What a great time we had on Harmony Day last week!

Harmony Day is such an important day on our school calendar because it gives us the chance to acknowledge and celebrate the multi-cultural nature of our school. Aubin Grove, like Australia, is a wonderful melting pot of many cultures that have come together to create a vibrant and rich community. The messages that we convey on this day are that we are fortunate to be such a diverse community and, just like our Welcome Wall proudly shouts out for all to see, all our indeed welcome at our school.

      

Harmony Day was a day full of happiness and new experiences for many. For this, we have a lot of people to thank. A big shout out to all the staff on our KidsMatter committee for planning the day and organising the events that made it such a success. Thank you also to our cultural performers who absolutely “wowed” everyone lucky enough to see them.

Special thanks to the Eat Greek dancers from the Eat Greek Restaurant in East Fremantle who sang, danced and smashed plates and had the kids mesmerised with their performance. Same goes to our incredible, energetic Russian dancers, Mosaic, and to Dagneris from Venezuela who performed the delightful latin dance. Thank you to all of you for making our day!

       

Thank you also to every parent who found the time and effort to provide food from your country. The delicious flavours we tasted on the day were a highlight.

I loved seeing the excitement and joy on the faces of everyone who took part on the day. I’m already looking forward to next year.

         

Champions Cup Soccer Competition

Congratulations to our Girls soccer team who took part in the regional play offs for the Champions Cup on Thursday.   These girls have been training for weeks with coaches, Miss Woodfin and Mr Ribeiro. The girls won every game until the final when they lost narrowly, making them the runners-up in the Samantha Kerr Southern Region.

Next term they will compete with the winners and runners-up in the northern, eastern and Peel regions for the glory of winning the Champions Cup. Go girls!

ANZAC Day

Today we conducted our annual ANZAC Day service honouring all the service personnel, past and present, who have served our country overseas in wars, conflicts and police actions since April 25, 1915. It was a fitting occasion made so, by the tremendous effort of our teachers and students who conducted the ceremony. Congratulations to all students who spoke at the assembly today and who performed important tasks. They all performed exceptionally well to ensure that our service was a fitting tribute to those who have served and fallen.

Special thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Erik Gruber who once again spoke with great feeling to those in attendance. Erik is a highly valued part of our ANZAC service and we thank him greatly for his ongoing commitment.

Thank also to Mr Ted Balshaw, formerly of Balshaw Florists and now resident at nearby Regents Garden who once again donated the beautiful wreath.

Thank you Erik and Ted.

My Role In Term 2

Next term, I will be taking on an additional role to my most important one, which is obviously Principal of Aubin Grove PS. I have been asked by the Director General, to help lead the Development Program for schools throughout WA who are seeking to become Independent Public Schools (IPS), like us. This will involve me working with two other DET personnel travelling throughout metropolitan and regional WA to support those schools.

This role will take me out of the school for 2-3 days per week for the term. I have only accepted this role because I have complete confidence in the capacity of our staff, and in particular our four Deputy Principals, to continue to work to the high standards we demand of ourselves. I will be in regular contact with the school and will be available at any time should I be needed.

Happy Holidays

Best wishes to you all for a safe and happy school holiday break with your family. Term One has been a busy and productive term with many highlights. All classrooms have been hives of activity and I couldn’t be happier or prouder of the effort put into the children’s learning from their teachers and education assistants. I also couldn’t be prouder of our students and the work they have produced.

Our school is fortunate to be made up of students who are dedicated to learning, staff who work incredibly hard to make our school the very best school it can be and of families who partner with us in their children’s education and support the school in every way they can. These are the key ingredients for a successful school and they exist in spades at Aubin Grove.

Please remember that school recommences for students on Tuesday May 1. Monday is a school development day for staff.

Take care and be safe.

Frank