Dear HPS Community,

Welcome back to all our Heidelberg Primary School students, families and staff! I hope everyone enjoyed a restful and enjoyable two-week holiday break, taking the opportunity to relax, recharge and spend quality time with family and friends. It is wonderful to have our school community back together as we begin Term 4, our final term of the year. This is always a special and busy time at HPS, filled with opportunities for learning, celebration, reflection and creating lasting memories. As we enter the final stretch of 2026, we look forward to building on the wonderful achievements of the year so far, embracing new challenges and continuing to live our school values of Respect, Resilience, Responsibility and Compassion as we finish the year positively and proudly together.

We are pleased to welcome Eliane Keubekian to Heidelberg Primary School as our new SAC Coordinator. Eliane is passionate about creating a SAC environment where every child feels safe, happy, included and heard. She believes children should have a genuine voice in their program, with plenty of opportunities to choose, create, play, relax and connect with their friends.

Building strong, positive relationships with children, staff and families is central to Eliane’s approach. She wants Heidelberg SAC to be a place where families feel comfortable approaching the team, sharing ideas and providing feedback, ensuring our program continues to reflect the needs and interests of our community.

We would also like to again extend our sincere thanks to Astrid for the leadership, care and stability she has provided to the service while acting as Coordinator since March. Her contribution has been greatly valued and has helped ensure continuity for our children, families and educators.

We are incredibly fortunate to have such a fabulous team of educators who are committed to providing a positive and welcoming experience for our children. Their focus on creating seamless transitions between the school day and SAC, while fostering a consistent and caring culture that reflects the values of HPS, is something we truly value.

Please join us in welcoming Eliane to her new role and thanking Astrid for her wonderful contribution to our SAC community.

Playground Update

We are absolutely thrilled to see our playground equipment and play spaces opening up again after being included within the building zone for the past 12 months! It has been wonderful to see the smiles, hear the laughter and witness the excitement on the children's faces as they rediscover (or are introduced to for Foundation students) these much-loved spaces. Throughout the building works, our students have demonstrated such wonderful resilience, patience and flexibility as they have adapted to changes in their play spaces and routines. We have been incredibly proud of the respectful, cooperative and responsible way they have have all connected within the playground space this week. It is so rewarding to see them once again enjoying greater opportunities to play, connect and have fun with their friends.

Morning Supervision

A friendly reminder to all families about yard supervision arrangements at Heidelberg Primary School.

Our Before Care program operates from 7.00am, providing supervision for students who are booked into the service. Teacher supervision on school grounds commences at 8.40am.

Students who arrive at school before 8.40am and are not attending SAC are not supervised by school staff and remain the responsibility of their parents and carers until teacher supervision begins.

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students, we ask families to please ensure children do not arrive at school before 8.40am unless they are attending our supervised care program.

Thank you for your support and cooperation in helping us maintain a safe environment for every child at Heidelberg Primary School.

Play Equipment Donations

We’re looking for donations of any wooden children’s play kitchens that families may have at home and are looking to donate.

At Heidelberg Primary School, we’re looking to reinvigorate the playground area outside our Foundation classrooms by introducing some exciting mud kitchen play opportunities for our youngest learners!

If you have a wooden play kitchen that is no longer being used and is in good, safe condition, we would love to hear from you.

Thank you in advance for helping us create a wonderful space for our Foundation students to explore, imagine, create and learn through play!

Matsuri Day

Did you know that "Matsuri" (祭) is the Japanese word for festival or celebration?

Sensai De Cunto and Sensai Kuhlmann have been busy preparing and organising a fabulous range of activities and experiences that are sure to engage and delight students from Foundation to Year 6.

Matsuri Day is eagerly anticipated each year at HPS and is a wonderful cross age event involving the whole school.

Families are invited to join the morning assembly at 9.15am to begin our day, which will include a Japanese drum performance. Families are also invited to join the afternoon assembly from 2.30pm, which will be an opportunity to highlight and celebrate the successes of the day.

Students are invited to dress up in costumes related to Japan /Japanese cartoons or attire that reflects their family's cultural background or heritage.

We look forward to an energetic and vibrant day of Japanese language and culture!

2027 Planning

We are at that time of the year where we begin planning and preparing for 2027.

Part of this planning is determining the number and structure of classes across the school, based on our overall enrolment numbers.

If you are moving house to another suburb, state or country resulting in changes to your child's enrolment at Heidelberg PS please inform the office as soon as possible. Thank you to the families who have already provided this information.

Once that piece of the puzzle is determined, the organisation of class placements will occur.

Soon there will be information sent out to communicate the process and timeline for students to identify friends they wish to be placed in a class with next year. Stay tuned for further info in coming weeks.

Students do not attend school on Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd November.

We have a Curriculum Day scheduled for Monday 2nd November and the Tuesday 3rd November is the Melbourne Cup public holiday.

October
Thursday 15	Year 6 Graduation Photo Day
Thursday 29	Matsuri Day - whole school
November
Monday 2	Curriculum Day- No students at school
Tuesday 3	Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
Monday 30	HPS instrumental music - End-of-year concert
December
Thursday 3	'Summer Nights and Christmas Lights' whole school event

2026 School Term Dates

Term 4: Monday 5th October- Friday 18th December (1.30pm finish)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Naomi Ivers

Principal

Heidelberg Primary School

9457 2259

naomi.ivers@education.vic.gov.au

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