Principals' Page

School Review

Every four years schools in Victoria are required to take part in a school review. The review for HEPS will occur in November this year. 

A review provides an opportunity for the school to assess performance against the goals of the last strategic plan. We look closely at and evaluate the success of current programs and frameworks and identify opportunities for improvement over the next four-year period. The findings of the review form the basis for the creation of our next School Strategic Plan.

Our review panel consists of an independent reviewer, our Senior Improvement Education Leader, two principals from local schools, HEPS School Council President and our School Improvement Team.

An important aspect of the self-evaluation before the formal review, is to hear from the different groups within our school community; students, staff and parents. This gives us the opportunity to learn about the experiences from a range of points of view, and give consideration to celebrating success and driving future direction.

Our current strategic plan encompasses two goals;

1. Attain high achievement and maximise learning growth in Literacy and Numeracy.
2. Empower students to be more actively engaged in their learning.

We are seeking our parent community’s views on progress against these goals through the survey link below. We invite all parents to engage with and complete the survey by Friday 23rd August.   School Review Parent Survey

Annual General Meeting

Each year the school council holds a public reporting meeting (also known as an Annual General Meeting)  with the purpose of reporting to the community on:

• the proceedings of the council since the date of the previous public meeting

• present the endorsed Annual Report to the meeting

In 2024 our reporting meeting will be held in the school’s staffroom on Wednesday 21st August beginning at 6:30pm.  The Annual Report will be published on our website after this meeting.

Foundation 100 Days Of School Celebrations 

It was certainly an exciting day on Monday for our Foundation students and their families as they celebrated their first 100 days of school. Congratulations to all the students and our wonderful Foundation Team, Sally, Ailina, Terri and Emily who put together a very special day. Students enjoyed participating in maths and literacy activities and had a blast participating in a dance party to celebrate the occasion. 

Athletics Day

It was lovely to see students at the HEPS Athletics Day carnival today. There was a lot of cheering and big smiles on students’ faces throughout the day. Below are a couple of photos of students in action and achieving their best and aiming high.

Dry Creek Bed

The Dry Creek Bed has certainly been the place to be over the last few weeks since we opened it up to the children. Students have enjoyed exploration play, experimenting with the many different rocks, and using their creativity and imagination to build many different structures. Teachers have also enjoyed using it as an environmental educational space which complements our Sustainability and STEAM programs at HEPS.

Attendance

There is a direct link between attendance and achievement. If students miss the basic skills in the early years of schooling they often experience learning difficulties later on. Children need to attend school regularly to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them. It has been shown that poor patterns of attendance in the early years can lead to poor patterns of attendance throughout their school years. Poor attendance makes it difficult for students to form positive friendships with their peers.

An 80% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing

• 1 day per week OR
• 40 days per year OR
• Over 2 1/2 years of school from Foundation – Year 12

An 85% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing

• 30 days per year OR
• 2 years of school from Foundation – Year 12

An 90% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing

• 1 day per fortnight OR
• 20 days per year OR
• Over 1 year of school from Foundation – Year 12

Student Attendance

It is important for all students to be at school every day. It is also important that children are at school on time. Arriving late is upsetting and unsettling for both the child who is late and their class. For safety reasons children arriving late to school are asked to attend at the office to be signed in. A Late Pass will be issued before they go to class. It is a legal requirement that teachers mark the time of arrival/departure on their roll sheets each day.

Extended Family Holidays

If there is some known reason which requires your child to miss school for an extended time (eg. operation, overseas trip, etc.), parents are asked to discuss the matter with their Classroom Teacher first and then inform the Principal. You will need to complete a written form notifying the school of the details. We urge parents to use the school holiday periods for their family holidays if at all possible and to avoid having their children miss classes immediately before and after scheduled term breaks.

Absent Children

If your child is away for any reason, please report absences using Compass, alternatively you can notify the school, on the day, by phone and then provide a written explanation to your child’s teacher on their return to school. It is a government requirement to have all absences explained. In the case of unexplained absences, proformas will be sent home each term for you to complete. If a child is to be away longer than a week please keep the school informed. The school is required to report any unexplained absences to Department of Education and Training.

Taking Children Out of School for Appointments

When parents/guardians are picking children up early from school for appointments, personal reasons or sickness, children must be signed out at the office and an early dismissal pass for the class teacher will be given to you. Children cannot be released by teachers without this formal process being completed. Please note: The school must be clearly informed in writing of custody arrangements and access agreements in regard to picking up children from school. Notes must also be provided when any student is picked up from school by adults other than their parent/s.

Emergency Information

Please make sure you provide the school with two Emergency Contact numbers. It is very important that these are kept up to date with any changes in home, business and emergency contact phone numbers and addresses.