Welcome to our first newsletter of Term Four. I hope everyone had a restful and relaxing holiday break. The staff and I are very excited to be back onsite and look forward to a busy, but exciting term.

Welcome to Highvale - New students

This week we have had several new students join us at HPS. Welcome Phoenix J 1E, Pramish A 2U, Owen L 2J, Spruha A 4SQ, Cindy L 6S and Oscar X6S. We are sure you will love being members of our HPS community and warmly welcome you to our school.

Division Athletics

Congratulations to the following students that competed on Wednesday at the District Athletics Event at the Bill Sewart Athletics Track: Anya C, Valens C, Aqeil C, Maya E, Ethan F, Aaron L, Jazel O, Maya P, Luke T, Nianqin Y and Ruth Y. A HUGE congratulations to Jazel O, who will represent Highvale Primary School in the discus and hurdles events at the Regional Competition shortly. We wish you well at this event Jazel.

World Teachers Day

“Great teachers empathise with kids, respect them, and believe that each one has something special that can be built upon.” – Ann Lieberman

World Teachers Day is on Friday 25th October and HPS will be celebrating our wonderful staff on this day. To celebrate World Teachers Day this year and thank the teachers for all of their hard work and dedication, I would love to hear from you. If possible, could you please email me your thoughts on the teaching staff at Highvale Primary School. It can be a generic message for all of them or can be specific to one teacher. I have included a few examples:

Example 1. Miss White is a special teacher. She is caring, calm, passionate and always has a smile on her face. She has helped our daughter blossom and become more confident this year. She always has time to listen. We thank Miss White for her dedication and truly admire her hard work. From Isabella and family.

Example 2. Miss B, we are so grateful to know Jordan is in the good hands of a teacher like you. Your authority and guide have helped Jordan become more confident and a good listener. He can now read sentences as well as write quite a few words. It's all because of your dedication. Thank you so much for nurturing Jordan and all of the students in Prep.

Example 3. I'm 1P Rock's Mum. We just came to Melbourne this year. We come from China.

For children who have never spoken English, Miss Powell showed great encouragement and patience. It made Rock not confident at the beginning, but now he is willing to communicate in English, and he has made many friends with the encouragement of the teacher. We sincerely thank Miss Powell for their help in the healthy growth of children. The children are very happy every day, thanks again to the school and the teachers. Wish everything is well. Thank you very much.

You can email me your response at carly.epskamp@education.vic.gov.au

I will be sharing your responses with our wonderful staff at a morning tea celebration on Friday 25th October.

Construction Works around the school

There are some areas of the school that are currently blocked off due to construction works. We have tried to minimise the disruption to students and the team of construction workers worked hard over the holidays to get majority of the work completed. Unfortunately, due to weather not all works were completed and they are still onsite working around the Junior School Building. We are hoping to have all works completed and the workers offsite by the 31st of October. I will keep the school community updated on their progress.

School Saving Bonus

Parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025 will shortly receive the one-off School Saving Bonus $400 support. In the coming months, the Department of Education will send you two email communications for each of your children enrolled in Victorian government schools. By Friday 18 October 2024, please ensure that your child’s 2025 enrolment is completed and that your contact information is up to date.

The two emails from the Department of Education will:

1. Confirm your email address between mid-October and late-November.

2. Provide you with your unique $400 School Saving Bonus code by the end of November.

If you do not receive a confirmation email from the department by late-November, please check your spam or junk folders and contact the School Office on 9887 8000 if needed.

Feedback on OSHC TheirCare

Please add your views and opinion to the before/after school care provider TheirCare survey. It should only take 5 minutes to complete. Your feedback is valued and will allow us to adapt the program to the needs of our community. This survey is for all families, even if your child does not access OSHC TheirCare at this point in time. You can find the link for the survey on Compass.

Respectful Relationships

This term we will continue working our whole school approach to Wellbeing, which includes the use of the Respectful Relationships Program, a government initiative designed for implementation in all government schools. In Respectful Relationships there are 8 topics that we focus on across the year. They are:

Emotional Literacy
Personal Strengths
Positive Coping
Problem Solving
Stress Management
Help Seeking
Gender and Identity
Positive Gender Relations

This Term, the students at HPS will engage in lessons from Topics 3,4,5,6,7 and 8. I look forward to hearing all about the lessons involved in each unit from the students and will share this with you. As a school we are looking forward to the positive impact this program will have on our students. We are continuing to learn how to appreciate and understand diversity across our school and aiming to create the most inclusive environment possible.

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

Kids Help - kidshelpline.com.au phone 1800 55 1800

Parent Line - betterhealth.vic.gov.au phone 13 22 89

Headspace - headspace.org.au phone 1800 650 890

eSafety Commissioner - esafety.gov.au - Advice for parents and carers to help children have safe experiences online

I am looking forward to a fabulous Term Four with you all.

Carly Epskamp

Acting Principal

carly.epskamp@education.vic.gov.au

Community

Lunchtime extra-curricular activities

Term 4

Activities and services in the community