PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers,

We have certainly hit the ground running here at HPS this term. Our first week back saw the teaching staff involved in

professional learning about evaluative thinking, data collection and analysis as well as the National Progressions. We are

blessed to have such a committed team of professional educators, who are striving towards continuous improvement of

their teaching practices and content knowledge.

Our first few days of the new daily schedule have been very successful, with teachers reporting an increased percentage

of students, who are sitting and eating at lunch time. Our break times allow for students to have dedicated time for eating

and playing to ensure that their bodies are fuelled and active throughout the day. Parents may have noticed that students

go straight into classrooms of a morning, this is to ensure that we are maximising prime learning time. All of our

messages are provided to students at the end of lunch.

Touch Football

Congratulations to our Touch Football team, who competed in the Knockout

competition on Thursday, 25 July 2019. Mr Hanson has reported that all members

of the team were exemplary representatives of our school and that their team work

and sportsmanship was second to none. Special mention goes to Koda B, who

was a try-scoring superstar in the final game against Marks Point Public School.

Boys, you have made your school, teachers and principal very proud.

All is well in 5/6B

5/6B have made sure that Mrs Cambourn feels at home in their classroom this term. As you will recall, Mr Burke is

working as a relieving assistant principal at Mayfield East Public School throughout Term 3. Mrs Cambourn has told me

that she is thoroughly enjoying teaching 5/6B and that the students have shown great maturity by being settled, focused

and respectful. Well done everyone!

Homework Club Year 3 – 6

Last week we opened a survey concerning Homework Club through the skoolbag app Teachers volunteer their own time,

outside of their scheduled work hours, to supervise and assist students in Homework Club. Unfortunately, teachers have

become concerned that their time is not being used effectively as students are not engaging in homework activities while

they are in Homework Club.

It would be helpful to the school, if you could assist us in collecting some information about how Homework Club is used.

You can find the survey by clicking on the link below.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=muagBYpBwUecJZOHJhv5kUj5511WjZVMgosxfuygrS1UQk9YVUFQSU9LOUJNSTJFUjI4V09YRVRQQS4u Please be aware that Homework Club will not be operating while we collect this information.

NAIDOC Day

On Friday, 26 July 2019, we held our NAIDOC celebrations at our school. Many thanks to Mrs Dubojski, Mrs Mullan and

Ms Seiler for all of the work they put in to organise the assembly as well as the teaching and learning activities for the

day.

It was a pleasure to watch our Cultural Dance Group perform and I was delighted to learn some new Awabakal words

thanks to our choir. Both groups were amazing! Thank you also to our school leadership team, who ran the assembly. As

always, you showed great skills in leading our school. Special mention to Adam and Erika, our Ministers for Aboriginal

Term 3 Week 2 31 July 2019

Affairs, for your efforts in leading the day’s celebrations.

Many thanks to Truly from Cardiff High School, who sang the national anthem in Awabakal language. It was inspiring to

see the continuation of language happening in our region. Perhaps our school could learn to sing the anthem in

Awabakal too?! Thank you to Mr Erskine, Principal of Cardiff High School, who attended our assembly today. We are so

fortunate to be a member of the Cardiff Community of Schools, who work so closely and collaboratively to support all

students in our community.

As a proud Gamillaroi woman, I am always so pleased to see my culture shared with my community. It makes me so

happy to see that we are a part of the continuation of traditional cultural practices and that now, our language is being

revived and continued as well.

Public Speaking Last week all HPS students participated in their class public speaking competition. Two winners from each class were selected to compete at the Stage Public Speaking Competition on Monday and Tuesday this week. As adjudicator, I was absolutely thrilled and delighted with the high level of skill and ability that every student demonstrated when delivering their speech. Public speaking is one of those things that most adults fear. Let me tell you that these students showed no sign of fear or apprehension. If they were nervous, they certainly did not show it. What we saw this week were 22 confident, entertaining and skilful speakers, who were able to speak clearly, hold the attention of the audience and deliver their message in a captivating manner. The Class winners this year were: KM Isaac L & Elisabeth W, KH Daley S & Darcy F, 1H Daenerys B & Naveah E, 1D Adeline B & Tristan P, 2M Koby D & Ella A, 2S Kai D & Aria B, 3/4A Raya P & Christopher L, 3/4M Grace B & Scarlett T, 4/5S Boycie H & Vesper B, 5/6P Callan P & Jasper C and 5/6B Nicholas L& Blake H. The Stage winners for this year are:

Congratulations to all of HPS who competed in this competition. Have a wonderful week!

Cassie Bate-Barnier

Principal

Early Stage 1 Isaac L & Darcy F

Stage 1 Daenerys B & Koby D

Stage 2 Christopher L & Raya P

Stage 3 Nicholas L & Callan P

DATES TO REMEMBER ASSEMBLY

Assemblies are held fortnightly on Fridays at 2:15pm in the

school hall. Parents are most welcome to attend.

Our next Assembly will be on Friday 2 2019. There will not

be an item performed at this assembly.

NOTES SENT HOME

Zone Athletics Note Rescheduled— Due 2 Aug

Stage 3 Canberra Excursion—Overdue

Stage 2 Morisset Overnight Excursion—Overdue

1 August Hunter School Dance Festival

6 & 7 August Zone Athletics Carnival

21—23 August Stage 3 Canberra Excursion

26—28 August Stage 2 Morisset Camp

30 August Banklink

2—4 September Book Fair

4 September Book Parade

25 September Night Performance

26 September Matinee & Night Performance

27 September Last day of Term 3

14 October First day of Term 4

LIBRARY NEWS NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge It is wonderful to see so many completed entries coming in! Congratulations Charlotte A, Charlotte H, Daenerys B, Jack B, Mason G, Phoebe T, Ella A, Nate H, Quinn P, Kaiden S, Liam H, Scarlett T, Kaimana W, Liam A, Vesper B, Liam H, Brodie H and Blake H on your completion of the 2019 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. Book Week Parade We will be celebrating Book Week with a Book Parade and Book Fair in Term 3 Week 7. Students will have the opportunity to come to school dressed up as their favourite book character on Wednesday 4 September 2019. The parade will begin under the COLA at 9:30am, there will be prizes, all most welcome, start planning your costume soon! Book Fair The annual Book Fair will be held in the library. When: Mon 2, Tue 3 & Wed 4 September 2019. Time: Before School: 8:00am - 9:00am After School: 3:00pm - 4:00pm Cash and credit card payment options are available. All purchases benefit our school. Happy reading! Toni Norton Teacher Librarian

OLD SkoolBag app NEW SkoolBag app

SkoolBag released a new version of the app about a year ago. To ensure a smooth transition from the individual

school apps to the new app, they made both available for a period.

From TOMORROW, 1st August 2019 outdated apps will be removed from the Apple App and Google Play stores.

It is possible you may have updated in this time and the below pic is an easy way to tell by looking.

If you do not have the NEW version please follow these instructions to download the newest app and continue to be

kept up to date with the latest from our school.

https://www.moqproducts.com.au/skoolbag/installation-instructions/

Parliament and Civics Education Rebate

(PACER)

Students from our school will soon be

undertaking an education tour of the national

capital. Students will be given the

opportunity to participate in a variety of

educational programs with a focus on

Australia’s history, culture, heritage and

democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the

importance of all young Australians being

able to visit the national capital as part of

their Civics and Citizenship education. To

assist families in meeting the cost of the

excursion the Australian Government is

contributing funding of $20.00 per student

under the Parliament and Civics Education

Rebate program towards those costs. The

rebate is paid directly to the school upon

completion of the excursion.

School Banking is on

Wednesday

UNIFORM SHOP

HOURS

Wednesday

8.30am - 9.30am

P&C

The next P&C meeting will

be Monday 5 August 2019.

The meeting will commence

at 6:30pm in the school

library.

ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND!