Thursday 24th August

Dear Parents, Students and Friends,

As we move deeper into Term 3, as always, there is a lot happening at Highvale. Recently our National Science Week activities took place as part of our new STEAM Science and Design technology specialist program. Thanks to Mrs Williamson for her great organisation. Our student voice Cooperative Learning Logo competition and SRC Lego competitions (thank you Mrs Sinclair and students) have just concluded and our new playground is now under construction (thank you Mr Crozier, HPCG and students). As well, our second Prep 2024 Story Time session will be held next Thursday 31st August (Thank you to our Prep team).

Our HPCG parents continue to be very productive which impacts positively on provisions for all HPS families. In addition to important fund raising for equipment such as our new playground, new Interactive Smart boards (for every class P-6) and other devices, the HPCG also plan and deliver events to bring our community together. Don’t forget the Fathers & Special Person Day breakfast next Friday morning at 7.30am in the Staffroom. I look forward to seeing you there.

A number of other events are included below.

Important Reminders

Child Safety - Drop Off and Pick Up and Parent Supervision

Thank you to the vast number of families who adhere to the Drop off and Pick Up times. A reminder that staff are on drop off duty from 8.45am and pick up until 3.45pm. Parents are responsible for ensuring their child is actively supervised (by a parent) both before and after these times if their child is on school grounds. Parents will be contacted if students are on grounds unsupervised outside of these times.

Lost Property

An important School value is Responsibility. Please encourage and remind your child to be responsible for their belongings. Staff regularly emphasis this each day, however the Lost property cupboard is regularly full. To assist, it is important that parents label every item their child brings to school, especially uniforms, drink bottles and food containers. Your assistance with this is much appreciated.

The Lost Property cupboard, located in the corridor outside the Senior Library will be emptied and clothing donated to charity at the end of each month. Thank you.

Music Gala Evening

Thank you to our Instrumental teachers, Doug, Erin and Mandy who have organised the Gala Concert evening on Thursday evening 31st August in our MPC. The event will be held between 7.00 – 8.00pm. It is a great event to attend if you are a parents of a current instrumental student or are interested in your child commencing lessons.

Parent / Carer Opinion Survey

The Parent / Carer Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. All parents and carers received an email which contained the link and password to access the survey. Please note that the survey closes on Friday 8th September.

We encourage all families to participate in this survey. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

Book Week, Literacy and Numeracy Day

Tomorrow is an exciting day, it is our HPS Book Week/ Literacy and Numeracy Day. Thank you to Mr Usai, Mr Dempsey and Mr Latta who have led the planning for this event together with their teams. During the day students will participate in a number of engaging literacy and numeracy activities in their class and participate in the Children’s Book Council of Australia ‘Book Week Parade’ in the MPC from 9.00am tomorrow morning.

Teachers have worked with their students to explore a range of Children’s Book Council of Australia shortlisted books in classes throughout the week and students and staff are encouraged to come dressed up as their favourite book character tomorrow.

We look forward to seeing parents and friends at our Parade.

https://cbca.org.au/

Cooperative Learning Logo

The quality of the student design entries for our HPS Cooperative Learning Logo was amazing. Thank you to every student who made the effort to complete their design. After a long process, the following designs have been chosen for the final logo. These will be compiled as one logo and serve as a visual reference for the 5 key elements of cooperative learning.

Having meaningful phrases (names) and matching visual representations aims to enhance our collective understanding of cooperative learning. These elements are explicitly taught during Cooperative Kids and referenced during class, specialists’ lessons and play.

The new logo will be introduced to all students at Assembly on Friday 1st September, together with an acknowledgment of all our budding designers and the final logo artists Aleina, Faith, Aishaanya, Bhuvi, Noa, Phoebe, Olivia.

Positive Interdependence – All for one and one for all. (Bhuvi, Noa, Phoebe, Olivia Year 5&6)

Individual Accountability – Personal Responsibility (Aleina Year 3)

Group Processing – We Check In on our progress (Faith Year 3)

Small-Group and Interpersonal – Together we are stronger! (Bhuvi, Noa, Phoebe, Olivia Year 5&6)

Face-to-Face Interactions – Listen with your Eyes, Ears, Heart and Body! (Aishaanya Year 5&6)

Student Representative Council - Lego Build Competition

Thank you to our SRC who used their student voice to initiate the Lego competition with guidance from Mrs Sinclair. We would like to acknowledge everyone who entered. The entries were incredibly creative. The SRC would like to congratulate the following students whose builds were chosen as the winners of the competition. Please note, prizes and the raffle draw will take place during assembly next week Friday 1st September.

Junior Winners

1st Kayden – Minion Station

2nd Akhil – A house

3rd Lilah – Lego Shopping Centre

Honourable Mention – Andrea and Isabella – Puppy Play Pad

Senior Winners

1st Tweesha – Dragon

2nd Seth – Sunken Pirate Ship

3rd Sia and Darsh – Night Market

Honourable Mention – Wey En – Lego House

Some wonderful samples of Lego creativity below.

School Review

A reminder that the second component of our 2023 School Review commences in Week 9, on Monday 4th September. During Week 9, a number of independent educators including an externally appointed School Reviewer, Senior Education Improvement Leader and two current principals will visit our school. They will work with myself, Mr Chris Vat as our School Council and parent representative, Mr Crozier and our School Improvement Team members Mr Smith, Mrs Fegan and Ms Dvorscek to evaluate our school’s performance during the past four years and commence the big picture planning for the period 2024-27. An important part of that process will be an analysis of our data and the feedback collected from students, staff and parents during Term 2 and 3. Reviewers will also speak with staff, students and possibly parents as part of the process pf review.

A school review occurs in every government school every four years as part of the School Improvement process. It is a process I look forward to so we can get some fresh eyes on the work we do at HPS which can both challenge and affirm our planning and work.

2024 Classes and Workforce Planning

Throughout Term 4 until early December, we will be working on our class structures and student combinations for next year. This is a very complex process, influenced by many factors including changes in student numbers and staffing combinations that will cause us to reshape our proposed class structures several times throughout this term. Due to continued strong enrolment demand, we will either maintain 14 classes or increase to 15 classes in 2024. At this stage, if 14 classes the structure will be comprised of 2 x Prep, 2 x Year 1, 2 x Year 2, 2 x Year 3, 2 x Year 4, 2 x Year 5 and 2 x Year 6. The final number of classes will be confirmed during Term 4.

Due to this, it is vital that we are made aware of any circumstances that may impact on our enrolment numbers. Please let us know immediately if you are aware of people in our zone who will be enrolling, or if you intend to transfer to another school. We urgently require this information to establish class structures for the start of the 2024 school year.

If your child is currently in Prep–Year 5 and will not be at Highvale in 2024 please notify the school office in writing as soon as possible. Thank you.

2024 Class Placement Requests

Our teachers are committed to meeting the educational needs of each student. A great deal of thought, planning and time goes into placing children into classes each year. Every effort is made to place each child in a learning environment that is engaging, caring and productive. Information from parents regarding educational needs often assists our decision making processes.

Parents are now invited to write to Mr Richardson about any concerns they may have for their child’s educational needs for 2024.

Please note, requests for particular teachers will not be considered under any circumstances as the best interests of all the children and the effective school management must be taken into account.

Letters will be considered up until 1st November. Letters received after this date will not be accepted. Letters are to be addressed directly to Mr Richardson. As you may understand, the allocation of children to new classes is a very complex task and one that requires patience and a great deal of thought and logistical consideration. During this process, changes and adjustments are made over several weeks. Each change may trigger a chain reaction of other changes. Proposed class lists are submitted to the Principal and Assistant Principal for final ratification. Once balanced classes are formed and staffing finalised, teachers are allocated to classes.

The following provides an insight into the factors and decision making processes staff undertake to form each class.

Factors influencing class structure include:

Government funding and policy requirements
the educational needs of the students
the projected number of students in each year level
the ratio of genders of all categories
the number of teachers employed at the school; and
resources and facilities.

Factors which are considered in the placement of students include:

cognitive, social emotional and physical development. Informed by judgments over time
work habits e.g. current capacity to work independently and cooperatively
behaviour
social network/friendships
social maturity
gender of all categories
family needs e.g. twins, siblings
language
additional needs.

What is the process for placing students into classes?

Based on the considerations above, teaching and leadership teams meet through the term to establish classes for the following school year.

Teachers ensure each new class has:

a balance of cognitive, social emotional aptitude
gender balance – includes all categories
socially balanced groups
student input.

Towards the end of Term 4 all students participate in a comprehensive transition and orientation program through which they meet their 2024 teacher and new classmates in preparation for the new year.

I look forward to seeing you around our school.

Steve Richardson

Principal

Assembly dates

Term 3 assembly dates