Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's Report

How does a term fly by?  I remember when I was little and my mum always said how quickly the weeks and months were passing.  I remember thinking, ‘Really?’.  I must be turning into my mother because this term has absolutely flown by or perhaps I just have a different perspective to back then.  I guess when one is busy, a term and all the exciting events and learning opportunities that are provided really do roll from day to day.

In each Principal’s Report for School Council I like to recall the key events that have occurred since the last council meeting.  I call this HPS Happenings…

What’s happened at Huntingdale over the past month?  There have been lots of opportunities to open our school to colleagues, parents and other community members.  Key things being Cross Country both Huntingdale and District – where we were named 2015 Champions, KidsMatter host school, Clayton North PS visitors, Tiqbiz uptake and sign in, Education Week and Book Fair, Excursions and In Visits – Kym Lardner, Police Museum, Immigration Museum, Foundation Enrolments, School Tours and Prospective Parents Open Day, Box Hill Japan Festival, Mother’s Day Morning Tea, Parents Morning Tea and skill sharing, School Photos, Tuning in to Kids parent workshops, Working Bees, Attendance Certificates, Refugee Week invitation, Anzac Day representation, Earth Hour, our Sustainability Blog and I am sure there are other events that occur and highlight the diversity of experiences children at Huntingdale experience. 

This is not an exhaustive list by any means and reflects the second half of the term only.  I couldn’t think of a luckier place to send children to learn and develop. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank staff, school councillors and our parent and broader community for all they have contributed to make this term so eventful.  At School Council last night we were discussing the impact we are having on the contribution to the governance and future direction of the school.  There has been significant growth in how we work as a staff over the past year and this has been mirrored in how School Council is operating. Thank you for all the hard work and many voluntary hours that the many members of our school community contribute to making Huntingdale the special place that it is.    

Assessment and Reporting

Term Two is a fabulous term for core teaching and learning.  The children are settled into classroom routines and expectations and more time is freed up in each day to spend time on core teaching and learning.  The explicit focus on strategies and skills across the school is evident in our programs and really does set us apart from other schools.  This is important in all schools but has a heightened focus in our unique bilingual setting whereby the power of consistency dramatically increases the outcomes students can achieve across both languages.  Reporting time is a great opportunity for the staff and students to reflect on the year thus far.  As mentioned in the previous Principal’s Report and School Newsletters this year we are presenting to parents a Learning Folder.  The Learning Folder supports the details outlined about the children’s work habits and ways of interacting with the school community in their report.  These two documents work in unison to ensure a full picture of the child’s functioning in school is made and illustrated to the parents.  We are often asked how children learn and this Learning Folder is evidence of what the children do day in and day out at Huntingdale.  The timing of the Parent Teacher Interviews is pivotal in this as it links these two documents and ensures parents have an opportunity to clarify anything they wish to delve into in more detail as well as record anything, on a template provided, to add to the children’s Learning Folder to reflect on in years to come.            

Refugee Week Event

On Wednesday 10th June a group of eight Huntingdale students, who are also involved with Dixon House Soccer, were invited to attend the City of Monash Refugee Week Opening Event.  This is something which we had not previously attended and so I also attended to see what the opening event involved and to ensure our students represented the school in the manner we have become accustomed to.   The boys listened to a range of guest speakers including the Mayor of Monash, Divya a Burmese student from Wellington Secondary College, Georgia Bonora a Dual Olympian in Gymnastics, Razia Rahman an Afghan student who recent graduated from Secondary College.  It really was quite special to listen to these young people’s stories and how they arrived in Australia and the support that sport has provided them.  Guest speakers including the Monash Recreation Programs Officer and Sports without Borders Coordinators both reinforced the support networks that are available in the City of Monash and how sport can provide so much more than just a weekly run around the ground or court.    

Congratulations to Tewan, Yamato, Kotaro, Asher, Ben, Basil, Osama and Hugo on representing Huntingdale with pride.

2016 Enrolments

As mentioned in previous newsletters, if you have a sibling of a current student who is due to start next year please contact the office and complete an enrolment form as we have 63 children enrolled for next year.  How exciting!  Often the numbers we have in June are the numbers we have to start the year. The ‘to be’ 2016 Foundation cohort is looking like three classes of around 20 again as there are always a few children who decide to have another year at Kindergarten.   

Have a safe and restful holiday everyone.  I hope you can all squeeze in a ‘pyjama day’ at some point. 

Kate Gray

Principal

Assistant Principal's Report

It’s hard to believe that the end of term is almost here! So much has happened during the term, with many rich learning experiences for our students as well as lots of projects happening around the school!

Student Learning

Lots of exciting learning has been happening around the school in the last fortnight.

Nigel Cadzow visited 1L to show them how to make the ultimate paper plane and to see which plane travelled the longest distance. Lots of great mathematics and science learning was happening in this session and it’s great to see our parents willing to come in and work with our students!

Foundation students had an in-school visit with Josh from ‘Reptile Encounters’ on Tuesday. This term in Japanese Science sessions students have been learning about mini beasts. The incursion was a great opportunity for students to see some mini beasts up close……I have to say I’m not a huge fan of creepy crawlies but our brave foundation students just loved them!

The Foundation students also participated in a Skye session with Izumi Kinder. It’s a great way to connect with students in Japan and also the opportunity for students to see technology used for a real purpose. Thank you to Naomi Mori-Hanazono for organising this opportunity.

Don’t forget it is Intercultural Learning Week with a focus on the Arts and the Environment. On Friday at 2.30pm students will have the opportunity to decorate a calico bag that they can then take shopping, thus reducing the use of plastic bags. If you have not sent your child’s $2.50 into school please do so as soon as possible.

Buildings and Grounds Projects

There have been a lot of exciting Buildings and Grounds Projects coming together in the last few weeks. Many of our students were excited to see the tunnel playground completed! This project was taken on by a group of parents in our school and has taken a lot of planning and coordination. Parents came in over the school holidays and weekends to work on the project. They also took the opportunity to engage the whole school community to help with the project at working bees. I’m sure you will agree that it has been worth it! This playground is a wonderful addition to the Huntingdale outdoor learning and play experience. Thank you to the following parents for leading this project- Janet Hulme, Damian Medley, Justin and Jess Buckley and Stuart Macphee.Many other families have contributed over the holidays including the Kendrick, Tarjan and Harvison family. Thank you to our families that also assisted during the working bees. It’s an example of a great team effort to complete such a big project!

Work has begun on our Australian Bush Tucker Garden. This project is a collaboration with Bunnings, PPG, our Buildings and Grounds Committee, teachers and our students. Bunnings have kindly donated the materials and man power to build the garden which will hopefully (weather pending) occur next week. Art design and painting of the totem poles with aboriginal stories which will be a feature in the garden has been another major part of this work. We would like to thank PPG for their kind donation of Taubman’s paint which has been used to decorate the poles. Years 3-6 students also made the labels for the plants going into the garden. This project has been a huge undertaking for the school. We’d like to thank Saray from South Oakleigh Bunnings for her work on the project, Caterina Enters and PPG for the paint donations, Art Teachers Keiko Harada, Tomoko Smith and Naomi Mori-Hanazono for working with students on the totem pole painting, Pete Magart for working with students on the garden labels and Anna-Maria Kendrick who has been the main organiser of the project representing the Building and Grounds Committee. We can’t wait to see the finished product!

I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing holiday. I will be staying home this holidays and catching up on lots of television watching as well as catching up with friends!

See you in Term Three!

Ruth Biddle

Assistant Principal