Dear HPS Community,

Welcome to the new term. It was wonderful to see you all again this week. Thank you for your support in making it a smooth return to school.

Thought of the week - Write your purpose in pen, your path in pencil.

ANZAC Day 2022

Thank you those families who were able to join us for our ANZAC Day service on Tuesday morning. The Year 6 students did a wonderful job presenting during the service, with a special mention to Carol Dawson for her work in preparing the ceremony and supporting the students in their role.

I would also like to express a deep and sincere thank you to the McGriskin family for their offer to represent HPS at the dawn service on ANZAC Day, with a wonderful hand-made wreath created by Rachel. The photo shows Aoife laying the wreath.

School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) at Heidelberg Primary School.

This year all NEMA (North East Metropolitan Area) schools were invited to apply to become a SWPBS school. An overwhelming number of applications were submitted to receive coaching, training and evaluation in SWPBS. With limited spots available, the committee finalised their decision based on the schools’ ability to demonstrate they have the potential to implement best practices and become a model demonstration school. I am pleased to announce that Heidelberg Primary School has been successful and will be working with Department of Education supports and resources to implement the framework.

School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) is a framework that brings together school communities to develop positive, safe, supportive learning cultures. Through implementing this framework, schools are assisted to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for children and young people.

At Heidelberg Primary School, we will use the framework to explicitly teach our school values of respect, integrity and cooperation and care, and provide the students with an opportunity demonstrate and articulate their understanding. When SWPBS is implemented well, teachers and students have more time to focus on relationships and classroom instruction. Students and staff benefit from:

increased respectful and positive behaviour
increased time focused on instruction
improved social-emotional wellbeing
positive and respectful relationships among students and staff
increased adoption of evidence-based instructional practices
a predictable learning environment with improved perceptions of safety and increased attendance

Many thanks to Helen Thomas for her work completing the school's application. Future updates on the SWPBS process at our school can be found in the Assistant Principal reports of the newsletter.

HPS Community Survey - School Age Care Program during Student-free days

The school is currently investigating the HPS community interest in offering a day program though our School Age Care facility, to run on the student-free days that will be held this term on Wednesday 1st June and Tuesday 14th June.

A short survey has been shared through Compass for interested families to complete. I would ask that this be addressed by 5pm next Wednesday 4th May.

2022 HPS Communication Survey

Thank you to all families who took the time to complete the recent survey focused on current communication practices at Heidelberg Primary School. We received 100 responses, which was very pleasing. A detailed breakdown of the results can be accessed through the link below

2022 HPS Communication Survey Feedback

The school will focus initially on updating the school website, which has a target completion date of the end of Term 2. During Term 3 we will move to updating the school newsletter. The feedback received on both of these items will be considered throughout the process. The school is already reviewing and updating our guidelines and expectations for the use of Compass. Further information regarding any updates will be shared in due course.

Mother's Day Stall - Friday 6th May

Next Friday 6th May, there will be a Mother's Day Stall held in the Hall. The students will have an opportunity to purchase a small gift for their mum at a scheduled time on the day.

Please see the Compass message from earlier today for more information.

School library closure and relocation

As has been previously communicated through the newsletter, the school library is being relocated to the BER building (Foundation, Year 3 and Science), with the new library being of an open plan design in the centre. The original design of the building was to allow for this, so we are confident that the outcome will be a positive one.

This decision has been driven by the fact that the school requires at least one new classroom for the 2023 school year. The current library space will be refurbished as a classroom in readiness for next year.

In order to allow for the relocation to take place, the library will be closed for borrowing from today. The students will need to be returning books through the course of next week, with all books returned by Friday 6th May.

The goal is for the library to be closed to students for the shortest period possible, however there will be at least a 4-week period that students will not have access to the library. Further updates on this project will be provided as we move through the stages.

Staffing Update

I am writing to inform the wider community that after a period of leave, Mr Chris Kyriacou has taken a position at Pascoe Vale Primary School for the remainder of 2022. We would like to wish Chris all the best in his new role. Carol Dawson and Yana Li will be working in Year 6 (Rm3) for the remainder of Term 2, with further plans to be confirmed later this term. I would also like to thank Carol and Yana for the work they have done in supporting the students through this transition and setting the class up for a wonderful term.

Repeat Reminder: Whole School Cross Country - Thursday 5th May.

Please be reminded that HPS will be holding a Whole School House Cross Country event on Thursday 5th May. As in the past, the day will be held at Heidelberg Park. As we could not have all students together for the House Athletics, this year we wanted to trial a whole school event that allowed the community to come together. We also hope the day will provide the opportunity for all students and families to experience the house spirit collectively.

The program will begin a 9.10am. Foundation-Year 2 students will return to school at 11.30, with the older grades returning around 2.00.

Kind regards

Brett MacKenzie

Principal

Heidelberg Primary School

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