Primary School Update - 9 May 2025

HEAD OF SCHOOL UPDATE Melanie Woods

I am pleased to report that students have come back to school in Term 2 settled and ready for learning. The College calendar has continued to bring opportunities for memorable moments where students, staff and families can interact. The Primary Cross Country, the ANZAC Assembly, Mother’s Day Chapel and our Mothers Day Friday celebrations have been wonderful to experience together. Below is a brief snapshot of what's been happening as we enjoy Term 2, 2025.

Cross Country Getting outside and exercising with our students was the best. How magnificent was the day! Even though we had a little rain, the children and our families could still share this fun experience together. We were so blessed to be able to host this event on our College grounds and in the sprawling landscape of the back property, lined with established trees, and on the new field area. Great effort and hard work was displayed by Kinder to Year 2 students, and brilliant team spirit was showcased by our Year 3 - 6 cohort. Thank you for your support - it was a great way to start the term for students and families, bringing our community closer together!

New Families Welcome Beginnings can be daunting and exciting. We have been thrilled to welcome new families to our community. The students have settled in very well and have enjoyed having a buddy or two to greet them every morning to make sure their playground time is fun. Myself and the staff welcome you and are so pleased you have been gathered to join our ACC family. Welcome and please feel free to come to our Primary Student Hub (after signing in at Main Reception) if you have any questions or thoughts.

Primary Enjoying Tech Centre Building Thank you to our Ministry, Library, Science and Tech Teachers who were teaching our students how to use the technology and equipment that we are blessed with in the Tech Centre. This week I came across students from Year 1-6 filming in the Studio for Chapel with Miss Lee. Mrs Pratt, Mr Gough and their classes were working and being creative on Canva in the MacLabs. Mr Jordan, Mr Howard and Miss Woods were coding with the students who manipulated robotic VEX cars in the MakerSpace and the Robotics Lab. As I was moving through the building, I was thrilled to see our Year 1 students in the Library, reading and borrowing books and several of our Year 6 students enjoying the Podcast Studios.

Term 2 Year Letters Just a reminder to be looking out for your class Year letter (sent to parents via email last week). This is filled with detailed information about what your Year will be doing throughout the term. It also mentions all the important dates to be aware of and add to your diary. Don’t forget we want to hear from you, so please email your class teacher or Primary Student Hub if you have any questions.

Mother’s Day I’m sure we all know that Mums are to be celebrated! So many unseen tasks are completed by our mums to support those whom they love. We want to take the time to acknowledge all the hard work, care and love our mums give each and every day to bless our students. We hope you were able to enjoy some of the celebrations that have taken place throughout this week at ACC. We are wishing all of our ACC Mums a very Happy Mother’s Day!

ANZAC Service On our very first morning back at the College, our community came together to commemorate ANZAC Day. This allowed for rich discussion to be had as the students continue to understand the depth of this event for our Nation and the world. Many teachers mentioned the students had thoughtful questions to ask. The students were exemplary as they presented themselves throughout such a special occasion. We were blessed to have one of our school mums, Squadron Leader Davidson, as our guest speaker to share from her experience what we needed to know, be thankful for and contemplate. It was a memorable event and we are pleased to have the opportunity to do this together as a community.

JOLT (Jesus Over Lunch Time) JOLT is continuing this term with hundreds of students attending from Kindergarten to Year 6. This is a wonderful time for them to play games and enjoy socialising while learning about who Jesus is. Please ask your child what they enjoyed about JOLT. We have a Primary Encounter in Week 5 which we are getting ready for - more information will be released soon.

Chapels and Assemblies Every Monday we invite all our families to come and join us for our weekly Chapel or Assembly. These are held in the MPC from 9.00 am - 10.00 am. There is always a class performance, singing, and awards to present. This is a great time to gather and join as a community during these special moments. This week 3P kicked off class performances with a bang while sharing with us the importance of being creative and how special mums are in our world.

‘I See You, Star’ Morning Tea Every Face has a Place at ACC and we continue to embed into the lives of all our students that we know them, that we see them. We want the students to know that we see their kindness, we see them being respectful, we see when they are learners, we see when they make Christ-like decisions and when they make wise and safe choices. To celebrate their hard work and efforts, students have been invited to attend an ‘I See You, Star’ morning tea each week which is hosted by Mr Parsonage and myself (Mrs Woods). This is an opportunity to spend quality time with them,and  thank and congratulate them for their good work.

Below are the students who have been given an ‘I See You, Star’ Award and attended the morning tea.

Advik A, Aquilla C, Arlo E, Ava A, Avyan D, Cavell B, Cherish K, Danielle S, David S, Destiny M, Elias I, Elijah A, Elliot B, Faith B, Idha G, Isaiah B, Karanveer D, Kassandra N, Lljana G, Lumina A, Lydia W, Mateo G, Mira B, Noah P, Perrie C, Reyanna P, Stavros S, Thea T, Tianna D, Vihaan T, Vishwani R.

Updates A lot can change over our holiday break. Your child may have needed to see a health professional, for physical, social or emotional reasons recently. In order for us to make sure your child receives the best care from our College, please update myself and your child’s classroom teacher of any changes to your child or family circumstances so we can support them and provide an environment for them to thrive in. My email address is melaniewoods@acc.edu.au - I look forward to hearing from you.

Uniform - Winter During Terms 2 and 3, students are reminded to wear their Winter uniform. Please ensure boys wear their ties, and all students wear their blazers to and from the College. The College hat is also to be worn as they arrive and as they leave. Thank you for your assistance and support with keeping our students looking neat and tidy. 

1L SPORTING ACTIVITIES Lara Dikha

This term for Sport, Year 1 is focusing on learning and practising the fundamental movement skills of balancing and kicking through targeted skill games. 1L had a fabulous time in our first week of Sport, playing different games practising their locomotor skills. They moved through four different activities - ‘Cat and Mouse’, ‘Red Red Rover’, ‘Octopus’, and ‘Sharks and Fishes’. The games selected for our first week were all designed to give students ideas of games they can play with their peers during breaks. 

1L were filled with glee and excitement as they became more confident and competitive with these games. 

2G LEARNING REFLECTIONS Katherine Grech

2G have had a great start to Term 2 engaging with their learning and enjoying being back at the College. They have been loving morning devotions this year, which includes the following: on Mondays before Chapel/Assembly they participate in a prayer circle; on Tuesdays they worship and sing praises, practicing Chapel songs; on Wednesdays, they read a Bible story from the class Bible; on Thursdays, students participate in Thankful Thursdays, sharing with their peers things they are thankful for; on Fridays, they watch an object lesson using objects to teach lessons about the God of the Bible. 

As a class, we have lots of questions and discussions about what we have learnt. Here are some comments from students after a recent lesson:

• Grace - “No prayers are more important than others.”

• Divit - “Everyone gets a chance to pray.”

• Zachary - “We can pray any time of the day!”

• Veda - “Prayers are wonderful!”

• Eric - “It doesn’t matter how long or short our prayers are.”

• Caleb - “We don’t have to use big tricky words when we pray.”

• Ava - “Our prayers spread.”

• Abigail - “God listens to all prayers and sometimes will respond.”

This term we are also looking at different types of informative texts. This week, 2G engaged in an activity learning about writing procedures. The topic was ‘How to Make Fairy Bread’. After watching a video, students discussed what materials and ingredients were needed to make Fairy Bread. They then discussed the steps of the procedure using the words first, next, then and last. Lastly, they got to make Fairy Bread which they thoroughly enjoyed. After making it, they finally got to complete step 4 which was to eat the Fairy Bread. 

This term, we also introduced our class pet Terry the Turtle to the students. Terry the Turtle gets to spend a weekend with a different student and their family. Students are encouraged to take Terry to extra curricular activities, church, family events and weekend adventures. Students are also encouraged to read a story to Terry. Terry loves reading books and stories but her favourite book is the Bible. Terry loves hearing about all the wonderful things that God has blessed us with and the plans He has for our lives. We can’t wait to see all the adventures that Terry goes on this year.

Lastly, on Wednesday, Year 2 participated in the school Cross Country event. Our students who were in the 8 year old groups got to participate in a House meeting where they learnt chants to support their House. They were so excited to be a part of this and came back to class singing their chants. Our 7 year old age group also participated in the K-2 Cross Country Carnival and had so much fun! They were beaming with happiness as they ran the course and with everyone trying their best. There was great sportsmanship throughout the Carnival as students were supporting and cheering for their friends.