22 September 2016

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

October

From the Principal

Many of you would have noticed our revitalised garden area below the basketball court. We were fortunate to have a whole team of volunteers from Devonport Church of Christ, who gave up their Saturday to clear, dig and plant out the area. They also spread bark in this area and trimmed the hedges in front of our kindergarten. I am sure you join me in saying a huge thanks to everyone who helped. Your support of our school is much appreciated! Here are some before, during and after photos.

Well done to all our school choirs who did a fantastic job at the recent Devonport Eisteddfod. We were all very proud of their performances. A big thanks goes to Gaye Kelly for getting the choirs ready to sing. Thanks also go to our many helpers on each day.

A final reminder that a random sample of families were sent an invitation to participate in the annual school survey. The survey closes tomorrow so, if you received an invitation, we would really appreciate as many families as possible responding, before Friday afternoon. If you need help or require a computer to complete the survey, please let the office know.

It is hard to believe that we are at the end of another term. The weeks have flown by, with many notable events happening during the term. Thanks to everyone for a great term and I hope you all have a happy and safe break. See you after the holidays on Monday, October 10th!

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our most recent Hilly Kids focus topics were Suggesting & Persuading and Seeing it Through. The topics for weeks 1 & 2 of Term 4 will be Leadership and Being Positive

Leadership: Who is a good leader and what do they do? How do we become good leaders? Is it the captain of the team? Is it the fastest runner? The best artist? The smartest kid in the grade? Leaders can be all sorts of people in all sorts of situations.

What does a great leader do? They:

• inspire those around them with a "We Can Do It" attitude
• can see the end goal
• stand up for what they believe in
• support people in their team
• get people to work together to achieve a common goal
• help everyone get started on a group task
• help sort out problems in a group.

What are the qualities of a great leader? They:

• are sometimes the boss
• are good listeners
• are fair to everyone
• treat others like they would like others to treat them

No-one is a leader all the time, but there is always an opportunity to be a leader. Have a think about the leaders in your grade and whether or not you are a leader. Have a go at it. If you show all the Hilly Kid qualities of Care, Co-operation, Respect and Responsibility then you can be a great leader too.

Being Positive: This is a great attitude to have. People enjoy being around positive people. Positive people do things. They take chances, they try their best, they don't give up and they make the most of every situation. They enjoy most of what they do and help others have a good time as well. Certainly, at times we need to look at the bad or the dangerous side of things and take them into consideration when making our decisions, but don't get carried away with all the bad things. Enjoy the situations you are in and try to look at them positively, even when they are difficult. If nothing else, a tough situation will help you learn about how well you cope with hard times and you might be able to plan better for next time.

Our HKFK student of the week in week 8 for Respecting Adults was Aneeka Tuson from 4-5 Kelly and in week 9 for Suggesting & Persuading was Talia Beswick from 5-6F. Congratulations, Aneeka and Talia!

Well done to our other class representatives for Respecting Adults!

Well done to our other class representatives for Suggesting & Persuading!

No Hat No Play

We would like to remind you that from the start of Term 4, Monday, October 17, all students and staff MUST wear a sun-safe hat when outside at recess and lunchtime. Students who do not have a school hat will be restricted to staying in a designated shade area at these times. Cap style hats are not acceptable; it must be a hat with a brim all the way around. School hats are available in the school office for $7.

Eisteddfod Thank You!

Two weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of accompanying almost 2/3 of our school students to perform at the 2016 City of Devonport Eisteddfod….and they were amazing!!!!

Although we did have success - P/1 Choir and Gr 1/2 Choir came equal 3rd, Primary A Choir came 3rd and Primary B Choir came equal 1st - from a teacher's point of view the success is witnessing the final performance of something that our students have worked so hard for. Participating at the Eisteddfod is exciting and exhilarating and slightly scary and, for many of our students, it pushes them just a little bit outside of their comfort zone. I am so proud of how they performed.

I am also thrilled to be able to let you know that Hillcrest Primary School was also awarded the RENAE SINGERS CHORAL AWARD by the Eisteddfod Society.

I extend my thanks to the whole staff of our wonderful school for supporting me and the students so that we could participate. And to you, the parents and carers and extended school community, thank you for ensuring that our students were one of the best dressed choirs that performed. Thank you also for coming along and supporting our students at either the Eisteddfod Assembly or the performances at the DECC.

The Advocate did take a picture of the Primary B Choir (published in the newspaper on Thurs 15th Sept). If you would like a copy of the photo, please follow this link to order it from Stallards.

Gaye Kelly – Choir Teacher

Scholastic Book Club Mystery

We still have an unclaimed book club order here in the office. The order came in with the money but without a name. If you think it might be yours, please come in to the school office and claim it. We will need you to tell us what the books are.

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

Operation Christmas Child was a great success again this year. Thank you to everyone who took the time to donate articles for the boxes. We also had generous donations of knitted beanies and toys which allowed each class to make a selection for their boxes. All donations of items need to be in to school by tomorrow. We will be finishing up the project, ready for the boxes to be delivered to the drop off point next month.

Lyn Aherne & Alison Hillier – Project Coordinators

Toy Catalogue Fundraiser

Don't forget to return your order form for our toy catalogue fundraiser by Friday, October 14th. This will be the first Friday back after the school holidays.

Simply follow the instructions on the order form and return it, along with the payment, to the school office. Make an early start on your Christmas shopping!

Walk-a-thon

'Walktober' is Australia's walking month so our annual Walk-a-thon will be held in Week 3 of Term 4. A sponsorship form for students will be sent home in Week 1.

This is a whole school walking event that encourages our Hilly Kids to lead active lives. Walking is an easy habit to develop and is a great way to get some exercise!

After discussions with staff and organisers, we have decided to make some changes in the walk-a-thon this year. There will be a reward afternoon for the class that raises the most money in both the Early Childhood and Primary sections of the school. Look for more information in our next newsletter.

Representative Football

Jackson Williams, Jonty Lunson and Matilda Fidler looking very proud after playing for the Devonport Magpies in the under 10 Representative side on Sunday in Ulverstone.

Hillcrest Tuckerbox Tips

The early and middle primary years are ones of slow and steady physical growth. Very low fat or restricted diets are not recommended – a healthy balanced approach to eating and activity is suggested for all children.

During these years children move to a more traditional eating pattern of three main meals each day. For busy, active children a 'top up' in between main meals is still important to keep them alert and on the go. A healthy snack at recess and after school is usually needed.

Packed lunches from home are a great way for your child to learn about healthy food and help with preparation. Packaging can sometimes be tricky for little fingers – make sure your child is able to unwrap or open the food in their lunchbox by him/herself.

Move Well Eat Well

Ways to get your family moving

Lead by example and your children will follow. Being active is not only good for you; it's a great way to pass on a positive image to your family and it means that they'll establish healthy habits, too. Keep comfortable shoes and play equipment such as a Frisbee, kite or ball in the car. This means you can stop at a park or playground at any time.

In fact, instead of heading straight home, go by the park after school so kids aren't tempted by the TV. Remember to take some healthy snacks with you for hungry tummies!

Literacy & Numeracy Week in 5-6 Fenn

By Talia and Konstantina

Last week for Literacy and Numeracy Week our class focused on the tasks from the Literacy and Numeracy Week Website.

The Numeracy section focused on strategy games and we played a great range of them including Three Pile Nim and 2-Max. These games were played in pairs and involved removing counters from a pile to see who would remove the last counter to win. Catch 22 involved pairs working to reach a total of 22 by strategically adding and crossing off numbers on a grid to be the first to reach 22.

In Literacy we had a go at writing '4 line' poems and '6 Word' stories. They were hard to start with. An example of a famous 6 word story came from author Earnest Hemingway. He took a bet from his friends who said he couldn't tell a story in 6 words. He came up with this:

"For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn." When you think about it this is a pretty sad story. His friends lost the bet.

Here are some examples of our work:

Toby: War. Fall once. Never fall again.
Fletcher: At museum. Lost. Now found. Relief
Andrew: birth, school, marriage, death, burial, heaven?
Jack: Two twins born. Only one lives.
Chloe: Too small. Maybe death. Miracle. Life.
Mark: Life once started goes until death.
Talia: School, Teacher, Classroom, No students, Meetings.
Konstantina: Ice is melting, ocean is rising.

The 4 line poem is where you say the name of the poem in the first line and you have 4 adjectives (describing words) in the second line and in the third line you have 4 verbs (doing words) and in the last line you write something about the topic (your choice).

Here are some of them:

Jake:

Dinosaurs
Terrifying, spiky, large, awesome
Hunting, running, flying, chomping
Dangerous dinosaurs

Todd:

Hippopotamus
Big, fat, round, large.
Sleeping, swimming, eating, clashing.
Deadly

Gemma:

Chocolate
Brown, scrumptious, gooey, amazing
Eat, buy, bite, taste
Food of the Gods

Jack:

Dad
Gamer, happy, hungry, loving.
Searching, furious, working, dad.
Gamer Dad

Tennis Spring Challenge Tournament

Devonport Tennis club will be running a Spring Challenge Tournament and Hot Shots coaching on Wednesday and Thursday, October 5th & 6th. For more information please contact David Carter or see the information below.

White Butterfly