Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's Report

It’s hard to believe there’s only a month left of the 2023 school year. We know it’s a busy time of year with family gatherings, concerts and celebrations. We remind families to ensure their children get plenty of rest and sleep so they come to school ready to learn.

2024 Year 6 Captains Announcement

Last Friday I had the pleasure of announcing the 2024 School Captains roles. It was wonderful to see so many students run for a number of positions. Each person presented a 90 second presentation to pitch their ideas. The Year 4-5 students voted, with the teachers ratifying the positions. Congratulations to the following students:

We will announce the Taiko and Senior Choir Captains early next year. Students in Years 2-6 also have the opportunity to run for the Student Leadership Council. All Year 6 students will also have a leadership role.

At an assembly in Term 1 we will present students with their badges.

These students will shadow the current Year 6 Leaders to learn about the positions. We also will work on a formal leadership program for students, working with ‘Our House Spirit’, which will be very exciting. 

We look forward to seeing our students develop and flourish in their captaincy role. 

2023 Christmas Concert

Thursday 7 December is our annual Christmas Concert. The stage will be the new basketball court and families can enjoy a picnic dinner on the oval area. 

 The concert will start at 6.00pm and go to approximately 7.30pm. The Christmas Raffle will be drawn at that time.

We are looking forward to the event!

New Basketball Court

After many years, and several delays due to COVID-19, the school has a new competition-sized basketball court near the oval. This is a great addition to the school and gives us another hard-court area to run PE sessions and as another play option for students at recess and lunchtimes.

2023 Parent /Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey Results

The school recently received the results of the 2023 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian survey.  This survey was completed online with all families having the opportunity to participate.

We had very strong results outperforming or equalling similar and network schools and outperforming state averages. We are very proud of these results and will continue to strive to work with our community in partnership in educating your children. 

If you have any questions or comments about the survey, please contact the school.

House Spirit Sports Day

As part of their leadership development, the Year 6 Captains are organising a ‘House Spirit’ Sports Day.

On Monday the 18th of December at 11:30am (after recess) there will be an assembly. Then at 11:40am the first activities will start, with the event concluding at 1:20pm.

Students are encouraged to wear a t-shirt on the day which is their house colour. 

 Premiers Reading Challenge

Each year, we offer students the opportunity to participate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Students need to read a certain number of books from the reading list to achieve the challenge. Moreover, it helps foster a love of reading and choosing quality literature. Well done to the following students for completing the challenge:

Foundation

Ethan B

Louis Ch

Ting Yong K

Yehyun Y

Grade 1

Alex S 

Elijah C

Kai C

Yuri K

Caitlin F

Grade 2

Jeon C

Grade 3

Alouette D

Amelia L

Siyuan G

Pitt L

Rhea N

Grade 4

Claire A

Erena C

Luka S

Yuna S

Sabina P

Noa K

Grade 5

Abigail F

Grade 6

Hannah C

Ruby N

International Day of Students with a Disability

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a United Nations Day celebrated on 3 December each year to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability. 

By acknowledging that this important day, we can take action to remove barriers for the 4.4 million Australians, that’s 1 in 6, with disability and contribute to positive change in our classrooms and our community. 

Did you know that around 20% of people have a disability- In our school that would equate to around 80 children with additional needs. We all know someone who has a disability and how important it is to support them. People have all sorts of disabilities, but it does not mean they can’t learn! They may learn in a different way or at a different rate. They enrich our lives and can positively contribute to society.

This year there are 11 official Ambassadors for this day. These role models are all inspirational and already challenging stereotypes and changing society’s attitudes towards disability.  They are:

• Anja Christoffersen, an international model, author, disability advocate, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Champion Health Agency, a talent agency that represents people with disability, chronic illness, and carers.
• Ann-Mason Furmage, a disability advocate who has worked as an accountant and financial controller in Australia and the USA for over 20 years. She has held numerous leadership positions in the disability sector, including as former President of the Physical Disability Council of NSW.
• Charlie and Lewis Smith, twins from Adelaide with a passion for filmmaking which they are pursuing through Bus Stop Films. They host a podcast called Twin Times where they discuss all things entertainment, filmmaking and sports.
• Giancarlo de Vera, a lawyer and advocate for disability, multiculturalism, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ affairs and cultural diversity. In 2021, Giancarlo was listed as one of the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians by the Asian-Australian Leadership Summit.
• Grace Edward, who spent some time in a refugee camp in Kenya before her family was granted a humanitarian visa at age 8 to come to Australia in 2003. Grace is one of the co-founders of Youth CALD Disability Collective (YCDC), a volunteer group that promotes awareness and advocates for the interests of young CALD people with disability.
• Gretta Serov, a motivational speaker and writer. She is the founder and head writer of the blog ‘On Our Own Tracks’ which features stories of people with disability overcoming challenges and guides for how to achieve your dreams.
• Hannah Diviney, a writer, actor and advocate. She is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of Missing Perspectives, a publication dedicated to young female storytelling, and recently published her first book. Hannah came into global prominence in early 2022 when she publicly called out Lizzo and Beyoncé for using an ableist slur in their songs which they subsequently corrected.
• Hugo Taheny, an athlete currently ranked world number 1 for shotput and discus for people with Down syndrome. He is also the South Australian Health Ambassador for Down syndrome Australia.
• Michael Theo, a Wollongong-based actor and podcaster. He was featured on the hit ABC TV show ‘Love on the Spectrum’, and hosts his own podcast Mr A+ with Michael Theo which aims to bring love and light to people’s lives.
• Dr Scott Avery, an Indigenous disability researcher and advocate on health and social inequalities experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with disability. He is a Senior Lecturer at Western Sydney University and has undertaken extensive community-based research while working with the First Peoples Disability Network.

Together, we can all take action to challenge perceptions about disability, remove barriers and promote inclusive and respectful attitudes and behaviours in our community. 

For more information about IDPwD, including resources, stories, videos and social tiles, visit www.idpwd.com.au or follow @idpwd on Facebook and Twitter, or @idpwd_au on Instagram. 

You can also help spread the word and join the conversation online using #IDPwD 

Reminder- Planning for 2024

The school is well underway for planning the 2024 school year.

If you are planning on moving interstate, to another country or away from Huntingdale and are yet to notify the office please do so as soon as possible.  Numbers have a significant bearing on our planning, and we appreciate early notification where possible.   

If you hear of anyone wishing to attend Huntingdale in 2024, please send them to the office to enrol. If you have not enrolled any younger siblings, please do so as quickly as possible so that they can attend our kinder to school transition program.

If you have any further questions, please contact the school office.

Have a great fortnight!

Ruth Biddle 

Assistant Principal's Report

Grade 3/4 Skype session 

In week 7, 3B and 4B made an international video call all the way to Yutaka Primary School in Japan! The students performed some songs and had a great time getting to know the Yutaka Primary School children using both Japanese and English. 

3A and 4A will do the same in the coming weeks.

By Nagata sensei

Japan Day

On the 16thNovember 2023, the Grade 6’s had a “Japan Day” at our school. The first three things everyone did were, writing calligraphy, making dangos, and rehearsing a traditional taiko drum performance. People were split into 3 different groups and had rotations of the 3 different activities. After the three rotations, the year 6’s had a video conference with Kuramochi elementary school. After the conference the 6’s had a special lunch called bento-box. After lunch, Taka and his parents from Kyokushin Karate showed us some amazing skills. Everybody was also able to do some karate moves onto a kicking bag which was an amazing experience.

Calligraphy:

Calligraphy is the art of writing beautiful characters. For Japan Day we practised painting strokes of a Kanji and then wrote the Kanji itself. The word ‘calligraphy’ originates from the Greek language, but ultimately expanded towards other cultures. Japanese calligraphy began in the 600’s. Despite being created thousands of years ago, calligraphy is still used today and is relatively popular. Kanji is a type of writing style that originated from China. Now-a-days Japan has 3 ways to write which is Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji!

Dangos:

One of the activities we did was we made dangos. The dangos we made was a traditional dango that was first made in the Edo period. The type of dango we made was called Mitarashi dango. There are many different types of dango in Japan. These kinds of dangos are rice cakes with a sweet and savoury coating of sauce. The dangos were very sweet and chewy and everybody enjoyed it very much. Some people were not able to finish the dangos so they also shared it with other people. Us year 6’s had a lot of fun making these delicious dangos and eating them.

Taiko Drumming:

Taiko is the Japanese word for drum and refers to the modern style of playing these drums. Wadaiko in Japan and kumi daiko in North America is movement infused, heart-pounding, dynamic group drumming. Think of it as a high energy performance art that combines music, dance, martial arts, athletics, and culture. The performance was cut into three parts and each group did one part of the whole thing.

Kuramochi Primary School:

The Grade 6’s had a video conference with Kuramochi Shou Gako. It consisted of our school presenting events that we have done before. For example, one group showed the primary school about our school production from term 3. Another, about cool burning in Australian culture. Kuramochi Shou Gako presented their likes and personal experiences from their lives to us.

Karate:

Taka, Sensei Darren and Senpai Kyoko (Toshi and Taka’s parents) came in at the end of the day to show the Grade 6’s about Kyokushin karate. They impressed everyone by breaking many boards and ceiling tiles at once with their bare feet, hands and elbows. A lot of the Grade 6’s even took a shot at punching and kicking bags that were held by the three. They showed various techniques such as roundhouse kicks, strikes and punches. There are three different types of fighting in tournaments. Such as ‘no contact’ ‘full contact’ and ‘continuous contact’.

The end of the day:

After the karate show, they were able to get the floorboards and roof tiles as souvenirs. Many people were thrilled to get the wood and tiles for souvenirs while some didn’t know what to do with them. At the end of the day, Nishikubo sensei took a photo of the whole year 6 with Taka’s parents. They were also given a bag of lollies that contained many things such as the Ramune drink, the Ramune candy, Hi-chew, chocolate, gummies, rice crackers and many more. 

We all had a great time on Japan day.

By Hannah, Jessie, and Taka

Monash Tech School (Modules: Space Habitat Designer)

On Tuesday 14th November 2023, students from HPS participated in an online learning session run by Monash Tech School. The selected grade 6 students took part in a range of activities based on the idea of setting up a habitat on Mars. Students applied design thinking principles and shared their ideas with the facilitators and the wider audience watching on-line. Students had to explain why they selected a particular building material and how they would overcome the problems of building on another planet. In particular, students needed to consider the thin Martian atmosphere, toxic soil, high levels of incoming radiation and lack of liquid water. The HPS students came up with a range of creative solutions. They displayed teamwork, were respectful audience members and used their time well.

By Mr Magart

Sun Smart

Students need to wear a school hat when they are outside. If they don’t have it, they need to stay under the shade. Please make sure your child brings their school hat to school every day. Also, please ensure your child’s name is written on their hat. 

Naomi Mori-Hanazono

Assistant Principal