Principal's Report

Australian Champions!

Typically celebrations sit toward the end of this page, however this week it is fitting to lead with the news that the HPS 12 y.o Boys Futsal Team on winning the Australasian Champion of Champions Tournament last weekend, held in Queensland. To be the Australasian Champions is an extraordinary effort and something that all team members should be incredibly proud of. well done to Callan J, Tasman B, Ethan L, River B, Jude J, Orlando E, Freddie S, Miles A, Sam S and Jackson M on this incredible effort. I also thank the parents involved for their time and commitment to supporting the boys through the process and to compete in the tournament. Whilst these boys represent the school, with the event not in the School Sports Victoria schedule and therefore our school being limited in putting resources toward it, the parents have managed, organised and coached the team throughout. 

Further to this, Ethan L has been selected as one of ten students nationally to represent the Australian Futsal Association in Europe next year. Whilst there were clearly strong performances from the whole team to win the championship, Ethan’s standout performance is deserving of significant recognition. We wish him, and the Australian Team, all the very best later in the year as they compete in the international championships.

... and State Champions!

As well as this week having students become national champions, we also had students competing in and achieving success in the Victorian State Athletics Championships. 

A huge congratulations goes to Isla Harriss who competed in and won the 80m Hurdles and is therefore the School Sports Victoria State Champion for her age group. Isla broke her own Personal Bests on the way to this achievement which shows great composure in such a big event.

We also had a team of boys compete in the 10 y.o. Relay. They also broke their PB on the way to the final and finished just outside the placings in 4th. All four boys, Sam, Dominic, Barney and Mason, can be incredibly proud of this result and I’m sure are already looking to next year to see if they can further improve on what is an incredible achievement. 

Curriculum Day Work

Last Monday on the Curriculum Day, staff participated in professional learning focused on the application of key strategies that stem from research around the ‘Science of Learning’. 

The Science of Learning focuses on understanding how humans acquire, process, and retain knowledge to take knowledge and skills from the short-term memory to long term retention and mastery. It combines insights from psychology, neuroscience, and education to explore the most effective ways to learn. Key principles include active engagement (e.g., retrieval practice) in instruction, spaced repetition of learning, and making connections between new and existing knowledge. It emphasises the importance of motivation, feedback, and context in the learning process, recognising that learning is dynamic and influenced by individual differences.

In deepening our understanding of the implications of the latest research around the various methods with which to positively influence learning, our staff collaborated on strategies to support students more effectively with explicit instruction and in gathering formative data on their understanding and progress. Staff will continue to refine these processes over the remainder of the year as well as into next year as we continually evolve our practices, as opposed to pivoting from ‘program to program’. 

New & Important Dates

• Mini Olympics: 15th November 
• Curriculum Day: 9th December. 
• Christmas Carols: 13th December (2:00-3:30pm)
• Gr 6 Graduation: 16th December 
• Final Assembly & School Finish: 20th December @ 1:00pm & 1:30pm respectively
• Curriculum Days: Tuesday 28th & Wednesday 29th January. 
• Students Return to School: Thursday 30th January

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

Reminders

Please be reminded that any parent requests regarding classes for 2025 need to be sent to the Hampton Primary School email address (hampton.ps@education.vic.gov.au), addressed to myself and the subject line ‘Class Placement’ no later than the close of business today. It is pleasing to note that very few have been received which reflects your confidence in the depth of knowledge teachers have regarding students who may be productive or unproductive to have in the same class, which is carefully considered at the time of placement.