Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's Report

Welcome to the 2024 school year. I hope you had a fabulous holiday period and some well-deserved family and leisure time. I had a fabulous holiday, camping in Bermagui on the South Cost of New South Wales, spending time in Phillip Island and Inverloch. I read lots of books and watched the cricket. 

The school year has started off well. For the first time in a very long time, the school numbers are over 400. Students have settled well back into school and our new foundation students have confidently begun their schooling. I visited each class and students were happy to be back at school. So many of them had grown over the summer! 

Parents as Partners

This year our Parents as Partners night for years 1-6 will be held on Wednesday 21 February.

The purpose of the Parents as Partners Night is for:

• Students to show their parents their classroom and introduce their teachers.
• Teachers to share key information about the school year e.g., timetables, homework etc.
• Parents to meet their child’s teachers and be familiar with where the classroom is and understand key school information.

The school will be open from 4.30-6.30pm and families can visit their classroom at any time- no booking required.

Foundation families will be involved in interviews and will be sent a separate notice.

When you visit the classroom, your child’s teacher will give you a pack of key information about your child’s learning. They will also give your child a quiz to fill out during the night. We will draw a winner of the quiz at an upcoming assembly.

We hope you take this opportunity to meet your child’s teachers to develop a strong working partnership between home and school.

Collecting your children after school

Just a reminder to all families about collecting your children from school. Please ensure the following:

• You collect your children by 3.45pm. Office Staff and teachers are not responsible for looking after children beyond this time. We suggest that families also register for Team Kids. Then if you know you will be late you can call them and arrange for your child to attend.
• Tell your children who you will collect them and where. Please be specific e.g., Germain Street gate, Grange Street gate, Clarendon Avenue gate, outside your classroom, the basketball court, in the pickup zone in the car park 
• Tell your children if they are going to Team Kids and remind them in the morning
• Remind your child if they are going to an after-school event such as Soccer X
• If you are running late or collection circumstances change, please notify the office - possibly BEFORE the bell goes - so we can tell your child.

Doing all of these helps collection time to be much smoother for your child and the school. 

School Attendance

Attending school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. 

Last week I sent out via Operoo a newsletter about attendance. You can find it attached here.

 The newsletter outlines the importance of school attendance and how to report absences to the school.

If your child is absent for any reason, we prefer all absences to be reported using Operoo by no later than 9.15am.

Please do not use See Saw to report student absences.

After teachers have marked the roll, Office Manager Gill Penfold checks for any unexplained absences. She aims to send a text message to parents as soon as possible during school hours and you are able to reply to this.

Reminder- Mobile Devices Policy

The school understands that a number of students own a mobile phone. Our school follows the Department of Education Policy, where students are not allowed to access their mobile during school hours. All students must bring their mobile phone, tablet or smart watch to the office to be stored in a locked filing cabinet. This policy can be found on our website at:

https://huntingdaleps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/M11-Mobile-Devices-Policy-2021.pdf

School Uniform

The start of the year is the perfect time to assess your child’s school uniform needs. 

Parents are asked to buy items with our Huntingdale logo including- teal polo shirt, jumper, jacket, school bag, hat and school dress. These can be purchased from Primary School Wear (PSW) in Ormond.

All students must wear a Huntingdale hat and will need this during the whole of Term 1.

Other items that are navy blue and no logo such as shorts, tracksuit pants, leggings, tights and skirt can be purchased from PSW or chain stores such as K-Mart and Target.

Any accessories need to be in navy blue not black. Black is not our school uniform colour. Our school uniform colours are navy blue and teal.

Our school uniform policy can be found at: https://huntingdaleps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/E6-Dress-Code-Policy-2022.pdf

We look forward to seeing all our students in their Huntingdale uniform in 2024. 

Helpful Resources from the Department of Education

There are a number of department services and resources that parents can access:

Transition tips 

Back to school is an exciting time for students and families. It can be a big step – particularly for those starting prep or moving to secondary school.

For advice in multiple languages on how parents can help their child have a positive start to school, refer to Tips for starting school.

Help with school costs

Please contact me or the Business Manager, Dr Rosella Dossi, if you are having difficulty with school costs. Programs like Affordable School Uniforms and the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund can help with the cost of school uniforms and other essential school items as well as school activities for eligible students.

For more information for parents, refer to Help with school costs and fees.

Health and wellbeing

Please follow this link: health and wellbeing staff to see what programs are available to families

Also please read the department’s mental and wellbeing health toolkit, which offers guidance to help you support your child’s mental health and wellbeing at home, and has advice on working with your school and seeking help if you have concerns.

What to expect at school

A range of information for parents is available on the department’s website to help explain school policies, requirements and expectations, as well as support services available. For a list of topics, refer to Attending school and Building a positive relationship with your child's school.

Healthy Lunchboxes

Some great tips and ideas to help with school lunches. Healthy lunchboxes | Healthy Eating Advisory Service

2024 Curriculum/Student Free Days

A reminder about our remaining curriculum days for 2024:

15 April 2024 - (first day of Term 2- families can have an extra-long term break)

7 June 2024 - Staff Professional Practice Day (Families can have an extra-long weekend as this coincides with the King’s Birthday Public Holiday)

26 June 2024 (Parent Teacher Meetings)

We will inform Team Kids of the dates so that all-day care can be provided. 

As per DE policy, Foundation students are required to undertake literacy and numeracy assessments which occur on Wednesdays in February. Foundation students are only required at school during their allocated testing time. The dates foundation students are not required at school are 7,14, 21 and 28 February. 

Assembly Dates

Assemblies will be held fortnightly for the 2024 school year. Assembly will be on the basketball court and start around 2.45pm. The dates of assembly are:

19 February- Captains badges presented at this assembly

4 March- Student Leadership Council badges presented at this assembly

18 March- This will be at 9.10am with Cultural Diversity Week Celebrated 

Thursday 28 March- This is the last assembly for the term starting at 1.45pm

Any changes to the assembly schedule will be communicated through Operoo. If it is too hot or cold on a particular day, assembly may be moved online.

Anaphylaxis and Allergies

We have a number of children in the school with anaphylaxis and allergies to a range of substances.  We ask that all parents please avoid packing nuts or nut related products in their child’s lunch.  This will assist us all in keeping our environment safe for all of our children.   

Medical Plans and Update contact details

At school we often need to contact parents for a variety of reasons. Over the break many families’ telephone numbers, home address and email addresses might have changed. If you do change telephone numbers, email, and/or home address or there is an update on personal/medical/family situation, it is most important that you contact Gill in the office to let us know so we can update the school records and update this on Operoo. An early reminder that we must have your correct email address as school reports will be emailed this year to parents. We thank you for your cooperation with this.

DE Privacy Policy

The Department of Education has asked that we remind parents about the Schools Privacy Policy. The policy can be found on the school website and https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx

Accident Insurance

At school minor accidents can happen. While this is unfortunate we would like to remind parents that the Department does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents/carers of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs. 

Families can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers and it is the responsibility of parents/carers to look into their preferred options in this regard.

Communication and Key Dates 2024

Have you connected to our school communication tool ‘Operoo’? 

This assists you with organisation and information about the school.  This tool aids with home school communication particularly for those families who are unable to make drop off or pick up on a regular basis which limits face to face networking opportunities.  A major benefit of Operoo is that it has online permission forms which means no more paper! Parents can easily update personal information as well. 

Parents of Foundation or new students to the school should download the app and register.

If you have any difficulties, please see Gill or Rosella at the office.

We have also updated our flow chart of communication between home and school (attached), so you know and understand who to go for different questions. It is in your child’s first page of their diary, is around the school and is also below. Please read it carefully.

Please note that on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, teachers are required to attend a staff workshop and cannot meet with parents after school on this day. 

Emailing and contacting teachers

Communication between home and school is vitally important. At Huntingdale Primary School we have a variety of platforms for teachers and parents to communicate with one another including See Saw, email, Operoo, telephone and WebEx.

When using See Saw communicate with teachers, please make sure the email is brief. If the matter is long and complex, please write to the teacher on See Saw that you would like to discuss these issues and a face to face, WebEx or telephone meeting can be arranged. This helps parents reduce the time to write communications. 

Teachers have a range of meetings, yard duty and other commitments as part of their work during the day, as well as their own family commitments after work. Teachers will endeavour to reply back to communications between the hours of 8.30-5.00pm from Monday to Friday and it may take more than 24 hours to respond depending on their teaching hours. We thank you for your understanding. 

2024 Staff

Our 2024 staff is as follows: 

We welcome new teachers Zoe Chiu and Pansy Leung. Both did their teaching rounds with us this year and Pansy will be known by students who attend Team Kids as she worked there over the last 2 years. Both have also done casual work at the school.

2024 Year 6 Captains 

Below is a list of our 2024 School Captains. 

We will announce the Taiko and Senior Choir Captains very soon. Students in Years 2-6 also have the opportunity to run for the Student Leadership Council. All Year 6 students will also have a leadership role.

At an assembly in Term 1 we will present students with their badges.

We look forward to seeing our students develop and flourish in their captaincy role. 

Child Safe Standards

Huntingdale Primary School, as part of the State Education System as a commitment to the Child Safe Standards. 

New standards came into effect in July 2022, which are detailed in Ministerial Order 1359 that provides the framework for child safety in schools. The standards are:

Child Safe Standard 1 – Establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.

Child Safe Standard 2 – Ensure that child safety and wellbeing are embedded in school leadership, governance and culture.

Child Safe Standard 3 – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

Child Safe Standard 4 – Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.                

Child Safe Standard 5 – Equity is upheld, and diverse needs are respected in policy and practice.

Child Safe Standard 6 – People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.

Child Safe Standard 7 – Ensure that processes for complaints and concerns are child focused.

Child Safe Standard 8 – Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

Child Safe Standard 9 – Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

Child Safe Standard 10 – Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.

Child Safe Standard 11 – Policies and procedures that document how schools are safe for children, young people and students.

On the school website we have a dedicated page related to the Child Safe Standards. Here you will find our child Safe Standards Policy and other policies related to the standards. There are also useful web links. Please access this at:

https://huntingdaleps.vic.edu.au/parent-information/#safe

As part of the school’s commitment to Standard #3, with their classroom teachers F-2 students complete a ‘helping hand’ listing the people who can help them when they are in need. Students in Years 3-6 look at a support network of who can help them.

Happy Chinese New Year

We wish all of our families who are celebrating Chinese New Year a fabulous festive time. 2024 is the year of the dragon which is very special!

Parking

Just a friendly reminder about parking around the school. 

We ask that when you collect your child/ren from school, please be considerate of our neighbours and park in the designated parking areas.  Please do not park across or block access to driveways.

We encourage families to use the drop off/pick up zone in our carpark which is supervised by our staff after school. Alternatively, please park on Huntingdale Road or use the Huntingdale train station carpark. Please be mindful of using Germain Street as the kinder families also use these carparks. 

Please note that parking is only available on the oval side of Clarendon Avenue, and it is only for 2 minutes only to allow for drop off and pick up.    The opposite side of the road is a NO PARKING area to ensure that all traffic, including emergency transport such as ambulances or fire trucks, can get through at all times.

The top of Grange Street near the school is a NO PARKING ZONE as well.

The City of Monash often patrols the area and will fine cars parking illegally.

COVID-19

The Department of Education have asked me to remind families about COVID-19. 

1. Ensure your COVID-19 vaccinations are up to date. Information on how and where to get vaccinated is available on the Get vaccinated webpage.

2. If your child shows symptoms of COVID-19, please ensure they stay home and get tested. The easiest way to test is to use a rapid antigen test (RAT).

If your child has symptoms but tests negative, please ensure they stay home until they no longer have symptoms.

If the RAT test result is positive, please ensure they say home for at least 5 days and until there are no more symptoms.

Protecting against mosquito-borne diseases

Warm and wet weather can result in greater numbers of mosquitoes and increased risk of illnesses from mosquito bites. While the overall risk is low, some mosquitoes carry diseases that make people sick. 

The best protection against mosquito-borne illness is to avoid mosquito bites.

Families can protect against mosquito bites by: 

• covering up as much as possible with long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing  
• applying insect repellent that contains picaridin or DEET on exposed skin when leaving home 
• limiting outdoor activity if lots of mosquitoes are active.

Families with any health concerns should see their doctor or phone NURSE-ON-CALL: 1300 606 024 (available 24 hours).

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines 

Japanese encephalitis virus is spread to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes and can cause a rare but potentially serious infection of the brain.

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines are available to protect Victorians at higher risk of the virus. 

The Victorian Department of Health encourages eligible people who live or work in high-risk local government areas to get vaccinated. 

For more information, including what is considered a high-risk area and eligibility for a free vaccine, refer to the Department of Health’s Japanese encephalitis webpage. 

Student Achievements

A reminder that we ask that any parents who have a child who has achieved something special at any time to please take a photograph and write a short sentence or two about what the child did, when it happened and what it means to the child and send this through to the school account at huntingdale.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Achievements could be getting an award from the local footy team or ballet performance or library book club or gaining their Grey Wolf Award at Scouts or any other hobby your child pursues we’re here to celebrate Personal Best in whatever form that takes.   

We look forward to a fabulous 2024 school year.

Have a great fortnight!

Ruth Biddle

Principal

Assistant Principal's Report

Welcome to the 2024 school year! I trust everyone had a fabulous summer holiday. It has been wonderful hearing about students’ holidays - many have been overseas, taking trips to the beach, watching movies and relaxing!  I had a fantastic holiday. I feel refreshed and am really happy to be back at school.

Creating Our Learning Community (COLC)

For the first four weeks of school all classes are completing our ‘Creating Our Learning Community’ (COLC) unit of work. This unit focuses on creating a positive learning atmosphere in the classroom which will set up learning for the year. Throughout the unit, students review our school values which are strongly linked to the ‘Play is the Way’ virtues. A key component of COLC is students working together with both their English and Japanese teachers in the same sessions to build common language and learning protocols, which will be mirrored both in English and Japanese sessions throughout the year. Our aim is for the students in each class to build a strong rapport and identity with all of their teachers which will be vital for the success not only this year but in years to come.

LUNCHTIME ACTIVITIES

We open the library every day during lunchtime, so please encourage your children to borrow the books. Students can choose Japanese books and English books.

WATASHIMO (Parent’s Association)

Watashi Mo will have their first meeting on 12th February. We will celebrate our school’s 70th birthday this year. Please come along and bring your great ideas and passion to the group.

Watashi Mo is our parent run committee that not only helps fundraise for the school but create a great community atmosphere and the committee would love to see more parents engaged in Watashi Mo and /or the Watashi Mo events. They would love feedback from the school community about what events are important to them and what else they would like from Watashi Mo. 

Student Support Services

A major part of my role as Assistant Principal is to coordinate the student support services at the school. This includes the DE (Department Education) speech pathology, psychology and social worker services, as well as outside agencies. I also facilitate additional programs in the school such as EAL (English as an Additional Language), Literacy, Wellbeing and Maths support.

If you have any concerns about your child’s education, please see the classroom teacher first. They can then discuss options. 

It is also important if your child has received outside assistance such as speech pathology, psychology, occupational therapy and so on that you inform the school. The classroom teacher may ask if you have any reports so we can keep them on file at school. This will enable your child’s teachers to implement any recommendations and adjust the teaching program accordingly. 

If you have any further questions, please come and see me.

Have a great fortnight.

Naomi Mori-Hanazono