a busy and exciting few weeks filled with new learning opportunities, sporting events and collaborative activities across the Year 5 and 6 cohort. Over the past two weeks, students have been:

  • Exploring Australian history during Connected Learning, where students have been working in mixed Year 5 and 6 groups with a variety of teachers. They have loved the opportunity to learn new things, work with different peers and experience a range of engaging activities.
  • Developing their biography writing skills in English, learning about the structure and features of biographies before beginning to create biographies on a range of different people.
  • Building their reading comprehension skills, focusing on identifying the main idea and supporting details within articles and different pieces of writing.
  • Representing the school at Interschool Sport, where students competed against Hartwell and demonstrated excellent teamwork, sportsmanship and effort throughout the day. Everyone had lots of fun participating in their chosen sports.
  • Taking part in Cross Country last Friday, with all students trying their absolute best and a number of students progressing through to the next stage – an amazing achievement!
  • Participating in the Japanese Cultural Day and Mottainai Eco Show, which students found fun, interactive and highly engaging. A big thank you to Sensei for organising such an enjoyable experience.
  • Exploring algebra in Maths through the ‘Chicken Boxes’ investigation, where students worked collaboratively to develop algebraic formulas for different box patterns. It was a fantastic hands-on activity that encouraged problem-solving and mathematical thinking.

From Brooke, Issi, Mandy & Emma

 

 

 

15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

What's up in Yr2?

his fortnight in Year Two we had a wonderful time celebrating Japanese Cultural Day with Sensei and laughed so much during the performance. 

We met Scott Darlow, a Yorta Yorta man, who taught us about his culture and in particular his music.

In Literacy we continued to read our class novel Definitely No Ducks, making Text-to-self and Text-to-text connections. We learned that synonyms are words that share their meaning and searched for better words in our Good Fit Texts. 

We also enjoy spending time in the library practising our fluency. 

We have started learning about Expositions and are practising writing facts and opinions that support a Statement of Opinion. 

In Numeracy we used ‘Maths Sand’ to estimate and measure the capacity of different containers. 

We have used Base Ten Blocks to make 2 and 3 digit numbers and then make and rename them another way.

In Connected Learning we have learned about Transport and Communication and how they have changed over time. 

In Smile we have thought about the different jobs people do and their hobbies and passions. We have discussed that gender should not affect what people do when they grow up. We tried to visualise what we will be when we grow up and what hobbies and passions we would like to pursue. 

Our Sustainability volunteers have been helping keep our school yard clean and rubbish free. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

Prep Updates

As part of Japanese Cultural Day, the Prep students enjoyed the engaging Mottainai Eco Show, which featured puppetry, a Japanese-style paper, rock, scissors game, and an inspiring lesson about how Japanese culture embraces reusing and recycling in everyday life. 

In the morning we had an exciting visit from the Pokemon character Squirtle who looked a lot like our wonderful Japanese Teacher, Sensei Hong!

We are so proud of how consistently the students are remembering to keep their green take-home reading bags in their school bags each day, ready for take-home book swaps every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It has also been wonderful to see such regular reading at home. A big thank you to parents and carers for supporting this vital part of your child’s learning journey.

By now, you may have noticed a small scrapbook in your child’s green take-home reading bag containing High Frequency Words. Please support your child by helping them practise reading these words automatically in preparation for assessment with their teacher on Thursday or Friday.

In Literacy, we continue to build our knowledge of phonemes by introducing the letters r, g, e, and h. We have also begun incorporating reading groups into our literacy sessions. These small-group sessions provide teachers with the opportunity to read closely with each child, target specific areas of need, and support the development of reading skills, while the rest of the class engages in reading activities.

In Maths, we have been learning about addition through creating and drawing addition stories on our whiteboards. We have also begun exploring Statistics by asking and answering yes/no questions as a class and examining the responses. Soon, students will begin posing their own yes/no questions to small groups of classmates and analysing the results.

On Monday 18th of May, we will enjoy a reptile incursion from Love Me Like A Reptile. This will support our learning about animals and their habitats.

15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

Check In with the AP

Free Bread – Fridays

Every Friday afternoon in the Conference Room there will be free bread available (mostly loaves and rolls) for anyone to take home. It is baked in a bakery on Wednesday and Ashburton Baptist Church is responsible for its distribution. They kindly bring this in on Fridays for us to share with our community.

Any Breakfast Club food items left over will also be available.

Help yourself! 😊

 

Free Event- "Genocide in the Wildflower State" screening

The City of Boroondara is hosting the screening of the film  "Genocide in the Wildflower State"  at Murnong First Peoples Gathering on Sunday 24th May in recognition of National Sorry Day.  

This is a free event and a wonderful opportunity to learn about the significance of Sorry Day. 

https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/events/national-sorry-day-film-screening

 

Mental Health & Wellbeing, Behaviour and Attendance Multi Tiered System of Supports at APS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel Roberts

Assistant Principal

15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

The Disco is coming!

15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

Help the Homeless

15 May 2026 / Ashy News May 15th 2026

Help us win!

This initiative was created to help support schools, teachers and families in making everyday sun protection simpler and more accessible during busy school days.

As part of the campaign, selected schools and childcare centres across Australia will receive:
☀️ SNDY SKN Mineral SPF 50
☀️ Age-appropriate sun safety resources
☀️ Educational support materials for families and educators for everyday sun-safe routines

Support everyday sun safety at our school  

We’re excited to be nominated for the SNDY SKN National Sunscreen Day initiative.

Families can vote for our school to receive a donation of mineral SPF to support everyday sun safety for our students.

Voting is open until May 25.

Vote here: https://sndyskn.com.au/pages/vote-for-my-school