Principal and Assistant Principal's Page
Principal's Report
Wow! It has been a busy, but great, year and full of fantastic events, learning and community. Here are some of the highlights:
Term 1
New Foundation children starting, COLC, district swimming, ICU Week-Food, interschool sport, Jissen University Visit, Parents as Partners Night, Nihongo Sports Night, Foundation Japanese language sessions, working bees, gymnastics sessions, school nurse visit for foundation students, Summer Gala Sports Day, Cultural Diversity Week and Harmony Day celebrations.
Term 2
COLC, 3-6 camp, gymnastics, John Monash Little Mathematicians & Scientists Program, ANZAC Day Ceremony, cross country, Winter Gala Day, NAPLAN, Education Week, Japanese magician, reports and learning folders, parent/teacher interviews, Year 6-7 Transition Information Night, Children’s Day celebrations, Tanabata Festival, ICU Week- arts & environment, interschool sport, Mothers’ Day morning tea, school photos, the working bee, Box Hill Festival, Monash Reconciliation Art display, Year 1 Melbourne Zoo Excursion, Grade 2 Excursion Coal Creek, Foundation Excursion to Myuna Farm, AFL clinics and ICAS Science Competition. Book Fair
Term 3
COLC, gymnastics, ICAS English and Mathematics Competitions, Kinder-Foundation transition, Education Support Staff Week, ICAS English and Mathematics Competitions, school working bee, Shioya Junior High visit, 6-7 transition, Germain Street Kinder Visits, athletics events, Fathers’ Day event, Literacy and Numeracy Week open morning for parents, ICU Week- dance and games, Share and Show Night, School Production and Principal’s Day, Dental Visit, SBS radio interview Minato-Ku visit, Whole School Photo
Term 4
School working bees, Swimming, Kinder-Foundation Transition, World Teachers’ Day, Hot Shots Tennis, Foundation Cricket Clinics, Life Skills transition program for Year 5’s, Healthy Living and Growing 5/6’s, Dental Van, 5/6 Excursion to the city, Interschool Sports, Remembrance Day, In School transition, Responsible Pet ownership, 5/6 expo, Taiko Drumming, School Captains speeches, Carols in the Park, HPS Christmas Concert, in-school transition, Foundation information night, Year 7 orientation day, Japan Trip Planning, Reports and learning folders and Year 6 Graduation.
2019 Classes & Teachers
On Monday 17th December, students have visited their new grades in our traditional ‘walk up’ morning. Our staffing and teaching profile is as follows for 2019:
Principal - Ruth Biddle
Assistant Principal - Naomi Mori- Hanazono
5/6W - Rebecca Wood & Yukiko Shoya
5/6M - Pete Magart & Yukiko Shoya
5/6K - Nozomi Koyama & Yukiko Shoya
5/6J - Sarah Jang & Yukiko Shoya
3/4P - Maria Perrella & Eiji Nishikubo
3/4G - Erin Green & Eiji Nishikubo
3/4H - Brett Herskope & Eiji Nishikubo
3/4B - Anita Buccieri & Eiji Nishikubo
2W - Alyson Wakely & Moe Osugi
2O - Amelia Olsson & Moe Osugi
2M - Maria Mathews & Moe Osugi
1S - Tomoko Smith & Annika Matchan
1M - Annika Matchan & Tomoko Smith
1JK - Keiko Harada & Jo Ewart
FJK - Jo Ewart & Keiko Harada
FH - Hisae Hatigan & Dan Thomas
FT - Dan Thomas & Hisae Hatigan
5/6 Music, Taiko & Junior PE -
Tadashi Hanazono
Arts - Mariko Hioki-Walker, Akiko Collins and Ryoko Yamaoka
Student Support - Nick Tolliday
The teaching staff will be supported by ES staff Wakana Karchnak, Mayumi Cake, Honami Ando, Mayu Harada, Francesca Smith and Jenny Celle. Gill Penfold will continue as Office Manager, Rosella Dossi as Business Manager and Brendan Ariens as DET ICT support.
We have a number of staff leaving us at the end of this year. This includes Kim Philpott (soon to be married!) who is taking a contract at Dandenong Primary School which is closer to her home. Linda Ooi-Chan is also working closer to home at Malvern Valley Primary School and Caitlin Webb is also taking a contract there. Tomomi Wakiya leaves us to concentrate on raising her young family and art teacher Naoko Inuzuka is moving interstate. I’d also like to thank Audra Simkus for her work in teaching 3/4N this half year. Nick Tolliday is returning next year and Audra will continue to work at the school as a CRT.
Winners!
At assembly on the 3 December, Rachel from the Oakleigh Centro Shopping Centre, presented Rei, Jay and I with a $4000 cheque as the winners of the ‘Shop for Schools’ Promotion. Oakleigh Centro shoppers got a token every time they shopped and could choose a project from each school to vote on. We were the clear winners! The $4000 will go towards our Taiko Group for 2019 and buying new equipment.
DET Scholarships for y 4 to 12
Scholarships for year 12 students are now open. More than 140 scholarships, ranging in value from $600 to $30,000 are available to Year 12 students undertaking further study in 2019. Recipients are able to use their scholarships to pay for iPads/computers, tertiary fees and accommodation.
More than 100 scholarships, ranging in value from $300 to $1,000 are available to students in years 4 to 11. Previous recipients have used their scholarships to purchase textbooks, school uniforms and computers.
Scholarship selection criteria includes financial need or difficulties, student's school results and school and community activities the student takes part in. For more information, visit
https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/classrooms/Pages/resourcesscholarships411.aspx
2018 Graduating Class
Tomorrow night we celebrate the achievements of our Year 6 students and their final year of Primary School at our Graduation Ceremony. The Year 6’s have been a fantastic group to work with this year and excellent role models to younger students. We are all extremely proud of the young people you have become. You have all come a long way, no matter how long or short your time at Huntingdale has been. We wish Elektra, Renji, Morris, Miku, Etel, Madeleine, Alex K, Shion, Naomi, Kento, Mio, Rei, Alex T, Kai B, Vinayak, Adele, Max, Sayuri, Jia, Mei, Hajin, Monique, Kai M, Liam, Leela, Jabu, William, Musashi, Taro, Kyle, Haruka, Anthony, Brian, Hana, Vaughan, Gabriel, Lucien, Aleah, Jay and Lara all the best as they move into Secondary School.
We wish all of our other students from other year levels leaving Huntingdale PS all the best for their educational future.
Team Holiday
Team Holiday is coming! If you would like your child to attend vacation care over the summer holidays please see Gill at the office or register online. Attendance numbers look strong, which is fantastic.
2019 Curriculum Days
School Council have met this month and endorsed the following curriculum days:
Tuesday 29th January
Wednesday 30 January
Friday 24th May
Friday 26th July
OHSC Club have been informed of the dates and we are confident they will be able to provide a service for us on these dates.
Last Day of School- 21 December
I would like to remind the school community that as always on the last day of school, Friday 21 December, lessons will finish at 1.30pm . OHSC Club will be open from 1.30 for parents who need to use this service.
First Day Back 2018
Students in Years 1-6 will start back at school from Thursda
Assistant Principal's Report
Wow! We have had many celebrations of children’s learning during this past fortnight. Some classes had classroom parties and some classses were busy with Christmas activities.
Grade 1 Expo
Grade 1 students had their Expo in class and invited their parents to share their learning. Children were so proud of their own books and enjoyed reading other children’s book.
Christmas Concert
We had our annual Christmas Concert on 13th December at South Oakleigh College due to the weather conditions. A big THANK YOU to SOC for letting us use their indoor space/gymnasium. Students and teachers worked very hard to bring their performances together on the night, and their performances were amazing. It was so nice to see the children were very excited about the event and they enjoyed the night so much. I hope you enjoyed the staff performance as well. We had lots of laughs during our practices and thoroughly enjoyed putting on our performance. Thank you Smith sensei for putting it all together on the night.
Junior Bilingual Choir
Our Junior Bilingual Choir was started this year by Annika Matchan and Tomomi Wakiya. Foundation to Grade 3 children are enjoying this club during lunchtime every Friday. They performed our school song at the recent Christmas concert. Miss Matchan and Wakiya sensei opened up to hear student’s voice to create the verse. Some parents gave them an advice to create music. It was great community engagement through this process of creating school song. We are looking forward to learn the song next year and sing at assembly every week.
Carols in the park
Our Choir and Taiko groups performed on 7th December in Oakleigh at the annual “Carols in the Park” It is a regular event for our school and we are so proud of their performances as they represent our school so well. Thank you Smith sensei and Hanazono T. sensei for leading the groups this year.
I hope you all have a lovely break with your family. I am looking forward to see you all next year.
Naomi Mori-Hanazono
Assistant Principal