David's Message

Dear Sunshine Heights Parents and Carers,

Hello, hi, and welcome to 2024 at SHPS! We made it, whether it was surviving the crazy weather of the summer holidays, or getting ready for transition to school for our new preps. I had an amazing break, hanging out with my younger sister and my family; we spent time spotting seals, fungi and native plants, went climbing and hiking around Victoria, and had a few lovely evenings watching sunsets at the beach. At one point we even left my husband and son at home and enjoyed a road trip to Apollo Bay, Port Fairy and the Grampians - we are very lucky in Victoria to have such beautiful country to connect to and learn from. My daughter Maia and I had lots of time together in my favourite place, the Botanic Gardens, where we built cubby houses and surrounded ourselves with greenery. I really hope each of you had an amazing break as well! 

All our students have settled in brilliantly, and it's been so nice to be able to hear about their holidays in the past few days. If you haven't had a chance to yet, please do pop through the school when you are on the grounds to check out the daily displays of learning. I have loved seeing the skills of our students grow as they each move up a year level, and they are all so very proud of the learning they display for you to see. 

As many of you know, we now have some new lovely hats for sale, in our Harmony Day colours. These are $11 for the small and $13 for the large, which means everyone should be able to ensure they have a sun safe hat as part of our school policy. Remember, no hat means no play, and students without a hat must sit or play in a shaded area, such as under the large ash tree at the front of the school. We keep a close eye on the UV rating and we will advise when this drops low enough to move to no hats later in the autumn.

When it comes to uniform, we have a big favour to ask. We are working on supporting students to remember all their items, so please make sure that:

1. your child's clothes are labelled with their name
2. you check these labels regularly (sometimes students pick up the wrong item, if this happens please return these to school)
3. any lost property you see around the school can be returned to lost property where we sort it into uniform and non-uniform items
4. chat to your child about what they need to remember each day (hat, jumper, water bottle, lunchbox) so they get into the habit of caring for these items each day

Very soon we will introduce a second hand uniform store where old and unnamed items and hand me downs that have been cleaned will be sold for $5 each to support families who need access to cheaper uniform items. 

Don't forget to check out the other pages in the newsletter, including TeamKids information and how students in grade 1-5 can join our local soccer club, Sunshine Heights FC. Go Matildas!

Best wishes,

David and the Sunny Heights Team