Principal's Message

Hello Hillsmeade families!

SEMESTER 1 REPORTS

Teachers have been diligently assessing student achievement and writing semester one reports, outlining current understandings and next steps in learning.  These will be published electronically on Compass for parents and carers to view from Friday 24th June.

As a result of disruptions to schooling over the past 2 years, staff have been working tirelessly to support your child's return to onsite learning, with a focus on breadth of knowledge and retention of information. As such, your child’s report may not illustrate the typical growth as seen in previous years as demonstrated by the black and white dots on the reports (see below)

Rest assured though, staff are continuously monitoring progress and identifying strengths and next steps in learning and are supporting your child to make growth through targeted teaching and personalised learning goals.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

SAVE THE DATES! 

Monday 25th July & Tuesday 26th July 3.30pm - 7pm

Early next term we will be hosting Parent Teacher Interviews at the school from 3:30pm until 7.00pm.  As with previous years, information will be provided closer to the date outlining how to use the booking system on Compass to secure timeslots.  This will be an ideal time to go through your child’s report with staff to better understand current levels of attainment, future areas of development and how to best support your child's learning at home.  

Interviews will be conducted onsite, in person, at Hillsmeade PS.

CURRICULUM DAY TERM 3

In order for families to plan ahead - please be aware that there is a curriculum day planned for Tuesday 9th August. OSHC will be available on the day.

FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES

Each term we will have a fundraising activity for the school and also a charity fundraiser organised by SRC. This term the SRC have planned a PYJAMA DAY on Wednesday 22nd June. Students are encouraged to wear their PJs or comfy attire on the day, ensuring appropriate footwear is worn for outside play. We ask students to please bring a gold coin donation. All money raised will be donated to The Cancer Council.

SO MUCH FUN AT HILLSMEADE!

It has been wonderful to see our students enjoying incursions and excursions again. For many of our students it is the first time they have gone on an excursion since they started primary school! We are so proud of the way students are conducting themselves and representing the school, with positive reports all round. One of my favourite quotes so far from a Year 2 student who went to the museum was "this is the best school day EVER!!". 

Thank you to our HPS families for supporting our camps, excursions and incursions program. So much more to look forward to this year!

5/6 SPORT UPDATE

Purpose of 5/6 Sport: To maximise participation and teamwork.

In Semester 2 we are trialling a new approach to 5/6 sport. Year 5 will train in the school sports teams and be involved in an intra-school competition. The Year 6's will train in the school sports teams and be involved in the inter-school competition. We have consulted with students and staff around this change and overwhelmingly it has been supported by all involved. In short, all year 6 students will be included in the inter-school sport team selections. Please note: Some Year 5 students may be required depending on numbers in teams. 

You may be thinking, why change now?

We have over 240 students in 5/6 and each week only half of these students are selected to be in a team. Approx. 120 students in 5/6 do not participate in a formal sport activity, during the period of the inter-school sport competition. Of those students, approx 25% will never play in a HPS sport team during their 5/6 years. We want to ensure that all senior students are ready for secondary school, where for the first 3 years (Year 7,8,9) all students must participate in 3 hours of PE/Sport every week. 

We will seek feedback at the end of Term 4 to see how the trial goes. 

LAST DAY OF TERM DISMISSAL

Next Friday 24th June is the last day of Term 2. Please note that students will be dismissed at 2.30pm. The school office will be closed from 3.30pm. 

As this is our last newsletter for Term 2, I wish you all a safe and happy school holiday break. Stay warm and stay well! 

See you on Monday 11th July ready to tackle Term 3.