Healesville Primary School
NEWSLETTER
Week 7 - Term 1 - Thursday 11 March 2021
From the Principal's Desk…
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is hard to fathom just how quickly this term is flying by. It is also interesting to look back to this time last year – this was one of our last normal weeks.
This week I have been involved in the review process for a school in Ringwood. Schools undertake a review every four years and from this, they create a new strategic plan that will guide the work of the school for the following four years. It has brought home to me just how much we achieve at HPS. When I walk around our learning spaces, I feel so proud of what our teachers are doing. Our spaces are vibrant learning environments where students are encouraged to try their best.
This term, teachers have been working with their students to set realistic improvement goals. Ask your child/children what their learning goals are at the moment? Ask them what they are doing to achieve these goals. There may be some things that they could work on at home with you.
We have some exciting events over the remaining three weeks of term. On Friday 19th we have our Colour Run. This will start with a BBQ lunch, then time for a play in the yard with the run starting off at 2pm. Everyone is looking forward to this and I hope the sun shines for our event. Please come along and join in the fun.
On Friday 26th March we are hosting a curriculum day here at HPS. We have four other Yarra Valley schools joining us as we learn about using Mentor Texts effectively in Reading and Writing. This is a student free day.
Tuesday 30th March is our Parent Teacher Interview evening. Interviews will be starting at 2pm, our specialists will take students to release teachers. Our interviews will run from 2pm to 7:30pm. More information regarding this will come home shortly as parents will need to book interviews through our portal.
Playgroup has been running for a few weeks now and has been a great addition to our school. If you have a pre school child please come along and enjoy the fun on a Wednesday afternoon at 2:30pm. I would like to thank all of the teachers who have been running our playgroup – you have done an amazing job.
It has been terrific to see our parents, friends, grandparents and carers back in our school and assisting in the classrooms. Please if you too would like to assist in any way let us know – we would love to have you!
Thank you for your continued support of our school. Our motto of together we make a difference includes all of you as well as the staff and students here at HPS.
Take care,
Tracey Robertson-Smith
Thursday 11 March - HHS Scott Fisher to visit year 5/6 students. Parents welcome to attend.
Friday 12 March - Zero Bully Program
Friday 19 March - Colour Fun Run
- Book Club Closing Date
- Assembly - 9.15am due to Colour Run
Tuesday 23 March - School Council
Wednesday 24 March - SCHOOL PHOTO DAY
Thursday 25 March - Newsletter
Friday 26 March - CURRICULUM DAY - PUPIL FREE DAY
Tuesday 30 March - Parent Teacher Interviews
Wednesday 31 March - HPS Open night for prospective 2022 preps
Thursday 1 April - Last Day of Term 1 - student finish 2.30pm
- Bus travellers finish 2:10pm
- Assembly
Monday 19 April - First day Term 2
Thursday 22 April - House Athletics
Friday 30 April - District Athletics
Tuesday 4 May - School Council Meeting
Wednesday 5 May - Friday 7 - Bookfair
Thursday 6 May - House Cross-Country
Tuesday 11 May - Maths Night
Wednesday 19 May - District Cross-Country
Tuesday 25 May - CURRICULUM Day - Pupil Free Day
Tuesday 8 June - School Council Meeting
Students of the Week
P1H: Darcy W - for being a positive role model
12LB: Harvey W - being a kind and thoughtful friend.
Hudson M - great reading and improvement in tutoring this week.
34B: Charlotte K - for working hard to complete her learning tasks and putting in her best effort.
34W: Emmy M - for always being positive and enthusiastic in class and eager to contribute to lessons.
45V: Alyssa M
56B: Brookley H - for being kind and supportive towards other members of our class.
56SK: Summer C - for always working hard and going the extra mile.
School Pride: 5/6B
Zaine – School Captain
I’m looking forward to making the school a better place by being a role model for students at HPS. Meeting visitors and thanking special people is part of my role. Running assemblies will give me more confidence and grow as a person.
Meet our Captains
Monique – School Captain
My role as school captain involves helping out people in the school yard and helping with any school activities. With school activities like the Colour Run I’ll make sure that everyone has a go, gives it their best and has fun. I’ll be encouraging fundraising activities to help the school raise money for improvements to help us all.
Summer - Chum House Captain
As house captain I’ll be supporting teachers at athletic and swimming carnivals making sure that everyone is in an event and at their places on time. Throughout the year I’ll help out with the sports shed, setting up and packing up equipment.
Will – Myer House Captain
My role is helping out with swimming and athletic carnivals by getting everyone involved and making sure they have a good time. I’m available in the playground if anyone wants help with anything.
Sky – Yarra House Captain
As house captain I will be a good role model and show leadership skills by following the school values. Part of my role would be to encourage people at athletics or sporting events for them to have a go.
Senna – Watts House Captain
My role role as house captain is to represent Watts as a community and make sure the students push themselves to their limits so they can be their best selves and see they can achieve more than they thought they could. My role is to also encourage good sportsmanship by cheering on my team along with other teams and inspire future house captains to do their best and step up as leaders.
Chloee– S.T.E.M Captain
My role as S.T.E.M captain will possibly involve coding and technology. I’ll be supporting our S.T.E.M teacher, classroom teachers and students in S.T.E.M activities, use of computers and ipads along with any other things we’re doing.
Abi – Library Captain
My role is helping Maidi sort and catalogue books in the library. I’ll be helping others in the school yard and they’ll be able to see I’m a captain because captains wear a special captain polo shirt. During lunchtime clubs I will help out in the library by reading books to the little ones.
Evelyn– Arts Captain
I feel that as the Arts Captain it is my duty to inspire students to be creative and acknowledge their talents. I want to do this by starting up an Art Club with students who wish to expand their talent in this area. Throughout the year I’ll be conducting competitions such as the Easter Colouring Competition.
Tahli - Wellbeing Captain
Wellbeing Captain involves me helping students if they need help or just want someone to talk to. I’ll also be involved with lunchtime clubs for students who would like to have some quiet time or they feel a bit uncomfortable in the playground and it gives them somewhere to belong and feel good. Tuesday mornings I’m helping with the Breakfast Club which is a really good project we have at school.
Georgia – Sustainability Captain
My role involves looking after the kitchen garden and looking after our school chooks. I make sure the garden is watered and the chooks also have water and food. Collecting the eggs, vegies and produce is also something I do. These things are sold at the office to help fund the sustainability project at school. I’ll be doing sustainability clubs during the year with the school community.
Numeracy
This year is an exciting time for Mathematics at Healesville Primary School. As a school we were lucky enough to be selected for the PMSSI Initiative which means that 2 teachers are released for 2 1/2 days per week for 2 years in order to work on improving the way Mathematics is delivered across the school.
Students work on Maths for 1 hour per day from Prep- Year 6. There will be a focus on number talks with children being encouraged to talk about their thinking and how they go about solving problems. This will be followed by challenging open ended tasks which allow all children to access each question. As the year goes on your children should be able to talk to you about how maths is changing at Healesville Primary School.
There will also be a fortnightly Maths Corner in the School Newsletter with simple practical tips for working on Maths at home, as well as a Maths Challenge for a specified level of the school with a small prize awarded at the following assembly.
Also stay tuned for information on our upcoming Family Maths Night.
If you have any questions in relation to Mathematics at Healesville Primary School, please feel free to contact me at school.
Christopher Kent - Numeracy Leader
A Note about Excursions/Incursions and Camp permission.
- The portal always closes approximately a week before an event (earlier in the case of camps) in order for the event organiser to organise buses, teams, entry numbers etc. It is not something that can be done the day before or even the morning of the event. Arrangements also need to be made at school for children who are not attending the event.
- We cannot accept late permission. We ask for your cooperation with this as it can be very distressing for a child to miss out on an event for this reason.
- It is a legal requirement that written/email/Portal permission from a child’s parent or legal guardian is received before a child can attend an event. Verbal permission cannot be accepted under any circumstances.
- We cannot stress enough that, if you are experiencing difficulties with either dojo or the portal, to call or come and see us in the office and we will help you to get connected. These platforms are our main means of communication and it is vital that they are working for you.
- Prior to the portal permission system, a vast number of parents were not getting excursion information as children would either lose them, forget to hand them in – both to the parent or to the school once permission had been given. Our School Council met and determined the protocol for our excursions. The implementation of the portal system allows parents/guardians to be in control of payments and permissions.
Points to note:
Please do not download the Sentral 'app'. The app is clunky and very slow and is best avoided. Instead, use your phones web browser to type in the Sentral web address https://sentral.hps.vic.edu.au/portal2/#!/login and then save this address as a bookmark on your phone (if you are unsure of how to do this, please come and see us or a quick google search will show you how). We have noticed that the best functionality of Sentral is via a desktop or laptop.
Our process for excursions is as follows:-
- Information about the event is posted to class dojo along with a link to the portal. We do this so that parents/guardians can, with one or 2 clicks, give permission for the event. We will always try to allow plenty of time for you to give permission.
- A few days before the permission cut-off, a reminder is posted along with the portal link again.
- Once the permission cut off has passed, the event closes and parents/guardians will be unable to give permission. In turn, this means that the child cannot attend the event.
- Payment is required before an event, but, you can give permission immediately and make payment a bit later on so please don’t wait to give permission until you can make payment.
Louise George
BUSINESS MANAGER
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).
School Banking
Camp Australia - Before & After School Care
School Fee Information for 2021
Please note Uniform Shop at the school open Friday mornings! (see below)
POSITION VACANT - UNIFORM SHOP COORDINATOR AT HPS
The uniform shop coordinator at Healesville Primary School
is a paid position and is currently vacant.
If you are interested in applying for this position, please contact Jenny directly at Surrey Clothing on 9890 3487 or email her at admin@surreyclothing.com.au
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