Dear parents and carers,

I would like to give the staff’s thanks for the mammoth effort at our working bee last Sunday. We had so many families and members of the Freedom Church come to help us tidy the school. All our playgrounds now have fresh soft fall under the equipment, our paths were swept, the asphalt pressure washed, sandpits refilled, mulch spread, new basketball backboards installed and a general tidy of our garden areas. The school looks amazing, and it proves that our school really does have a fantastic home school partnership. There is no way we could have got all of this done without our community’s help.

This week we held our parent teacher interviews and again the attendance by families was extremely high. It was the perfect opportunity to meet (if you hadn’t already) your child’s teacher, share relevant information and discuss how the term was going so far for your child. If you missed this opportunity, try to catch up with the class teacher before the end of term.

Tayla Elsum, one of our grade 3/4 teachers is getting married towards the end of this term. We would like to wish her and Matt all the best for a long and happy life together. We hope they can celebrate in style!

On Tuesday 21st this week it was Harmony Day. Our students all created amazing pieces of work based on the theme of WE ALL BELONG. Please have a look at the displays in the rooms. We have also created our whole school project for 2023 - which will be displayed in the library, this also was based upon Harmony Day. All staff and students worked to create many examples of the lotus flower, the symbol of Harmony Day. They used their words to describe what Harmony Day means to them.

We have begun tours already for 2024. Our aim is to have two prep classes next year. If you have a child starting school in 2024, please pop into the office to get an enrolment pack. On Tuesday 28th March (next Tuesday), we are holding an open night for parents and carers of preps for 2024. If you or anyone you know has a kinder child, please tell them about our open night and encourage them to attend. We will be starting at 5:15pm down in the Prep – Two building. This is a great opportunity to learn about our amazing prep program. I would also encourage families with preps for next year to do a 1: 1 tour to see our school in operation. At HPS, we as a staff pride ourselves on our calm and orderly learning environments and the success of our SWPBS program. Our school data shows the great results our high expectations for the teaching and learning is having.

From next week there are only two weeks to go for this term – how quickly it has gone by. As you know we have our major fundraiser coming up – The Colour Fun Run. This will be held from 2:00pm on Thursday 30th March. It has been a huge amount of fun in the past and I am sure that it will be this time. Our fundraising is going well – thank you for the support. PACH send me updates and then I have been relaying that information onto yourselves. There is only a short amount of time left so keep up the terrific effort in raising funds for a much-needed new playground. Our teachers are busy planning what their station will look like this year. It will be a little bit different as we will be holding it only on the oval, so it is not such a long course for our younger students.

Last week we had our first meeting of the new School Council for 2024. I would like to thank Chris Liesis, Sharon Gellert and Marlene Williams who have just finished their time on Council. I thank you for your time, your ideas, and your work creating HPS into a high performing school. We have welcomed three new members this year, thank you for joining us – Ash Greaves and Kelly Laidlaw who are both teachers at HPS and Sharon White who is a driver for PACH and a mum of a student in grade one. I would also like to thank our returning members, Lisa Hodgson our President, Jodie Sweeney our Treasurer, Tamara Ellis our Secretary, Amy Stanley, Leah Norman, Susan Smith, Stacey Marriott, and Sharyn Borg. These members give their time and are key drivers for improving our school.

On Friday 31st of March all staff will be attending a professional learning session. Woori Yallock Primary will be hosting our Education Support staff and our teaching staff will be at Millwarra Primary School. Our school will still be open.

Lastly our school will begin the term break holidays on Thursday 5th April at 2:00pm. We will be holding an Easter Bonnet parade during the day, having a big clean-up of our school and running a final assembly to draw the Easter Raffle. Don’t forget to send in your raffle tickets and any donations for the hampers before the Thursday. We will advise the community of the actual plan for the day including times closer to the date.

In Term Two, school for our students will start on Wednesday 26th April. Teachers will resume on Monday 24th April for a curriculum day focusing on planning units of study for Literacy. Tuesday 25th April is ANZAC day.

As this is the last newsletter for term one – I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy break with lots of chocolate, rest, and happy family times. I know that many are tired as it has been an extremely hectic term with lots of sporting events in which our students have starred. Thank you for your continued support of our school, I would like to thank our teachers for their amazing work this term and finally thank you to our students for being the people they are – I truly love coming to work each day.

Regards,

Tracey

Wednesday 28th March - Prep 2024 Open Night

Thursday 30th March - Colour Fun Run

Friday 31st March - Curriculum Day

Monday 3rd April - House Cross Country (CHANGE OF DATE)

Thursday 6th April - Final Day of term 1 - 2:30pm finish

Friday 7th April - Good Friday Public Holiday

Monday 24th April - Curriculum Day

Tuesday 25th April - ANZAC Day (Public Holiday)

Wednesday 26th April - Students start first day of Term 2.

PREP B

PJ S - for always giving her best effort.

Kaiden T - For always behaving in class.

1/2H

Maggie B - Respect Award - for being a fantastic role model and always showing respect.

Toby E - Learning Award - for using noun groups in his writing.

1/2S

Sadie S - Learning Award - For always going beyond what she is asked to do in her learning.

Seb K - Learning Award - For making a huge improvement in his attitude to his learning.

1/2G

Dom C - Community Award - For assisting the teacher and being a valued member of 1/2G.

Zoe R - Learning Award - For writing a wonderful descriptive piece using adjectives and noun groups to describe the picture.

3/4E

Tyson C - Confidence Award - For always having the confidence to share his work to his class mates and teachers! Well done.

Rydah M - Learning Award - Always giving all learning tasks a go and always doing your best! Super proud! Well done.

3/4O

Violet N - For contributing to our school community by having a great attitude and and eagerness to work together, Go Violet!

Archie B - For showing respect in all areas of this learning. Archie is a kind and thoughtful student who considers others and makes considered decisions. Well done Archie.

5/6K

Shanyu T - Community Award - For being a responsible member of our school.

Spencer H - Community Award - For working hard and helping others in our class.

5/6W

Tyler R - Learning Award - For being interested and conscientious to always put and effort into learning in our Maths sessions.

Pheobe L - Learning Award - for being 'on the ball' and focused to get the most out of lessons.

Jarrah HS - Learning Award - for being keen to write a story and then look at how to make his writing better.

5/6L

Alyssa H - Confidence Award - For displaying excellent 'Growth Mindset' through challenging tasks!

Will S - Community Award - For cheering on his peers and making everyone feel supported!

Hello everyone, I’m Brooke Lawson and I am one of the 5/6 teachers at Healesville Primary this year. I have previously worked at a small school which was a great experience. I chose to move on because I wanted to work as part of a larger team and expand my knowledge. I am very lucky to be working with the amazing staff here – they have made the transition feel seamless! I am local girl, as I grew up in Healesville and hold very special memories of this wonderful town. I enjoy going on adventures with my partner and dogs, particularly to the beach on a nice hot day. Although I have 2 beautiful dogs, I’m more of a cat person and always look forward to getting home after a long day and snuggling my little tigers. Oh… I have a pet turtle, which was a very random COVID purchase, but our family would be incomplete without him! I really look forward to getting to know everyone a part of the Healesville P.S community 😊

Hello all you earthy green thumbs out there!

We would love to prepare our sad unloved veggie gardens ready for some winter planting.

If you have some spare time on Wednesday afternoons between 2.30-3.30 or any other time that you would be happy to help us. Come along with your spade, gloves and gardening tools and help us get these gardens up and ready.

Please contact Rosie House.

Cheers Mia B (Sustainability Captain)

Please book in via the contacts below - all ages abilities welcome

WAYNE BROOM - ph - 0437008788 www.classictennis.com.au

Tennis Australia/USPTA Club Professional Coach

healesvilletennis@live.com.au