Principal's Report

A week down, and many more to go. The start of the year can feel frantic not only starting school but also booking in extra-curricular events, the beginning of sport and other activities before and after school and the many communications that come at you from us. In light of this, I have kept this newsletter as concise as possible (and will continue to attempt to!) and encourage you as always to remain connected to each of our platforms, and in particular Compass. In case you missed it last week, our platforms and the manner in which they are used is below. The Snack Shack and Second Hand Uniform utilise their own platforms.

Communication Platforms

• Compass: All calendar events, payments and permissions and whole-school, cohort and individual notifications, reminders and updates.
• Instagram/Facebook: Reminders, updates, staff profiles and celebrations of learning.
• WhatsApp: Class groups established by coordinators. 
• Seesaw: A private platform that gives you a window into our classrooms. Class and specialist teachers use Seesaw to share your child's schooling journey
• Newsletter: fortnightly updates, news and specific content such as wellbeing, curriculum, specialist programs and more. 
• Year Level Term Newsletters: posted at the beginning of each term, these contain information about key dates, reminders and curriculum focuses for the term.
• Website: mostly static information about the school, including Parent Handbook, Enrolment processes, Policies and archived Newsletters.

Thank You!

Whilst the year has only just begun, many parents have already been busy volunteering for important roles within the school. 

Thank you to all parents who volunteered to be Class Representatives this year. We are still looking for Class Representatives for 2B, 2C, 2E, 3C, 3D, 4B and 4C.  A brief discussion for those who can attend will be held on Friday, 9:00am – 9:30am in the BER. 

Thank you also to the parents who supported the Welcome Barbeque last Friday be it baking, helping on the Barbeque or assisting in other ways. I know that this event is greatly appreciated by families and was very much enjoyed this year again. 

Parents' Battle of the Bands

This year, our Mum's and Dad's Clubs are joining forces to enter an HPS team in the Primary Schools Battle of the Bands. If you're musical, keen to connect with others and have a fantastic night out, stay tuned for more information through socials and WhatsApp. 

Changes to Continuous Reporting

As per the communications yesterday sent to all families, and reiterated in today’s newsletter, we have responded to the shift from families to a model of Parent Engagement rather than Continuous Assessment. We look forward to increasing the frequency and face-to-face interactions throughout 2024.

Annual Reminders: Policies

Policies govern how our school plans, acts and responds. They are based on Department of Education guidelines and contextualised to reflect our school priorities and processes. School Council ratifies all school policies to ensure we have parent representation and voice throughout them. All school policies can be found on our school’s website. If you have any questions about our policies or would like to request a hard copy, please speak with our office staff.

Permissions for 2024

Thank you to all the families who have completed Compass permissions for 2024.  If you haven't logged into Compass and completed the questions and agreements could you please do so as soon as possible.  This information is required by class teachers and the school nurses.

New & Important Dates

• Dads' BBL Game V St Mary's: 14th February
• School Photos: 26th & 27th February
• Visible Wellbeing Parent Presentation: 29th February. 
• Man Cave Dad’s Club Event: 1st March
• NAPLAN Testing Window: 13th – 22nd March
• End of Term: Thursday 28th March
• Curriculum Day: Monday 15th April
• Start of Term 2: Tuesday 16th April

To stay up to date with all events and key dates, see the Compass Calendar.