Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's Report

It’s been a busy few weeks with many events on. We are all enjoying the sunny Autumn days, although the mornings are a bit brisk!

Second Hand Uniform Sale

Thank you to Watashi Mo for organizing a very successful second-hand uniform sale. Parents eagerly purchased the stock on hand and we raised over $1200. Thank you to families who donated uniforms. If you do have unwanted uniform you can send it to the office and we can use this at another second hand sale.

School Camp

The Year 4-6’s attended Camp Sunny Stones this week. The teachers reported that the students have been engaged and well behaved (if a little bleary eyed!) at camp. Naomi visited camp and everyone was having a fabulous time. Here is a picture Fukaya sensei took of the sunrise at camp- simply stunning!

Cross Country 

On 6 May our cross-country team ran at Norton’s Park. I am pleased to report that our school placed overall second in the competition with several of our students progressing to the division event later in the term. Thank you to Mr Gorney and Mr Thomas, Bec Kimura and Ben Chapple for chaperoning the team at the event and to our many parents who came and watched and supported our students. 

Education Week

Education Week is an annual celebration of education in Victoria. This year Victoria will celebrate Education Week from Monday May 13 to Friday May 17. The theme will be Spotlight on STEM, to celebrate and share how science, technology, engineering, and maths come to life in the classroom.

On Tuesday 14th May we are hosting an open classroom morning. Parents are invited to have morning tea hosted by Team Kids on the basketball court from 8.45-9.15am. From 9.15am- 10.45am parents are invited to visit classrooms literacy and numeracy learning. Specialist programs such as STEM and Visual Arts will also happen. We will have a display of Visual Art and STEM work. We encourage parents to join us for a celebration of education!

2025 Foundation Enrolments are now open!

The Department of Education opened the process for 2025 foundation enrolments last week. All foundation enrolments must be completed online via the website ‘VicStudents’.

To commence online enrolment visit  https://students.educationapps.vic.gov.au/s/  to create an account and complete the online application form. 

On our website you can download the Foundation (Prep) enrolment information pack giving families an understanding of the enrolment process (please click HERE). Applications for Foundation (Prep) are due by Friday 26 July 2024. You will be notified of the outcome of your application between Monday 29 July and Friday 9 August 2024. If you receive an enrolment offer, you should accept the offer by Friday 23 August 2024.

Enrolment applications submitted after 26 July 2024 will be processed by our school as they are received, in accordance with the department’s Placement Policy.

Parents who have older siblings at the school should enrol online. If you know of any friends or neighbours wishing to enrol their child, please let them know of this process. Prospective parents can book a school tour online from our webpage https://huntingdaleps.vic.edu.au/.

At Huntingdale Primary School we are holding a parent wellbeing information session based around the topics of managing emotions, forming positive relationships and anxiety. These topics were identified by our parent community in a survey last term. The details are as follows:

Date:                                                Wednesday 29 May 2024

Morning session:                            9.15am- 10.15am

Repeat Evening Session:                5.30pm- 6.30pm

Venue:                                             Library

*Light refreshments will be served.

*For the evening session, we encourage families to use Team Kids if they need their children to be supervised.

Sign Up:     Please sign up for one or both sessions using the following link:

https://signup.zone/wy5otpEEnii33C4m6

About the Presenter

Maria Ruberto is the Director of Salutegenics Psychology. She is a well renowned psychologist who has worked with Huntingdale staff and several other schools in our region on wellbeing. You can read more about Maria here:

https://www.salutegenics.com.au/maria-ruberto/

If you have any questions, please contact the school.

Speak to your child in the Language 

You Know Best

Often parents are worried about using their home language with their children, as they feel it may ‘confuse’ them while they learn English and Japanese at school.

The opposite is actually true! Students who speak their home language develop a better understanding of different language systems, critical and creative thinking skills and are more open to learning a language. Using their own home language gives them a sense of identity and connection to their culture, community and family. 

The Department of Education encourages families to speak their home language and have information on their website: 

https://www.vic.gov.au/speak-your-child-language-you-know-best

Parent Conduct- discussing issues and approaching other families

Occasionally, incidents occur between students at school. The school liaises with the involved students and their families to sort out a resolution. This is done in a respectful and in some cases, confidential manner to all involved. It can often take a number of days to do this, so we hear the voices of all involved.  We ask that parents do not share and discuss these issues amongst themselves on the school grounds or via social media. We also ask that parents do not approach other parents to sort out disputes as this can often cause more upset. We ask that you contact the school and meet with either the classroom teacher, Naomi or me to discuss this so we can help with a resolution in a constructive manner. 

School Saving Bonus

You may have seen the recent announcement of the School Saving Bonus, as part of the Victorian Budget 2024/25. We are sharing more information about how families will be able to access and use this support.

This one-off support will include $400 for each eligible student to help families cover the costs of school uniforms and activities in 2025. 

It will be available to parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025. 

Cash will not be paid directly to individuals or families. Instead, families will receive the bonus as credits on their school accounts that will help meet the costs of your children’s activities and uniforms. 

Existing supports 

The School Saving Bonus support will be in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for camps, sports, excursions and uniforms. 

The application-based Affordable School Uniform program, through State Schools’ Relief, will continue to be available to families experiencing financial hardship or other forms of vulnerability and short-term crisis. This program allows schools to make multiple applications for support on parents' behalf throughout the year if needed.  

There will be more information and guidance about the School Saving Bonus in Term 3, 2024, ahead of its implementation in 2025.

Team Kids Survey

School Council are asking families to complete a survey about Team Kids. You can find the link here:

https://forms.gle/7T2HQoLGBp3rw8kq9

We would appreciate if parents could complete this by 17 May 2024. It will take less than 5 minutes.

Education Support Week

Next week is Education Support Staff Week. During this week, we acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our Education Support Staff at Huntingdale. Our support staff almost make half of our workforce at Huntingdale, and they do a fabulous job. Gill is the friendly face at the office and on the phone, always here to help families. Rosella and Natalie our Business Managers ensure the school finances are on track, bills are paid and that we follow Department of Education policies and procedures. Wakana, Yoshiko, Honami, Mayumi, Mayu, Kaoru, Rie, Junko, Phil and Hiromi all support our students in class, ensuring their needs are catered for and that they can shine! Colin is our maintenance man, who fixes all sorts of things around the school, making it safe. Bill is our ICT support, ensuring that our ICT systems are working and well maintained. Finally, Susan our Chaplain supports students’ wellbeing and she also does a wonderful Monday morning tea. 

When you see our Education Support Staff, please thank them for the work that they do. Without them, our school would not run as efficiently, and our students would not have the extra support and care that they need. 

Have a great fortnight. 

Ruth Biddle

Principal

Assistant Principal’s Report

It is dark and cold in the mornings now. Winter is on its way. Please dress your children in a warm jumper and raincoat if needed and enjoy the winter weather. 

JMSS

On Wednesday 24th April a group of 8 grade five students were selected to take part in the John Monash Science School (JMSS) “Little Scientists” and “Mini Mathematicians” programs. Students were excited to catch the express bus from Huntingdale Station to Monash university. The program is facilitated by year 10 and year 11 students from JMSS. The scientists investigated physics and designed an invention to protect an egg from a very high drop. While the mathematicians explored codes and number patterns. You will be happy to hear that the egg entrusted to the Huntingdale scientists survived to fall, an "egg-cellent" result. Written by Mr Magart

RoboGals

Reported by Ada 

On Tuesday, 23rd April, 20 students from grade 5/6 were selected to go on a day trip to the Monash Clayton campus for a robotics program called Robogals. This class was first created in 2008 by Marita Cheng, to, in her words, transform the underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

(Housing case study)

On the day, the students first did a class on housing, the problems of overpopulation, the housing crisis, and the solutions for it. They then had to answer some questions about sustainability, structural integrity and the environment surrounding each house.

(LEGO SpikePrime)

The students first learnt about women in STEM, the number of women in the engineering field of the workforce, and the disadvantages women have in engineering, where they would be tested on this topic later.

They then did a workshop working with robots and programming them. They learnt the basics of block coding, and then had to do activities and challenges using what they had just learnt. After that, they learnt how to use the robot colour sensors, and its ultrasonic sensors. They were then instructed to “sumo wrestle” the robots in a ring.

(Kahoot)

To finish off the day, the students were then asked to do a Kahoot quiz about women in STEM, to test their knowledge about the topic. Merchandise was then given out and they went off to explore the campus, going to libraries, gyms and pools, before returning back to the school. 

Overall it was a fun day. Most girls thought it was interesting, and all in all, quite enjoyed their time there.

Reviews:

I liked the Housing Case Study. We learnt about the features of a house underground, on a tree and on the water. I also liked the Lego Spike Prime because we competed with other groups in Sumo Wrestling. When we did Kahoot it was really competitive. We were asked questions about Robogals, female engineers and more.

• Abigail 

Reviews:

I particularly enjoyed the sumo wrestling competition in a ring - the robots we programmed were wrestling, not us. The competition against each other was very fierce. There were team Spike pacts such as team Porcupine, Hedgehog and Echidna. War began to rise when we were programming. A particular robot “cough cough” (Royalty) kept bumping into us. In conclusion we all had a great time.

• Clare 

On 26th April, 17 Grade 3 and 4 girls immersed themselves in the wonders of engineering and robotics, presented by Robogals. Through hands-on activities and insightful discussions, they uncovered the secrets behind robotics and coding, igniting a passion for technology. Students were able to embrace the challenge to shape the future of innovation, leaving a trail of curiosity and determination in their wake. Written by Mr Gorney

Bilingual Book Fair

English Books

The Scholastic Book Fair is back in 2024.  This is a great opportunity for both students and parents to come and look over and purchase a selection of books sent to us by Scholastic Books which are for sale.

Japanese Books

Tetsuta Watanabe is a writer and translator of children’s books (English to Japanese) who lives in Melbourne.  This is a great opportunity to come a look over a selection of his books as well as books from his father, who is also a very famous writer and translator. 

When :

Monday 13th May to Friday 17 May 

Place :

LIBRARY/STEM ROOM AREA -  (Enter via Grade 1A/1B entrance)

Time :

Mornings: Monday to Friday 8.30am to 9.00am

Afternoons: Monday to Thursday 3.30pm to 4.00pm

During our book fair, we will give families the opportunity to “adopt a book”.  It’s simple….all you have to do is purchase a book during book fair and donate it to the school.  A special “adopt a book” sticker will be placed on the inside front cover with your family or child’s name.  It is a great way for our school to build up our library resources.

We will need volunteers to help run the fair between 8:15-9:15am (Monday - Friday) and 3:15 - 4:15pm (Monday - Thursday).  Thank you to the parents who have signed up already but we still need more in particular for both sessions on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

If you're able to spare an hour or two to help out, please sign up using our signup sheet : 

https://signup.zone/yiQcmntrmL6K4An3N

Mother’s Day Breakfast

Team Kids will host a Mother’s Day breakfast for all the mums and grand mums at our school. 

Date: Friday 10th May

Time: 8:15am

Place: STEM Room

Please enjoy the breakfast and have a relaxing time with other mothers.

Japan Festival

Our Taiko Group will perform at 10 am, our junior and senior choir and Ukulele club will perform at 10:30 am on the Main Stage. Please come along and enjoy the day with Japanese foods and cultures. 

Lost Property

Lost property is mounting up again…Please check the tubs in office to see if anything belongs to your child. And, please remember, that if you put your child’s name on their lunch box, jacket, hat, etc., there is a better chance of them finding their owner. At the end of each term items left are disposed of responsibly.

Naomi Mori-Hanazono

Assistant Principal