It seems hard to believe that I am writing the last newsletter for the 2023 year. We have worked together as a school and parents to provide the best learning opportunities for the children. Thank you for your partnership with our school.

Monday night we joined together for our annual Christmas Concert. It was a wonderful opportunity for the children to perform to such a large and supportive audience. The staff and children had a fantastic evening. Thank you for joining with us and being part of the fun.

This week we are pleased to thank our student leaders for 2023 for the wonderful way they have worked with teachers and represented many areas of our school. I have enjoyed having both George and Tharun alongside me as we led each week's Monday assembly.

After a long selection process it was my pleasure to announce our new 2024 school leaders. Congratulations to you all.

School Captains	Aritha & Maisie
Yellow House Leaders	Rayden & Imogen
Red House Leaders	Orlando & Ruby
Green House Leaders	Owen & Jackson
Blue House Leaders	Lucy & Hudson
P.E. Leader	Koby & Angus
Performing Arts Leader	Anna & Joanne
Digi Tech Leader	Xavier & Aqeel
Art Leader	Caitlin & Chenumi
Sustainability Leader	Bastiaan & Isabelle
STEAM Leader	Nicholas & Darsh
Library Leader	Jasleen & Hannah
Wellbeing	Gianna & Chloe
Japanese	Emily & Finn

We would like to thank all of our 2023 staff for their above and beyond committment to all of the students at HEPS. We know you care about the students and their individual and collective growth. We would like to say goodbye to some staff and thank them for their time at HEPS and wish them well in their new endeavours. Taz Dalal, Lexi Boomsma, Rebecca Burley, Caroline Tait and David Williamson, thank you for your care of students at HEPS. Jaimee Lee Morrow and Tahlia Oluc, congratulations on achieving ongoing positions at your new school's. We would also like to wish Lily Luu well as she leaves HEPS to have her first child. And Arne, you have supported many children in your time at HEPS. We will also say a temporary goodbye to Becky Hayes who will be spending the next 12 months at Antonio Park P.S. Thank you to you all.

We are also saying farewell to Carole Thomas. Carole has made the decision to retire after many years working with and supporting students. I have been fortunate to work with Carole both as a classroom teacher and a principal and have seen the care and skill she brings everyday to the children she works with. Congratulations on your retirement.

And while we are saying goodbye to some teachers, we are also welcoming back Rosie Lumsden, Ashleigh Bolitho, Brian Clarke and Amy Oakes. We would also like to welcome new staff; Sarah Kennedy, Nick Pagliaro and Ailina Kumar. Our students will get to meet their new teachers next Monday morning.

We will also be looking forward to having a speech therapist, Anna Kjer- Nielsen, join our team on a fortnightly basis and a counsellor, Mette Hemmingsen, once a week.

Foundation teachers	Sally Blain, Terri McClare, Emily Jackson and Ailina Kumar
Year 1 teachers	Rhandi Henwood 4 days (Sarah Hunting 1 day) , Courtney Regan, Rebekah Kelly and TBC
Year 2 teachers	Meg Yates, John Exton, Carolyn Brickwell, Sarah Kennedy
Year 3 teachers	Brogan Badrock, Michelle Wridgway, and Gen Edgell 4 days ( Sarah Hunting 1 day)
Year 4 teachers	Belinda Appleby, Lisa Scotti, and Angela Perryman
Year 5 teachers	Kristen Bulfin 4 days (Amy Oakes 1 day), Nick Pagliaro, Yasi Shayesteh Fah, Kate Latu
Year 6 teachers	Kathryn Reid, Jason Mulder, Rosie Lumsden and Ashleigh Bolitho
Specialist teachers	Kim Holmes – Tutoring, Michael Hodgson – P.E, Tanya Dennis – STEAM, Ruby Whitfield – Sustainability, Jacinta Mountford and Brian Clarke – Art, Emma Austin – Performing Arts and Lisa Pond – Japanese

School will conclude at 1:30pm on Wednesday 20th December. If you require care for your children after this time or over the school holiday period I encourage you to make use of the TeamKids program.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our students, parents and the wider school community for another fantastic year.

There have been so many highlights for us this year including the colour run, camps, Harmony Day, Cross Country Competition, Movie night, Open Night for Education Week, Maths information night and Grandparent Day just to name a few.

We would like to wish you all a relaxing break and hope that you get to spend some quality time together. For those of you heading away, please drive safely and have a marvellous time away.

We look forward to seeing you all in the new year for another wonderful year of learning. Look out 2024!

Anita, Lou and Marcus.

TEAM KIDS