4 July 2024

Dates to Remember

July

August

September

A Message from Our Principal

As we reach the end of another term, I am pleased to share many highlights and achievements with you. It has been a busy and productive 10 weeks, filled with learning, growth, and memorable experiences. We are incredibly proud of our students' achievements and grateful for the continued support of our wonderful community. A reminder to please check the important upcoming dates included in this newsletter as we prepare for Term 3 to help with organisation!

Some highlights of the term include:

• P/1 Excursion to the Devonport Post office and library – a day filled with new experiences and excitement, thank you to staff and parents who support this event.
• Footsteps Dance - A new experience for the majority of our students, starting off reluctantly, it has been incredible to see the courage and growth demonstrated by our students as their confidence and skills improved, well done to our students for embracing this program!
• Swimming and Water Safety Program – Congratulations to all students who confidently participated in this valuable program.
• 2024 Cross Country – A huge thank you to Mr Forward and his team of helpers for organising this fantastic event. We saw outstanding effort and participation with our students! Congratulations to Bluegum who were our overall house winners on the day.
  Bluegum – 829 points, Wattle – 708 points, Banksia – 682 points
• 3 Way Conferences – Thank you for attending this important event. Partnering with staff in your child’s learning contributes to future success. Thank you to parents/carers who took the time to complete the survey, we received very positive responses and valuable suggestions to further improve these. A reminder we have our Student Led Conferences in week 5 of Term 3!
  Congratulations to Shelley Whittlesea who was randomly selected to win the family movie voucher!
• Thank you to families who support our students being dressed warmly in full school uniform each day.
• And lastly, it has been incredible to see how many students have achieved a personal best effort in some area in their time at school, receiving a ‘Hilly High 5’, our photos are smaller and our board is FULL. A fantastic effort by our students to receive these, as well as many thumbs up cards throughout the term.

End of Term Assembly

Thank you to everyone who came along to our End of Term Assembly last Friday. It was lovely to see so many audience members! A big congratulations to award recipients who received our end of term certificates.

Use of Mobile Phones by Students at School Policy

Use of mobile phones and other personal devices is becoming increasingly popular in primary schools. We understand that students have mobile phones for a variety of reasons, including personal safety, communication and entertainment. Unfortunately, we are seeing some misuse and inappropriate use of phones/devices, causing distraction and, at times, distress to other students.

Last week at our School Association meeting we discussed the Use of Mobile Phones/devices by Students at School Policy. The School Association have endorsed this policy for implementation at Hillcrest Primary. As a result of this, students will be asked to bring phones and/or other devices to the office at the beginning of each day. Phones will be placed in named snap lock bags, stored in the office and can be collected at the end of each school day.

If students need to be contacted by parents/carers during the school day, it is a requirement that this occurs through the office. The policy is attached below for your reference.

If you have any queries in relation to this, please make contact with a leadership team member at school.

Staffing update

Mrs Jaime-Lea Ackerley has been enjoying maternity leave for the past 12 months, being Mum! Jaime-Lea has decided to have a change of roles when she returns next term and will be joining the team at Nixon Street Primary School as AST for the remainder of the year. We wish Jaime-Lea all the best as she takes on this new role.

As mentioned in our previous newsletter, our School Business Manager (SBM) role was advertised. I am pleased to share that Mrs Kathy Birchall is the successful applicant. Kathy will be acting in the role for all of Term 3 before the position is advertised permanently during the term. Kathy is an experienced SBM and we are excited to welcome Kathy to the Hilly Team!

We hope you and your family have a great holiday break. See you on our first day of term, Monday 22 July!

In partnership,
Georgia

State Recovery Advisor Update

Hillcrest Primary School Tragedy (2021)

In response to the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy, the State Recovery Advisor has issued an update on ongoing recovery efforts.

This update provides an overview of various activities aimed at supporting affected families, students, and community members.

To view, please visit: 

There will be continued updates, and you are able to subscribe directly so you can receive these updates as soon as they are published.

Professional Learning – Word Recognition

Recently Mrs Wotherspoon, Miss Shephard and Mrs Archer participated in some professional learning targeted at planning, teaching and assessing word recognition. Part of the session involved learning how to assess students using DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills). On Monday, Mrs Wotherspoon and Miss Shephard showed Mr Parker and Miss Sims how to administer the test.

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our Hilly Kid Winner for Rights in week 7 & 8

Teamwork is our current fortnightly focus

This term our Hilly Kids are Friendly Kids fortnightly focus links to responsibility.

What’s been happening in Kinder McKenzie

2025 Kinder Enrolments, Pre-Kinder & LiL

What a super cosy Stay, Play and Explore session we had last week in LiL – perfect for the cold and rainy weather outside! Our littlest learners enjoyed sitting together to eat breakfast, then had fun singing rhymes and making some wonderful ‘Five in a Bed’ puppets.

Here are some other fun inside activities that you could try with your little ones during the holidays:

Build a fort: Collect some sheets or a blanket and take the cushions off the couch to build a fort. Crawl inside to read some stories or play with your soft toys.

Make tracks: Put some flour or rice in a shallow tub or tray and let your child drive their toy cars or trucks through the “snow” to create some tracks. This can also be done using shaving foam.

Building with boxes: Collect any boxes that you have around the house, big or small, and turn them into something fabulous. Cut out flaps and make it into a garage for your child’s car collection or glue some triangles on top and make a castle. Pirate ships, cars, aeroplanes, or houses… the list of creations can be endless!

Bath the toys:  Fill a large container with warm water and a few drops of dish soap. Then, help your toddler to bath their dolls or action figures. Fill cups with water and pour them over the toy’s head. Move a washer to scrub the toys and make bubbles in the water.

Sing and act out some rhymes: Use toys or puppets to sing and act out some of our favourite LiL nursery rhymes. If you still have your puppets and rhymes from ‘Rhyme and Story Time’, you could use these!

We look forward to seeing you in Term 3 for another term of Launching into Learning Fun!

Term 3 Launching into Learning and Pre-Kinder Timetable:

Hilly Community Highlights

Kirkcaldy Family – World Eightball Championships

Taj and Alex recently attended the World Eightball Championships in Blackpool, England. It was an awesome chance for the boys to watch some of the world's best compete at the highest level, and even more awesome – they both got to compete too! They each competed in 2 events; the World Under 18 Singles Championship, and the World Under 18 Masters Singles Championship. The Masters Singles were held on 22^nd June. Taj was defeated 5-2 by his English opponent. Alex scored himself a win by forfeit and made it through to the last 32. He then lost that match 5-0, also to an English opponent. The World Singles were played on the 23^rd June. Taj played an Irishman and lost the match 6-2, whilst Alex played another Englishman (former World Champion’s son) and lost 6-2.

The boys knew going in that their matches would be tough, as their potential opponents could be anywhere up to 18 years old, with perhaps a lot more experience than them. Although they did not get any match wins, they both managed to win frames on the world stage. They both also showed amazing calmness, sportsmanship and respect for the game whilst being gracious in defeat. They did their families, their country and themselves so proud!

Blake’s Wonderful Scouts Achievement

Proud Blake with his Grey Wolf Certificate! It took two years to complete, what a fabulous effort Blake!  

Winter Solstice Splash

Hilly Staff

All about me

Nakita Cox
My Role – Teacher Assistant
Worked at Hillcrest – 3 years
What do you like most about our school – how everyone is treated equally & fairly, and how friendly & helpful everyone is
Pets – a black cat named Cleo
Hobby in my spare time – motorbike riding or camping
Fun fact about me – I would like to learn how to fly a helicopter one day!
Favourite meal or type of food – apple tea cake
Hidden skill/talent – I can put my leg behind my head
Favourite place I’ve visited – Queenstown, New Zealand in the winter
Would you rather…………….
Beach OR Pool - Beach
Tea OR Coffee – Coffee
Books OR Movies – Movies
Summer OR Winter – Both
Morning Person OR Night Owl – Night Owl
Cats OR Dogs – Dogs
Theme Park OR Museum – Museum

Narelle Penton
My Role – Teacher Assistant
Worked at Hillcrest – approx. 18 years
What do you like most about our school – the friendly family environment
Sporting team I follow – Hawthorn Hawks
Hobby in my spare time – love spending quality time with my grandchildren
Favourite meal or type of food – Chinese
Favourite place I’ve visited – New Zealand
Would you rather…………….
Beach OR Pool – Pool
Tea OR Coffee – Tea
Books OR Movies – Books
Summer OR Winter – Summer
Morning Person OR Night Owl – Night Owl
Cats OR Dogs – Dogs
Theme Park OR Museum – Theme Park

Join the Circus

Slipstream Circus are now taking enrolments for Term III.

Our 2024 timetable provides more flexibility for busy families.

Popular foundational classes include Kinder Circus, Junior Jumpers, Tiny Tumblers, and Teen Tricksters.

Beginner specialty classes (requiring the experience of foundational classes) include Aerials, Acro, and Manipulation.

Head to slipstreamcircus.org.au for timetable and enrolments.

Slipstream Circus is now eligible for Ticket to Play!

We are also a Learning Destination for the Children’s University.

All enquiries office@slipstreamcircus.org.au

Teeny Tiny Stevies

Spend an Evening with Emma Watkins

School Holiday Sketching Workshop

Give Rowing a Go – Year 6 Only

Net Set Go

Celebrating NAIDOC Week

Winter Family Fun - Junior Landcare

The Light Night Glow Run