Principal's Report

Oakleigh Education Plan

The Oakleigh Education Plan is a partnership between Huntingdale Primary School, South Oakleigh College and Oakleigh South Primary School to work on the educational outcomes for students in the Oakleigh area. A new website has been launched and you can access this through our own website by following the link:

https://huntingdaleps.vic.edu.au/our-bilingual-school/#edplan

This week Naomi, Nishikubo sensei and I visited South Oakleigh College (SOC) to view their Japanese classes. They have beginners and advanced Japanese classes at Years 7-8 as well as VCE classes at Years 10-12. SOC are committed to providing a differentiated approach to Japanese learning which is heartening for students in our school. It was wonderful to see many of our old students and see they are doing very well.

Our 5/6’s also visited SOC to watch their production of Matilda. By all reports it was a spectacular show and some of our ex-students had roles. It is wonderful for our senior students to see the possibilities and experiences of being in secondary college.

If you have any questions about the OEP, please contact the school.

Child Safe Standards

The new Child Safe Standards came into effect on July 1, 2022.

This newsletter we will look at standard 3.

Child Safe Standard 3 – Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

At Huntingdale Primary School, we are committed to empowering our students about their rights and participating in decisions that affect them, both in their learning and social/emotional development. We do this by:

Informing students about their rights, including their rights to safety, information and participation
Recognise the importance of friendships and encourage support from peers, to help students feel safe and be less isolated
Make sure staff and volunteers:
- are attuned to signs of harm
- facilitate child-friendly ways for students to express their views, participate in decision-making and raise their concerns
Giving students opportunities to participate, and respond to their contributions to strengthen confidence and engagement- this includes Year 6 captains positions, Year 6 leadership roles, the Student Leadership council and participating in surveys to ask their opinions
Updating the school's Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy and Code of Conduct.
Providing information and empowerment through the curriculum. For example students having voice and choice in their inquiry learning topics and through student wellbeing topics in the Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships lessons, eSmart and Play is the Way.
Conduct year-level meetings to discuss students' rights and safety issues.
Genuinely listening and following up on student concerns when raised with teachers
Supporting students with 6-7 transition and providing extra support for students who need it
Teach students practical protective strategies, including:
- what to do when they feel unsafe
- phrases they can use to raise an objection
- pathways for raising safety concerns, and
- online safety behaviours.

Each year I visit each year level to read a text about these issues to remind students

Remind students about contact information for kids helpline
Provide a range of age-appropriate picture and fiction books about empowerment- many of these are in my office!

Courtesy in the car park

Just a reminder to parents to be courteous and follow all road rules in the car park. We are aware that in recent times a parent’s car was hit by another and no contact details were left, drivers blocking the way so cars cannot flow through easily and drivers becoming angry with each other- blasting horns and yelling abuse. Please follow the road rules and be patient with one another!

District Athletics

On 22 August many of our 3-6 students embarked on Knox Athletics Track to compete in the district athletics. Overall our team finished equal second with Amsleigh Park on 1240 points and with Clarinda narrowly winning on 1250 points.

We had a very successful day, with the following students qualifying for the divisional event:

Individual events

Kenji- 800m and 1500m 12-13 boys

Cassie- 800m and 1500m 12-13 girls

Daisy- 800m and 1500m 11 girls

Mars- 800m 11 boys

Momoka- 800m and 1500m 11 girls

Aiden- 800m 10 boys

Alannah- 1500 m 10 girls

Joshua- hurdles 10 boys

Monika- triple jump 10 girls

Matthew- tiple jump 11 boys

Dakota- 100 m 11 girls

Gene- discus 10 boys

Hailey- long jump 10 girls

Elin- 100m 10 girls

Relays

12-13 Girls- Leila, Denise, Alezia, Cassie

11 Boys- Matthew, Zeke, Aditiya, Joey

11 Girls- Scarlet, Dakota, Lea, Isabella

9-10 Boys Isaac, Kenny, Aiden, Ari

9-10 Girls- Hailey, Elin, Esther, Monika

Reminder- Mobile Devices Policy

Dr David Howes, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education has asked Principals to remind families about the state-wide mobile devices policy. 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

All students must bring their mobile phone, tablet or smart watch to the office to be stored in a locked filing cabinet.

Reminder- 2022 Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey

The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training (DET) that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. We encourage all families to participate in this survey. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. While previously a random sample of parents/caregivers/guardians have been selected to participate, this year all families are invited to participate in the survey.

I ask you to please take the time to complete the survey as your opinions are important to us and will contribute to the future management and organisation of our school.

The survey will be conducted online and should take 20 minutes to complete.
- The survey can be completed on any internet enabled device (iPad, Desktop or Laptop, Smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.
The survey will be open from Monday 15 August to Friday 16th September.
The survey is available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, Somali and Punjabi.

Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential. The survey is conducted anonymously, and it is important to us that you complete the survey as honestly as possible.

Please follow the instructions below to complete the survey. NOTE: Only one parent/caregiver/guardian from your family is invited to complete the survey.

To complete the survey, simply:

Click on the link below or copy and paste the text into your browser. This link will take you directly to the survey.

https://www.orima.com.au/parent

Select the School and Campus name below.

School Name: Huntingdale Primary School

Campus Name: Huntingdale Primary School

Enter the School PIN below.

PIN: 499302

When complete, please click on the tick button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. Please note that the survey will time out after 60 minutes of inactivity.

Questions?

Please do not hesitate to contact the school office if you have any general queries about the survey. For specific technical or participation-related queries, you may also contact the department or the supplier administering the survey, ORIMA Research.

Should you have any technical queries regarding the Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey, please do not hesitate to contact ORIMA Research on 1800 654 585 (toll free), or by email: pos@orima.com
Should you have any participation or survey-related queries, please contact the School, or the department by email: school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au.

Thank you for taking the time to participate. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

13th September Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the General Assembly on Thursday, 13 September 2007, with a majority of 144 countries of the UN ‘in favour’ of the Declaration. It is a legally non-binding resolution which outlines the individual and collective rights of indigenous people including their ownership rights to cultural and ceremonial expression, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues such as protection of their intellectual and cultural property. The goal of the declaration is to encourage countries to work alongside indigenous peoples to solve global issues and those affecting them.

Hats On!

September 1 means ‘hats on’ for all of our students. They will need to wear a hat outside for sport activities, recess, lunch and all outdoor activities. Please ‘dig out’ your child’s hat for them to wear. All hats must be the Huntingdale bucket or legionnaire hat. If you have lost yours, please purchase one from our uniform supplier PSW. This policy is reflected in our uniform and sunsmart policies which are on the school website.

Have a great fortnight!

Ruth Biddle

Principal

Assistant Principal's Report

All classes are busy preparing for the Show and Share Night which is on Tuesday 13th September. Students will share their learning with you and our Art Show, STEM & Bilingual Numeracy Showcase will be on display. Please keep this date free, so you can celebrate your child’s learning together. The online booking has been forwarded via Operoo.

Learning Maths in Japanese

Our Grade 2 students recently completed some different activities in their Maths classes.

Students participated in cooking pancakes in groups, using their knowledge of and consolidating their learning of measuring capacity, mass, ㎖, g, and procedural writing of recipe.

Book Week

Book Week was last week - August 22nd-26th. The theme was “Dreaming with eyes open”.

Instead of regular browsing and borrowing library sessions, teachers read stories aloud to students during their lunchtime library sessions in Japanese and English. Teachers also did a range of book week activities in their classroom.

The parade with their favourite book character was on the basketball court on Friday 26th August. Thank you to all of our parents who joined us. It was great to see our school community to get together.

Art Show 13 September - Save the Date

Students are working hard in their art lessons for the Art show , being held on the same day as our Show & Share Night. Please keep this date free to see your children’s work and celebrate their learning together.

Father’s Day Breakfast 2 September-Save the Date

Team Kids will be hosting a Father’s Day breakfast for all the fathers and grandfathers at our school.

Date: Friday 2nd September

Time: Before School (7:30am onward)

Place: Basketball court

Please enjoy the breakfast and have a relaxing time with other fathers.

Trivia Night 19 November - Save the Date

The 2022 Huntingdale Trivia Night is set for the evening of Saturday 19 November. This event is all about parents getting together with friends and the wider school community for an evening of fun, games and laughter...you definitely don't need to be a trivia ace to have a good time. The night will run in the Gillian Penfold Hall at the school and will see attendees having the chance to win some awesome prizes.

At the moment the organising team are looking for some extra people to help out with the sourcing of prizes and the setup of the event. If you are interested in giving us a hand, please contact Matt (Zalia's Dad) 0434 892 448, Gerri (Alouette's Mum) 0407 511 185 or Vi (Scarlett and Isaac's Mum) 0403 381 211

Keep an eye out for information about tickets and the theme for the night, but for the time being just save the date in your calendar.

Learning start at 9am

Teachers open their classroom door at 8:50am allowing students to set up for their learning. Teachers start their mini-lesson at 9am. During this mini-lesson, the teachers will share the learning intension and success criteria with students. If students come late in a morning, they will miss this important part. Therefore it is very important that students arrive on time.

Lost Property

Lost property is mounting up again…Please check the tubs in office to see if anything belongs to your child. And, please remember, that if you put your child’s name on their lunch box, jacket, hat, etc., there is a better chance of them finding their owner. At the end of each term items left are disposed of responsibly.

Naomi Mori-Hanazono

Assistant Principal