Principal Report

Welcome to our first newsletter of Term Three. I hope you all had a restful and relaxing holiday break. Upon returning to school, lots of students told me about their trips to the snow, which sounded like a lot of freezing and frosty family fun! We have had a great week and half at HPS with lots of solid learning, engaging lessons, collaborative activities and notable academic progress. Our students have already demonstrated great enthusiasm and focus as we delve deeper into Term Three, which is shaping up to be a very busy term.

Welcome to HPS 

We have had some new students begin their learning journey with us at Highvale this term. Welcome to HPS: Walter Z 1D, Kanisha N 1S, Lexie U 2S, Serina G 3J, Chen X 3J, Krishaan N 4U, Aadhithya S 5S, Jack Z 5S, Ling X 5X and Anish K 6S. We are sure you will love being members of our community. If there is anything that you would like to discuss or need assistance with, please contact the School Office on 9887 8000. We are always here to help!

Birthdays 

Happy Birthday to the following students who will celebrate their special day throughout August:  Jayden L 5S, Jayson Y 6S, Michael H 6S, Anya J 2S, Jia Yang M 3J, Chloe M 4A, Liam S 6S, Kaleb G 3J, Isabella C 6D, Surveen B 2M, Kaitlyn W 5X, Roger Z 2J, Lucas L Prep FY, Hirvya N 4A, Faith T 4A, Bob W 2M, Casey L Prep B, Chloe L 4U, Isaac O 3J, Raven J Prep B, Vivaan D 3CBB, Elijah P 1S, Liam F 3CBB, Charles C 6D, Charlotte B 1D, Joe H 6D, Amika N 1D, Krishaan N 4U, Eline W 3J and Saijan T 4U. 

We hope you all have a terrific birthday.

Attendance

At Highvale Primary School we firmly believe that attending school every day plays a crucial role in shaping a child's educational journey. Regular attendance allows students to fully engage in classroom activities, discussions, and hands-on learning experiences. It provides them with the opportunity to grasp new concepts, ask questions, and collaborate with their peers. Consistent attendance helps build a strong foundation of knowledge and skills, enabling children to excel academically. This term, we will be reinforcing the importance of attending school every day. 

Congratulations to the 253 students who have achieved 100% attendance so far in July. Some of these students include: Arjan B Prep FY, Fiora J Prep FY, Henry H Prep B, Casey L Prep B, Manduul B 1S, Isabella M 1S, Charlotte B 1D, Minghao G 1D, Lilliana G 2S, Cooper K 2S, Nathan L 2M, Masa R 2M, Angela L 3CBB, Lucas W 3CBB, Calvin C 3J, Elise L 3J, Steven H 4A, Hunter Y 4A, Jason L 4U, Lilly Y 4U, Joshua H 5S, Aaron P 5S, Maya E 5D, Aaron L 5D, Grace L 6S, Myra D 6S, Emma L 6D and William T 6D.

Here are some attendance figures for 2025 so far:

Remember: it is not ok to be away!

ICAS Assessments

We ae pleased to offer our Year Three, Four, Five and Six students the opportunity to participate in the ICAS this year and have received a total of 245 enrolments across all six subject areas. 

The timetable for ICAS is as follows:

Digital Technologies – Thursday 7th August

Writing – Friday 8th August

English – Friday 15th August

Spelling – Wednesday 20th August

Science – Friday 22nd August

Maths – Friday 29th August

Thanks to Mr Dempsey for organising the ICAS this year. Wishing all students the best of luck completing these assessments.

Prep 2026

We are currently conducting school tours and we are taking enrolments for 2026. It appears we have a lot of new families that are wanting to join us and become part of the Highvale Primary School Community. If you know of anyone who has a child that will be starting school in 2026, please let them know they are welcome to contact the office to book in a tour or use the Student Insights online portal to enrol. If you or someone you know are having trouble with the portal, please contact the office and we can assist you. 

Science Week 

This year we will be celebrating Science Week from Monday 11th August – Friday 15th August. Students at HPS will celebrate Science Week by doing a range of ‘hands on’ and fun activities across the week. This year the Science Week theme is ‘Decoding the Universe – Exploring the unknown with nature’s hidden language’. It is all about codes, patterns and interpreting information. We will include pictures and some student work in the next newsletter, so stay tuned.

Book Week 

We are very excited to announce that we will celebrate Book Week at HPS from Monday 18th August – Friday 22nd August. This years theme is “Book an Adventure” and 2025 is a particularly special year for Book Week as it marks the 80th anniversary of this wonderful event. At HPS we will celebrate Book Week by reading, creating texts and developing a lifelong love of Literacy. Some special events include special guest readers, creative writing tasks, a school-wide public speaking competition and a whole school dress up day on Friday 22nd August. 

Grandparents Day

We are equally as excited to announce that we will be having a whole school Grandparents Day on Wednesday 27th August. Grandparents/ Family members/ Special friends will be invited into classrooms from 9:00am – 10:30am and will join in a special class activity. We are very excited to open this invitation and spend the morning together having fun at Highvale.

Onsite Construction 

Late last term, Highvale Secondary College started the reconstruction and repair of their tennis courts. These tennis courts are right on the boundary of our school and you can see these works from our driveway. Although these works do not directly impact us, it is important to note that this is happening and we have instructed students to stay well away from this ‘out of bounds’ area. Recently, we have also had an issue with a burst pipe in the Junior toilets. Our plumber has been onsite fixing this over the last few days and this has had no impact on the students at all. 

Allied Health Professionals 

Across this year, we have worked hard to build and develop a solid team of Allied Health Professionals at HPS. Our team consists of Andrea Perkins (Speech Therapist), Joanne Goh (Occupational Therapist), Sebastian Kellett Renzella (Provisional Psychologist) and we are awaiting the arrival of a new counsellor to replace Alexandra Fritsche who left the team at the end of last term. We have many students who access these services weekly or fortnightly and feel very fortunate to have these professionals onsite at HPS. If you believe that your child requires any of the above services, please contact your child’s classroom teacher.  

Financial Contributions 

Highvale Primary School sincerely thanks all parents and carers who have supported our school this year. Your generous contributions play a vital role in helping us enhance and enrich the educational experiences we offer our students. These contributions have enabled us to provide additional resources and opportunities beyond the standard curriculum. If you are yet to make contributions and would like to, please see Compass or come and visit us at the school office. You are helping to make Highvale a very special place for our students to learn and grow. 

Late Drop Offs

This term we have had a number of families that are arriving at school well after 9:00am. At Highvale, we believe that punctuality is essential for students, as arriving on time each day ensures students are fully prepared to engage and contribute to their learning. Arriving before 9:00am allows students to calmly enter the classroom and set themselves up for the day. It also allows the successful establishment of routines that lead to an organised learning environment. Ultimately, being on time is a simple yet powerful habit that supports student's academic growth and overall wellbeing.

Late Pick ups

We have some students that are not being collected from school until after 3:45pm each day. Please ensure your child is collected at 3:30pm or as close to 3:30pm as possible. If you cannot arrange this, please enrol your child in TheirCare our OSHC (Out of School Hours Care) provider. Then you can do ‘pick up’ at a time that suits your family and the circumstances. 

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS 

Kids Help - kidshelpline.com.au phone 1800 55 1800 

Parent Line - betterhealth.vic.gov.au phone 13 22 89 

Headspace - headspace.org.au phone 1800 650 890 

eSafety Commissioner - esafety.gov.au - Advice for parents and carers to help children have safe experiences online 

Have a great week ahead HPS families,

Carly Epskamp

Acting Principal

carly.epskamp@education.vic.gov.au