The Secondary Cross Country was held at Stromlo Forest Park. It was an amazing day - the sun was shining and the enthusiasm from students and staff was wonderful to see. Thank you to the Health and Physical Education Team and all the staff involved in organising this opportunity for students. A big thank you also to our House Captains, staff and parent volunteers and spectators who attended.
Unfortunately, due to wet track conditions, our Primary Cross-Country Carnival scheduled for Week 2 was postponed. An alternative date for the carnival is currently being arranged. More information will be sent to families once details have been finalised.
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On Wednesday, 3 May prospective students and their families braved the cold weather to attend the 2024 Information Sessions. The evening was an opportunity to see what our wonderful school has to offer. Congratulations to our School Captains and all the speakers who did an amazing job sharing their thoughts and ideas on what makes Amaroo School the biggest and the best.. Parents and carers who attended commented on the welcoming atmosphere and the helpfulness of teachers and students. Enrolments for all public schools are now open (see more details below).
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Please note:
- Any Year 6 students currently attending Amaroo School who will be continuing to Year 7 at Amaroo are not required to submit an enrolment application.
- For Kindergarten enrolments please refer to your 2022 Letter of Acceptance to Amaroo Preschool which will specify if you need to submit an enrolment application for Kindergarten in 2024. If you are unsure please contact the Front Office.
REPORTING STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN THE ACT 2023
ACT public schools are expected to provide a formal written report to parents and carers of students from Preschool to Year 12, twice a year. These formal reports form part of the suite of relevant and purposeful opportunities schools use to communicate student learning to families throughout the year.
In addition, our school shares student learning and progress throughout the year through informal processes including; learning expo, three-way conferences, parent teacher interviews, newsletter articles and assembly presentations.
Upcoming written reports for the end of Semester 1 and Semester 2 will revert to business as usual for 2023.
The inclusion of written comments in semester reports remains a school-based decision and is not compulsory. Amaroo School reports for students in Kindergarten to Year 10 will include a general comment.
STUDENT CHROMEBOOKS
The school is seeing an increase in the number of chromebooks with water damage due to unprotected chromebooks being placed in school bags with drink bottles. Please remember that students are responsible for looking after their Chromebook and keeping it safe. It is highly recommended that chromebooks are kept in a protective case or cover to avoid being damaged.
CHANGES TO EXCURSION PAYMENTS
To protect personal privacy and to avoid students having to carry money, the school has changed the options available for payments including excursions. You will notice that future excursion notes will only have the option to pay by Quickweb (which has a credit card payment option). Payments can also be made in person at the front office via credit card/ eftpos.
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STAFFING CHANGES
From Monday you will hear a different voice when contacting the senior administration office. We would like to congratulate and thank Di Champion who has been promoted and accepted a temporary position as Business Manager at a local Primary School. Di (who finishes today) has been an amazing support to all members of our community. We wish her all the very best!
Farewell and thank you to Natasha Felix who has been a part of the Primary Specialist team for many years and has played a pivotal role in organising many carnivals and sporting events for Amaroo School and the ACT. We welcome Rhys Mooney and Aaron Powell who will be assisting the Primary PE team for the remainder of the year.
Congratulations to Dzintra Jones who has been appointed to an Executive position at a public high school for the remainder of Term 2! We wish her all the best.
Regards
Cindie, Nic and Ed
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Enrolments for the 2024 school year are now open. Families can apply online. Information about the school in your child’s Priority Enrolment Area can be found on the Education Directorate website.
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START OF TERM REMINDERS
Change of details - Please email info@amaroos.act.edu.au of any changes to phone numbers, email addresses, home address or emergency contact details. For emergency and correspondence purposes, it is important that these details are correct. and up to date. If you have any questions please contact the Front Office.
Arriving late to school - Students must be signed in at the front office when arriving late to school. School commences at 9:00am. Any later than this, students will need to sign in at the main front office (primary students) or the senior administration building (secondary students).
Leaving early from school - Students must be signed out by a parent/ carer at the front office when leaving early from school. Where possible we ask that written notification be sent to the class teacher or info@amaroos.edu.au. This will ensure that students are sent to the Front Office at the time specified.
Please be aware that locating students at break times can be difficult. If you have to attend an appointment it is suggested that the child is picked up before/ after the break. Break times for primary are 10:45am-11:15am and 1:00pm-1:30pm. Break times for secondary students are 11:15am-11:59am and 1:42pm-2:04pm.
Explanation of Student Absences - It is a requirement that all student absences are explained by a parent/carer. On the day the student is absent, a text will be sent by the school's administration system. Please respond to this text to advise the reason for the absence. Alternatively parents and carers can send an email to the class teacher or send an email to info@amaroo.act.edu.au
Medical Forms and Authorisation to dispense medication - For schools to administer student medication during school hours, families are required by the ACT Education Directorate to provide the following information:
• Medical Information / Consent form
• Known Medical Condition Response Plan
These forms are available from the main administration office and the Amaroo School website.
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STUDENT INSURANCE & AMBULANCE TRANSPORT
The Education Directorate does not provide any insurance cover for injury, disease or illness to students resulting from school activities or school-organised excursions. Claims for compensation are met where there is a legal liability to do so. Liability is not automatic and depends on the circumstances in which any injury, disease or illness was sustained. As there is no automatic insurance cover for personal injury if your child is injured at school or during a school organised activity\ excursion you should therefore consider whether taking out personal insurance cover for your child is warranted. This insurance might cover contingencies including medical/hospital expenses, ambulance transport outside the ACT, and cancellation of transport/accommodation or loss of/damage to luggage. The ACT Ambulance Service provides free ambulance transport for students who are injured or suddenly become ill at school or during an approved school organised activity within the ACT.
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CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Year 5 student Molly M who represented Amaroo School in show jumping at the Australian Interschool Equestrian Championships today, Friday 5 May.
Molly and her horse Navahome Bono came third place in the 60 centimetre super phase. This is the first ever student for Amaroo School to take part in an event of this sport. Molly demonstrated her ability and skills (balance, tracking, rhythm and concentration) in working with Bono to jump each obstacle, navigate turns within a set time limit. Great job Molly!
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LEARNING SPOTLIGHT - FRENCH
Welcome to our Week 2 'Learning spotlight’! Each newsletter we will feature a ‘learning spotlight’ from one of our grades across primary. This week we focus on French, a language taught by the specialist team to students in years 3-6. Students also have the opportunity to continue learning French in high school.
Bonjour everyone! At Amaroo, we're excited to share that we've just wrapped up our celebration of French Speaking Day! This year, we focused on the beautiful country of Algeria and learned about its rich culture and history.
We're happy to report that our Years 3 and 4 students are now diving into the world of French clowns and have started creating masks for a French-themed skit they'll be sharing with their peers later this term! This will involve using French phrases and dramatic elements to entertain and demonstrate culture and language learning.
Year 5 and 6 students have embarked on their French inquiry project, delving into the fascinating topic of "How has France influenced the world?" Students are currently researching various French inventions and preparing to present their findings in week 5 of Term 2.
We're thrilled to see our students so engaged and passionate about learning French and discovering all that this vibrant language and culture has to offer.
Au revoir for now, and stay tuned for more French-themed adventures to come!
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SAVE THE DATE
On Friday 12 May (Week 3), the Primary SRC will be holding a Comfy Clothes Day Fundraiser. We are encouraging Primary students and staff to wear comfy clothes and bring a gold coin donation to help raise money for a new Buddy Bench for the playground. We will also have stalls running at B1, with nothing over $2. Thank you for your support!
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LEARNING SPOTLIGHT - ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY
Arts and Technology have had a brilliant beginning to Term 2. In music last term there has been some amazing growth in the musical abilities of all the bands. The very dedicated students rehearsed at lunch times and perform at school events. We were also lucky enough to go and see the musical “Hairspray” at the Lyric theatre with our Primary school buddies.
The Dance program has shown incredible improvement in the dancers ability to keep time and create amazing choreography. The Drama classes are working hard to rehearse and create scripts and are happy to give everything a go. The Art classes have had fun with clay, appropriation and lino printing. The year 8’s lino prints have a native focus on Flora and Fauna.
Food tech classes are keeping the Café strong and bringing some out of this world tastes and textures to life; as well as, staying humble creating recipes from fruit and vegetable favourites. The Amaroo Garden is also producing some excellent dishes in our paddock to plate elective.
During Technology classes a diverse range of projects have seen some excellent creations from programming, creating wooden toys, making light up photo frames and designing metal work passion projects. There have even been some epic cross curriculum priorities happening in Mr Laaring’s class with students designing a Ukulele in their Manual Arts lessons.
The Arts is definitely the place to be this year. We have lots of exciting things yet to come. Thank you to all the very talented teachers who are passionate about their subjects and help our students to strive for excellence while creating inclusive and supportive environments for our students to thrive.
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LEARNING SPOTLIGHT - STEM - DIAMOND GARDEN
Students in Diamond Garden Science began their STEM focus this term. We’ve been doing a lot of protostorming and prototyping, we learned that “proto” means original.
Our first experiment was to create a protective structure for an egg that would be dropped from a high height. We knew we need to make an original structure. We began by discussing and drawing our ideas and then we made our structures. We could only use straws, paper and tape. While we were working on our structure we wondered if paper straws would have a different impact to plastic straws. After creating our structures we went outside and dropped them from a three metre drop. Out of the six eggs, only two survived.
We learnt that we need to consider the surface area that hits the ground. We know that great Scientists don’t always get it right the first time, so we will continue to experiment in our lessons.
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INTRODUCING THE 2023 HOUSE CAPTAINS AND PBL PREFECTS
After the recent Athletics and Cross Country Carnivals, you may be wondering who our sports house leaders are and what they do?
House Captains are role models for the school and more specifically for students of the sports house. They are known by the school community because of their commitment to a healthy and active lifestyle. The House Captains play an important role in organising and presenting at sporting events and are active in the school community at break times.
We are pleased to announce that the 2023 House Captains and House Leaders for Amaroo School are:.
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Year 10 Captain – Mitchell J
Year 9 Vic-Captain – Rachelle L
Year 9 Vice-Captain – Alex K
Year 8 Leader – Brahamveer S
Year 8 Leader – Connor H
Year 7 Leader – Sashia F
Year 7 Leader – Adrian L
Year 6 Captain - Marcus G
Year 6 Captain – Milly F
Year 6 Vice-Captain - Yassen L
Year 6 Vice-Captain - Issy G
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Year 10 Captain – Alicia M
Year 10 Captain – Daniel U
Year 9 Vice – Ravyn T
Year 9 Vice – Nairwng T
Year 8 Leader – Sienna L
Year 8 Leader – Garang M
Year 7 Leader – Mahonri T
Year 7 Leader – Ayual D
Year 6 Captain - Isabel W
Year 6 Captain - Gurmaan S
Year 6 Vice-Captain - Alisha S
Year 6 Vice-Captain - Noah S
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Year 10 Captain – Poe Kwar Si B
Year 10 Captain – Rocky B
Year 9 Vice-Captain – Zara B
Year 9 Vice-Captain – Zaara A
Year 8 Leader – Muhammed A
Year 8 Leader – Jasper B
Year 7 Leader – Daniel D
Year 7 Leader – Harri C
Year 6 Captain - Kara B
Year 6 Captain - Patrick C
Year 6 Vice-Captain - Breanna B
Year 6 Vice-Captain - Levi B
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Year 10 Captain – Kitty P
Year 10 Captain – Fiayaz M
Year 9 Vice-Captain – Rithik S
Year 9 Vice-Captain – Owen M
Year 8 Leader – Rose M
Year 8 Leader – Sawyer R
Year 7 Leader – Gabrielle P
Year 7 Leader – Humza N
Year 6 Captain - Alice N
Year 6 Captain - Mahdi O
Year 6 Vice-Captain - Tanmayee N
Year 6 Vice-Captain – Kazim M
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We also have a new leadership title in our primary school this year, PBL Prefects. PBL Prefects are role models, known and respected by the school community because of their commitment to embodying the PBL expectations of Amaroo School and their determination to support the school in upholding these values.
Congratulations Raena J, Gian P, and Aarna B who are the 2023 PBL Prefects for Amaroo School.
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AMAROO SCHOOL PARENTS AND CITIZENS ASSOCIATION (P&C)
JOIN US AT OUR NEXT MEETING: MONDAY 8 MAY AT 7PM
Parents and carers are invited to the next P&C meeting on Monday, 8 May at 7pm. The meeting is held at the Main Administration Building.
We will be setting the P&C's goals for the year so it would be great to hear your views. It is also a good opportunity to hear from our Executive Principal Cindie Deeker on the latest school news.
Check out the minutes from the AGM and General Meeting held on 20 March 2023.
Tea, coffee and refreshments will be available.
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P&C UNIFORM SHOP - NEW OPENING HOURS
Take advantage of new opening hours for the second hand Uniform Shop. We are now open four days a week.
Monday: 8:45 - 9:15am
Tuesday: 2:45 - 3:15pm
Wednesday: 8:45 - 9:15am
Friday: 8:45 - 9:15am
You can also buy new school hoodies for $35. Sizes available include: Kids 8-14 and Adult XS-3XL. These jumpers are $14 cheaper than at the shops. All secondhand uniforms are $5 or less.
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As our education system continues to grow and evolve the ACT Government is considering a range of legislation improvements to ensure our systems and supports remain contemporary, and reflect the needs of students, families and teaching staff now and into the future.
Reforms are being considered to:
- clarify school enrolment requirements
- modernise participation and attendance requirements to reflect the different methods of education delivery
- strengthen enrolment, attendance, and participation provisions to minimise the risk of children and young people disappearing from the education system, and
- outline requirements for distance education.
To have Your Say, head to the Your Say conversations website to read the discussion papers, take the survey, leave a comment or make a submission. Feedback will close at 11:59pm on 6 June 2023.
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