Healesville Primary School
NEWSLETTER
Week 3- Thursday 13 February 2020
From the Principal's Desk…
Hello Parents and Friends,
Week three has come and gone already – this term is speeding past. It was great to see so many of our parents take up the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher this week. I know the teachers value these meetings as it assists them in getting to know your children better.
This week our School Improvement Team conducted a Learning Walk looking at the classroom environment. Our classrooms are looking fantastic, they are bright, colourful and welcoming. All teachers have been working on setting up their routines and structures to maximise the learning for all. I love working in the classrooms with our students and I have been very impressed with the level of pride they are displaying in their school work.
Swimming Carnival:
A massive thank you to Kelly Laidlaw for organising a highly successful Swimming Carnival. Everyone had a great time and it was lovely to see so many of our parents enjoying this event with their children. Thank you also to all of the parents and staff who assisted – it is impossible to run these events without the support from our community.
ICT - Responsible Use Agreements:
Our grades 3 – 6 students have brought home a responsible use agreement to go through with you. This is part of the documentation required by eSmart schools, of which we are one. Thank you to our parents who have discussed this with their child, signed it with them and returned to the class teacher.
Sharon Gellert our ICT Leader has also created a very similar document for the Prep – Grade 2 students and this will be coming home shortly. Parents shoul discuss this with their child, sign the document with them and then return to your child’s class teacher.
No students will be able to use any of the school’s ICT until their signed agreement is returned.
School Council Elections:
At this time of year we call for nominations of parent and teacher members for School Council. School Council is the body that oversees our school within department guidelines and members have an opportunity to look at how schools function from another perspective and be involved in some aspects of school decision making. We have three parent positions up for nomination. All three of these positions are currently held and these councillors can renominate. You are able to self-nominate or nominate someone else. If you would like to be involved in School Council and are able to nominate for a two year position please come and see me. Then we can ensure you collect the correct nomination form in the right category. (There are three categories: parents, community and DET employees). If we receive more nominations than positions, an election will be held. If you are unsure of what is involved as a parent member we can put you in touch with an existing member who can explain a little bit more and answer any questions you may have or contact me for more information. Nominations open Thursday 20th February and are due in by Friday 28th February 4pm at the office. Unfortunately no late nominations can be accepted.
School Captain off to Barcelona:
Our school captain Charli Litchfield is off to Barcelona for two weeks to participate in a Futsal clinic. What an amazing opportunity to have and I know that she is very proud of this achievement and extremely excited. Everyone here at HPS wishes Charlie the best time possible and we look forward to hearing about it upon her return.
SAVE THE DATE: Family Picnic:
We have decided to hold a family picnic after school on Friday 20th March. We would love everyone to come and join us for a picnic, fun games and activities on the school oval. This coincides with Harmony Week and the National Day of Action Against Bullying. We will send home further information regarding this soon. Hope to see you there.
Just a couple of reminders from our last newsletter.
Parents as Helpers:
On Wednesday 19th February at 9:15 am I will be holding a Parent Helpers session in the Library. This sessions is for parents, grandparents and carers who would like to work in our classrooms this year. We will go through strategies to use when working with students on reading or in small groups. To work in our classrooms you need to attend this session as well as have a current working with children certificate. I hope to see lots of you there as I know the teachers as well as myself value your input and assistance.
P.A.C.H. (Parent and Community Helpers):
Our annual general meeting will be held on February 25th at 2:30pm in the staffroom. I warmly invite all parents, friends and community members to attend the meeting and become involved in PACH. Coffee, tea and light refreshments will be served. This is a great way to make friends, contribute to the school community and raise funds for special projects across the school.
Assembly:
Friday 21st February will be our first assembly of the term and will be run by our school captains.
Newsletter:
Our next newsletter will come out on Thursday 27th February.
If you would like to come and see me for any reason – please do.
Tracey Robertson-Smith
Principal
School Wide Positive Behaviours:
At the very start of this year, all our staff undertook the initial training in SWPBS. This is a framework that brings together school communities to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures. It is a departmental initiative and the following information comes straight from the Education Department’s web site.
SWPBS assists schools to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people.
When SWPBS is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:
· increased respectful and positive behaviour
· increased time focused on instruction
· improved social-emotional wellbeing
· positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
· increased adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
· a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance
Key Features of SWPBS
Implementation of SWPBS requires commitment by the whole school community, particularly from the principal and leadership group. All SWPBS schools implement eight essential features.
They will:
· Establish a common philosophy and purpose: Staff and students use a common language to discuss behaviour. School philosophy emphasises the need to teach appropriate behaviour much like academic learning.
· Establish Leadership and school-wide support: School leaders publicly endorse and support SWPBS. A team at the school leads implementation by creating, reviewing and monitoring an action plan. The work is done in collaboration by the whole staff with input from parents, students and the community.
· Clearly define a set of expected behaviours: The school identifies 3-5 behavioural expectations that apply at all times. Clear, positively stated examples are identified and displayed in different school settings.
· Establish procedures for teaching and practising expected behaviours: A school-wide plan is developed to ensure behavioural expectations are taught to all students by all staff.
· Implement a continuum of procedures to encourage expected behaviours: School-wide systems are developed to acknowledge expected behaviour and promote commitment from all members of the school community.
· Develop a continuum of procedures to discourage inappropriate behaviour: Schools clearly define problem behaviours and identify specific strategies and responses to minor and major behavioural infractions.
· Use procedures for record-keeping, decision making and ongoing monitoring: Schools review data on repeated behaviour issues, the settings in which they occur, and the consequences most likely to be applied for inappropriate behaviours. They correlate these with other sources of data such as academic progress, and analyse this data to make necessary adjustments to school operations in an effort to reduce inappropriate behaviour.
· Support staff to use effective classroom practices: Schools establish systems to support staff to adopt evidence-based instructional practices associated with reductions in inappropriate behaviour.
Respectful Relationships:
On Monday of this week Sharon Gellert (Wellbeing Leader) and I undertook the first day of training for another departmental initial – Respectful Relationships. Throughout the remainder of this term our staff will be joining with Chum Creek Primary staff to undertake further whole school training after school. I have also copied the information regarding this from the Education Department’s site.
Respectful Relationships supports schools and early childhood settings to promote and model respect, positive attitudes and behaviours. It teaches our children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.
The Royal Commission into Family Violence identified the critical role that schools and early childhood education have in creating a culture of respect to change the story of family violence for future generations.
In 2016, respectful relationships education became a core component of the Victorian Curriculum from foundation to year 12, and is being taught in all government and Catholic schools and many independent schools.
Everyone in our community deserves to be respected, valued and treated equally. We know that changes in attitudes and behaviours can be achieved when positive attitudes, behaviours and equality are embedded in our education settings.
Respectful Relationships is about embedding a culture of respect and equality across our entire community, from our classrooms to staffrooms, sporting fields, fetes and social events. This approach leads to positive impacts on student’s academic outcomes, their mental health, classroom behaviour, and relationships between teachers and students.
Together, we can lead the way in saying yes to respect and equality, and creating genuine and lasting change so that every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
The staff at HPS are working hard to create a school culture based upon respect and we feel that both of these departmental initiatives will assist us in achieving this. We will continue to update the school community with our progress in achieving this goal.
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. This is available to established HPS parents in the email that we sent out to families on 30 July 2019). New families will have received their emails Thursday 30th January 2020.
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).
Monday 17 February
Bookclub Closing Date
Tuesday 18 February
School Council Meeting 6:30pm
Wednesday 19 February
Parent Helper Information session in school library 9.15am
Friday 21 February
Upper Yarra District Swimming - selected students
Tuesday 25 February
PACH Annual General Meeting - 2.30 pm library
Thursday 27 Feb
Next School Newsletter
Monday 9 March
Labour Day - Public Holiday
Wednesday 11 March
First Wednesday for Preps - now start full-time
Tuesday 17 March
Grip Leadership Conference - Year 6 Students
Friday 20 March
HPS Family Picnic Day 4pm onwards
Friday 27 March
Last Day Term 1
Tuesday 14 April
First Day Term 2 - Students return to school
Tuesday 21 April
SCHOOL PHOTOS
School Banking - Thursdays
We accept CBA and Bendigo Bank student banking every THURSDAY.
School Banking - Thursdays
We accept CBA and Bendigo Bank student banking every THURSDAY.
Canteen Menu
CAMP AUSTRALIA - BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL CARE
Get social and build friendships at OSHC!
An experience in outside school hours care is an experience in forming friendships. You get more than care with OSHC - building confidence, learning life skills and having fun, while trying something new.
OSHC is a great way for children to step out of their comfort zone and to get to know some students at their school they may not have otherwise met.
Plus, we’re all about convenience - there’s no travel time, traffic or complicated arrangements to be made, so your child can leave the classroom and be playing soccer, eating a healthy snack or learning how to play a board game within minutes of leaving the classroom.
It’s FREE to Register. (and if you want to use OSHC, you first need to register).
Register at pp.campaustralia.com.au/account/login. Once registered, it’s easy to make and manage your bookings online via our Parent Portal.
You may be eligible to claim subsidies on your care usage!
If eligible, to help you with the cost of childcare, you may be entitled to receive the Australian Government Child Care Subsidy. Visit my.gov.au to find out more.
For more information on our service and fees, visit our website www.campaustralia.com.au. Alternatively, come and meet the team in the OSHC room. We’d love to meet you, and you can find out more about OSHC from our friendly, qualified Educators.
We look forward to seeing you and your family soon!
From the Team at Camp Australia
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