From the Head of Primary's Desk

Dear Parents/Guardians

What an amazing feeling it is to have all of the students back on site again with our Year 8 to 10 students joining us for the first time this semester! 

As one group returns, we are very sad to see another one leaving us – our Year 12 students had their last day on Wednesday and it was very sad to have to say goodbye to them. However, we know that God has a plan and purpose for every one of them and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for this very special group of young people.

As Mr Eastman mentioned in his newsletter article last week, we are running a series on our Strategic Priorities at the moment. This week we will be looking at our second priority which is Learning and Creativity.

Our Objective – A rich and creative learning culture where all students and staff remain inquisitive, motivated to learn and work hard to achieve their God-given potential.

The Associated goals are to:

• continually improve the learning culture, student learning aspirations and staff and student understanding of effective learning,
• incorporate a wide range of learning opportunities and experiences to develop key skills in students, including Inquiry-Based Learning Projects from Prep to Year 10, and programs to increase the 4 Cs (communication, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration),
• plan, develop and maintain learning spaces that inspire and can be adapted and transformed to suit a range of flexible learning activities,
• explicitly teach, encourage and publicise creative learning and creativity in students.

Where I think we are doing well

We are committed to developing our students as strong and independent learners. This priority is an area where we will always be working to improve as we are working with individuals who have very different and ever-changing needs in an ever-changing world. However, some of the areas which I think we are doing well at the moment are:

Allowing our students to develop their creative sides and publicising this. A very recent example of this has been our Heatherton Creates Week which has been a huge success. From the virtual art gallery which showcased students' creations to the virtual music concerts and Heatherton’s Got Talent competition, this has been a resounding success and I would like to thank all of the staff who worked so hard to set this up as well as the students who participated in these events because, without them, these events would never have been the success that it is. 

Another success story is the different learning experiences which our students are exposed to, from the ILR program which is giving our students a foundation for their reading in Early Years, or the hands-on experiences of the Year in the Yard, Benson Bucks financial literacy program and robotics programs in Middle and Upper Primary,  to the Year of Challenge, Hospitality and Missions programs in Secondary, our students are exposed to a wide variety of learning opportunities which schools twice our size could only dream of.

Some areas we will seek to grow further

As stated previously, we are constantly striving to improve in this area and one of the exciting projects which we will be introducing next year is our E-School for Year 7 to 9 students. E-School is an entrepreneurial program designed to empower students to pursue the issues and ideas that they care for and are passionate about. More on this topic in our next newsletter as we look specifically at our Innovation and Enterprise priority.

Another area which we are looking to further develop is our learning spaces. Again, this is an ongoing process and although we have painted, recarpeted and refurnished a number of classes over the past year or so, we will be continuing to work on this area of the school. Our Year in the Yard outdoor space is currently being upgraded and the chicken shed, in particular, is looking fabulous! We also have a number of other projects which are planned for the summer holidays and will keep you informed as to their progress in due course.

There are many exciting things happening at HCC and I feel privileged to be a part of the work that God is doing for and in our community!

David Holloway

Head of Teaching/Learning and Curriculum, Head of Primary