News from HWPS

Welcome to this fortnight’s newsletter.

Swimming Trials

This year we conducted swimming trials to select the team to represent HWPS at the District Swimming Carnival next week. The trials were open to students in Grade 3-6 who could confidently swim 50 metres in one or more strokes.

Thanks to Kirsty for her thorough planning of the event which ensured the morning ran smoothly.

Thank you also to the staff who assisted with marshalling, timing and supervising students and to the parents who assisted and attended to support their child/children.

The District Swimming team will be announced at our assembly on Monday.

Getting to Know You Meetings

Our ‘Getting to Know You’ meetings commenced this week with families of Grade 1 and Grade 5/6 students. These meetings are being held via Webex as we continue to do everything within our control to keep our school open and our community safe. The meetings provide a wonderful opportunity to exchange information, share expectations and to set the scene for a very successful 2022.

At Hawthorn West, we plan at least one scheduled opportunity every term to share how your child is progressing and the next steps in their learning:

Term 1 Getting to Know You meetings (Week 3 & 4).
Term 1 Parent /Teacher Meetings (Week 9)
Term 2 and 4: Semester reports are sent home at the end of these terms.
Term 3: Student Led Conferences (Date to be advised)

The partnership between teachers and parents is vital to ensure the best possible learning outcomes for our students. We look forward to working closely with you all again this year.

COVID Update

Yesterday the Victorian Government announced a 6-week extension of the COVIDSafe measures for schools. These measures will now be in place for the remainder of Term 1, subject to any changes in health advice. We will update the community about any relevant details in the expected Operations Guide and, until then, continue our current school arrangements.

Once again thanks to everyone for the manner in which you have supported our school as we continue to work through the current COVID issues and guidelines. Please continue to keep an eye on Compass for updates and most importantly, keep a close eye on the children and yourselves for symptoms.

Family Contributions

Thank you to our families who have already finalised their family contributions. We have had a very smooth start to the year with the children being well resourced and ready to go! Our new fleet of student laptops and ipads have been set up and are ready for students to use. As mentioned previously, the family contributions are a vital component of the school’s ability to provide resources for us to implement the best possible education for all children.

Please note that if you are yet to finalise your family contributions and need some assistance, do not hesitate to see me.

Respectful Behaviours Within the School Community

It is wonderful to have our students back in the classroom this year. Extra health and safety measures continue to be in place and our students are adept at managing these practices and routines. As we adjust to the latest changes, it is very important that the adults in our school community treat each other with respect and kindness.

The Department of Education and Training has released a new policy that describes the positive behaviour expected from parents, carers, and other adults in Victorian school communities. The policy sets clear standards of behaviour to create a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for students, staff and adults. This policy is in a very easy to read format; we hope all families will take a few minutes to engage with the positive behaviours described in this policy.

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/Respectful-Behaviours-within-the-School-Community-Policy.aspx

Congratulations to:

our 2022 student leaders who have commenced in their new roles and demonstrated initiative, positivity and strong collaboration with their peers . The school captains (Charlotte, Ashkan, Lila and Darcy) have planned and confidently led our school assemblies and the Grade 5/6 cohort meetings. Our House Captains were actively involved in building ‘house spirit’, developing chants, encouraging their team mates and leading their houses at the recent swimming trials.
Max Moore for his amazing achievement outside of school. Max won the U13 State track cycling championship in two events: Flying 200m (he averaged 51.5km per hour) & 500m time trial.

Well done and congratulations to Max on his cycling success.

Warm regards,

Glenys

34H writing