Dear Parents,

I trust you had a blessed week.

Pick Up Procedures:

Thank you all so much for your support in navigating some of the new pick up and drop off arrangements this week. Whilst there have been some challenges, it has generally been smoother than I had anticipated, this is in no doubt thanks to your support, so my sincere thanks again. Our students have been amazing in navigating some of the different areas as well, and with our K-2 play equipment inaccessible, our school leaders have been putting out some extra stuff for them to play with at recess at lunch which has been fun for them.

Please continue to allow for some slightly longer delays both in the morning and afternoons as our Kiss and Drop is being utilised more frequently.

As much as I feel like a broken record, please take care in the car-park and look out for each other.

Also we are now going to see a little lull in our new building program as the results of the recent dig are analysed and then hopefully demolition and building can commence very shortly. Thanks again for your understanding, in what is a necessary initiative for our school’s future.

Swimming Carnival:

Good luck to all of our swimmers in years 2-6 on Wednesday at the swimming Carnival. Parents are welcome to attend. Your children would have received a permission note, please make sure these are returned as soon as possible.

Mrs Drayton sent an email out today to all of our HPCS Bus families, a reminder that there are NO buses operating on Wednesday morning, so please find alternative arrangements in driving your child to school. The Wednesday afternoon bus will run as normal.

Shout out:

To our Year 6’s who led us so beautifully at Chapel this morning, it was great the way they led us through our school values and gave practical examples. Well done!

Parent Prayer Meetings:

In the attached pages, you will see the dates for our parent prayer meetings for the year. We are looking forward to these again this year. Josh and Mel Fattal (parents of Josh in Year 2, and Caleb in Kindergarten), host these and everyone is welcome, to come and pray for our students and the school.

Welcome to our new staff:

As you may be aware last year, I announced that we had appointed a PDHPE teacher to ensure our students were getting high quality sporting opportunities each week.

Unfortunately, the candidate I announced could not take up the position. However, this week we welcomed Miss Ellesha Stephenson to the role. Ellesha has recently taught in the public system, and been the sport coordinator at Bexley PS. She has represented NSW and Australia in Baseball. She is also a qualified coach in a number of sports, I am sure you will make her feel welcome. On Monday, we also welcome Mr Aslanov as a bus driver and maintenance assistant. You may see him around driving the bus and also helping Mr Drake, in what is now a larger job in maintaining the property.

A few thoughts:

I’m not sure if like me you watched the news over the weekend and saw this incredible story of a 13 year old boy from Western Australia. If not, it’s unbelievable and well worth a read.

Austin Appelbee is 13 years old.

Not long ago, he failed a school swimming assessment because he couldn’t swim 350 metres without stopping.

Last week, he swam four kilometres through the open ocean off the Western Australian coast, waters known for strong currents and sharks. He did this to save his Mother and two younger siblings' lives. 4km is a huge distance; 80 laps of an Olympic Pool! Let alone in shark infested rough waters.

When their inflatable paddle boards were swept further and further out to sea, Austin’s mother made a desperate decision. She sent her eldest son back toward shore in a kayak to find help, praying that God would protect them. When the kayak failed, Austin climbed into the water. When the life jacket slowed him down, he let it go too.

And then he swam.

For four hours. Through wind and waves. Through exhaustion and fear. Through the unknown.

At one point, he told himself simply, “Not today. I have to keep going.”

When he finally staggered onto the sand, legs giving way beneath him, he didn’t stop. He ran another two kilometres to find phone reception and call for help. His family was rescued just as darkness fell.

Police later described his effort as “superhuman.” It is a heroic story, and rightly so.

It got me thinking as a Dad and as a principal. How does a kid not much older than our Year 6’s suddenly do something like that?

The thing is, I genuinely don’t think Austin suddenly became a different person at that moment. The courage, determination, love and grit that carried him through the water were already there. The crisis didn’t create those qualities; it revealed them.

This is an important reminder for all of us as parents.

We often worry about whether our children are ready for life’s challenges. Whether they are tough enough. Capable enough. Whether we’ve done enough to prepare them. But resilience doesn’t usually announce itself in loud ways. It sounds like “I can’t” long before it looks like courage. Strength is usually quiet, untested, unseen, until the moment it is required.

Children carry reserves within them that don’t always show up everyday. Those reserves are formed slowly: through encouragement and boundaries, through struggle and support, through being loved deeply and held accountable, through families who pray and communities that speak truth and hope into young lives.

What I found really cool is that Austin attends a Christian school just like ours, in Western Australia, and has spoken openly about how his faith in God sustained him: “I don’t think it was me that did it, it was God the whole time” and how he thought of his friends at his Christian Youth Group which would normally meet on that night.

Faith forms a child’s inner world long before it is ever tested by the outer one. When fear closes in and strength runs out, it is faith that reminds us we are not alone, that God is present, that perseverance has purpose and that courage is possible even when the outcome is uncertain.

Even though our kids may never have to do something like that, the story points to something deeper: the perseverance of a young heart, formed over time by family, community, and faith formation.

This year, may we keep doing the slow, faithful work of shaping hearts, trusting that when the moment comes, our children will find what they need. And may we never forget that the same God who calmed the seas in Galilee is still literally and figuratively calming the ocean for the next generation.

What an extraordinary young man.

What an amazing God.

My door is always open,

Mr Joe Britton

Students of the Week