Principal's Report

Welcome back for Term 2! Whilst last week felt like somewhat of a false start, I hope that you found the opportunity over the series of long weekends to get away, have some fun and enjoy the things you love to do as a family. We certainly enjoyed a short break from sport, parties and lunchboxes to spend more time in the ocean, playing games and being active. I hope that for you, whatever it was that you enjoyed during this time, some of it can remain as the busyness of life re-starts. Please scan through the below to see some brief updates as to what is/has been happening at HPS.

Curriculum Day PL

The Curriculum Day that we held last Thursday was focused on wellbeing, and more specifically, understanding behavioural science, the functions of behaviour and logical consequences. Staff engaged in the latest research in this space, and collaboratively developed and refined school-wide documentation around expected behaviours, strategies for eliciting these and how to effectively address unexpected behaviours. An approach that centres on the consequences associated to unexpected, unsafe or unkind behaviours being: 

• related to the issue, 
• reasonable in proportion, and 
• respectful in their delivery are the tenets we continue to strive for. 

This approach is not a shift away from a previous approach, but one that deepens our collective understanding and resources to draw upon. As one of our three school pillars, we will continue to value the partnership we have with you in supporting children to learn how to make good choices and resolve challenges they experience.

Behaviour is a complex space and continues to be one of two areas of focus for our Professional Development this year, with more being shared about our progress and supports for home along the journey.

Voting at HPS

With the Federal Election this weekend, our school will again be a voting centre. We encourage you to come and lodge your vote here if it is convenient. It is important to note that we won’t be holding a sausage sizzle. At the last election, due to a large proportion of voters now using postal voting or voting early, it was incredibly quiet here and our sausage sizzle made no profit, despite enormous effort from our Parents’ Association. Whilst the notion of a ‘democracy sausage’ is lovely, the reality is that the view of our PA is that it’s not viable to continue to provide this for the few who would like it, which we fully support. 

2026 Enrolments Open!

Enrolments for Foundation students for 2026 are now open and being accepted. For current families, you are guaranteed a place here at our school for younger siblings, however you are still required to complete an enrolment form before the 25th July to secure a place and participate in Transition. Please find the form downloadable here, or pop into the office for a hard copy. 

Safety Before School

During recess and lunchbreaks, our students are supervised by number of teachers in the yard. Before and after school, however, we have only one staff member on duty due to the large number of adults present. Because of this, it’s not possible for one person to monitor the whole yard, and there may be instances where students are injured or there are issues and parents are nearest to support. If this is the case, please always look for a staff member for assistance – on all mornings we can, you will find Cam, Amanda and myself roaming the yard or on gates – and we’re very happy to help. If you cannot, please visit the office for further assistance or first aid. 

We also remind parents that before 8:45am, the school does not have a duty of care for your children. We therefore remind you that students should not arrive by themselves before this time. 

Hats

Hats are no longer required to be worn at recess or lunchtime, however students are still encouraged to wear them should they wish to. 

Ramp Works 

You will have noticed various temporary fencing around the school (currently Grade 2 and 4 areas). Later this week, the main access to BER will also be impacted, with students entering directly via their classroom doors.

This is due to ramp works the Department of Education is implementing throughout the state to ensure all schools have fully compliant ramps. The works will take place at our school over the coming months. There will be impacts to access at various points, which we’re working with the builders and architects to try and minimise. I appreciate your understanding and flexibility in navigating this throughout the project.

Student Information

A request to review your student and family information held by the school was sent to all families via email yesterday.  Could you please check the information, make any changes if necessary, and sign and return to the school.  There is a prize for the class in each year level that returns all their information first.

New & Important Dates

• China Tour Information Session: 7th May @ 6:00pm (online)
• Wonderful Women’s Afternoon: 9th May @ 2:00pm
• House Cross Country: 13th May
• Grade 6 Camp: 26th – 29th May
• Last Day of Term 2: Friday 4th July
• Curriculum Day: Monday 21st July
• Term 3 Starts: Tuesday 22nd July