About Us

Our future at Altona Primary School is exciting with new buildings beginning in 2010

Altona PS has an enrolment of over 450 children. There are 21 classrooms with straight grade Preps and composite grades of 1 / 2, 3 / 4 and 5 / 6 throughout the remainder of the school

Altona PS provides high quality programs in; Music, Art, ICT, LOTE and Physical Education. The school is involved in the Performing Arts and Sport at a district, regional and state level. Individual children and teams often compete at state championships in sport. The children's art is regularly featured in Art promotions. The children regularly perform at the regional concerts at the Melbourne Concert Hall and at the State Concert; 'Join in the Chorus', at the Rod Laver Arena.

The 2007 school AIM Grade 5 Data  with an average cohort improvement 58% above the state mean from 2005 - 2007 was one of the many highlights of 2006.

Altona PS was a reference school for Performance and Development Culture in 2007. The school was awarded a National Literacy and Numeracy Award in 2005. The Outside School Hours Care at Altona PS was again nationally accredited as a Quality Assurance Operator in 2007.

A combination of expert, accomplished and graduate teachers provide an educational and engaging curriculum. The school is collaboratively lead by a strong leadership team. The quality of the staff and their relationship with the students and parents is a fundamental strength at Altona PS. Both the Staff and Parent surveys are above state and like school. The Students Attitude to School survey data indicates 82% of survey data in the high end of the 'Effective' range.

Staff professional development and leadership capacity building are driving forces at Altona PS. Strategic on site professional development, professional learning teams and learning forums accelerate the continuous improvement of learning and teaching at Altona PS.

The school enjoys formidable Community involvement via the School Council, the Parents Club, school activities and events, and the many parent helpers within the classroom.

The school has a professional partnership with the Victorian University at Footscray. The innovative, research partnership involves the school, trainee teachers and classroom children in an action research project amalgamating ICT, a combined train the trainer model and children as leaders/trainers within their classrooms.  

Altona PS is striving to:

• Continuously improve the Learning and Teaching throughout the school.
• Provide high quality Physical Education, Music, Art, LOTE and Drama programs to develop the 'whole' child, promote self confidence and provide a conduit for student connectedness to school.
• Provide the best possible social, emotional and educational outcomes for each and every student.
• Increase the literacy and numeracy levels of each and every child.
• Form a strong connection with all students.
• Strategically build the capacity of all staff.
• Build the leadership capacity throughout the school.
• Continue to form strong partnership with the school community.
• Strengthen and form new partnerships with the wider community.
• Maintain its high level of student welfare support and positive behaviours through the You Can Do It program.

Community feedback, the connection of staff, students and parents to the school and the positioning of the school as the vibrant 'hub' of community, all robustly indicate a strong, energetic and successful school.

HISTORY OF ALTONA STATE SCHOOL

The Altona Primary School No 3923 was designed by the Public Works Department and constructed between 1922 - 1927 and was the first school to be built in Altona and one of the earliest public buildings and has continued for over 80 years to be a main place of learning for young children and it is significant aesthetically as it was constructed to a design in the Interwar Free Classical style by the Chief Architect of the Public Works Department, E. Evan Smith.

George L Owens a Presbyterian Minister was the first to approach the State Government to provide Altona with a school. A public meeting was held around 1915 and then a further meeting held which resulted in a building (a large shed) being offered by Mr Lawrence and Mrs Ann Fleming in the back yard of their property in Blyth Street to be used.

Classes began under Miss Christina Bavington after the department leased the building from 1 November 1915 for one year. After 2 years the original owners required the building back so a new building was being sourced with accommodation for 50 students being a requirement. The president of the school committee, AD Grant approached the Altona Estate Company for suitable school land, a block was offered on the provision that building of the school would begin immediately, however the Progress Association's new public hall could offer separate classrooms immediately (with the aid of a canvas division) which could then be taken down for public meetings and church services to take part.

By 1920 this situation was no longer a feasible solution due to the great number of students seeking education. There were more than 100 students in 6 grades and they could not be accommodated in the hall, some classes were transferred to Davey's Hall and the infants were taught in the latticed shed with a shell grit floor, unfortunately during the winter months rain and wind would go through the classrooms making it less than ideal.  In 1921 the new headmaster Charles W Borrack fought for a proper school building. A three acre site was chosen adjacent to the new railway and in October 1921 the new school which was to accommodate 400 students began to be built in stages. The first stage of the school was officially opened in November 1922 by the Education Minister, Sir Alexander Peacock and was intended to house 200 students, overcrowding was already evident at the opening of the school.

The second stage of the school was completed 5 years later and was opened in November 1927.  They design was typical of government schools of the time: red brick and stucco construction with a Marseilles tiled hipped roof. The entry was marked by a parapeted porch with a small arch set into the parapet. The main windows were multi-paned and grouped in either 2 or 3's.  The building consisted of 3 classrooms with 2 of the classrooms separated by an accordion screen (half glazed folding doors) and each room had a fireplace, a teacher’s cupboard and a platform. There was also a corridor and administrative office. At the other end of the building there were the lavatories, hat and cloak room. Cyclone gates were erected in 1923 to keep out the cattle from the school grounds and to protect the trees that were planted. A shelter shed was also erected the same year.

Further land was purchased in 1929 and Webb Street was closed between Blyth and Railway Street to unite the 2 sites. Population in post World War 2 era increased greatly in the area. In the 1933 census there were 1,722 people in the area and by 1961 there were 16,167.  Classes were once again held in the Baptist church hall until a Bristol prefabricated classroom was added in 1954 and 4 others in 1955.  Overcrowding of the school was somewhat alleviated when schools were opened in Seaholme in 1952, Brooklyn in 1953 and Brooklyn West in 1960. By the middle of the 1960's further accommodation was provided in the form of portable classrooms, 2 classrooms attached to its south east corner and a detached library block.