Principal's Report

National Reconciliation Week

NRW is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. In schools, it presents a wonderful opportunity for schools such as ours to delve into the history of our country, connect with our First Nations histories and stories and look to a positive future. 

At our school, we have a Reconciliation Action Plan and a very active Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) team who work together to achieve its goals. This team comprises of staff and parents and has accomplished much in the past few years.

One recent action from last year was the commissioning of an art piece that will be used for a future sports uniform design. We were excited to collaborate with Indigenous artist and past student of Hampton Primary, Bayley Mifsud. Bayley works under the name Merindah Gunya, a name given to her by her elders. You can now see the artwork proudly displayed in the school office and take a sneak peak at our future sports uniform for senior students. The artwork is below; the story behind it is as follows: 

This artwork represents Hampton Primary School and the strong community it has built over the past 100+ years. 

There are multiple meeting places with people around them, symbolic of the school’s different classrooms where the students go to learn. 

There are animal tracks throughout which represent the connection to the beautiful Bunurong country that it is on. There is water also because being seaside is a strong part of the stories of the Bunurong people and their Elders. 

Hampton Primary acknowledge the Tradition Owners of the land that they are on and this artwork is a representation of their commitment to Reconciliation with Australia’s first peoples. 

We look forward to continuing our work toward reconciliation and trust that your children will enjoy bringing home some of their learnings and activities from this week. 

Ellen Jose Reconciliation Awards

Recently a number of our students’ artworks were shortlisted for the Ellen Jose Reconciliation Art Awards. Winners were presented on Saturday morning at a special ceremony. HPS won many nominations and prizes which is a wonderful reflection of Dani Peebles’ art program and the skills the students have developed in it. Congratulations to Iona who won the junior section and Lily and Ada who finished 2nd and 3rd in the senior section. You can view their’s and others’ entries here.

2024 Enrolments 

Enrolments are now open for 2024 and close on July 28th. For any current parents that have children beginning school next year, please visit our enrolment page on the school website or contact the office to complete the enrolment process.

Capital Works Funding

As shared last week we were thrilled to see a commitment to our $9.8m promise from the state goverment and have already begun training with the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) to better understand each stage of the process. The first of these stages is an Asset Management Plan which will be lodged in the next two months after school-council endorsement, and will involve community consultation. A short survey will be shared on Compass tomorrow which I encourage you to complete. This stage precedes going to tender for Architects which will occur not long afterward. We will keep you informed and engaged throughout and invite anyone with specific knowledge or skills, particularly in the architecture field, to get in touch with either Mark Alexander or myself.

HPS Local Business Register. 

In the interest of supporting our school community's family businesses, a Local Business Register has been established by one of our parents. If you have a family business, please fill in the form on the link below with the business details. The information will be collated and the register will be available to all HPS families as a way to support local family run businesses within our Hampton Primary Community. Thanks to Lisa Malherbe for driving this initiative.

Sustainability: Snack Shack Changes

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our sustainability as a school and our Green Warrior student leaders play an important role in driving initiatives. The Snack Shack is also looking for ways to reduce their waste and as such, will be making the following changes to reduce their waste.

• Single-use bamboo cutlery will no longer be given out with meals that require a fork or spoon. We ask that all parents please send your child to school with the appropriate cutlery. There will be a supply here at school for the occasion when students forget, however we do ask for your support with this change.
• Single-portion tomato and soy sauce will not be given out. A large refillable dispenser will be in each class for students to use. 

We are looking at further improvements we can make to packaging and other alternatives going forward.

Cross Country

Congratulations to all students that participated in the District Cross Country last week. We had a large contingent of students qualify for Divisions which was held on Tuesday 30th May. At the time of writing results were not in, however I’m confident they will have shown great resilience and determination as they did in previous rounds.

New & Important Dates

• Now – 28th July: 2024 Prep Enrolments are open. Please speak to the office for further information
• eSafety Webinars: 
  • Online relationships and consent: sending nudes and sexting - 14 June 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Register Here. 
  • eSafety 101: Setting your child up for success online. 31 May 7:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Register Here. 

To stay up to date with all events and key dates, see the Compass Calendar.