Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's Report

Welcome to the 2023 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 as well visits to the city to see Rone, Alexander McQueen at the NGV and Chinese New Year celebrations. I also watched lots of TV, read books and watched the cricket. 

The school year has started off well. We had a number of building works over the holidays with new ramps into the portables, a new shade sail in front of the hall and new gates at Germain and Grange Streets and Clarendon Avenue.  Our Year 1-6 students settled well back into school on Tuesday. Naomi and I visited each class and students were happy to be back at school. So many of them had grown over the summer! Our Foundation students start tomorrow which is exciting! 

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 your child to attend.
• Tell your children who and where you will collect them and 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 Kelly Sports
• If you are running late or collection circumstances change, please notify the office so we can tell your child

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

2023 Camp

Details were sent out via Operoo at the end of last year, giving advance notice about camp. At our last school council meeting on 8 November, School Council approved that the camp for Years 3-6 will go ahead in 2023. 

2023 Years 3-6 children will have the opportunity to attend the Waratah Beach Camp in Gippsland. This is a fabulous opportunity for the children to further develop positive relationships with their peers and teachers in a unique setting. 

While on camp, students have the opportunity to participate in a number of outdoor adventure activities including the giant swing, initiative activities, beach activities, low ropes course, rock climbing wall, outdoor and indoor games, a night walk on the beach, enjoy the camp fire and participate in ‘Camp Idol’. Students sleep in bunk style rooms with a bathroom. 

CAMP DETAILS

Dates:   Grade 5 & 6: 27-29 March 2023   -     

               Grade 3 & 4: 29-31 March 2023

Destination:  Gale Street - Waratah Bay,  3959

Transport:   Coach

Cost:    $400- including food, activities, accommodation & transport

Teacher in charge:    Nick Tolliday

Other adults attending:  To be confirmed near the date

Early in Term 1 2023, we will send home more information and ask you to complete the permission slip and medical form. This will need to be done by March 1, 2023. We must inform the camp shortly after that of our confirmed numbers. We ask that final payments be made 17th March 2023. 

If you have any questions, please contact the school.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made directly to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child. 

It is important that funding made available in 2023 supports students to participate in school trips, camps and sporting activities this year rather than being held for future years. This funding can also be used in conjunction with any funding accrued from previous years. 

If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office and ask for an application form. 

You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page or can be downloaded here: Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund application form 2023 (PDF)

Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.

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 PS logo including- teal polo shirt, jumper, jacket, school bag, hat and school dress. These can be purchased from Primary School Wear (PSW), address: Unit 1/596 North Rd, Ormond VIC 3204. Phone 9768 0387, webpage https://www.psw.com.au/ 

All students must wear a Huntingdale hat and will need this from the first day of Term 1.

Other items that are navy blue such as shorts, tracksuit pants, leggings, tights and skort 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 2023. 

Reporting your child’s Absence

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

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

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 and you are able to reply to this.

2023 Curriculum Days 

These dates have been approved by School Council.

Monday 24 April 2023- the day before ANZAC Day allowing all families to have an extra-long school holiday break

Wednesday 21 June 2023 (Parent Teacher Meetings)

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

As per DET policy, Foundation students are required to undertake literacy and numeracy assessments which occur on Wednesdays in February. Students are only required at school when their allocated testing time is. The dates foundation students are not required at school are 1, 8, 15 and 22 February. 

Assembly Dates

Assemblies will be held fortnightly for the 2023 school year. Assembly will be on the basketball court and start around 2.45pm. The dates of assembly are:

6 February 

20 February- Captains badges presented at this assembly

6 March- Student Leadership Council badges presented at this assembly

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

Thursday 6 April- 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.

Dogs in the school grounds

Having dogs on the school grounds poses a risk to student health and safety, particularly as we have a number of students that are afraid of dogs. In line with DET policy, we are not allowing dogs in the school during the operational hours of 6.30am-6.30pm. The Dogs in School Grounds Policy can be found on our website:

https://huntingdaleps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/E14-Dogs-in-the-school-grounds-Policy-2022.pdf

Anaphylaxis and Allergies

We have a number of children in the school with anaphylaxis and allergies to a range of things.  We ask that all parents 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 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 school 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.

DET Privacy Policy

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

Communication and Key Dates 2023

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. 

2023 Staff

Our 2023 Staff is as follows:

We welcome Moe Osugi and Nozomi Koyama back from leave- it’s lovely to have them return. Chris Everett will work with us in 2023 in the EAL role, which he previously did for two terms in 2021.

We welcome Ari Gorney to staff. He has been doing extensive CRT work and completed his final teacher placements with us, so he is very familiar with the school.  We also welcome new teaching assistant Yoshiko Hayashi, who has done extensive work in the Northern Territory before moving to Melbourne.

2023 Year 6 Captains 

Here is the list of our Year 6 Captains for 2023.

School Captains- Shunsuke & Abby

Multimedia Captains- Marcus, Hana & Tulasi

Community Captains- Mars & Isla

Environment Captains- Ruby, Noa, James & Mimosa

House Captains

Honshu- Jimmy & Taketo

Kyushu- Ky Nam & Lea

Hokkaido- Evie & Alannah

Shikoku- Karena & Matthew

We will announce the Taiko and Senior Choir Captains 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 later in Term 1 we will present students with their badges.

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.

Expectations of Behaviour in the School Community

Our school community has demonstrated incredible solidarity and resilience. It’s more important than ever that adults in our school community treat each other with respect and kindness.

The Department of Education and Training has released a new policy that describes the positive behaviour expected from parents, carers, and other adults in Victorian school communities. The policy sets clear standards of behaviour to create a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for students, staff and adults.

There are also other resources to support safe and respectful relationships in our school community, including information about getting involved in the school, advice on how to raise a concern or complaint, and parenting support resources. You can find the new policy and these resources here.

You may also see a new poster up around our school, promoting positive behaviour.

Parent Conduct- discussing issues and approaching other families

Occasionally, incidences occur between students at school. The school liaises with the involved students and their families to sort out a resolution. This is done in a respectful and in some cases, confidential manner to all involved. 

We ask that parents do not share and discuss these issues amongst themselves on the school grounds or via social media. We also ask that parents do not approach other parents to sort out disputes as this can often cause more upset. We ask that you contact the school and meet with either the classroom teacher, Naomi or me to discuss this so we can help with a resolution in a constructive manner. 

Happy Chinese New Year

We wish all of our families who are celebrating Chinese New Year a fabulous festive time. 2022 is the year of the rabbit.

Victoria-wide single-use plastics ban – from 1 February 2023

Single-use plastics make up a third of the litter in our environment and are difficult and costly to clean up. They pollute the environment, harming wildlife and contaminating our food and water. They are also a poor use of resources – they are often used for only a few minutes and generate significant waste that is not recyclable They can often easily be replaced with reusable products. 

Under new regulations, from 1 February 2023, Victorian businesses and organisations (including schools) will not be able to sell, supply or provide a number of single-use plastic items. The ban applies to the following single-use plastic items made from conventional, degradable or compostable plastics:

• Drinking straws
• Cutlery including knives, forks, spoons, chopsticks, sporks, splades, food picks and sporks
• Plates
• Drink stirrers and sticks
• Cotton bud sticks

The ban also applies to:

• Food service items and drink containers made from expanded polystyrene. This includes expanded polystyrene plates, cups, bowls, clam shells and any cover or lid that is also made from expanded polystyrene.

Huntingdale will be implementing the Victorian government’s single-use plastics ban in the items we use as a school community. We will not be using any banned single-use plastic items from 1 February 2023. 

Exceptions to the ban

People who need single-use plastic drinking straws due to a disability or for a medical need will still be able to purchase and use these items. If your child needs to continue using single-use plastic drinking straws because of a disability or medical need, please let the school office know and we will ensure that there is a supply available for your child’s use at future school activities.   

The Victorian government has produced a useful fact sheet explaining which items are banned and which are not, including information about exemptions. 

Student lunches and snacks from home

Offences relating to the ban do not apply to private or domestic activities at home, e.g., individual families’ decisions about lunch packaging. The intention of the government’s new regulations is to remove these items from the supply chain prior to reaching the customer. 

At Huntingdale we encourage families to think of sustainable ways of packing lunches and have Nude Food Day each week. 

If you have any questions, please contact the school.

Parent Opinion Survey

Each year, DET implements the Parent Opinion Survey. A link is sent randomly to a selected number of families. In the last week of January, the survey results were released. Our results were outstanding since for most areas we outperformed similar schools, network schools and the state. The only exception was the area of the physical environment which we are working hard to improve.

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

Helpful DET Resources 

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

Encourage families at your schools to contact you if they 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

Include information about health and wellbeing staff and programs at your school, and how students and families can access them.

You can encourage parents and carers to read the department’s mental and wellbeing health toolkit, which offers guidance to help them support their child’s mental health and wellbeing at home, and advice on working with your school and seeking help if they have concerns.

What to expect at school

A range of information for parents is available on the department’s website to help you 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.

2023 Huntingdale Extra Curricular Activities

Monday- Friday

Team Kids 

6.30-8.45am- Before School Care

3.30-6.30pm- After School Care

Monday

1.40-2.30pm- Kelly Sport Dance

3.45pm- Kelly Sports (multiple sports)

Tuesday

3.45pm Basketball run by soccer X

8.00-8.45- DigiMaker (Coding)

9.00-11.00- Junior Rockers 

Wednesday

3.45pm-  Soccer X

1.40-2.30pm- Abacus

Thursday

During class time- keyboard lessons 

3.45-4.45- Fizz Kids (Science)

Information about these activities are available at the school office.

We are also looking at having Kids Unlimited (Robotics Club) one morning a week, which we will let you know about.

The school has lunchtime activities running each day including library, Ukulele Club, Junior and Senior Choir and lunchtime sports. These will start gradually this term and advertised to students. 

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.   

Our first achievement to share this year is an article about the ball kids in the Australian Open. Talitha in 3A’s sister Gabby was a ball kid at this year’s Australian Open. Gabby also attended Huntingdale a few years ago and is keenly interested in tennis. The article gives a great insight into the life of a ball kid. Click on the link below to see the article. 

https://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2022/ball-kids/?fbclid=IwAR0tmV3dhZ3C5pREp9Y6lV1U_OZ1UOMQG5O6agRG7Kaxww6MYyjVJLviVjc

We look forward to a fabulous 2023 school year.

Have a great fortnight!

Ruth Biddle

Principal