Welcome to Week Six of Term One. I continue to see amazing things happening a Highvale Primary School and am so proud of all of our staff and students. The start of the year has been wonderful at Highvale.

Welcome to HPS

In the last fortnight, we have had some new students begin their learning journey with us at Highvale. Welcome to HPS to the following new students: Yuchen L 1S, Casper L 1D and Danny H 1S. We are sure you will love being members of our community. If there is anything that you would like to discuss or need assistance with, please contact the School Office on 9887 8000. We are always here to help!

Birthdays

A child’s birthday is a very special occasion and every fortnight I will share this celebration by including the children’s names in our newsletter.

Happy Birthday to the following students who celebrated their special day during February: Nora T, Lyndon L, Harris L, Arjan B, Bonnie W, Mirreeha A, Ace H, Hunter Y, Aaron L, Oscar S, Maya T, Mishkaat A, Lotus L, Evelyn W, Nathan Y, Claire C, Mariana N, Aiden W, Madison S, Alice H, Andrew C, Sheldon X, Shawn F, Julia T, Sam T, Isabella M, Nour N, Eddy L and Kenneth L.

Happy Birthday to the following students who will celebrate their special day during March: Jaanu T, Sebastian Y, Amber K, Shawn N, Zara Z, Kurtis L, Carter C, Owen X, Almeer K, Harper K, Kai Yan D, Markus H, Anna W, Ben G and Eleni K.

Attendance

At Highvale Primary School we firmly believe that attending school every day plays a crucial role in shaping a child's educational journey. Regular attendance allows students to fully engage in classroom activities, discussions, and hands-on learning experiences. It provides them with the opportunity to grasp new concepts, ask questions, and collaborate with their peers. Consistent attendance helps build a strong foundation of knowledge and skills, enabling children to excel academically. This term, we will be reinforcing the importance of attending school every day.

Congratulations to the 195 students who have achieved 100% attendance in February. Some of these students include: Mirreeha A, Jovin D, Natalie H, Fiora J, Manduul B, Anisha D, Emmy H, Leanne L, Amay S, Shrigna S, Claire H, Cooper K, Ann L, Zara L, Surveen B, Hayley C, Vimal A, Vivaan D, Liam F, Kaleb G, Olivia G, Elise L, Kian D, Jun Ler E, Sidarrth G, Talitha H, Khloe L, Kai P, Raniah S, Andrea W, Mishkaat A, Chanell C, Eleni K, Aaron L, Marwin H, James V, Evelyn W, Eugene C, Elizabeth C, Aarna D, Livia F, Renita D, Ben G, Emma L, Andrea L, Kurtis L, Jonathan V, Katarina W and Ruth Y.

Remember: it is not OK to be away!

Highvale Sports Carnival

On Wednesday 26th March, we will be holding a Highvale Sports Carnival from 3:00pm - 4:30pm. All students will participate in a range of sporting events and rotate around the oval and basketball court in class groups. We encourage all parents to attend and watch our sporting stars in action. Mr Creswell will send out more information about the Sports Carnival via Compass, so stay tuned!

NAPLAN

We are looking forward to the NAPLAN assessments which begin next week. The students will be assessed on the following subjects: Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy. The NAPLAN test window starts on Wednesday 12 March 2025 and finishes on Monday 24 March 2025.

Highvale Primary School will follow the timetable below for the NAPLAN:

Wednesday 12th March – Year Three and Year Five Writing

Thursday 13th March – Year Three Reading

Friday 14th March – Year Five Reading

Monday 17th March – Year Three and Five Conventions of Language

Tuesday 18th March – Year Three Numeracy

Wednesday 19th March – Year Five Numeracy

Good luck to all of our Year Three and Five students sitting NAPLAN.

Allied Health Professionals

If your child sees/has seen an Allied Health Professional such as a psychologist, speech therapist or occupational therapist, could you please share the reports from these sessions with your child’s classroom teacher. Often there are recommendations in these reports that may assist us when catering for your child in the classroom.

VSBA Construction

As many of you will remember, we had a lot of major works completed throughout the school last year. Last Friday, I met with the construction company and we did a walk around the school and were able to recall the defects. As a result of this, the VSBA will be coming back over the coming weeks to fix up some of the minor works. They will endeavour to do majority of the work before/after school and on weekends, however, you may see them working onsite over the coming weeks. This should have no impact on our walkways, classroom access or curriculum delivery. If anything changes, I will provide updates to the community via Compass.

SunSmart

A reminder that ALL students need to wear their school hat this term. As we are a SunSmart school, we take very seriously the need to be sun smart. This includes

Wearing the approved broad-brimmed HPS hat outside
Encouraging students to come to school wearing a broad-spectrum water-resistant sunscreen (30+) and to reapply it during the day

If students do not wear or have a hat, they will be restricted to sit in the designated shade areas.

Compass & Communication

The Compass parent portal is a key communication tool, which provides parents with access to information about their child’s academic progress, attendance, key dates, reports, upcoming events, payments, interview bookings and newsletters. Please ensure you can access this portal, as information is regularly shared through this service. If you are unable to access Compass, please phone Andrea or Rachael in the Office on 9887 8000.

Healthy Harold

Over the next two weeks, we will have Healthy Harold visit us at HPS to cover topics such as physical health, safety and social and emotional wellbeing. All modules are aligned to the Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education Learning Area and other Learning Areas and General Capabilities. If you have not given consent on Compass for your child to attend this incursion, please do so ASAP.

Safe Driving Practices

Just a reminder to parents about the safe driving practices required when dropping off and picking up your child. Please enter the school grounds at a slow speed and be mindful that you may need to wait to enter and exit the turning circle. Please note that the turning circle is meant to flow so that you can drive your car to the front of the queue and quickly drop your child off at the start of the day or wait for your child at pick up. We have teachers on duty to help expedite the process of locating your child and encouraging them to make their way towards you quickly. We then ask that you exit the turning circle carefully, being mindful of the cars behind. Please do not overtake other cars in the turning circle and do not park your car in the turning circle. We encourage all members of our community to be positive role models for our students with regards to road safety. Thank you for your immediate attention to this important matter.

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

Have a great week ahead HPS families,

Carly Epskamp

Acting Principal

carly.epskamp@education.vic.gov.au

A Word From The 4s