2 July 2020

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

July

August

From the Principal

Dear Families,

As you may have seen, the Department of Education has released updated government primary and combined (district) school intake areas, to apply from Term 1, 2021. These updated intake areas will only apply to families who enrol a child in a government primary or combined (district) school for the first time from Term1, 2021. This means that for parents with children already enrolled in our school, the updated intake areas do not apply to your family. If your child has a brother or sister who hasn’t started school yet, they can still enrol at our school.

Here is the link to our school’s updated intake area map:

Why do we have intake areas?

Intake areas ensure that every Tasmanian child can enrol at a high-quality government school close to where they live. Attending a school close to home helps children feel part of their local community. Intake areas also help ensure schools have the facilities and staff to best support their students’ learning.

When your child finishes at our school they can still attend our school’s intake area high school which won’t have changed as part of this review.

Where can you find more information?

If you would like more information about our school’s intake area, or help finding out whether a particular address is within our intake area boundary, please contact us directly. Alternatively, you can contact Learning Services Northern Region: phone 6777 2440 or email: Learning.Services.NR@education.tas.gov.au for further information.

If you have questions related to the Intake Area Review, please visit the DoE Intake Area webpage:

Here you will also find answers to Frequently Asked Questions:

You can also contact the Intake Area Review team at the Department of Education by phoning 1800 816 057 or emailing intake.areas@education.tas.gov.au if you would like specific information regarding your school’s intake area.

Our Values Focus: Respect

During the remainder of 2020 we will continue to have a specific focus on our values. For the rest of this term we are focusing on the value of ‘Respect’.

Respect: Establishing relationships with respect for ourselves, others, the past and the environment. At Hillcrest Primary School we respect school and property, our environment, people and opinions.

Here are some snippets of what our students and families have to say about ‘Respect’ at Hillcrest Primary School:

From 4/5 HB: Make sure we do not judge other people’s opinions. If you don’t agree with another person’s opinion, then say:

“I like that you have an opinion, but I’d rather something else.”
“I like that too, but I’d rather…”

Using manners towards other people, listening to the other person before talking back, being patient with other people and eye contact toward the person speaking are all ways of showing respect.

“Saying nice things to people.” Piper P/1 P
“Keeping the classroom tidy by picking up after yourself.” Emmerson P/1P

From 3/4BT: Respect for friends, family ourselves and others.

And from our community:

Respecting your peers and other people’s things and accepting other’s differences.

Respect sounds like using nice words to our friends and our teachers.

Staffing Update

Mrs Karen Thompson will re-join us next term and is looking forward to supporting our classroom teachers every Monday. Miss Bonner will continue to be the full-time classroom teacher for 3/4BT through to the end of the year. We look forward to welcoming Mrs Thompson back and are thrilled to have Miss Bonner continuing in a full-time capacity.

Mrs Julie Baker will also join us as for an additional day and will work along-side Mrs Thompson on a Monday. I know that Mrs Baker is looking forward to extending her time with us and getting to know our students from Prep through to Grade 6.

Mrs Rosemarie Baker will continue to provide a high-quality Japanese learning experiences for our students. We are now fortunate enough to have this opportunity move from fortnightly to weekly sessions.

End of term holiday wishes…

I can’t believe how the last ten weeks have flown by! ‘Thank You’ to our school community for your ongoing support and understanding throughout this term.

Congratulations and thank you to staff, children and families for your excellent contribution to our great school in what has been a very different term. Take care everyone and enjoy a restful and relaxing two-week break… and we look forward to Term 3 starting for all students on Tuesday, July 19th. (NB All staff will commence Term 3 on Monday, July 20th as this is a designated Staff Professional Learning Day and is an approved non-student day.)

Susan Barnard – Principal

Letter to Families

Please find below a letter to families from the Office of the Secretary.

For the Learning at School – Parents and Carers Guide, please go to this link:

There is also more information here:

Bebras Challenge

Last term some of our grade 5/6 students participated in the Bebras Mental Computation Challenge. The goal of the Bebras Challenge is to promote computational thinking skills in a way that highlights student abilities.

A big congratulations to the students below for their efforts in completing the Mathematics competition. A special mention to Londe who received a result of a distinction.

Jaime-Lea Duff – AST

2021 Kindergarten

Kindertgarten Expression of Interest

We are now taking names for 2021. If you would like to enroll your child at Hillcrest Primary for Kindergarten in 2021, please notify the school office on 6424 5211 or contact our early years teachers Carol Miller, Jess Bellchambers or Jaime-Lea Duff.

If you know of families in our area with a child turning 4 by January 1, 2021 please encourage them to enquire about enrolling in Kinder for next year. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Jaime-Lea Duff – AST

Netball

The Devon Netball Association Spring Roster will commence on Saturday, August 8th, at the Spreyton Netball Centre. The Spring Roster is normally held on a Wednesday afternoon but, due to scheduling requirements around Covid-19, the primary school roster will now be on Saturday mornings.

Primary netball is open to girls and boys turning 8 or older in 2020, with modified rules for those aged 10 and under. The roster fee is $60.

If your child is interested in playing, please leave their name at the school office by Friday, July 24th.

Ticket to Play

If you feel you might be eligible for a voucher to help with the cost of sporting club registrations for children aged 5-17 please go to the link below:

Lift News

We hope you enjoyed reading the story, Ten Apples Up on Top that was featured in the last LIFT News. With the holidays starting next week, why not do some reading and baking? Yum!

Click on the link below to enjoy listening to the story Warthogs in the Kitchen: A Sloppy Counting Book. What maths do you notice in this story? Cooking is full of maths concepts so why not explore and talk about some of them by following a recipe to make your own cupcakes. Some examples are measuring the ingredients using cups or spoons, counting out the right number of cupcake papers … what other maths concepts can you find?

Maybe you have a favourite cupcake recipe or maybe you just want to Google one. Here’s a simple recipe that you could use. Will you put pickles in your cupcakes?!

Please share pictures of you and your child/ren making or eating your cupcakes with class teachers via SeeSaw. Happy baking!

Reminder

Families who do not have their Working with Vulnerable People registration are reminded that now might be a good time to apply so that, once classroom help and excursions re-start, you have the required document to allow to take part. Please use the link below and contact me via the school office should you need some support completing the online application.

Rosemarie Baker - LIFT Coordinator

Tuckerbox Tip

Check your ingredients!

Need some help working out if a food product is a good choice? Look at the ingredient list. The ingredient list can tell you if a food is high in a nutrient, e.g. sugar or fat. Ingredients are listed from most to least in quantity. If you are trying to limit your intake of fat, sugar or salt, look for the other names or descriptions of these ingredients as listed in the table below.

Lyn Aherne – Canteen Supervisor

Move Well Eat Well

Nature Play

So much to explore! Take up the ‘Winter Challenge’ with your family during the school holidays:

• Make a bird feeder & put it in a tree
• Go on a picnic with a thermos of soup
• Visit the beach & collect shells
• Make leaf boats & float them in a creek or puddle
• Go rock collecting
• Sketch a tree without leaves
• Search for birds’ nests
• Go for a walk in the rain

MWEW Team