Principal's Report

Dear HPS Community, 

Despite it being a short week, with a pupil-free day and public holiday, there has still been plenty happening around our school!

There has been great excitement as more of the building fences have come down, opening up additional space outside for everyone to enjoy. Today, students were particularly excited to explore the new bleacher seating at the playground end of our new building, which is already proving to be a popular feature!

We are also delighted to share that our Learning Centre building is now complete, with the keys officially handed over to us this afternoon. I was pleased to have the opportunity to take staff on a tour of the new building, which they thoroughly enjoyed. There were plenty of 'oohs' and 'aahs' as staff explored and admired our newest learning spaces! Teachers will have the opportunity to take their classes through for a look next week, and I will also arrange some parent and carer tours over the coming weeks.

While the building is now complete, it will not be used for classes until next year, once the new furniture arrives and is set up. We are looking forward to seeing these beautiful spaces come to life and welcoming our students into them in the new year.

Our Yumagu Centre (pronounced YOO-mah-goo, meaning 'everyone' in the Woiwurrung language) is also progressing well and is on track for completion at the end of November. It is wonderful to see our school transformation taking shape, with so much to look forward to in the coming weeks and months!

Next week we will see the removal of the temporary toilet block near the COLA. This will open up the area between the COLA, the portables and the SAC building, creating another wonderful space for our students to enjoy and play in.

Looking ahead to next year, we are excited about the potential to further develop this area into a beautiful nature play space for our students. We would love to bring this vision to life through fundraising, community working bees and a shared effort to create an inviting outdoor environment. With some thoughtful landscaping, natural play elements and additional shade, we can really finish this space off and make it something special for our school community. We look forward to sharing more about these plans and hopefully getting lots of families involved along the way!

There was also plenty of excitement and enthusiasm among our Year 2–6 students this week as we welcomed the wonderful Australian author Andy Griffiths to our school!

Andy had both students and staff in awe with his incredible passion, energy and hilarious storytelling. We certainly had some super fans in the audience, with many students relishing the opportunity to meet him, thank him, present something special or ask questions of this much-loved author. It was wonderful to see the joy, excitement and genuine love of reading that his visit inspired.

A huge thank you to our Library Teacher, Jane Plunkett, for organising this fantastic visit, and to our other Library Teacher, Denise, along with all the staff who helped support and make this memorable and very special event possible. Experiences like these create lasting memories and remind us of the wonderful power of books, stories and a love of reading!

Remembrance Day

Wednesday 11 November 2026 is Remembrance Day – a day for us to remember those who have served, died or suffered in all wars and peacekeeping operations. The annual observance also acknowledges the service of Australian Defence Force members on active deployment.

Remembrance Day marks the date in 1918 when World War I came to an end. It is officially observed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

To mark Remembrance Day, our school will pause at 11 am on the day for a minute’s silence, to remember people's service and sacrifice.

HPS family and friends are invited to attend a short student led service to be held at the COLA from 10.45am on Wednesday.

We also have representation at the Remembrance Day service at Greensborough War Memorial Park, Henry Street, by our four school captains, Campbell, Darcy, Elle and Kevin, and our Assistant Principal, Helen. We thank you for representing our school out in the community.

We thank our SRC for selling poppies and other merchandise for the RSL.

Eye Clinic at La Trobe

The Eye Clinic at La Trobe is offering free vision and eye movement assessments for all new patients during the period of 22/9 to 18/12/26 and I thought of our school.

You can find more information about the La Trobe Health Clinic, including the Eye Clinic, here.

Morning Supervision

A friendly reminder to all families about yard supervision arrangements at Heidelberg Primary School.

Our Before Care program operates from 7.00am, providing supervision for students who are booked into the service. Teacher supervision on school grounds commences at 8.40am.

Students who arrive at school before 8.40am and are not attending SAC are not supervised by school staff and remain the responsibility of their parents and carers until teacher supervision begins.

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students, we ask families to please ensure children do not arrive at school before 8.40am unless they are attending our supervised care program.

Thank you for your support and cooperation in helping us maintain a safe environment for every child at Heidelberg Primary School.

2026 School Term Dates

Term 4: Monday 5th October- Friday 18th December (1.30pm finish)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Naomi Ivers

Principal

Heidelberg Primary School

9457 2259

naomi.ivers@education.vic.gov.au