Principals' Page

Welcome back to Term 3. It has been a wet but positive start to the Term with many very happy and engaged learners working in their classrooms. We have lots of exciting things planned this Term including three-way conferences, life education for Level 4-6 students, excursions, book week, Level 3-6 Athletics, Foundation 100 days, ICAS, Hoop Time Basketball and the build-up to Production for the start of Term 4. 

Student enrolment

Applications for enrolment for 2025 Foundation students are still open. All Outer East schools are using the new online enrolment system for the first time this year. This is not managed at the school level. One of the aims of the new process is to ensure consistency between schools in the closing date for applications and in offers of enrolment being sent to families. If you are intending to send a child to our school next year, or know a friend who is thinking of HEPS, please complete the online application. The application process closes next Friday 26th July.

Leaderships' Harvard Learning

Lou, Marcus and I were privileged to attend Project Zero classroom at Harvard in the last week of term 2. Our learning centred around building a school culture that values and teaches students how to access different types of thinking. A quote from  researcher Professor David Perkins (Co Founder of Project Zero)  demonstrates the need to develop thinking. " Learning is a consequence of thinking retention... As we think about and with the content we are learning, we truly learn it."

Our own learning has centred on the throughlines of Project Zero and how we lead our school in these concepts:

• What does it mean to understand? How does understanding develop?
• What are the roles of reflection and assessment in learning?
• How can we nurture critical thinking and creativity?
• How can we design learning experiences for and with diverse learners and contexts?

We will be holding a parent information session later this term around ways in which we provide for this at HEPS.

Naplan results

The 2024 Naplan results have been recieved, and provide us as a school with valuable information to celebrate the successes of our teaching and to make improvements. For individuals, while valued, it is important to remember the results are a snap shot of what was achieved on one day of school. Students achievements are measured against proficiency levels of Exceeding, Strong, Developing, and Needs Attention. 

Below is the comparison between HEPS data, for the proficiency level of Exceeding or Strong, with that of our network schools. 

Results of students who are in the proficiency level of Exceeding or Strong

Year 3

Year 5

Lunchtime clubs will continue in Term 3. These clubs are open to all students across the school, however, there may be limited spots in some clubs due to limited resources or space. Our students will be given a reminder by the classroom teachers when clubs will be running. We hope to support all students to access these clubs and further develop their social skills and friendships through meaningful and practicale experiences.