Deputy Principal - Prep - Year 3
Beginner Band Blitz at Aspley State School
Monday 1 & Tuesday 2 September
Aspley State School is proud to be hosting the annual Beginner Band Blitz on Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 September. This exciting two-day event brings together Instrumental Music (IM) students from across Brisbane’s Northside to celebrate the joy of music and the progress of our beginner band students.
Each day will run from 8:30am to 2:30pm, with visitors arriving from 8:00am to prepare for the day’s rehearsals and workshops. The event will culminate in a short concert at 2:00pm, with families from visiting schools invited to attend and enjoy the students’ musical achievements.
Participating Schools
- Monday 1 September
IM students will be joining us from:
Aspley East SS, McDowall SS, Virginia SS, Kelvin Grove SC, and Wooloowin SS. - Tuesday 2 September
We’ll welcome students from:
Boondall SS, Geebung SS, Hendra SS, Kedron SS, Sandgate SS, and our own Aspley SS.
A special shout-out to our 26 Year 4 and 5 students who will represent Aspley SS with pride on the Tuesday.
The Beginner Band Blitz gives students an invaluable opportunity to
- Experience playing in a large ensemble
- Develop performance and listening skills
- Work with expert music educators
- Meet fellow young musicians from other schools
- Build teamwork and confidence in a fun, supportive environment
A Note for Aspley SS Families
With over 100 visiting students and accompanying staff on site each day, we kindly ask Aspley SS families to be mindful of increased traffic and activity around the school. Please allow extra time for drop-off and pick-up, be patient with parking, and take care when accessing the school grounds on these days. Your support helps us ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all.
We’re looking forward to two wonderful days of music, learning, and collaboration. Thank you to everyone involved in making the Beginner Band Blitz a highlight of our school calendar!
Prep 2026
Enrol Now!!!
Is your child born between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021?
They are eligible to start Prep in 2026 at Aspley State School.
Planning is well underway to welcome our newest learners!
In Term 2, we hosted our Open Days, a fantastic opportunity to tour our Prep facilities and hear from our student leaders. This term, we are holding enrolment meetings as we prepare for our exciting Transition Program in Term 4.
Key Dates
- Enrolment Forms: Due now
- Enrolment Meetings: Term 3, Week 9
- Prep Transition Program: Term 4, Weeks 3–5
If you live within our catchment and haven’t yet submitted your enrolment forms, please contact the school office:
- admin@aspleyss.eq.edu.au
- 3863 9111
We look forward to welcoming your family to the Aspley community!
Bullying, No Way!
Last week our school recognised Bullying, No Way! Day, taking time to strengthen our commitment to building a safe and supportive environment for everyone. Teachers and students explored what bullying is, what it looks like, and the important steps to take if they see it happening.
Through class discussions and activities, students reflected on how kindness, respect, and empathy are essential in creating positive relationships. They were reminded that everyone has a role to play in standing up against bullying and ensuring our school is a place where all feel safe and included.
At Aspley, we continue to promote the message: when we choose kindness and respect, we help make our school the best place to learn and grow.
Swimming
We are pleased to announce that swimming lessons for Prep and Years 3 to 6 will take place in Term 4. Information about our program and consent permission were sent to families last week.
Swimming is more than just a fun activity, it’s an essential life skill with lasting benefits. Here’s why participation in swimming lessons is so valuable for your child:
- Safety First
Drowning remains one of the leading causes of accidental death in children. Learning to swim equips students with vital water safety skills, building confidence and awareness in and around water. - Physical Health
Swimming engages the whole body, improves cardiovascular fitness, builds strength, and increases endurance – all in a low-impact format suitable for lifelong health and wellbeing. - Mental Wellbeing
Physical activity, including swimming, has been proven to reduce stress and support mental health. Mastering new skills in the pool can also boost self-confidence and resilience. - Social Development
Lessons provide opportunities to build friendships, develop teamwork, and practise communication in a supportive and structured setting. - A Lifelong Skill
The ability to swim opens the door to a lifetime of recreational enjoyment, sporting opportunities, and personal safety.
We kindly ask families to provide consent via QParents or return the signed consent form to the school office by Monday, 25 August 2025.
Payment is due by Monday, 15 September 2025.
We look forward to seeing our students in the pool and supporting them as they gain confidence and skills that will serve them throughout their lives.
How was school today? Good.
Asking your child about school can be frustrating if the answer is just a grunt or a single word. If this sounds familiar, try these tips to get the conversation flowing.
If you ask your child the same question every day, you’re likely to get the same response. Try varying the conversation with some more interesting questions, such as:
- What was the funniest thing that happened to you today?
- What did you do today that made you proud?
- Who did you play with today?
- What games did you play with your friends?
- What did you learn about that you found interesting?
- What was the best part about today?
- What happened today that you wish you could have changed?
- What did you learn today that you did not know before?
- What was the most boring thing that happened today?
- Why are you looking forward to going to school tomorrow?
Note: some kids find questions about ‘the best / funniest / most boring’ thing difficult because they feel they have to work out which is the ‘correct’ answer. If this sounds like your child, try changing the phrasing:
- a good part instead of the best part
- a funny thing instead of the funniest thing
- a boring lesson instead of the most boring lesson.
It works for some!
When you were a child, did talking with an adult about school sometimes feel like an interrogation? That can happen when the adult asks all the questions, and the child does all the answering. Make it a two-way conversation by first sharing something yourself, and then asking your child a related question, for example:
- tell your child something funny that you saw, then ask if anything funny happened to them today
- share something that you learned, then ask your child if they learned anything interesting they could teach you
- mention a new slang word or abbreviation that you’ve come across and ask your child what it means (most kids enjoy the chance to tease their parents about being out-of-date!).
It might take a little time, but this approach will help you to have much richer conversations with your child, and develop a better understanding of each other’s lives!
Once our children start school, we can fall into the trap of focusing most of our conversations on school. We don’t know what our children have been doing all day (and how we can help), so naturally that’s what we want to ask about. Taking an interest in school is important, but we also need to remember that our kids still spend more time outside school than in it.
So, make sure you’re still having conversations that have nothing to do with school – eg about their interests, your plans, what’s happening in the family, what’s happening in the wider world. Conversations like these are important to your relationship, your child’s feeling of value, and their sense of place in the world. Sharing family stories and histories also builds your child’s sense of connection, culture and belonging.
Information from the Australian Government Learning Potential website: https://www.learningpotential.gov.au/