Dear HPS Community,

What a lovely week we have enjoyed at Heidelberg PS! The warmer Melbourne weather has certainly brought our beautiful school gardens to life, with the roses out the front of the school looking and smelling simply amazing. It was a timely reminder that, no matter how busy life gets, it is always worth slowing down and stopping to smell the roses! These little moments of beauty can bring so much joy to our day.

Our Year 2 students enjoyed a wonderful excursion to CERES, where they made meaningful connections and consolidated their understanding of communities as part of their Inquiry unit. It was fantastic to see their learning come to life beyond the classroom as they explored, discovered and deepened their understanding of the world around them.

We also had the pleasure of welcoming our 2027 Foundation students for their first formal transition session this week. It was lovely to see the children beginning to settle into the school environment, becoming familiar with their surroundings and taking those exciting first steps towards their school journey at Heidelberg PS. We look forward to supporting them as their confidence and connections continue to grow.

On Wednesday, we welcomed our local Member of Parliament, Anthony Carbines, to Heidelberg PS. Our School Captains, Campbell, Elle, Kevin and Darcy joined me in guiding Anthony through our exciting new building. This was also the first opportunity for our School Captains to step inside and explore the new facilities themselves, and they were certainly impressed! With completion anticipated in approximately one month, we are getting closer to enjoying these wonderful new learning spaces and the opportunities they will provide for our students and school community. There is certainly plenty to look forward to!

Looking ahead, we are excited to celebrate Matsuri Day as a whole school this coming week, led by Sensai DeCunto and Sensai Kuhlmann. This is always a wonderful opportunity for our students to immerse themselves in Japanese culture, celebrate their learning and enjoy the richness that cultural experiences bring to our school community. Students are invited and encouraged to wear any costumes related to Japan /Japanese cartoons or anything that reflects your family's cultural background or heritage, with any student choosing not to dress to these criteria wearing full school uniform.

As we head into another busy week, I hope everyone finds a moment to pause, appreciate the little things and, of course, stop to smell the roses!

Shine a light on teachers this World Teachers' Day

On Friday 30 October we are inviting everyone to Shine a light on Australia’s teachers who inspire, support, and empower our children and young people every single day.

From lightbulb moments to helping someone find their way, teachers make a difference in ways big and small. This World Teachers' Day, we’re putting that impact in the spotlight.

TEACHERS DO NOT READ BELOW THIS LINE...

HPS families and students, I'd love you to share a moment when a teacher made a difference in your life and help Shine a light on the amazing work they do.

Write or draw about a teacher who has had a positive impact on you and post it in the box at the office. On World Teachers' Day, I will display all your spotlight reflections in the staffroom to remind our teachers of the differnce they make! Shhhhh, do not let them know though so they can get a huge surprise!

2027 Class Placements

This week I sent a newsfeed through Compass with a 2027 Class Friendship Nomination form for students to complete at home with their parents and carers.

Each year, as we begin planning class placements for the following year, we invite students to nominate three friends they would like with them in a class. While we cannot guarantee that every friendship request will be accommodated, we aim to ensure each student is placed with at least one person from their nominated list. Nominations are not considered in any particular priority order.

We ask parents and carers to discuss the nominations with their child and support them to consider friendships that will positively influence their learning, wellbeing and ability to demonstrate our school values of Respect, Resilience, Responsibility and Compassion.

If a student has not completed and returned their form by Friday 30th October, their classroom teacher will support them to complete it at school.

Creating class groupings is a complex process that requires careful consideration of many factors, including students’ academic, social and emotional needs, learning partnerships, classroom dynamics and the overall balance of each class. The information you have shared through ongoing consultation and collaboration with your child’s classroom teacher will be taken into account as we develop the 2027 class groupings.

We ask families to trust in our professional judgement and the care taken throughout this process. There is generally no need to submit additional requests directly to the Principal, as the information already shared with your child’s teacher will inform our decisions. While we understand that families want the best possible outcomes for their children, receiving numerous requests about who should or should not be placed together can make it more challenging to achieve balanced and well-functioning classes that meet the needs of all students.

Our priority is to create positive learning environments in which every child feels supported, connected and ready to learn. We thank you for your understanding, trust and support as we work through this important process.

If there is significant or exceptional information about your child’s social, emotional or learning needs that you believe has not yet been shared with us, please contact your child’s classroom teacher or myself asap so that it can be considered as part of the placement process.

Students do not attend school on Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd November.

We have a Curriculum Day scheduled for Monday 2nd November and the Tuesday 3rd November is the Melbourne Cup public holiday.

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.

Play Equipment Donations

We’re looking for donations of any wooden children’s play kitchens that families may have at home and are looking to donate. The one that has been attached to the wall at the sandpit has been a BIG hit over the past week!

At Heidelberg Primary School, we’re looking to reinvigorate the playground area outside our Foundation classrooms by introducing some exciting mud kitchen play opportunities for our youngest learners!

If you have a wooden play kitchen that is no longer being used and is in good, safe condition, we would love to hear from you.

Thank you in advance for helping us create a wonderful space for our Foundation students to explore, imagine, create and learn through play!

October
Thursday 29	Matsuri Day - whole school
November
Monday 2	Curriculum Day- No students at school
Tuesday 3	Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
Wednesday 11	Remembrance Day
Monday 30	HPS instrumental music - End-of-year concert
December
Thursday 3	'Summer Nights and Christmas Lights' whole school event
Thursday 10	Year 6 Graduation evening
Friday 18	Final Assembly 9.10am

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

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