Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's Report

It’s hard to believe the first month of school is almost over! Time flies!

Yearly expenses 

At Huntingdale, we aim to give you an overview of the yearly expenses to help you plan ahead. 

**Please note these expenses are an approximate and more details and exact costings will be available closer to the time. 

Each class usually organises one excursion per semester which is around $30.

Other sporting events such as district athletics and cross country will incur bus charges for those students selected on the team. 

The Student Leadership Council usually organise a fundraiser per term, which is optional.

Our Parents Association ‘Watashi Mo’ also organise a range of activities and fundraisers, which will be advertised as they are organised.

Annual Implementation Plan

The Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) is a document which outlines the one-year goals and strategies of the school. It is created using the goals in the 4 Year Strategic Plan. Over the next few newsletters, I will outline the key goals in our 2023 AIP. The second goal is also a common goal across all Victorian Government Schools.

2023 Priority- Wellbeing - Effectively mobilise available resources to support students' wellbeing and mental health, especially the most vulnerable.

At Huntingdale we will 

-Embed Respectful Relationships within the school teaching program-Monitor student attendance to ensure students are connected to school-Consolidate the use of support and wellbeing services for students and staff and participated in the mental health supports community of practice with other schools

School Policy Updates

Just to let parents knows that the following policies have been updated and are on the website:

• M8-Yard duty supervision- Teachers and Parents
• C2-Excursions, Camps and In school visits

Introducing Our Student Leaders

On 20th February, it was wonderful to welcome back ex-student Duncan Bain to the school to distribute our Year 6 Captains and Leadership badges. Duncan gave a stirring speech about his time and memories at Huntingdale and his lessons about leadership. We hope that all our students understand that they can show leadership in many ways and that can aspire to be leaders as move into secondary school. 

School Council Outcomes

School Council nominations closed on 17 February. I am pleased that the following people will be on school council:

We have 2 casual parent vacancies for this year. If you would like to join school council, please contact me at the school. 

The meeting dates for this year are:

21 March- AGM + Office Bearers+ Normal Meeting

16 May

13 June

25 July

22 August

17 October

12 December

Student Wellbeing at Huntingdale

Student wellbeing is underpinned by the following core values and encompass the learning at Huntingdale Primary School. It is central to the life at our school and students, teachers and parents are asked to demonstrate these:

Each year I ask our Year 1 students to create a picture to depict one of our school values. I then select one for each value to place on our website and be put in a frame in my office. Congratulations to the following students:

Kindness- Summer 1C

Courage- Bellamy 1B

Creativity- Cherry 1C

Personal Best- Cai 1A

Taiko Performance- Clayton Festival

On Sunday 26th February our Taiko Group performed for the first time this year at the Clayton Festival. It was a beautiful day celebrating community with lots of food, music and fun! Our taiko group played in front of a huge crowd and did a fabulous performance. It was wonderful to see so many of our current families, students and ex-families and students at the day. Special thanks to Hanazono T sensei and all of our parents for helping out on the day, especially moving the drums on and off the stage and cheering loudly. 

STOPIT service- for families who 

catch public transport

STOPIT is a new Victoria Police text notification service enabling commuters, including school students, to report any form of inappropriate behaviour that makes them feel uncomfortable, frightened or threatened on the public transport network. 

The STOPIT service enables commuters to use their mobile phone to promptly, easily and discreetly report inappropriate behaviours. To use the service, commuters simply text ‘STOPIT’ to 0499 455 455. This triggers an automated response that includes a link to where the commuter can provide more details about what’s just happened. When people report these types of inappropriate behaviours, police can investigate and identify offenders to improve safety on public transport for everyone. 

Parents and carers are encouraged to consider discussing the new service with students who travel on public transport. Students who use mobile phones outside of school hours are encouraged to save the STOPIT number in their mobile phone. 

Please note, STOPIT is for reporting non-urgent incidents on public transport. Always phone 000 in an emergency. For more information, refer to sexual and anti-social behaviour on public transport on the Victoria.

Lateness to School

We have noticed that there have been a number of students arriving late to school.  Students who are late miss valuable instructions at the start of the day for their learning. It is important to set a good routine, so children and the family are organised for the day. You can do this by:

• Helping your child to organise their uniform, hat and shoes the night before and packing their bag with important things e.g., diary, hat, any notices to return to school.
• Ensuring you organise their lunchbox the night before.
• Do homework or reading at night to avoid the morning rush.
• Limit TV time in the morning which can distract the family’s morning routine.
• Set the alarm 10 minutes earlier so you get up on time.

NAPLAN

Just a reminder that NAPLAN starts for Year 3 and 5 students between March 15-27.

Camp 

Just a reminder for Year 3-6 families to let the school know via Operoo by March 1 if your child is attending camp. Payment for camp is not due until 17 March. Knowing the numbers for camp will help us to further plan camp. 

Next Assembly

Our next assembly is 6 March. We will be presenting the Student Leadership Council with their badges.

Have a great fortnight!

Ruth Biddle

Assistant Principal's Report

What a wonderful fortnight it has been with some lovely weather and a plethora of happenings and events around the school.

Parents as Partners Night

It was wonderful to see so many families at our Parents as Partners Night last Wednesday. This is a ‘key’ evening for both teachers and parents - to disseminate information about what is happening at school but also for the teachers to be introduced to your child’s first educator- YOU! There was a great buzz around the school as children introduced their parents to their teachers and showed them around the classroom. We hope that parents went away with much valuable information about school and also picked up their ‘pack’ containing key documents. Please see your child’s teacher if you have not received one. The Foundation Teachers also reported on what a successful night their 1:1 interviews were. It is lovely to reflect with parents how well their child has settled into school and for the parents to give some insight into their child’s learning and interests. The partnership does not begin nor does it end on one night. If you have any further questions or concerns about your child, you can always make an appointment to see your child’s teacher or share some great news after school when the teachers are on duty in their rooms. 

Learning Walks

I visited our Grade 6 class and students were engaging and working in group for the “Marble Run” project.

The “Marble Run” is a project the grade 6 classes having been working on this term. Working in teams of 3, students aim to design and build a structure and track which will keep a marble in motion for the longest possible time. Teams can only use paper and tape with a cardboard box providing a base. Aspects of STEM are incorporated into the project as well as team-building. During COLC sessions students recognised the different traits required for an effective team. (Written by Mr Magart)

Watashi Mo

Thank you to the 20+ families who have completed our survey. If you haven’t yet completed it, could you please take 5 mins to do so. We are very grateful for your views. 

https://forms.gle/a7Zc4wu1w5vBGtFM8

A quick reminder to about registering as a member of Watashi Mo.  Registering doesn’t require you to do anything, but it does give you a chance to vote as a committee member and to learn how Watashi Mo is managed. 

We are looking forward to meeting families at Undokai - please come and say hello to our committee members at the icy pole stall throughout the event.

Student Support

One of my main roles in the school is to coordinate the student support services in the school - academic, social and behaviour services. This includes programs we offer ‘in house’ as well as external services provided by the Department of Education and other external agencies.

Generally the process happens in the following way:

1. A teacher may have a concern with your child and will discuss it with you or you as a parent may have concerns about your child which you discuss with the teacher.
2. These concerns are then usually discussed with me so a decision can be made on which service can be accessed and is the most appropriate for your child. Permission forms are then signed.
3. Contact is made to the service provider who will then discuss the referral with parents and/or the teacher.
4. A decision will be made on what sort of support the child will need. This could be an assessment, therapy, home program, referral to another agency or in school support.

This process is confidential with only the key stakeholders- myself, the classroom teacher/s and service providers.

Often parent will show concerns about other children in the school. We as a school cannot discuss the educational, academic or social circumstances of other children who are not your own or detail support services they may be accessing. This is confidential.  Please be rest assured that all efforts are made to support students in the school as much as possible.

School Uniform, Hats and Bags

During my sessions on yard duty I have been reminding students about wearing school uniform, school hats and having a school bag. Students who have been wearing items that are not school colours have been asked to remove them and not wear them at school. On the whole, students’ uniform has been looking very good, with most students wearing school colours with pride.

We understand from time to time children may not be in school uniform. If this happens, please write a note in your child’s diary explaining this.

Medical Alerts

Many students at our school have health plans and medical alerts. The school needs to have up to date and correct information about your child’s health needs so we can plan and act accordingly for a range of school activities. It is the parent’s responsibility to:

• Provide up to date health/medical plans to the school for your child
• Provide “in date” medication such as epipens and asthma medication
• Ensure that if you child needs to take medication at school that this is signed off at the school office
• Alert the school if your child’s health needs change

We thank everyone for their cooperation with this.

Have a lovely fortnight

Naomi Mori-Hanazono

Assistant Principal