Issue: 1

HEATHERHILL PRIMARY SCHOOL 959 Heatherton Road, Springvale, Vic 3171 Telephone: 03 9546 7562 Website: www.heatherhillps.vic.edu.au

4th February, 2016

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From the Principal’s Desk Dear Parents and Carers, Welcome back to Heatherhill Primary School for 2016. The students and staff have settled in well and are preparing for an inter-esting and challenging year. I would like to welcome all the new families to our school and know that your time at Heatherhill will be happy.

School Programs 2016 The Victorian Government has made it compulsory to teach a language other than English in Prep and Year 1. Last year we intro-duced Italian, taught by Ms Maria Zaban. In 2016, Italian will be taught from Prep – 6. Year 1 students have already learnt “Io parlo Italiano” – “I speak Italian” or “Io parlo Inglese” – “I speak English” or “Io parlo cinese” – “I speak Chinese”. They can count, name body parts and colors, and use greetings. Ms Zaban will introduce the students to Pinocchio – the wooden puppet who dreamed of becoming a real boy.

Students will be given a “passport” to “travel” around Italy, learning about the culture, the Art, the food and more. Dovrebbe es-sere un anno eccitante , interessante e coinvolgente . (It should be an exciting, interesting and engaging year.)

Learning to Learn/Challenge This year, for the first ten days of the school year, all classes have been undertaking a program called “LEARNING TO LEARN” and the CHALLENGE Program (Senior School). . The focus of this program will be establishing our school and our classes as learning communities, in which each of the students will feel a strong sense of belonging; and that encourages achievement for success. Our goals will be to establish: Positive learning environments Personal motivation Friendships and teams Shared values and class rules You Can Do It! – Getting Along During the Learning to Learn/Challenge program “regular” curriculum sessions have not been undertaken, but all curriculum areas have been covered in informal ways, appropriate to the level of the students. Teachers will be making many observations of students’ abilities and interests. Senior Students have undertaken individual and group challenges to develop personal and interpersonal skills. These challenges have included the workshops at the Royal Botanical Gardens and tours of the Shrine of Remem-brance, as well as special tasks undertaken at school. This exciting program gives all students a chance to build the positive learning environment that best suits them. Each Learning Centre will make presentations to the whole school community and will share their rules, mottoes and values. Parents and carers are invited to this celebration.

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews – Tuesday 23rd February A formal “Getting to Know You” Parent/Teacher meeting is being planned for later this term. At this meeting your child’s teachers will be meeting with you and your child to find out more about your child’s learning. Students will be telling you and their teach-ers what they aim to achieve this year. Teachers will also want to find out any special information that will help them understand your child better. Further information has been sent home soon. Forms for interpreters will be sent home. Please return them promptly. School Gates The gates at Peter Street and Heatherton Road entrances have been modified to ensure they are kept closed. Both gates have simple latches (which cannot be seen from the street). The gates are locked at the end of the school day and opened early in the morning. The Treesbank Ave gate cannot have the latch attached because it is a wire mesh gate. I ask all parents and students to close the gate behind them. We want our students to be safe. Emergency Management You may have heard on the news that some schools have been “threatened” by hoax calls. I want to assure all families that Heatherhill has not been threatened. Our school has excellent “Lock Down” and “Evacuation” proce-dures in place. Each term we practise a different type of drill – evacuating the school buildings, lock down, evacuating the whole school off site. In 2015 we practised the drills during class time and while the students were outside. Our students and staff were efficient, responsible and calm and reacted to the alarms with quiet calm. Should a real emergency occur, the school staff will make every attempt to contact parents. It is VERY important that we have your current telephone numbers and email addresses. Staffing We welcome Miss Aine Cleere to Heatherhill. Aine hails from Ireland and is teaching in the Senior School. We know that she has travelled half way around the world, to get to THE BEST SCHOOL IN THE WORLD! Welcome Aine! Farewell to Mrs Friederike Druitt, who commences Long Service Leave from Thursday next week. Then she will retire. Mrs Druitt has been with the Education Department since she started as a student teacher in the 1970’s. She has had a long career in education and has taught ESL, general classroom and Visual Arts at Heatherhill. She will be fondly remembered as a very gentle and kind hearted teacher . Best Wishes for 2016,

Mary Verwey

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Staffing 2016

Principal Mrs Mary Verwey

Assistant Principal Miss Gillian Harris

Business Manager Mrs Louise McLelland

Bursar Mrs Helen Turnbull

Integration Aides Ms Jan Xydias Ms Su-Phin Teh Mrs Dianne Wain

Multicultural Education Aides Ms Chan Ngo Ms Samon Sam Ms Sim Tan Ms. Binh La

Speech Pathologist Ms Tori Cordingley

Primary Welfare Officer Ms Gayle Townsend

Maintenance Mr Keith Clarke

Junior School JSC JSB JSA

Mrs Bin Ng Ms Deb Kingstone Mrs Phani Cherukumilli

Middle School MSA MSB MSC

Mrs Tricia Ryder Mrs Leah Issko Mrs Lisa Sinclair

Senior School SSA SSB SSC SSD

Miss Renee Dare Miss Maree Griffiths Miss Aine Cleere Mrs Gwenda Welsh

Specialist Library Literacy Leader

Ms Fran Hermann

Specialist PE

Mrs Suzette Callander-Brown

Specialist Italian Language

Ms Maria Zaban

Teaching & Learning Coach Ms Cathryn Stephens

SCHOOL NEWS

YEAR 2016 - CSEF

(Camps, Sports & Excursions Fund) If you have a current Health Care Card or Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card, you need to come to the office and complete a Camps, Sports, Excursions Fund Application Form, if you haven’t already done so. This form was sent home with children this week. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to con-tact the school office on 9546 7562.

SHARE GAMES WITH YOUR FAMILY

Do your parents know what games you play online?

Why don’t you show them how to play one of them?

Explain the rules to them and let them have a go. You

might be surprised at what they can help you with!

HOW MUCH SCREEN TIME?

Did you know that children should only spend 2 hours

MAXIMUM in front of a screen each day—that means

TVs, Computers, iPads/tablets, iPods, phones, video

games and anything else with a screen! How much

time do you spend watching a screen each day? Set a

timer when you are using a screen.

E-SMART

Re-capping what we learnt last year!!

Heatherhill Primary School is on it’s way to becoming an eSmart School! Our school will be focusing on ensur-ing our school community is made up of smart, safe and responsible online citizens. In each newsletter look out for a handy eSmart tip to help you and your family to be smart, safe and responsible online! This week: GOOGLE TRICKS Do you use www.google.com? · Try www.boogle.com. - it gives you a cute picture and a famous quote each day. · On www.google.com. type “Google Gravity” and press “I’m feeling lucky”. What happens?!

This week: PASSWORD SAFETY Do you have a password for a website or a game? Re-member to make it tough to crack but easy for you to remember. Don’t tell your password to anyone! Except for a teacher or a parent to write down (and hide) for you. To see how long it would take a computer program to crack your password, go to: https://howsecureismypassword.net/

2016

SENIOR LEARNING

CENTRE

ALREADY HARD AT WORK!

Learning to Excel Together

SCHOOL BANKING 2016 For those students who have a bank book you can start

bringing it to school on Mondays. If you are interested in opening a Dollarmite School Bank Account for your child,

please come and see me at the office.

Happy Saving!!

For Prep/Grade 1 students an information pack will be sent home to you early next week.

SCHOOL NEWS

Breakfast Club Breakfast Club beings at 7.45am. Staff are not available before that time. The door will open at 7.45am.

Car Park Parents are asked not to use the staff car park after 8.15 am. Parking is available in Peter Street. Children can be dropped off there, Treesbank Avenue or in Cooper Street (off Heatherton Road), where they can cross at the crossing. This does not change if it is a rainy day.

Wednesday 10th Febru-ary

Preps do not attend school on this day.

Thursday 11th February ‘Being Brave” Incursion Middle School

Get your notice back!!

Monday 15th February Water Safety Program Middle School

Get your notice back!!

Wednesday 17th Febru-ary

Preps do not attend on this day.

Thursday 18th February Water Safety Program Senior School

Get your notice back!!

Tuesday 23rd February ‘Getting to know you” Interview

1-6pm

Wednesday 24th Febru-ary

Preps do not attend this day.

29th February - Thursday 3rd March

Book Fair Information to follow.

Wednesday 2nd March Preps do not attend on this day.

Wednesday 9th March Preps do not attend on this day.

Monday 14th March Labour Day Holiday No School

Wednesday 15th March Preps starting coming to school full time

Thursday 24th March Last Day Term 1 Finish 2.30

Extend OSHC at Heatherhill Primary School

Welcome back! We hope you have had a fantastic summer holiday and are look-ing forward to the exciting opportunities that 2016 will bring. We are looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces at After School Care and to welcoming lots of new faces as well.

Existing Families Don’t forget to manage your 2016 bookings. Last year’s bookings do not roll over so log on to the parent portal NOW to secure your bookings for 2016. You can book for the entire term or year or even book specific dates.

New Families Enrol online – allow 24 hours Enrolling is quick and easy! Simply set up your own account online via the Parent Portal. Please note it is government regula-tion that all children must be enrolled BEFORE attending an Ex-tend service. For information on operating hours and fees for your school, visit your After School Care venue or school website.

Enrol now, pay later The annual enrolment fee per family of $20 is NOT payable until you first use the service. So why not enrol now so you can access the service later? It doesn't matter if you don't end up using the service, because you won't be charged. Watch this space throughout the term for regular updates from our Extend team! PARENT PORTAL: extend.com.au

Here is a picture of our School Captains 2015 handing over to our School Captains 2016. What a great picture !!!!