Head of Primary Years' Report

Dear Parents, Carers and Friends of Hazel Glen College,

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through Term One. Every day I am proud of the kindess that I see within our school grounds evident in the positive interactions between students, teachers and our wider school community. We are lucky to be part of such a caring and welcoming school community. Thank you for your contribution to upholding our College values. Jodie Vergesteen has introduced a positive reward system across the Primary Years where students receive a positive chronicle with house points for helping to care for our environment. Thank you Jodie for this initiative. We farewell Mrs Pam Brenner who will be moving overseas and thank her for her long-term contributions to Hazel Glen College. Our staff and students will miss her. We will welcome Mrs Julia Jacobs back from family leave who will commence at the start of Term 2 with 6H.

Our Community BBQ was held last week and it was great to see so many of you there. The feedback from families was that this was a positive event and the enjoyment could be seen across the space with students enjoying the parachute, playgrounds, chalk drawings, picnics with friends and family, H-Factor and chatting with their peers and teachers. Thank you for supporting this event. We look forward to holding more of these throughout the year.

A big thank you to Dale Gibson, Anthony Silipo and Ashley Mai for their organisation and running of the first Primary Years Athletics Carnival. The day was a success and students enjoyed the range of activities at the day that encouraged participation. The activities ranged from track and field events to games like giant Jenga and even karaoke. Thank you to our Secondary Year VET students who supported with the running of the day even cooking a BBQ lunch for everyone. 

It is that time of the year when we are promoting Hazel Glen College for our 2026 Prep program. If you know of anyone who may be looking for a school for their prep child next year, please let them know to come along for a tour to meet us and find out more about Hazel Glen College Primary Years.

Our Year 7 tours for 2026 have started and if you would like to visit our Secondary Years please join in on a tour to see all the amazing facilities, programs and pathways offered at Hazel Glen College for secondary years students. See the details below for an upcoming Information Night for Year 7 2026 on March 20th. 

Next week we begin NAPLAN testing for our Year 3 and Year 5 students. The students have had an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the testing platform and we ask that you support your child by ensuring that their iPad has the latest operating system update to minimise technical difficulties for your child during the testing period. All students are required to bring along headphones as the questions can be listened to however, without headphones the sound without headphones within the classroom can be distracting to other students.

NAPLAN provides an independent assessment of your child, a snapshot of their progress throughout their schooling years and assists schools in evaluating teaching and learning programs. NAPLAN provides parents the opportunity to see how their child is travelling against national benchmarks at key year levels. Over time, it shows how much progress students make. Keeping normal routines in place, being on time to school, packing healthy food and snacks, and avoiding undue attention on the tests are suggested. Our College will receive these results sooner so teaching and learning can continue to target student needs. Please remember that NAPLAN results do not define a student, your children have an amazing array of talents that NAPLAN doesn't measure and these are recognised by their teachers. 

International Women's Day is on Saturday, March the 8th. As we recognise International Women's Day we are reminded of the extraordinary achievements and progress made by women around the world. It is also a day to reflect on the persistent challenges that women still face in achieving gender equality and to recommit ourselves to the ongoing struggle for a more just and equitable world. Teachers have spent time encouraging students to reflect on the women in their lives who they are inspired by and why. 

Andrea Lynch

Head of Primary Years

Hazel Glen College