Principal's Message

Hello Hillsmeade families!

TERM 4 ALREADY?!

Welcome back to the last term for 2022. I hope you all had a lovely break with your children over the holidays and that everyone is well rested for a busy and big term ahead!

I'd like to reflect for a moment on the end of last term and celebrate the wonderful day we had on Footy Day! It was great to see everyone dressed in their favourite team colours and parade around proudly whilst singing the song with their fellow supporters. There was such a great vibe and for the Geelong supporters it turned even sweeter one week later!

This term we have many exciting events planned for our students and the community, whilst maintaining a consistent teaching and learning program.

We have started the term with swimming lessons for Years 1,2&3, with the 5 day course being completed tomorrow.

Later in the term we have more swimming/beach based activities planned for other year levels as well, which this year is mostly funded by the accrual of swimming funding provided by the Department of Education. Next year there will be some costs involved, but it has been wonderful to offer most swimming events this year, free of charge.

A huge thank you to Jeff McGann and Paul Hill for their organisation of swimming lessons and ensuring that all students came home with most of their items in their bags!!

Other events we have planned include Crazy Hair Day next week 21st October,  excursions and incursions for some junior classes, MAD Day for Year 6, The Colour Run on 2nd December, Year 6 Graduation and our End Of Year Extravaganza.  Please see the calendar page for more information on events and dates that are particular to your child and year level.

2023 PREP TRANSITION

Prep Transition sessions begin in November for students enrolled at Hillsmeade PS in 2023. We have commenced liaising with local kinders and Early Learning Centres to ensure we are establishing a strong support network for you and your child as they commence their primary school journey. 

If you have not yet enrolled your child for prep, then please do so immediately so that we are able to account for them in our planning and preparation and ensure your child is well equipped to start next year. 

You can contact the office on 9704 6313 or hillsmeade.ps@education.vic.gov.au for enrolment information.

We will be holding information sessions for parents/carers on each of the transition mornings and a final information presentation on 7th December at 6pm here at the school.

NAPLAN

This year students in years 3 and 5 at Hillsmeade PS completed NAPLAN online for the first time. We are very proud of our students and what they have achieved. Some noteable results have included, a higher percentage of students in Year 3 achieving in the top two bands in Reading, Writing and Spelling than previously experienced in the last 5 years.  This was also the case with our Year 5 Writing data.   Our Maths data is fairly consistent with results achieved last year, using the same metric, and continues to be a whole school focus for improvement.

2023 CLASS PLANNING

There is now an opportunity for families to put in writing requests they may have for their child for class placements in 2023. These need to be emailed to hillsmeade.ps@education.vic.gov.au and outline the educational purpose for the request. Emails need to be sent by Friday 28th October. We cannot guarantee that your requests will be met, but we will take all information into consideration, enabling all students to have a positive transition into 2023.

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC TEACHERS

We are currently looking for instrumental teachers for 2023. We need both guitar and drum teachers. If you are interested in this opportunity or know someone who may be, please email the school with attention to Lisa Scott or contact Lisa Scott directly to place your expression of interest. We have many interested families, we just need the teachers!!

SAVE THE DATES

As mentioned, please check the calendar in this newsletter for all upcoming events, however please ensure you are aware of these significant whole school events:

• Monday 28th November - Curriculum Day (OSHC available)
• Friday 2nd December from midday - The Colour Run
• Tuesday 13th December - Statewide Transition Day
• Wednesday 14th December - HPS 2023 Step Up Day
• Friday 16th December 9am-11am - End Of Year Extravaganza. This is our final assembly with class performances and year 6 farewell
• Tuesday 20th December - Curriculum Day (No OSHC available)

YEAR 4 CAMP

Further along in the newsletter you will see a little recap of the experience our Year 4s had whilst on camp! By all reports our students and staff had a fabulous time and enjoyed spectacular weather with rain only coming on the final day. I am very keen to hear their stories and experiences, as camp is always such a great opportunity to connect with each other, be challenged and often lose a lot of sleep!!!

A huge thank you to our staff that attended, taking the time away from their own families to help our students enjoy their camp experience.

We are all looking forward to a fun and hard working term ahead!