Senior School Routines

At the start of break times, all students in Years 3-6 make their way up to the hall to their designated eating areas. For Years 3 and 4, this is outside the Eastern Hall (snack shack side), and Years 5 and 6 the western (oval) side of the hall. Students eat with their peers for the 15-minute eating break, and at the conclusion of the break, prior to play time, they wait to be released by the teacher on duty, placing rubbish into the bin’s provided. Lunchboxes are placed in their class tubs. Students are to collect their lunchboxes from the tubs at the end of the play break prior to returning to class.

2025 NAPLAN Assessments

All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Australia do NAPLAN tests in March this year.  NAPLAN tests students’ skills in reading, writing and maths through Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy assessments.  The test questions are presented in Standard Australian English dialect.  Within the assessments, students will read some of the questions and listen to others with headphones.

Students in Year 3 will complete the Writing test using pencil and paper, with their other assessments completed online via the NAPLAN application. Students in Years 5 will complete all their assessments via the online NAPLAN platform.

For further information, please see the  NAPLAN information for parents and carers brochure available online and sent home with all Year 3 and Year 5 students this week.

eSafety - Play It Safe and Fair Online

Australian athletes Caitlin Bassett (Australian Netball), Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson (Paralympic swimming) and Taliqua Clancy (Olympic Beach Volleyball) talk about their online experiences and how they play it fair online, with tips about staying safe online and what to do if something goes wrong. (Source: eSafety Commissioner)

RACQ Streets Ahead Program

Last week, the RACQ Community and Education Team delivered the RACQ Streets Ahead road safety lessons to Prep to Year 6 students. These lessons aligned with their age-appropriate Health curriculum content, and were also timed to align with the upcoming carpark re-opening, enforcing messages of safety around cars and roads.

If you would like to reinforce and extend your child’s learning of pedestrian, passenger and riding safety, you can access Resource Packs available via the RACQ Streets Ahead webpage. These packs contain different age-appropriate activities in each as well as four educational videos demonstrating the strategies taught for Prep – Year 2 students. These resources will assist you to continue teaching road safety, implementing the strategies your children will learn, and applying them to your everyday lives.

ThinkUKnow Presentations

ThinkUKnow Australia is an evidence-based education program designed and delivered nationally through partnership between the Australian Federal Police, Microsoft Australia, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The program is delivered in collaboration with policing partners New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Western Australia Police, as well as Neighbourhood Watch Australasia.

In Week 6, Aspley State School will be hosting the student and parent, carers and educators ThinkUKnow sessions. These sessions are designed to align to each other, to ensure adults receive complementary information to assist them in communicating with children and young people about the technology they use.

ThinkUKnow Student Presentations

On Tuesday, 4 March, students in Years 1-6 will be attending the ‘ThinkUKnow’ student presentation. These presentations are presented by a member of Queensland Police Service and are tailored specifically to the current topical issues each age group might face online.

The ThinkUKnow program aligns with the Australian Curriculum learning areas of Health and Physical Education and Digital Technologies, covering topics including differentiatiating between online and in-person friends, determining what information children should and shouldn’t share online, practical ways to ensure your child’s personal information and content is kept private and when and how children can seek help from a trusted adult if needed.

ThinkUKnow Parent, Carers and Educators Presentation
Aspley State School will be hosting the ThinkUKnow Parent, Carers and Educators presentation on Wednesday, 5 March at 6:00 pm in the school hall. We are looking forward to offering this session again to our school community again in 2025, and all parents, carers and teachers are encouraged to attend.

The presentation will be delivered by a local law enforcement member and an industry volunteer. The presentation is pro-technology and is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about young people and the online environment, and how you can help them to be safe and responsible users of technology.

RSVP your attendance via this link or the QR code by Monday, 3 March 2025.

For more information, you can visit www.thinkuknow.org.au or contact the school office on (07) 3863 9111.

PLEASE NOTE: This session is not suitable for children or students to attend due to the nature of the topics discussed. Parents and carers will need to organise alternate care arrangements if attending the session.

Canberra Trip Update

Families should have received the invoice for Payment 3, with payment due by Friday, 21 March 2025. If you are experiencing financial hardship and wish to discuss payment options, please contact our Business Manager, Miss Hannah Payne, to discuss. We are here to support our community.

The countdown to Canberra has begun for our Year 6 students, families and teachers. One of the stops on our itinerary is the Australian Parliament House. The one-hour tour will see students gain first-hand knowledge of democracy and lawmaking within the walls of Parliament House on Capital Hill. There are many artefacts and behind the scenes places we will get to visit that is not available to the general public, including a private morning tea for our students hosted by our local Federal member of Parliament. Weather permitting, we may even be able to venture onto the rooftop!

Families please note, students will be required to wear long black pants/slacks (not tracksuit pants), their white formal school shirt, maroon school jumper and plain black school shoes for the Parliament House visit.

Online Beginner Language Experience Opportunity

The Department of Education International Global Engagement is inviting Years 4-6 students  an exciting opportunity to learn a new language from home.

Participants will connect with experienced university tutors and through interactive lessons and hands-on activities,  will develop their language skills while broadening their cultural horizons and developing global competence.

This program not only introduces participants to a new language and deepens their understanding of its associated culture, but also equips them with the knowledge, skills and cultural awareness needed to thrive in an increasingly interconnected world.

Course Date: April 2025 School Holidays 

Applications close: 5:00pm Friday, 14 March 2025

Course Information Sessions: 4:30pm, Monday 3 March 2025 via Microsoft Teams.

For more information follow this link.