Primary News

Welcome Back and Term 4 News

Welcome back to a typically fast-paced Term 4! I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable break. I spent a week in Perth at the Soccer Country Week tournament, and it was fantastic to see some of our ACC students representing Albany! Stephen, Billy, Xavier, Oliver, Ava, Georgia, and Melody showcased incredible resilience and skill over five days, playing nine demanding games. It was truly great to witness the level of commitment required for this competition.

Wellness Assembly Highlights

We finished last term with a successful Wellness Assembly where the students showcased their focus on developing social and emotional skills.

The Year 3 class did an excellent job of teaching the finer points of an effective apology: say sorry, make it up to the person, forgive, and don't do it again.

The school choir also performed two of the pieces they recently presented at the Primary Schools Music Festival.

Forrest Frank was the theme of the day with the song ‘Lemonade’ setting the theme of making the most of difficult situations and keeping a positive attitude. God has certainly got our back.

Learning at ACC - An Update from Mrs Angela Van Der Snoek, Curriculum Coordinator

At ACC, we love to celebrate growth! This time of year gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on how far our students have come. When looking at growth, it’s important to remember that at different ages we often see periods of rapid progress, and that some students are working twice as hard as others as they overcome different challenges. What matters most is not how big or small the growth is, but that every student continues to move forward.

To check this progress, we conduct a range of assessments during Term 4. Midway through the term, we will assess reading using ACER and DIBELS standardised testing, and spelling growth through the South Australian Spelling Test. Mathematical concepts will also be assessed through the ACER standardised test.

In writing, students regularly complete writing tasks that are assessed against the Brightpath scale and moderated with other teachers. We hope you enjoyed seeing your child’s writing sample last term, showcasing their growth.

When reporting on your child’s progress, we use a triangulated approach—drawing on classroom observations, teacher-set tasks, and standardised testing as our third measure.

At ACC, we set high expectations, provide encouragement and scaffolding along the way, and celebrate every step of growth our students make.

Year 3 Excursion: A Voyage Through Albany's History

The Year 3's excursion was a huge success! We started with the Brig Amity 'Sydney to Sound' program delivered by the Museum of the Great Southern. The students then enjoyed lunch and a play at Foundation Park followed by a tour of Patrick Taylor's Cottage, giving them a fantastic opportunity to explore the rich history and humble beginnings of our community.

Did you know that 26 convicts were brought here to help with the manual labour for building the first settlement? This detail was special to us because we have exactly 26 students in our class! We had fun walking in chains for a taste of their experience (although, those first convicts likely weren't needing them). We learned that after their term of service here in Albany, they were sent back to New South Wales—though a few actually ran away!

We also learned about the other first settlers on the Brig Amity and the essential supplies they brought to establish a community, including farm animals and canvas tents to live in. We tasted hard tack, played on the Brig Amity, and discovered all its hidden nooks and crannies. We especially loved learning that the "Batman" bunk was for the servant boy assigned to Major Lockyer himself!

We found it interesting to consider how long the first ship took to arrive here: over six weeks due to bad weather! They even had to stop off in Van Diemen's Land before crossing the continent. We know that today, the same journey by ship from Sydney to Albany would only take a few days. So much has changed in the last 200 years since Major Lockyer and his crew settled Albany in 1826!

We connected the details of the first ship’s arrival with the journey of Patrick Taylor and his life here as a "wealthy" free settler. The preserved articles in the Cottage provided much discussion (and a bit of friendly disgust!) as chamber pots and laundry wringers were common everyday objects, compared to our modern, luxury lifestyles!

All in all, it was a great day for our energetic and eager explorers. A big thank you to the parent helpers and bus drivers who came along to keep us safe, get us where we needed to be, and help us avoid the rain!