Principal's Page
From Christian's desk....
A Major Win for Sustainability
Congratulations to Steve Crook for his diligent and inspiring work in the CHPS Sustainability space. Sustainability Victoria has just renewed certification of our school's Core and Energy Renewals, another major step forward in our environmental and sustainability program, which incorporates both practical environmental initiatives and curriculum-based student learning.
The panel were particularly impressed with the work Steve put into our submission (read below) and have even chosen part of it to include into their own website's "Example School" page.
Comments from Sustainability Victoria
I’m pleased to inform you the Core and Energy Modules - renewals - submitted by Croydon Hills PS have been successfully certified!
Please find attached the completed Module Certification Record. The MCR contains any specific comments related to actions undertaken for your review.
I was particularly impressed by the supporting documentation Steve has uploaded. I have, in fact, made use of some de-identified documents in the Example School.
The sustainability information on the school website is fantastic -so informative. I was also impressed by the annual report.
With regard to the Energy renewal, it was nice to see that Steve completed more than just the compulsory actions. The Energy Efficiency Annual Action Plan was one of the best I have seen. I was also very impressed by the curriculum documentation uploaded, particularly the What It Means to be Green unit.
Please pass on our congratulations to the Steve, the school and their team.
This is yet another example of the amazing "above and beyond" work our staff do for our students and our school. My personal congratulations, Steve - a job well done!
Read more on the "What's Happening at CHPS" page.
Showcasing CHPS in our Community
Further congratulations to Brodie Sainsbury-King, who last week took our Choir and Dance Club students to perform at the Maroondah Children's Week Twilight Picnic. Both performances were met with huge applause from an enthusiastic crowd - students are to be congratulated on both their top-class performances and their behaviour as they represented our school in the wider community.
There's more Performing Arts News on our "What's Happening" page.
Speed & Traffic Blitz
As communicated via Compass earlier this week, Croydon Police will be patrolling streets around CHPS throughout November to enforce speed, traffic management and parking restrictions during drop-off and pick-up periods.
This is a timely reminder to us all to prioritise road safety messages to ourselves as drivers and to our students as road users, to discuss safe use of school crossings with our children and, importantly, to model those behaviours when collecting our students from school.
Our thanks to Croydon Police for their support of our road safety messaging.
Placement of staff and students into classes for 2024
Our school is in the process of finalising our 2024 school staff structure and student placement. As per the norm, our staffing allocations and final class structures will then be announced in late December.
As with our teaching teams, class groups are developed after careful consideration, balancing a range of issues and needs. These include factors such as academic ability, behavioural challenges, friendships, and previous teachers.
A valuable part of the process is stakeholder feedback:
- In the coming weeks students will be given the opportunity to list friends they would like to be with for the following year. They will be placed with at least one friend on that list.
- Parent perspective can also add information to support this process. If you have any valuable information, regarding the class placement for your child for 2024, that is above and beyond what the classroom teacher and leadership team already know, you may wish to provide us with that information via this FORM by Thursday 16th November.
I encourage families to trust our school’s judgment and, like I do, value our teachers as high-calibre professionals who care first and foremost for our children. Ultimately, it is our current class teachers, as professionals with all available information, that are in the best position to place students in classes. Further, I am sure that you would understand that it is not always possible to accommodate all requests and that an important part of any student’s journey through their schooling is the development of vital life skills. This includes meeting, getting to know, and working with different personalities.
Christian Holdsworth - Principal