Car Parking

A friendly reminder that parents are not permitted to park in the school car parks for drop off and pick ups (parking permit holders exempt). Please allow adequate time to find suitable parking on the street. Please also be considerate of our neighbours, ensuring adequate space is left between cars on narrow courts and to not cover driveways. Thank you.

Sick Bay News

The school is now using Cancer Council Kids Sunscreen as backup in the classrooms. We encourage parents to ensure sunscreen is applied before school, and to pack thier own supply in their child's bag for re-application throughout the day. If your child reacts to this particular brand, please ensure you let their teacher know.

Library News

Welcome back for a new school year. We are excited to see all students back in the Library. Please remember, students need a library bag before they can borrow from the library. It does not need to be anything fancy – a named reusable shopping bag is fine. Most of the damage done to library books is caused by leaking drink bottles or squashed food (the natural enemies of the book).

We have a great selection of books for borrowing and we are constantly adding new titles to keep the library as exciting as possible. Relaxing with a good book, either reading it yourself, or reading to someone special, seems to be overlooked sometimes in our busy lives but with reading comes so many opportunities. For those of you with students in the Junior levels – please remember that library books are meant to be shared – your child may not be able to read these books on their own so please try to find the time to read with them.

Remember that reading is more than being able to recognise the words on a page. Comprehension is vital! Ask your child about the book they have just read or that you have just read to them. All children enjoy having books read to them and this is an important part of learning to read and comprehend. It also has other proven benefits such as improving speech, grammar and vocabulary and providing shared times between children and adults; giving your child the gift of your time is the best gift they can receive.

Students are able to borrow books for two weeks; Senior students have four weeks. Overdue notices are first sent home when a book is overdue for 2 – 3 weeks. Follow up letters and emails are also sent home fortnightly after this. If you receive a notice and are sure that the book has been returned please ask your child to see us in the library. A book is not considered returned until it is in the library. Also encourage your child to do a thorough check at home and in the classroom if they receive an overdue notice.

If you notice that a book is damaged please do not attempt to repair it yourself, return it to the library as soon as possible. We have the equipment to repair books and understand that damage can occur to our much loved books.

Also, please note that if your child had an overdue book at the end of last year and they have not yet returned it this year, it will still be out in their name – it does not magically disappear over the holidays. We still have 15 books out in students’ names from last year.

Happy reading.

Jess and Sue in the Library

PE News

2026 District Swimming: Year 3-6

District Swimming is one of our first major sporting events in Term 1 - Monday 23rd February (week 5) so for those who may swim competitively outside of school or for anyone interested in heading to the pools over the summer break, can trial their favourite stoke!

Qualifying times are below - students are required to be able to swim 50m in their preferred stroke confidently.

Please note: if you are not far off the qualifying times (2-3 seconds) we encourage you to still get in touch!

Qualifying Times:

Stroke	All age groups
50m Freestyle	Under 55 secs
50m Backstroke	Under 60 secs
50m Breaststroke	Under 65 secs
50m Butterfly	Under 65 secs

If you would like to submit your time to me, please email laura.yorke@education.vic.gov.au to be considered for District Swimming.

Senior Gala Day #1: Year 5 & 6

Our Senior Summer Gala Days are coming up on Tuesday 2nd March (week 6) and Tuesday 10th March (week 7). Over the next couple of weeks, we will be trialling students for team selection of the various different sports: Basketball, Cricket, Sofcrosse, Tennis, Volley bounce & Tee ball.

If you are available to assist with trainings on a Friday (12:15-1:30pm) or help on a Gala Day (9:30 - 2:30pm), please contact Jarrod Butcher via email jarrod.butcher@education.vic.gov.au

A compass event will be sent out in the coming weeks for parent consent and payment.

Running Club:

Running club will kick off again in 2026 starting from next week (week 2). If students are interested in building their fitness then feel free to join us. The middle & senior students have their cross country coming up early term 2, so this is a great opportunity to prepare!

Days: Monday & Wednesday

Time: 8:45am

Location: Meet at the blue turf sports oval

House captains will be leading students on a 1km run around the school or the other option is to run laps around the sports oval (approx. 120m per lap)

All welcome!

PE reminders:

Just a reminder for students to wear their sports uniform, runners & hat for their PE lesson and Friday Sport (year 1-6). Please also wear your hair tied up and bring a drink bottle.

Laura Yorke & Jarrod Butcher 🙂

Visual Arts News

Young Archies Competition/Year 6 Art Academy Excellence Program

Welcome back to Croydon Hills for another creative year.

Our first Art Academy session for the year is open to Year 6 students. In Term 1, Year 6 students are invited to sign up for Art Academy, 20 students in total, where we will be focussing on creating portraits for the Young Archies Award, a competition for creative arts students.

The Young Archies is a competition for young artists to submit a portrait of a person who is important in their life. The competition requirements state that the portrait is ‘painted from life’ and that the subject has a sitting for their portrait – just like the Archibald Prize.

You can create a portrait from memory or take a photograph to use for reference. Students who opt into this opportunity will be required to bring a current photograph with them during their Art Academy sessions and use it as a reference point, and create their work at school.

Students will have ‘studio’ time during Art Academy to complete their artwork. Materials will be provided for students when at school to assist them with their creative journey. Schools can only enter 10 entries. This will mean we will be required to hold an internal competition if we have more than 10 students participating in Art Academy. Once we have our final 10, then students, along with their parent/guardian will need to fill in an online form that must be mailed, with artwork, to Art Gallery NSW. Internal entries will close Friday 30th April at 5pm.

If interested, students will need to commit to attending Art Academy on the allocated days and students can take work home to develop further their ideas on the proviso it is returned for out studio days. Art Academy will be held every lunchtime on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Groups can be split over the 2 days to accommodate for any other club interests.

Here is the link so you can read more about the competition

Enter the Young Archies Information

Young Archies FAQ

Young Archies Past Winners

If you feel that your child may enjoy this opportunity, have a chat to them and click on the links provided about the competition. A Google Form will be ready for Week 2 for students to sign up. Again there are a total of 20 places available for Art Academy with and internal School competition to decide the final 10 to be submitted as a school.

Thanks

Claudia Michielin - Visual Arts Teacher

CHAPS News