Principal Address

Dear Parents,

Trusting that you had a good week.

Thank you to everyone who came and joined us today at the Kindergarten Graduation Ceremony. Congratulations to our Kindy classes! We are so proud of how far all of our students have come, they are amazing!

As promised, here is the list of teaching allocations for next year.

Teaching Staff 2026

K Green: Miss Djane Kinnear
K Blue: Miss Monique Gomez
1 Green: Mr Markos Misikos
1 Blue: Mrs Rebecca Schofield
2 Blue: Mrs Elizabeth Gounder (Miss Christina Gavriloff from Term 2)
2 Green: Miss Skye Snelson
3: Mrs Rebecca Warda (3) Mrs Johanna Gunamie (2)
4: Mrs Melissa Morton
5 Green: Mrs Le Larni Jackson
5: Blue: Mr Jair Coronado
6: Miss Abbi Thomas

Specialised Staff

Mrs Jade Davila: Deputy Principal
Mrs Corinne Burgess: Science (3 days)
Mrs Diana Auckett: Library (4.5 days)
Mrs Sarah Stevens (Term 1 only): 2 days Music, 2 days Bible
Mr Joel Scurr: PDHPE, Sports Coordinator
Mrs Britton: Musical Term 1, then Bible from Term 2 (2 days)
Mr Andrew Drayton: Band Coordinator (1 day)

We are welcoming

Mrs Melissa Morton - Melissa has done block work this year at HPCS and did a tremendous job when Mrs Schofield was on Long Service Leave. Mrs Morton also has experience at other independent and public schools, it is great to have her here full time for next year.

Mr Joel Scurr - It has been a dream of mine for a little while to have a specialised PDHPE teacher. I know Joel will be a superb fit for the school. Joel has experience as the primary PDHPE coordinator and teacher at St Kevin’s at Earlwood. Joel also has experience teaching in high school, and he is a former elite cricketer. Having a specialised person in this role will ensure we offer high quality sporting opportunities and PDHPE teaching and coaching for our students in a nurturing Christian environment.

Miss Skye Snelson - Skye joins us from Regents Park Christian School, where she has been doing some block and casual work. Skye comes highly recommended and is an excellent young teacher.

Mrs Le Larni Jackson - Le Larni joins us from Wattawa Heights Public School, after a lengthy career in public education, she is excited to join a faith based environment. It will be great to have such an experienced educator join our team.

We are farewelling

Pastor Ethan - Ethan has done a phenomenal job over the last 5 years. Ethan has taught bible lessons, ran our chapel services, and also been an extra layer of pastoral care and support for our students and families. Ethan has also filled in the gap of sports coordinator and also ran all of our IT parts around the school. Ethan’s positivity and kind heart are absolutely infectious, and we will miss having him on staff dearly. He intends to spend some more time with his young son and he will remain on staff at church a few days a week, so we will no doubt see him at Chapels and around the property.

A few other Changes

Mrs Gounder, Mrs Stevens and Mrs Davila are all expecting babies, due in early Term 2, and we thank God for this and pray for the babies' healthy arrivals.
Mrs Stevens moves into a specialised (Music and Bible) capacity for Term 1.
With the continued growth of the school, Mrs Davila will no longer be on a class.
Mrs Schofield continues to look after our Learning Support programs and this will extend to a Diverse Learning portfolio next year, which also includes her supporting some of our Gifted and Talented students.

Many schools wait until 2026 to provide this information. I believe it’s important to offer our community some certainty by the end of 2025. However, I do want to include a disclaimer that, from time to time, unexpected staffing changes can occur between November and January - though I’m not anticipating any at this stage.

Class Allocations for Students

Given the availability of new teachers, we have not been able to facilitate a 2026 orientation day this year. Students in double-stream classes will find out their class allocations when they return to school in 2026. Just a reminder that classes are reshuffled each year, and 2026 will be no different.

Please note that the executive team and teachers invest significant time and care into class placements, considering factors such as student–teacher fit, peer dynamics, and gender balance.

Musical

Students from Years 2-5 would have seen the note that went out from Mrs Britton regarding the musical and opportunity for our Years 3-6’s (2026) to audition. These are happening on Monday. I’ve been so encouraged at the amount of people who have been so excited to audition.

Our Musical will take place in early Term 2. All students will be involved and it is a great celebration of the performing arts and our community.

New School Logo

From 2026, we’ll be introducing a refreshed school logo. As you may have realised we had the triangles as our logo which matched the Church, however, we wanted something distinctive for our school community. It will be good going forward to have a more relevant school crest, our dove symbolising peace, God's Spirit impacting and working in our community and the Cross. A reminder that our school must continue to be a place of 'Spirit and Truth' both from a faith based perspective and in our learning. A place of peace and knowledge!

Optional After-School Activity Groups 2026

Please note that next year we are planning to introduce some after-school activity groups in addition to our in-school clubs and our instrumental band program. These will include a dance and a sporting group, offered at a small cost and run by specialist coaches. We have already appointed a Dance Teacher, and the program will run in two groups: Years 3–6 and K–2.

However, this is a rough idea:

Monday: 3-6 Sport
Tuesday: K-2 Dance
Wednesday: 3-6 Sport
Thursday: 3-6 Dance

Please complete an Expression of Interest form here. This is not a sign-up sheet, but it will help us gauge interest, and I will provide more information early next year.

Year 6 Fun day

Our annual Year 6 Fun Day will be held on Tuesday, 25 November! This year's theme is the Beach Bash. Students received a note earlier this week with details. They can come dressed in beach-themed clothing (no swimmers, please, and appropriate footwear) and enjoy fun beach activities run by our Year 6 students. The morning will be split into two groups: K–2 and 3–6, and students will have the chance to purchase beach-themed mystery bags and snacks from our fundraiser shop. Weather permitting, sprinklers may be available for some extra fun at the end of each session.

Presentation Day

Many families would have received an email today letting you know that your child will be receiving an award at Presentation Day on Thursday, 4 December at 9am. As Presentation Day is always a very well-attended event, please complete this form to let us know whether you will be attending so we can plan accordingly.

Please also know that for students who are not receiving an award, every child is valued and worth celebrating. As we have done in previous years, every student will have the opportunity to walk on stage and receive a completion certificate (with the exception of Year 6 and Kindergarten, who have their own graduation ceremonies at another time).

Christmas Chapel

We are excited to see everyone at our Christmas Chapel next Friday. Our K-2’s are performing. It should be a great day and celebrating our saviour; Jesus. Reminder this is a mufti day and students are encouraged to wear Christmas clothing!

Markets

It would be great to see everyone tomorrow at the Christmas Markets, come and see the HPCS stand and do some Christmas Craft and get a balloon. There will be lots of food trucks and other things there which will be awesome, we are looking forward to it very much.

My door is always open.

Mr Joe Britton