AND THAT IS A WRAP FOR 2024

Highlights for 2024

It has been another wonderful year of learning and our children and staff have continued to enjoy a number of excursions and camps.  Our younger learners attended Fringe performances, our Year 3/ 4 learners had a fun sleepover and Tree Climb in Kuipto Forest. Our Holly and Stillwell Units had a day trip to AFL Max and our Small classes also attended a Christmas Celebration at the same venue! The Arbury Park Camp for our Year 5/6 students and staff was certainly a highlight and we plan to run this as a bi-annual event from now on.

We love our whole school celebrations that involve our community and again had a number of very successful days attended and supported by our wonderful families. These have included; Meet ‘n’ Greets, Sports Day, Colour Fun Run, Book Week, Assemblies, and End of Year Concert to name a few.

Ultimate Community Role Model Awards

In line with our High Behaviour Expectations and school values we are now formally acknowledging students who display these consistently. We have celebrated them at our Assemblies and with a family morning tea following. This year we had 44 students receive these awards and look forward to acknowledging many more of our students in the future.

Volunteers

In our busy lives, it can be challenging to find time to volunteer. We truly appreciate the small group of dedicated parents who have been helping out with various activities throughout the year. Our Governing Council members work tirelessly behind the scenes, organising fundraising events, managing the Dress Code Shop, setting up stalls, planning the annual disco, and running the BBQ at school events, just to name a few!

As we look ahead to 2025, we will need more volunteers to keep these wonderful events going for our school community. If we can't gather enough support, some events might not be able to proceed. Please keep an eye on our school Facebook Page in 2025 for volunteer opportunities. Those who volunteer regularly will have priority for attending class excursions as additional supervisors.

Early in the new school year, we will share a calendar of events that will need volunteers. Thank you in advance for your support in 2025!

Fundraising

This year our fundraising efforts have raised an amazing $13,391.62. The funds raised will be earmarked for future grounds re-development.

iPads in 2025

We want to let you know about a change regarding the use of school iPads for students in Years 3 to 6. Starting in 2025, iPads will stay at school and won't be sent home. This decision was made because iPads were sometimes not used as intended, left at home, returned uncharged, or occasionally damaged.

Our teachers are on board with this change and will ensure that all homework and learning activities can be completed without needing a school iPad, so no student will miss out.

Early in the new school year, we'll send home information about deposits and user agreement forms. We kindly ask that all families provide an iPad cover for their child - 9th Generation iPad, 10.2-inch case. Thank you for your understanding and support!

Staffing Farewells and Staff returning

We are saying a warm goodbye to some of our wonderful teaching staff at Hackham East Primary School.

Mrs Brooke Gossink has been a valued member of our team, starting as a Year 1/2 teacher, then briefly teaching Year 5/6, and most recently sharing her talents in a part-time Specialist PE role. Thank you Brooke for all of your contributions to Hackham East school over the years and we wish you all the best as you move on to your new school in 2025!

Mrs Rachel Esposito has worked at HEPS for the past year and a half, last year taking up a Year 4/5 class mid year and this year as part of our Reception/Year 1 Team. Rachel has been a caring and compassionate member of our staff and always has a big smile on her face! We wish her all the best on her family move to the country next year!

Ms Cass Humphrey has supported our entire school community as our Autism Inclusion Teacher over the past 2 years. Cass has supported staff to grow our learning around Inclusivity and Neurodivergence and assisted us to support our learners in different ways. She has also been an amazing support for families and reached out to community groups to provide funding to access amazing key speakers such as Mark Le Messurier and  Madhavi Parker for our and the wider community. We wish you all the best in your future roles.

Ms Taryn Kopania has brought great energy and joy to our Year 1/2 learners this year, and we know they will miss her very much. We are grateful for her contributions and wish her every success in her future role as a Year 5 teacher at her new school in 2025!

Ms Kaily Buchalka began her time with as a pre-service teacher last year. This year she has taught with Mrs Dealtry in our Year 5/6 class where she has ignited the student’s curiosity and wonder in the Sciences area. Kaily is taking up a full time position teaching Year 1/2 in 2025 and we know she will have a positive impact, as she has had at HEPS!

We are delighted to welcome back some of our wonderful staff who are returning from parenting leave. Ms Claire McGarvey is joining us again as our Autism Inclusion Teacher and will also be supporting Mrs. Natalie Jolley in one of our Year 3/4 classes. Additionally, Mrs Lauren Mawson is back and excited to lead our World Cultures program, offering a fantastic alternative to French.

CANTEEN FOR 2025

We will continue offering the canteen service through Wirreanda HS on Thursday and Fridays for Term 1. However, as we rely on volunteers, we may not be able to continue this beyond Term 1.

If you can help with pick-ups on these days, it would take approximately 40 minutes of your time – 10.35-11.15am. Please reach out to Lee in the front office if you're available to help out on a Thursday or Friday. If we get a number of volunteers, you may only need to do this a couple of times each term. Thank you!

As we approach the end of another school year, I would like to take a moment to express my thanks for your ongoing support. Thank you for entrusting us with your child's education and for being a part of our school community.

Wishing you a wonderful and safe holiday break with your children and families.

Kind regards,

Ms Sally

Principal