Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's Report

Welcome back to Term 2! I hope the whole school community had a fabulous term break and didn’t overload on too much chocolate during Easter! I had a wonderful ‘staycation’, spending a lot of time in Melbourne. Highlights included visiting the Lume and the Melbourne Now exhibition at the Ian Potter NGV, going to the Melbourne Comedy Festival, seeing Mary Poppins and catch ups with my family and friends. I hope everyone is feeling refreshed as Term 2 is a very short one!

School Cross Country

In wet and wintery conditions this morning, we ran our school cross country selection trials. Thank you to Mr Tolliday for organising the morning and to our parents who helped on the day. There were many parents who watched and supported our students which was wonderful! Congratulations to the following students for making the cross-country team:

12/13 Girls

Emma T

Hana G

Maisa Z

Karena Z

Evie T

Isabella C

Tulasi N

Abby O

Adele E

12/13 Boys

Aditiya D

Leo T

Joey P

Taketo F

Lui T

Kynam O

Hideki K

Marcus B

Masao B

Shunsuke S

9/10 Girls

Monika C

Marilyn T

Hailey D

Viky M

Emilee L

Amelia I

Ada W

Rhea N

Erena C

Ellie T

9/10 Boys

Aca S

Kenny P

Eli D

Shunya Y

Ethan L

John H

Sohma J

Gregory M

Ao H

Luka S

11 Girls

Alannah H

Ruby N

Adhira T

Meg S

Anna A

Elin J

Esther K

Isla W

Ai H

Alice L

11 Boys

Joshua S

Leo R

Aiden I

Isaac C

Hinata D

Jamie A

Myles M

Victor K

Patrick D

Yiorgo K

These students will participate in the Oakleigh District Event scheduled for 31 May. We wish them all the best. There were several students listed as emergencies to attend if a team member cannot attend. We will let parents know if they will be needed.

Apply now to enrol your child in Foundation for 2024

The Department of Education has released a new state-wide timeline for enrolling in Foundation for the 2024 school year.

If you have a child starting primary school in 2024, it’s time to enrol. Make sure to submit your enrolment application by Friday 28 July 2023.

If you are enrolling the sibling of a student at our school for Foundation in 2024, and both children will be attending our school at the same time, your child is prioritised for a place at our school as per the department’s Placement Policy. 

It is important to follow the state-wide timeline to enrol your child in Foundation. Enrolling your child in line with the timelines allows us to plan our classrooms, staffing and transition activities and ensures your child has the best start to school.

For more information, please read about when and how to enrol your child in Foundation at vic.gov.au/enrolling-foundation-prep.

If you are seeking to enrol your child into Foundation next year, please contact our school office on to request an enrolment form.

Student Wellbeing in Term 2

During the first week of the term, students will review norms, classroom protocols and student voice as part of a Creating Our Learning Community (COLC) review. This helps ‘set the scene’ for learning with both classroom teachers.

Our Respectful Relationships topic is ‘Problem Solving’. Problem-solving skills are an important part of life in general and the activities assist students to develop their critical and creative thinking skills, and to apply them to scenarios exploring personal, social and ethical dilemmas.

At Huntingdale we employ the 3R’s- Reflect, Repair and Restitution, which is a conflict and problem-solving restorative framework related to the principles of ‘Play is the Way’. If students have a disagreement or problem our staff facilitate the following structure:

Reflect- In this step students discuss what happened, who was there and how they felt.

Repair- In this step students discuss how they can repair the relationship and steps they can take to show that they are sorry. Students also discuss what would have been more appropriate actions to take to avoid the conflict. 

Restitution- In this step students put into action the strategies discussed in the repair stage and then move forward from the situation and get along. They may need a check in from the teacher to see that they are ‘on track’ and follow up conversation, depending on the situation. 

You may have heard your child talk about different ‘zones’. At Huntingdale we teach the ‘Zones of Regulation’ which is a framework for students to recognise their feelings and how it affects their behaviour. We all have different feelings and different times, and this affects how we can work and get along with others. Teachers identify with students the different feelings and discuss strategies of how to react particularly if we are in the red and yellow zones. The diagram below gives a pictorial view of the zones.

School Uniform

The start of the term is a perfect time to assess your child’s school uniform needs, particularly as the weather is cooler. All students should have a Huntingdale jumper or jacket so they can keep warm. Any coats, tights and accessories must be in navy blue not black. Black is not our school uniform colour. Students are not required to wear a hat outside. However, we do have a new school beanie and scarf that you can purchase from PSW that will keep your child warm. 

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

Student Attendance

Late last term I sent home the student attendance for the month of March. I have attached the copy for your reference.

Term 2 is a very short term, and we would like all families to maximise their child’s attendance. We would like all families to make a greater effort to arrive at school on time. When are students late they miss vital learning instructions at the beginning of the day, and this can interrupt the flow of teaching and learning for themselves and the class. 

We understand the traffic is more hectic on the roads in the morning, so we ask families to plan to get to school on time. This can include:

• Setting a regular alarm
• Preparing lunch the night before
• Students packing their bag the night before as much as possible
• Completing homework tasks in the evenings rather than mornings when it is busy
• Laying out school uniform ready for the morning
• Minimising television and device time in the morning 

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.

Supervising Children Before and After School

At school there is a teacher on yard duty from 8.45-9.00am (the first bell rings at 8.50am when students can go into classrooms). Students should not arrive at school before 8.45am unless they are supervised by a parent. After school, teachers are on duty until 3.45pm. After this time, parents and carers are responsible for supervising their children in the yard. This includes supervising your child when playing with other children. Parents, please ensure you are within ‘eyesight’ of your children both school aged and younger siblings for their safety. We thank you for your cooperation. 

Reminder: Curriculum Days

We have two further curriculum days on Friday 9 June (staff professional practice day) and Wednesday 21 June for parent teacher interviews. Team Kids will be open for all day care.

Assemblies Term 2

Our assemblies for Term 2 are:

Mon 1 May 2.45pm

Mon 22 May for Education Week 2.45pm

Mon 5 June- 2.45pm

Fri 23 June- 1.55pm

Reminder- Mobile Devices Policy

The school understands that several 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

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. It can often take a number of days to do this, so we hear the voices of 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. 

I look forward to a productive Term 2!

Ruth Biddle

Principal