Leadership Report
Thursday 2 May 2024
Dear Parents, Students and Friends,
Upcoming Events
Year 1&2 Excursion to Botanical Gardens
School Tours
JMSS Session for selected Year 5&6 students
Interschool Sports
Mother’s Day Breakfast
District Cross Country for selected students
Dental Van visit
Open Afternoon as part of Education Week
School Council
Whole School Photos
Mother’s Day Breakfast
We celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday 12th May and Highvale Primary School will be holding a Mother’s Day & Special Friends Breakfast on Friday 10th May in the Performing Arts Room/Staff Room from 7.30am.
See the flyer below for more information.
A huge thank you to Sue McKinnon and the Highvale Primary Community Group (HPCG) for organising this important social event.
To all the mothers and special persons in our school community, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and thank you for all you do for your children.
Education Week
Education Week is an annual celebration of education in Victoria.
This year Victoria will celebrate Education Week from Monday 13th to Friday 17th May. The theme for 2024 is Spotlight on STEM, which highlights the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in our everyday lives, in the classroom and beyond.
We will be holding an Open Afternoon from 2.15pm on Friday 17th May.
All are welcome to attend!
SOLAR Lab and AERO Professional Development
Our Prep to Year 3 teachers, along with Mrs. Fegan and our ES staff recently completed a research project in how to best support educators to implement explicit and systematic reading instruction in the early years. This was led by the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and the Science of Reading and Learning (SOLAR) Lab at La Trobe University.
The ultimate goal of the project was to improve students’ proficiency in reading. Staff have undertaken a two-day workshop and two online short courses as well as training in a range of assessment tools to help direct teaching and learning. Our involvement in this project has increased teacher knowledge and confidence using evidence-based structured literacy teaching practices.
I thank our staff for their commitment to the program and am sure that we will see these benefits in the classroom, now and in the future.
Year 7 Placements 2025
Applications for Year 7 Placements in 2025 are due back by Friday 10th May. Parents of Year 6 students, please read the information in the enrolment pack and refer to the timeline to ensure all actions are completed.
Student Attitude to School Survey
An information form regarding the upcoming Student Attitude to School Survey was sent out via Compass to parents in Years 4-6. Please read over the form and contact the school if you wish to opt out.
Attendance – Every Day Counts
Primary School Attendance
Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind.
School is Better When Your Child is There
We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day.
If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school.
There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes.
Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement in numeracy, writing and reading.
It’s vital that students go to school every day – even in the early years of primary school.
Being Away From School For One Day A Fortnight Equals Missing 1.5 Years Over 13 Years of School
While attendance is important, if your child is unwell, please keep them at home, particularly as we come into the winter months. As always, communicate this to the school.
School Supervision
As mentioned in previous newsletters and communications home, there is no teacher supervision before 8.45am. Please ensure you remain with your child if they are on school grounds or alternatively, please use our Before School Care program, TheirCare.
Students should also be picked up before 3.45pm as there is no teacher supervision after this time.
Thank you for your cooperation.
School Tours and 2025 Enrolments
School Tours for Prep 2025 and new Year 1-6 students are provided on Wednesday mornings between 9.30-10.45am. Due to demand, tours must be booked through the school office (9887 8000). If you have friends, family or neighbours with school age children, especially those commencing Prep in 2025, please encourage them to book a tour to find out more about our wonderful school and community.
The virtual tour is available at https://highvaleps.vic.edu.au/
Take care,
Josh Crozier
Acting Principal