6 December 2018

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

December

Term 1 2019

Term Dates 2019

From the Principal

General Comments in the End of Year Report 2018

The Australian Education Union has directed its members not to include comments on Term 4 student reports. This means that reports will not include a General Comment.

All reports from Prep to six will include a rating against the Australian Curriculum for English, Mathematics, Science and Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS). Kinder students will still receive their portfolio of work.

Although there may be no General Comment, teachers are always very keen to talk to parents about your child’s year. You can also email teachers through their email address or through hillcrest.primary@education.tas.gov.au.

Shave for a Cure

It was a proud moment for our school on Monday when Chaz and Kai Wilson had their heads shaved in honour of Piper Hawley, who sadly passed away at the start of this year. The boys decided to raise money for Camp Quality – and managed to raise over $8000 for this worthy cause. Well done boys, you are both excellent examples of ‘Hilly Kids’.

We also unveiled the mural in honour of Piper. The mural is situated behind our buddy bench, where Piper was often seen with friends. Thanks to Lyn Aherne, Janmaree Peace and all students who contributed to making this wonderful, colourful and bright memorial to Piper.

Athletics Carnival

A reminder that this Friday is Athletics Carnival day. Family members are more than welcome to come and cheer on the students. As it will be a very hot day (mid 20’s), don’t forget to bring a hat and sunscreen. Shade will be provided for families and students on the day. Also, don’t forget to send your child with sunscreen!

Jerome Pape - Principal

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our HKFK focus for this week has been ‘Respecting Differences’. Our focus topic for next week will be ‘Celebrate!’

Celebrate!

Reflection is a valuable skill that helps you see what you have achieved and how far you need to go to meet personal goals or skills. Reflection helps re-focus our ideas, skills and goals so that we can move forward in our learning. Reflection leads us to consider ways we may change to reach a personal, class, school or community outcome.

As we near the end of the year, we need to stop and see if our goals are meeting our needs. It is good to look back and see how our skills, attitude and work have progressed so we can celebrate the learning journey.

Reflection is a life-long skill that can be used to motivate us and it is good to share this reflection with classmates, parents and teachers. Congratulations to everyone on a great year and now it is time to celebrate and look forward to next year.

The last weeks of school present us with many opportunities to celebrate. There will be class parties, excursions, fun, games and the end of year assembly. Join in all the celebrations and enjoy yourselves! We have shared many good and a few difficult times over the year and it is now time to celebrate our achievements. Well done to all.

Our Hilly Kid of the Week for ‘Respecting Property’ was Mahjada from 3-4BT and for ‘Respecting the Opinions of Others’ was Zack from 5-6HB. Our Aussie of the Month for November was Jye. Congratulations, Mahjada, Zack and Jye! Well done to our other class representatives.

Remembrance Day

Hillcrest Primary, led by the Student Councillors, commemorated the Centenary of Armistice on Monday, 12th November at 11.00am. Thank you to Sophie for coming to play the Last Post and Reveille on her soprano cornet, and to Mrs Lizotte for creating a wreath for us to lay.

Assembly Awards – November 22nd

P/1D

Andrew - for showing more motivation to write independently. We enjoy sharing in your excitement when you share your learning with us.

Clayton - Your attitude towards your learning and time spent in the 'green zone' has positively impacted your learning and connections you are making during class. Your happiness has been reflected in your learning outcomes.

P/1P

Siennha - You have been making some very positive choices in our classroom lately and I encourage you to continue this. Well done!

Penny - I am so impressed with the effort you have been putting into your learning, particularly Mathematics. You have achieved excellent results when solving subtraction problems. It’s been pleasing to see you attack these problems with enthusiasm and persistence. A fantastic effort!

1/2B

Grace - Congratulations on becoming an independent reader! You’re reading with great tone and expression in your voice and really using the punctuation to guide the pace in your reading. Well done, Grace!

Maya - I am so impressed by the strategies you have been using to solve mathematical word stories this term. You have remembered problem solving skills previously explored this year and remembered to draw out the important information to use.

2/3P

Chace - for your determination to give your best effort at all tasks. You have made a big improvement towards effort and it is showing in the quality of your work. Well done!

Ella - Well done, Ella, on your participation and contribution to our spelling conversations. You are independently working during word work time, while having great success with recalling your spelling focus. Keep up the fabulous work!

3/4BT

Myha - for becoming an Independent reader. This has happened because you always enjoy reading in the classroom, whether it’s to yourself or one of your peers. You have been developing a deeper understanding by asking questions and relating what you have read to real life experiences.

Milana - for being an absolutely awesome friend and classroom member who is always showing all of the Hilly Kids values to her peers and adults within our school community.

4/5K

Ashton - for always approaching life with a positive, “go getter” attitude. You have made improvements at being on task and persevering more with jobs you find hard. Well done, Ashton, and thanks for being part of The Kelly Gang in 2018.

Ciarra - for being a reliable and helpful member of our class. You are always the first person to volunteer to help anyone and can be relied upon to do any task to the best of your ability. Thanks for being a part of The Kelly Gang in 2018.

5/6F

Jonty – You recently studied adaptations of Australian Animals that live in harsh environments. Your research of the sperm whale listed many aspects of the whale’s life and had a thoroughly researched range of adaptations the sperm whale makes to live in the cold waters of Antarctica. It was a pleasure to read your work, Jonty. Well done!

Seth – for being a wonderful classmate. You work hard every day to always do your best. You have a ‘never give up’ attitude and are always so kind and thoughtful. You are always willing to seek help when needed and, in turn, to help others in the class. You are very cooperative and a good listener and just an all-round great student. Thank you, Seth. Keep up the great work!

5/6HB

Ayla – Your kind and friendly personality has had a positive influence in our class. We are so happy and lucky to have you join our Hilly Kid community and look forward to being a part of your learning journey.

Ryan – for the improvement you have made with your spelling and reading this year. We are proud of how you use a growth mindset when approaching new tasks and ask for help when you need it from your peers, as well as us. Keep up the great work, Ryan.

Hillcrest Athletics Carnival

Tomorrow, December 7th, will be our school’s Athletics Carnival, weather permitting. Students will need to pack an extra drink, apply sunscreen and wear appropriate clothes and shoes for running. No singlet tops or crop tops please. All parents and community members are welcome to attend to view the day’s running and novelty events. A program is attached below or is available from the school office.

Remember to wear your TEAM colours! Blue Gum – blue, Banksia – red and Wattle – green.

Students are asked not to apply zinc cream or coloured hairspray and not to bring any to school to apply during the day.

Please find the program for the day below. You can also collect a paper copy from the office.

David Carter – PE Teacher

Athletics Carnival Sausage Sizzle

Remember that the Canteen will be open for parents to purchase tea and coffee during the day. There will be a sausage sizzle for lunch for those who have pre-ordered their sausages. There will be no other lunch orders on Athletics Carnival Day, but the canteen will be open for the purchase of snack items at recess and lunch.

Lyn Aherne - Canteen

Reminders

Book Sales/Levy Payments/Uniform Sales

The school office will close at 4pm on Friday, December 21st and re-open on Tuesday, January 22nd. Our book collection/levy payment/uniform sales days for 2019 will be Tuesday and Wednesday, January 29th – 30th from 9am to 2pm in the school office. Please do not come in to collect books or buy uniforms until these dates. Remember to bring your blue levy sheet, which will be in your child’s report, with you on the day. Allow enough time to check and update your validation forms which will be handed out on the day.

You can pay your levies and uniform by cash, cheque or eftpos. A levy instalment plan is available if you are unable to make full payment at the beginning of the school year. Some second-hand uniform sales may require cash.

If you have any second hand uniform items in good shape that you won’t be needing, please consider either donating it to the school or bringing it in for us to sell on your behalf. We always have families looking for second hand uniforms!

There are a number of items in our lost and found basket in the office. At the end of the year any school uniform left in the basket will be washed and put into our secondhand uniform cupboard for sale. Any other items will be donated to an op shop if not claimed by 4pm on the last day of term.

Student Assistance/STAS:

Student Assistance application forms are now available from the school office. If you received STAS in 2018 you do not need to re-apply as you will have already been sent correspondence.

Disability Parking

A reminder that our disability carpark spaces can only be used by cars displaying an Australian Disability Parking Permit. Please be mindful of others and adhere to the correct usage of these parking areas. There is high usage of our disability car spaces during peak times, especially at the end of the school day.

Admin Staff

Brekky Club – Last Day – Dec 19th

Wednesday, December 19th, will be the last Brekky Club for the year. We will be having a special pancake breakfast. Come along and have a fun breakfast of 3 pancakes, juice or Milo and fresh fruit. There will be no cereal or toast offered and we will be starting at 8:15am. Everyone is welcome.

We would like to thank everyone who has volunteered their time and donated food for the Brekky Club. A big thankyou to the wonderful food donations from Loaves & Fishes via the Devonport Chaplaincy. A special thankyou to Mrs Hillier, Ms Johns and Mrs Jones for helping out.

Lyn Aherne – Coordinator

Tuckerbox – Last Day – Dec 14th

Friday, December 14th is the last canteen day for the year. To celebrate, we will be selling Jolly Jelly & Very Merry Little Cakes for 60¢ each. These will be available at recess and after lunch. A big thankyou to everyone who volunteered their time to help out at the canteen and make our special events run smoothly. A huge thankyou to Theresa Johns for her hard work throughout the year.

Lyn Aherne – Canteen Supervisor

Christmas Raffle

Remember to sell your raffle tickets and return the books with the money in a sealed envelope to the school office by tomorrow, December 7th. The raffle will be drawn on Thursday, December 13th. Good luck everyone!

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

2019 Calendar – Time is Running Out!

Have you ordered your calendar(s) yet? All families were sent home an order form for a 2019 calendar featuring your child/ren’s artwork. They would make great Christmas gifts for family members! To order, please fill out the form and return it to the school office by Monday, December 10th. Calendars will not be printed until they are paid for.

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

Lift News

It was wonderful to have so many families attend our STEM challenges and barbecue evening on Tuesday, November 20th. The first challenge was to build a bridge across a plate using sticks and straws. The bridge had to be strong enough to support action figures. A lot of thought, teamwork and laughter went into the contruction process. Great success as no action figures fell into the ‘water’!

The second challenge was to use a set number of toothpicks and mini marshmallows to build the tallest tower possible. The more marshmallows you ate, the shorter or more wobbly your tower! There were some amazing designs resulting in stable towers that held the action figures.

A huge thankyou to Mr Pape for cooking the sausages to perfection! Please click on the link below to see the amazing Hillcrest bridges and towers.

Please remember ….

The library is open every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, both before and after school, for home reader borrowing. Don’t forget to borrow a game to play together, too!

For family members who do not have their Working with Vulnerable People card – Please come to the library and use our facilities to do this and I will be there to support you. Remember if you wish to attend class excursions with your child/ren, you are required to have one. The library is open to parents on a Wednesday morning from 8:30 until 9:30, or a time before or after school on a different day can be easily arranged.

Rosemarie Baker - LIFT Coordinator

Walk-a-thon

Over $1400 was raised by our walk-a-thon. What a great effort! All students who raised money and returned their sponsorship forms went into a draw to win a prize pack. The Early Childhood winner was Melanie from 1-2B and the Primary winner was Brodie from 4-5K. Well done everyone!

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

For Sale

School Banking – Thank You!

Monday was the last day for school banking for 2018. Thank you to all of our students who have participated in the CommBank School Banking program this year. A very big thankyou to Fiona, Jackie and Michelle, our school banking volunteers. Your help has been very much appreciated by everyone, especially the admin staff! Thanks for lightening our load!

2/3 Peace

Wow what a term!

2/3Peace have been working tremendously hard in between some extra-curricular activities, including a visit from Ten Lives Edu.Cat presenter Rose Bray and the 2s attending their swimming program.

Rose came to speak with us to discuss the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle for our pet cats. She made us aware of the needs of a cat, including: litter tray care, worming, vaccinations, de-sexing and even the possibility of creating a cat playground in or around our home to assist with exercise without the fear of injury from other cats or cars.

Have you heard of toxoplasmosis? This is a disease cats can be infected with and that they can pass on to our wildlife, farm animals, including sheep, and even our human females.

We have continued our interest in the idea of playgrounds for cats, also known as cat enclosures, in our Makerspace through a STEM inquiry. We are hoping to have some prototypes completed and ready for sharing when we head to Longford’s Just Cats shelter this week.

The grade 2 swimming program has had them practise all the things they will need to be almost independent next year when they head to the Ulverstone Pool, including: dressing themselves, preparing to get in the pool and then getting out to get dry and dressed by themselves.

There were many firsts, including bobbing under water, sitting on the bottom of the pool and blowing bubbles while moving through the water. The confidence in the students from day one to day four doubled! There were many wishes for a second week because it was so much fun. Bring on swimming as grade 3s next year; these guys will be ready!

As we head into the final weeks of 2018’s Team Peace, we would love to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season.

Move Well Eat Well

Gardening with Kids

Through gardening children learn responsibility, self-confidence, creativity, co-operation, reasoning and discovery! It’s also a great way to get outside and active with children. Gardening doesn’t have to be expensive and, in the long run, can save you money on your shopping bills, provide wonderful, healthy fresh produce and keep you, and the kids, fit and active.

• You can create your own biodegradable pots from newspaper or cardboard tubes. Plant them straight into the earth and the ‘container’ will compost into the ground
• Make little propagation houses from clear plastic punnets with lids or plant protectors from plastic milk containers
• Use unusual or quirky containers: tea pots, old boots, wheelbarrows, etc
• Re-use the sandpit box and convert it to a garden bed if your child has grown out of it
• Old baths, packing cases and tyres of all sizes can all be used to create easy access raised beds.

MWEW Team

Salvation Army Christmas Market