Principals' Page

Welcome back to school

We have had a fantastic start to the 2024 year. Our school has started with lots of smiles, fun activities and the setting of classroom cultures. 

We are again looking forward to a year full of learning; developing not only curriculum skills but skills and dispositions for life long curiousity and learning.

This year we will be combining the pages of Lou, Marcus and myself as the principal and two assistant principals. We were aware that our pages were becoming long and more time consuming for parents to read. Each fortnight we will each contribute to this page with information from our own key areas. We hope that this new format works well to keep our families informed.

Twilight Sports

We are currently in the planning stage for a term 1 community event. We will be holding a Twilight Sports evening on the 15th March. The children will be able to engage in a range of fun, multicultural games. Many of these games are common across the world, including Hopscotch (Stapu), Foot golf (Gof a pee eddie) and Egg and Spoon Poison Ball ( Jidan he shaozi).

Our PA will be organising a bbq dinner and will soon be putting out a call for volunteers. 

We hope to see all of our families come and have a fun evening together.

Capital Works

We have continued to work with architects, the VSBA and DET planning personnel on a master plan for new buildings at HEPS. The master plan consists of 5 different stages, with the first stage due to commence at the end of 2024. Stage 1 will include four classrooms and student toilets. We have our fingers crossed that HEPS will be successful in obtaining more funding for further stages in the May budget.

Parking

Our neighbours have asked that we remind the community to drive and park safely and respectfully in the areas surrounding our school. Please do not park over anyone's driveway and drive at a speed that is safe. Children are often unpredictable and do not always have the ablity to navigate traffic safely. As adults, it is important that we are aware that children's safety is our biggest priority.

Start-Up Program

At HEPS we believe that its vital that all students start off the year in a positive manner. The way that we ensure this is through the HEPS Start up Program. This program is designed to highlight the values and learning that the whole school community will be engaged with throughout the year.  For example, every class has focussed strongly on the HEPS expected behaviours in which every student and teacher helped create.  You will have seen these around the school.  They look like this;

We have also focused on how happy, healthy students can be at HEPS.  You can see below some of the great work by the Level 5s around having a growth mindset.

Speaking and Listening

In 2024, Heathmont East Primary School’s Annual Implementation goals will focus on Speaking and Listening and Student Voice & Agency. As HEPS teachers, we know the importance that oral language plays not only in learning to read and write but across every curriculum area. 

As stated in the Victorian Curriculum 'Speaking and Listening' refers to the various formal and informal ways oral language is used to convey and receive meaning. It involves the development and demonstration of knowledge about the appropriate oral language for particular audiences and occasions, including body language and voice. It also involves the development of active-listening strategies and an understanding of the conventions of different spoken texts.' 

This term, students will engage in various speaking and listening activities. This will include class discussions, listening to others’ views and responding appropriately using effective questioning and communication skills. Students will develop their language skills to express feelings and opinions on topics. Students may also participate in class discussions, circle time and use oral presentation skills through various activities.

Working Bee

Our first Working Bee for 2024 will occur on Sunday 3rd March. See below for more information. We have had some fantastic numbers turning up to our Working Bees over the last few years and I hope this will continue. It is wonderful to see our community working together to ensure that our grounds are looking their best.