Healesville Primary School
NEWSLETTER
Week 1 - Term 4 - Friday, 8th October 2021
From the Principal's Desk…
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to what looks to be an eventful term. The staff are very pleased that we will be returning to face to face learning in the near future. It is a challenging start to this term with the staggered attendance. As I said in my dojo during the holidays, we have a different road map to the one that was presented originally due mainly to our composite classes mix. The following table below will hopefully make things a little clearer.
Hopefully, you can see when your children will be attending onsite and when they will be participating in remote learning. Teachers will be teaching face to face, teaching via remote and flexible learning as well as supervising onsite attendance. Please be aware that the amount of WebEx sessions will be reduced due to this. As you can understand there will be a huge amount of work that needs to be done by our class teachers in order to meet the needs of their students over this period.
Please note that we are still unable to have visitors onsite. Parents and carers will need to continue to use the drop off and pick up zones. If you do need to come to the office please call first and then you will need to come to the window at the front of the administration building. You will of course need to use the QR code to scan in and be wearing a mask. Onsite supervision will run out of the library. When your child is attending onsite for face to face teaching they will be in their normal classroom.
There has been quite a bit of media reporting around air purifiers in schools, but as yet I have received no notification from the Department regarding this for HPS. Teachers at HPS are in the enviable position of being able to spread out in double classrooms and our huge open spaces in the grade five/six building. Doors and windows will be open to create cross ventilation and air flow. Teachers will also be utilising outdoor spaces if the weather permits.
Masks need to be worn on site by anyone over the age of 12 so please be mindful of this if you do need to come on school grounds. Students can wear masks if they wish. I have quite a few reusable masks if you would like one for your child – please let me know. Teachers may be wearing them when teaching – this is optional. They do need to wear them on yard duty etc.
Each classroom has a hand sanitiser station and we have plenty. Students will be asked to sanitise upon coming into the classroom, after playtimes, before eating and whenever else is necessary. This applies to all our specialist areas as well.
The Department is continuing to cover extra cleaning of high touch surfaces throughout the day. This includes our playground areas.
Just a reminder that in Term Four we have a NO HAT NO PLAY policy in line with being a SunSmart school. Please make sure your child/ren brings a hat to school.
At the end of last term, I was advised that we are receiving a grant from the Foundation for Regional and Rural Renewal. This will be used to fund the Let’s Talk Program. The ethos behind this program is a focus on mental health and wellbeing, opening up and talking to others about how they are going. Teachers and students will be trained as Let’s Talk Mentors and we will also have parent information nights. This will give our students trusted others to talk to – something that is extremely important. All of this will be undertaken throughout next year (2022).
Prep 2022 – The School for You in 2022 😊
Unfortunately, we have had to change our Prep transition plans due to the current restrictions. All our parents who have currently enrolled for 2022 will receive this information via email as well. Next Friday15th October, Sharyn Borg and Georgia Horsley have organised a drive thru Meet the Teachers and to receive a goody bag. We will then have an online session for parents hosted by myself, Georgia and Sharyn regarding information about our programs and school in general. This will go online on Thursday 11th November. There will be three face to face (hopefully) sessions on Thursday 18th November, Thursday 25th November and Thursday 2nd December. These will be a mix of classroom sessions and specialist sessions to give a taste of all school aspects. These sessions will be from 2:30 – 3:20pm. Finally we will have our Orientation Day for Prep 2022 when they meet their teacher for next year and spend time in the new classrooms. This will be on Tuesday 7th December.
Classes for 2022
Due to increased enrolments, we will have nine classes next year. At this stage the plan is to have two straight prep classes, two grade one/two composite classes, a three/four composite class, a straight grade four class and three classes of five / six composites. This will also ensure that our class sizes are smaller than this year in the upper school. We have decided to flip the location of junior and senior rooms for 2022. Our prep, one and two students will be relocating to the BER building. Some of the reasons for this are; it has its own student toilets which make life easier for our younger students, they are a lot closer to the junior playgrounds which assists greatly at recess and lunchtime especially in first term for our preps. Finally, the centre area will enable the two prep classes to do things together easily and for the grade one / two classes to also work together easily.
Our three grade five / six classes will relocate to the top level of the U-shaped building. Each class will have far more space in a double classroom. This will also better cater for storage of our ICT equipment, and they are closer to their playgrounds as well.
Regards,
Tracey
PLEASE NOTE ALL DATES/EVENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Friday 15 October - Prep 2022 Transition Day 2.00-3.00pm (Drive Thru - Meet the Teachers)
Thursday 11 November - Prep 2022 Transition Day Parent Information (Online - link will be sent)
Thursday 18 November - Prep 2022 Transition Day 2.30-3.20pm (classroom session)
Thursday 25 November - Prep 2022 Transition Day 2.30-3.20pm (Art & PE)
Tuesday 30 November - Thursday 2 December - Life Education
Thursday 2 December - Prep 2022 Transition Day 2.30-3.20pm (classroom session)
Tuesday 7 December - Orientation Day
Student Awards
3/4W students for amazing information texts produced on Google Slides, resulting from their thinking about lessons during Term 3.
Cooper R - For always being ready on our class Webex, taking part in lessons and working really hard in submitting all work tasks.
Bella H - For a great effort in participating in Remote Learning with Webex, lessons and work tasks.
Connor H - For persistence in working hard at Remote Learning tasks and consistently having success.
Lewis C - For always being on our class Webex, participating in lessons and persistence in improving his work from the feedback given.
Supporting Remote Learning
SUPPORTING REMOTE LEARNING
Linking Learning Network Resource Sharing Folder
Explore, add to and download resources that our network members have developed to support parents as they manage remote learning at home throgh lockdown.
There are some beautiful, bright and engaging resources available in this folder. You might like to add some of your own to share with the network?
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XVoJtMmRrWBZuXjI4asaJC3dM2eahhcF?usp=sharing
Yarra Ranges Family - Activities & Resources
The Family section of Council's website hosts a large collection of home and nature based play ideas and activities to support parents and caregivers to lead children in fun play that supports connection, wellbeing, learning and development.
https://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Community/Family-activities-and-resources/Family-activities-and-resources
Yarra Ranges Families Facebook page
Here families can access daily posts to inspire, acknowledge and support parents and caregivers - including local information, free and low cost events, and supports for home-based play and learning.
https://www.facebook.com/yrfamilies
COVID Resources
COVID RESOURCES Vaccine development: a guide for families | Raising Children Network
COVID/Lockdown Resources
Australian Childhood Foundation
The Foundation continues to develop unique resources that can be used by parents and carers to explore the meanings that children have given to their experiences. The collection includes stories, activity ideas, and simple practices that families can use to navigate and manage children's experiences and feelings of COVID impacts.
https://professionals.childhood.org.au/covid-19/
Emerging Minds COVID-19 translated resources
These COVID-19 resources have been translated into 18 languages and are available for you to share with the parents and families you work with.
This informative guide from Raising Children Network provides clear and reliable information on how the COVID-19 vaccine development and approval process ensures safety, effectiveness and quality.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/health-daily-care/immunisation/vaccine-development-a-guide-for-families
COVID Testing in Yarra Ranges
https://www.each.com.au/coronavirus-covid-19-screening-clinics/
Staying informed about COVID expsoure sites
Here you'll find the current list of COVID-19 exposure sites
This website/app provides a handy visual to stay abreast of new exposures - https://covid19nearme.com.au/state/vic
LINKS FOR THE PARENT PORTAL - TO REGISTER & LOG IN
Please use this link to REGISTER for the portal:
(please note, you will need your access key to link your child.
https://sentral.hps.vic.edu.au/portal/register
You only need to register ONCE.
Once you've registered use the following link as your usual login.
Please use this link to LOGON to the portal:
(once you have registered).
Camp Australia
Canteen Menu
Password: HPS
About Us
Email: healesvilleps@edumail.vic.gov.au
Website: www.hps.vic.gov.au
Location: Healesville Primary School, 2 View St, Healesville VIC, Australia
Phone: (03) 59624053
Facebook: facebook.com/healesvilleps