Principal Address
Dear Parents,
I want to begin with a topic that is not easy to talk about, but one that is an important one.
Many of you would have seen recent media coverage regarding deeply distressing allegations of abuse in early childhood settings in Victoria, and more recently in New South Wales. These reports have been difficult to read and have brought the issue of child safety into the national conversation.
Although our context is different, I want to take a moment to outline how we, as a school, work hard to ensure that every student in our care is safe from harm. Child safety is not just a legal requirement. It is a profound responsibility, one that I carry personally, and one that our entire team takes very seriously. Above all else, my most important role as Principal is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of your children.
While I could write at length about the many ways this responsibility shapes our daily practice, I want to focus particularly on how we work to ensure the highest standards of conduct among our staff.
1. Annual Child Protection Training
All staff, both teaching and non-teaching, complete mandatory child protection training every year. This ensures that every adult on our site understands their responsibilities and the expectations placed upon them.
2. A Strong Code of Conduct
Every staff member commits to a clearly defined Code of Conduct, which outlines the professional and personal behaviour expected within our community. Staff are trained in the code and confirm each year that they have read and understood it. I revisit it regularly during staff meetings and other key points throughout the year.
3. Working With Children Check
All staff and volunteers must hold a current Working With Children Check. This is essential and forms part of our layered approach to screening and ensuring student safety.
4. Thorough Reference Checking
As Principal, I personally conduct all reference checks for prospective employees. These are never just a formality. I have honest, in-depth conversations with previous employers to ensure that candidates are of sound character and have no history of misconduct or concern.
5. Ongoing Training and Vigilance
Beyond meeting compliance requirements, we are committed to a culture of continued learning and alertness. It is the thoughtful, consistent awareness of every staff member that protects our students day to day.
While I will not go into the full details of our Child Protection Policy here, it is available on our website. I do want to highlight one important point. There are very few circumstances where a staff member would ever be alone with a student behind a closed door. This is only permitted in clearly defined, exceptional situations. Our staff understand and follow this expectation.
All this considered, I also do not enforce a blanket rule against physical contact. Personally, I find it unsettling when children reach out for a hug and are met with coldness. At our school, brief physical contact, like a hug, must always be child-initiated and appropriate. However, it is important to us that our environment feels warm and nurturing, while still placing safety as the priority.
I know this is not an easy topic, but it is a necessary one. I share all of this to assure you of our deep and ongoing commitment to providing a school where children are safe.
Lolly Bags
One of the things I love about our school is how generous our kids and parents are. However, I am going to have to ask that lolly bags no longer be brought to school and distributed on birthdays. With the increasing number of students, we are often having multiple birthdays in a class each week and we are finding the lollybags becoming more and more extravagant! Some parents have clear expectations on sugar intake and as a school we can no longer facilitate the handing out of lolly bags. I am sorry as I know the heart behind it is beautiful and that we want every child to be celebrated. Please continue to bring in cake for the class if you would like and our teachers will still make sure that Happy Birthday is sung and we celebrate each child.
Photos
School photos have gone home today! They look great! Thanks again for everyone ensuring your children looked so smart for the day.
Permission Notes
Our Years 4-6 brought home a permission note for camp yesterday which I know they are excited about. Our Year 5/6's were also given a note about “Amazing Me” - a session being facilitated next week about puberty and body changes.
Oztag
Our Oztag teams are playing in their carnival this Wednesday and they have been training hard for it. Good luck to them, we wish them all the best! The bus is leaving at 7.15am to Penrith!
Zone Athletics
Please find the photo gallery and update in the School News & Events page of this newsletter.
Special Visitor
Next Friday we are welcoming Mrs Julia Madzudzo to our school. Julia is the Principal of Hippo Valley Primary School, located deep in the sugar plantations of southern Zimbabwe in a place called Chiredzi.
Some of you may remember that last year I had the opportunity to travel to Zimbabwe, where I worked with Christian schools across rural areas, providing some teacher training to Christian Schools in Southern Zimbabwe. One of the highlights of that trip was meeting a young boy our school sponsored back in 2023, giving him the opportunity to attend school. Hippo Valley is an amazing little school, doing wonderful things and serving the community so well.
Julia is visiting Australia to attend the CSA National Leaders Conference in Melbourne, and we’re thrilled that she will be stopping by HPCS next Friday. She’ll be joining us at Chapel, taking a tour of the school, and speaking with our Year 5/6 class about life in Zimbabwe.
This will be Julia’s first time outside of Zimbabwe, and she is incredibly excited to visit HPCS. If you happen to see her around the school, please make her feel welcome and say hello.
My door is always open.
Joe Britton