Healesville Primary School
NEWSLETTER
Thursday 14th July, 2022
From the Principal's Desk…
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to term three. We hope that you all had an excellent, relaxing break away from school.
Unfortunately, the expectation is that term three will experience the same difficulties with illness and absence as term two. With that in mind, please ensure that you do not send any student to school who has any cold, COVID or flu symptoms. We will continue to provide good ventilation with our air purifiers and open doors and windows (weather permitting). Masks are not mandatory, but they are still recommended by the Education Department on advice of the Health Department. We do have a good supply of masks, so we encourage you to advise your children that masks are recommended and available. RATS will continue to be distributed to families via our students for the remainder of 2022. If you have missed out on receiving RATS as your child was absent please ask the class teachers or pop into the office.
At our first assembly of the term – Next Friday 22nd July we will be having a musical performance by our students who have been working with Ewan. Assembly will start at 2:30pm and it would be great to see parents attend. Any student receiving an award at assembly will have their parents notified by teachers so they are able to attend if possible.
Ewan is now offering keyboard lessons. His flyer with all the relevant details is attached to the newsletter.
Each level will be sending home their own newsletters shortly to give an overview of areas to be covered and what is on for this term. All students and teachers are working on establishing learning goals for Reading, Writing and Numeracy. Your child’s teacher will advise you shortly of these goals and you will be able to work on them at home if you wish.
All classes are also requesting parent helpers. If you have a working with children’s check and would like to be involved at school, please contact your child’s teacher. We need parents to listen to our students read, work with them on writing, spelling and numeracy. It is extremely rewarding to spend just an hour every week or two helping children learn. Helping in classrooms is not just for the lower end of the school, our middle and upper school teachers would also love your assistance. If you do not have a working with children’s check, they are very easy to apply for, as it is online and free for volunteers. We really would love to see more helpers in all our classrooms.
Our Library needs parent helpers as well. With the loss of Maidi Mitchell, we need to find someone willing and able to help with cataloguing new books and contacting them. We plan to involve our Library Captain with organising a band of student helpers to assist with shelving of books. All grades will be visiting the library for session on a weekly basis to enable students to view and share our new and exciting books, as well as borrow them for home reading.
For term one and two, our learning specialists have focussed on supporting students with Literacy and Numeracy. This will still happen with our Teacher – Tutors, Fenna Hogg and Rosie House as well as the reintroduction of Quick Smart Maths with Tina Stewart. However, Chris Kent and Bek Clarke will now be running extension programs for students in Numeracy and Literacy. Chris will be working in all levels across the school. Fenna will be assisting Bek, by running an extension Literacy group with our grade five and six students. Rosie will also be assisting, by running an extension Literacy group with our grade one and two students.
Throughout this term all our Specialist Teachers will be writing articles about their programs for the school newsletter. Brooke Wandin will also contribute and write about her Cultural Education Program which focuses on the Indigenous Language (Woiwurrung) and the Culture of the First People of Healesville – the Wurundjeri. This will also include information about our School Wide Positive Behaviour Program, this school priority is over seen by Sharyn Borg. We are currently organising for our five school rules to be printed and then placed around the school for all our community to see and understand.
At our halfway mark, this term we will be holding an open afternoon. This will be an opportunity for parents and carers to come into the classrooms and see what is being achieved. Students will be able to show case their work, go through their books, explain the progress they have made with their learning goals. This will be on Wednesday 10th of August from 2:30pm. There will be more information regarding this closer to the date.
At the end of this term, we are scheduling student, parent teacher conferences. These will be held predominately on Tuesday 13th September. This will be an opportunity for parents to meet with their child’s teacher in the presence of their child to discuss their child’s achievements, their goals, their progress and any areas of concern. We would like to have more of our students’ input into these conferences. This gives them an opportunity to have their voice heard as well as showcase what they are proud of and how they feel they are going. It also assists our students to understand that the responsibility of being open to learning rests with them. They need to accept their role in learning by being open and contributing. If you have any concerns or queries from the end of semester reports that were released on Compass at the end of term two – please contact your child’s teacher as soon as possible so these issues can be discussed.
Take care, stay well.
Regards,
Tracey
Please note all dates/events are subject to change.
Monday 8th August - Tuesday 16th Aug - Grades 3-4 Swimming Lessons.
Monday 29th August - Curriculum Day.
Tuesday 13th September - Parent/Teacher Interviews.
Healesville Primary School reflections- Caitlyn Anderson Hunter
Hello Healesville Primary School,
My name is Caitlyn Anderson Hunter and I am a past HPS student. I finished Grade 6 in 2016. I am currently in Year 12 at Healesville High School and I am one of the school captains. Being a student at HPS was awesome and sometimes I still miss it!
One of the best things about primary school was going on school camps. I was fortunate enough to attend a camp at Coonawarra in Grade 5 and we went to Canberra in Grade 6. These experiences created life-long memories and helped me build friendships with my peers. I also loved lunch times and playing ‘kid’ games, like gang up tiggy! Things are a bit different in high school and I miss being a little kid!
When we were in Grade 6 we put on a production called ‘Healesville’s Got Talent’ and although some of the acts were a bit cringe-worthy, this experience taught me a lot. It gave me confidence because it showed me that I can do things that initially scare me, like performing on stage. It also brought our class together and taught us how to be organised. These things have helped me throughout high school.
My advice for students when they enter high school is to use your teachers- they are always willing to help! Develop a good relationship with your teachers and show them that you want to do well. I also encourage students to enjoy their time at HPS and don’t wish it to be over. Once you are gone, you will miss it!
I’ve really enjoyed my time as a student at HHS and knowing this is my last year is exciting, but also a bit scary. In the future I am interested in a career in nursing.
Good luck and enjoy your year,
Caitlyn
CANTEEN MENU
Password: HPS
Tennis Coaching - Free Trial
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
COVID Resources
COVID RESOURCES
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 factsheet has five tips to help parents and carers use play to support children’s mental health during COVID-19: Using play to support children during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
- Emerging Minds has developed a toolkit which includes a range of resources to help practitioners and families navigate child mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Supporting children's mental health during a pandemic toolkit - Emerging Minds
Vaccine development: a guide for families | Raising Children Network
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
Privacy Collection Notice
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