Principal Report
Friday 19th July 2024
Dear Highvale Community,
Welcome to Term Three. I hope you had a fantastic holiday break. I am so pleased to be the Acting Principal for Term Three. I have been visiting classrooms throughout the week and met all of the lovely students and it's been great to connect with families before and after school. Highvale is a great place to be!
Holiday Works
Over the two week break, there were a lot of building projects and improvements being made to the school. We have new toilets, fresh paint and in some areas a new roof. The school is looking nice and fresh. Thank you to all those involved.
New Sandpit
Over the school holidays a new junior school sandpit was built. At the moment, it is only available for Prep students and will be gradually opened up to Year One and Two students in upcoming weeks. While it has been a bit wet, the sandpit has still been very popular and we look forward to many sandcastles and tunnels being built in the coming years.
Smart Watches
It has recently come to our attention that a small number of students using smart watches as a communication device. I would like to remind all families that our Mobile Phone
Student Use policy states:
Students who choose to bring or wear a device that may connect to or have a similar functionality to a mobile phone such as smart watches must have them switched off during the entire school day. This includes recess and lunch time.
Students may wear smart watches but cannot use them as mobile phones. The policy can be accessed on our school website.
Parking Concerns
The school was contacted by a local resident to inform us that they have contacted the council as they believe many HPS families are parking illegally, particularly near the roundabout at Grantley Drive and Thompson Street. Please always follow parking laws and if necessary, park a few streets away and walk your children to school. We are of the understanding that council will be patrolling the area and will fine cars parked incorrectly. Safety is our priority and we ask that you are mindful of your driving and parking around the school grounds.
This is the map sent to us by a concerned local resident indicating areas they have raised with the council. Please refer to parking signs around the school.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent Teacher Interviews provide a timely opportunity for our teaching staff to discuss your child’s mid-year report as well as discuss the learning goals for the students for the second half of the year. Working in partnership and having consistent expectations between home and school leads to better outcomes for our students.
Our Parent/ Teacher Interviews will be held next Wednesday 24th July (3.40pm - 7.00pm) & Thursday 25th July (3.40pm - 5.40pm). These are 10 minute meetings and need to be booked in advance. Please check Compass for more information. If an interpreter is required , this can be organised. Please contact your child's classroom teacher if you have any questions regarding these interviews.
New Curriculum Documents
The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has released the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0.
The release includes The Arts, Health and Physical Education, Humanities, Languages (Chinese, French, Italian and Japanese) Science, Technologies, capabilities, foundational skills and cross-curriculum priorities. This follows the curriculum release of English 2.0 and Mathematics 2.0 in 2023.
If you are interested you can view the new F-10 curriculum website at f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au
School Tours and Enrolments
We are nearing the end of our school tours as parents of Preps for 2025 have to complete the online enrolment process. We have limited spaces for our final School Tour of 2024 next Wednesday. Tours must be booked through the school office (9887 8000).
The virtual tour is available at https://highvaleps.vic.edu.au/
School Supervision
As mentioned in previous newsletters and communications home, there is no teacher supervision before 8.45am. Please ensure you remain with your child if they are on school grounds or alternatively, please use our Before School Care program, TheirCare.
Students should also be picked up before 3.45pm as there is no teacher supervision after this time.
I look forward to getting to know you all across the term. Have a wonderful weekend HPS, stay safe and stay warm!
Carly Epskamp
Acting Principal
carly.epskamp@education.vic.gov.au