Principal's Report

We are well and truly in the thick of the action in Term 4, mid-way through our review, only two weeks or so until Twilight Carnival, and a myriad of other events and happenings busily taking place across the school. Needless to say, there is a lot in this newsletter, despite best endeavours to keep it succinct. Take the time to read to ensure you don’t miss out on what’s going on!

$9.8 Million Funding Announcement

As was communicated via Compass, this week we received the news that the Andrews Labor Government has allocated $9.8m in funding for Hampton Primary School should they be re-elected. Pledges from both major parties will enable our school to realise the long-held vision for an appropriate indoor facility for sports and community events and the re-development of some learning spaces in the school. We envision the funding will enable us to have PE lessons take place in all weather, host assemblies with parents invited every week, host community and parent events on-site, and ensure your children learn in state-of-the-art facilities. Significant thanks go to past and present members School Council, the Development and Engagement Sub-Committee and specifically those referenced in the Compass post. Specifics are expected to flow after the 2023 May budget and we eagerly anticipate this date.

NAPLAN Results

2022 whole-school NAPLAN Data was released recently, indicating that again students at Hampton performed extremely well when compared with previous years and local and similar schools. This year data available was limited to purely students’ achievement level due to NAPLAN being cancelled in 2020, meaning there is no growth data for Grade 5 students.

As with any data set, there is much to learn about what we’re doing well and what we can improve on. We gather and utilise significant amounts of other quantitative and qualitative data to further validate and triangulate what NAPLAN appears to indicate.

Given the context of the last two years, the fact that so many areas have shown further improvement on already very high outcomes is something that we are incredibly proud of. We also use the areas that did not improve as a source of curiosity.

A full breakdown of the data has been shared with School Council; below is a summary of the key themes. 

• The % of students in the Top 2 bands at HPS remained very consistent (+ or – 5%) in 8 of 10 areas. Grade 3 reading and Grade 5 maths did decline more than this which we are investigating, however, is consistent with Similar Schools* that also saw drops in these areas. 
• Our Mean Score (average score of all students in tests) improved on last year in 8 of 10 areas. 
• We have a higher % of students in the top two bands compared to Similar Schools* in all 10 areas. 

*Similar Schools are identified by the DET as schools that sit in a similar socio-economic and geographical context and are of a similar size.

2023 Class Preferences

One of the most critical pieces of planning that occur in Term 4 is forming classes that will enable your children to reach their fullest potential. As per our Class Placement Policy, all students are provided with a chance to list friends they feel they work productively with. Teachers then work hard to ensure social, emotional and academic needs are considered when classes are re-formed. Should you have any specific and evidenced reasons you feel should be taken into consideration when placing your child with classmates in 2023, please outline these in a letter/email to joshua.sheffield@education.vic.gov.au by Thursday 10th November. All requests will be carefully considered and, where valid, attempt to be accommodated, but are not guaranteed. Requests for particular teachers will not be considered under any circumstances, nor will requests received after the due date.

New Reading Resources

Last week a large group of parents volunteered their time to help organise and label the thousands of new take-home reader books and class texts that will be in circulation now much sooner. These books were purchased with funds that have been raised by you throughout the year at the PA-run Canteen in Term 1, numerous Parent Social Nights including Bogan Bingo, the Start and End of Term BBQs, the Book Fair and more. A huge thank you to all the parents that helped out; we look forward to seeing students enjoying these books very soon!

Shade Sail & Mural Works

After a significant wait time due to the state-wide grant, our shade sail over the concrete part of the Indigenous Garden will be installed shortly. This will provide a shaded place for outdoor learning to occur and another quiet space for students to enjoy at break times. A portion of the fundraising from the recent Mancave event will also go toward the installation of a mural on the northern side of the main building to liven up the bricks. 

New & Important Dates

• No new dates added for 2022.

To stay up to date with all events and key dates, see the Compass Calendar. 

Reminders

• The ‘Important Links’ tab at the top of the navigation bar on our school website has links to all school platforms/portals for easy access.
• Curriculum Days for Term 4, as previously communicated are Monday 31st October and Monday 19th December. All are on the Calendar and Team Kids will be providing a program on the day

Celebrations

Congratulations to Daniel A-H (Gr 3) who completed the 18.8km course for Connor’s Run, raising just shy of $4,000 as a part of his participation. Both the distance covered and the funds raised are incredible achievements; well done Daniel!

Congratulations also to Olly C (Gr 6) who won two gold medals in the Victorian Trampolining Championships recently out of the three events he participated in. He is now the Victorian Champion for his age group and in the synchronised trampolining category.