Principal's Message

Our Values are for everyone!

This year, as mentioned in the last newsletter, we have launched our new school values of Kindness, Respect and Resilience. 

Our students have been busy unpacking these in classes and bringing these values to life in all aspects of their daily school routine. As a staff we have also spent time understanding what they look like for all of us and how we go about our daily routines as staff members of Hillsmeade.

I'd like to remind our wider school community that we are also bound by these values as well as the overall Department of Education values of Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights.

As a school community we need to consider this in our daily interactions with each other and I refer in particular to the car parking situation. The car parking is not within the school's control, it is a Casey Council issue and we encourage you to report to the Council if you are faced with inappropriate parking behaviour. I encourage our community to please be aware of our values and in particular treat each other with respect at the most busy times of the day and during whole school events.

Congratulations to all SRC and Student Leaders for 2024!

I am so proud of all students that have put their hand up for positions of responsibility this year. There will be options outside of these particular roles for students to demonstrate their leadership skills as well, however these roles are integral to enabling student voice to be authentic and heard at HPS. Congratulations to the following students:

Year 6 Student Leaders

School Captains - Siyaa & AJ

Sport Leaders - Charlotte & Rhys

Learning Leaders - Subeg & Ryder

Blue House Leaders - Hakeem & Livinia             

Red House Leaders - Grace & Lily

Yellow House Leaders - Madison & Montana 

Green House Leaders - Taylor & Olivia

SRC Leaders - Hannah & Abhinav

SRC Representatives

Year 2 - Evie, Lola, Zoe, Matilda, Tilly

Year 3 - Aydin, Marnie, Macie, Flynn, Sammie

Year 4 - Madison, Emmett, Jehtt, Matilda, Ella

Year 5 - Ibrahim, Macey, Nathaniel, Nilofar, Maya

Year 6 - Hannah, Abhinav, Ilyas, Holly, Nargis

In the coming assemblies we look forward to acknowledging the aforementioned students and presenting them with their official badges. Stay tuned to Compass for information regarding these special assemblies.

Compass Calendar

We have recently updated the calendar with a number of events that will be occurring across the school throughout the year. Please make sure you check the link in this newsletter, which is also available on our website and via Compass, as this will enable you to prepare your families for any upcoming events that you may be interested in.

NAPLAN for Year 3 & 5

Commencing Wednesday 13th March.

Our Year 3 and Year 5 students will be undertaking the annual NAPLAN assessments from Wednesday 13th March. 

NAPLAN assesses student knowledge and skills in writing, reading, conventions of language- including spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy.

Students are currently being supported by staff in preparing for NAPLAN by becoming familiar with the online platform and the types of questions that will be asked to answer.

While the testing period is 13th - 18th March, catch up tests will be available for individual students who are absent on test days, up to and including Monday 25th March 2024. 

Detailed information will be distributed to the families of our Year 3 and Year 5 students in the coming days.

School Council

Thank you to the members of our school community that have nominated for School Council positions commencing 2024. Yesterday we posted a list of candidates and we encourage our community to please vote for your preferred candidates by 4pm on 4th March. Ballot papers will be distributed by Monday 26th February.

I look forward to forming our Council and commencing with the first meeting of the year on Tuesday 12th March.

Reminders

The Prep Teddy Bear Picnic will be held on the morning of Thursday 29th February. Information will be provided to our prep families by their class teachers. Please do not hesitate to ask your child's teacher if you would like any further information.

School Photos are just around the corner - Wednesday 6th March. Please make sure you have placed your orders online - information has been provided on Compass

Family Fun Night will once again be held after school on Tuesday 19th March 3.30-5.15pm. Families are welcome to attend on the synthetic oval and participate in a variety of activities provided by the school. Feel free to bring an afternoon picnic along and find a patch of grass to sit and socialise with the HPS community.

Brick Pavers are available for families to order to celebrate Hillsmeade's 20/21st year in operation. All brick paver information is available via Compass.

Easter Parade and Raffle

In the coming weeks you will have information on how to purchase tickets for our annual Easter raffle. The raffle will be drawn on the last day of term.

We will also finish the term with an Easter Parade for all students in the ELC, Prep, Year 1 and Year 2. This will commence after 9am on Thursday 28th March, on the basketball courts - weather permitting.

Last Day of Term 1 - Thursday 28th March 2.30pm dismissal. OSHC available from 2.30pm.