22 October 2020

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

October

From the Principal

Welcome back

What a fantastic start we have had to Term 4. The sun is shining and students are buzzing with stories of the holidays and the excitement of the busy term ahead. I hope you all had an enjoyable and relaxing break with your children.

A Big Welcome to Our New Families

Prep 1/ F welcomed Haseeb last week and are excited to welcome Tyler later this week. 4/5 HB will welcome Xavier in the coming days.

Playground Redevelopment

Over the holiday break we had some redevelopments in our playground. There was great excitement as the students and parents checked out the new development outside the early childhood classrooms. Further works will be completed over the summer break.

Carpark - School safety

Road and school safety awareness and compliance are everyone’s responsibility. Several parents have recently contacted me about their concerns of unsafe driver behaviour in our STAFF ONLY car parking area.

Staff Only Carpark:

• No parents should be entering or parking in the Staff car park before or after school, but should always be parking on Lawrence Drive (no matter the weather conditions). Some staff have been unable to park at their workplace due to parents/carers using the parking spaces before school commences. Non-teaching staff arrive between 8:30and 9:00am (or at other times during the day) and should have access to a car park at their workplace.
• The only exception to this rule is for Accessibility/Disability Parking for those displaying the specific authority to use the designated car parks directly outside the front entrance.
• Car parks for all families are available on Lawrence Drive when dropping off items for students or late arrivals – again, the staff car park and access parking spaces should not be used for these short-term stays.

A reminder also, that riding and walking through the Staff car park are not permitted and families and students are asked to use alternate entry points to make their way to classes.

The Zones of Regulation

Understanding self-regulation and the strategies we can use in order to support all students is a continual focus area at HPS. Supporting students to be efficient social regulators allows children to enjoy making friends, enjoy playing with friends and successfully navigate and create lasting relationships. Talk to your children about how they have used the Zones of Regulation recently.

Susan Barnard – Principal

Hilly Kids are Friendly Kids

Our current fortnightly Hilly Kids focus topic is “Communicating Positively”. Our topic for weeks 3 & 4 will be “Consequences”.

Consequences

Whatever we choose to do, there will always be consequences. If you play outside in the rain, you will get wet and your parents will probably not be happy. If you stay up late, the next morning you will not feel like getting up.

Consequences are natural. The difficult part is trying to work out what the consequences are before you make your choices. It is a good idea to take a bit of time to THINK first! If you play football inside, there is a good chance you’ll break something. That is not very smart. Better to play outside or in the park. THINK about consequences before you act.

Our Hilly Kid for the ‘Negotiating’ topic from weeks 9 & 10 of Term 3 was Luke from P-1F and our Aussie of the Month for September was Piper from P-1P. Congratulations, Luke and Piper!

Well done to our other class representatives:

Early Years Update

Nature Play Program

We are buzzing with excitement in our Early Years area with kicking Term 4 off with the start of our Nature Play Program. It was such a fun afternoon for families to get outdoors and play in the natural playground we are so lucky to have on our school grounds!

2021 Kindergarten Enrolment

It is time to get your child enrolled for Kindergarten in 2021. If you would like to enroll your child at Hillcrest Primary, please contact 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 our Kinder for next year. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Jaime-Lea Duff – AST/ Early Years

Student Council News

Operation Christmas Child

Last term Ruth Cannon, from Operation Christmas Child, came to school to award us with a certificate in recognition of our wonderful contributions in 2019. The Student Council leaders were amazed at how many boxes were sent to Cambodia last year. There were 21,000 boxes sent and our school contributed 21% of the boxes sent out of our local area, which is a terrific effort! Mrs Cannon told the leaders about how the children like the everyday things that we take for granted, like school supplies, hygiene supplies and clothing. This is where we make the biggest difference to their lives!

Term 4 Fundraising

This term we are looking forward to fundraising for Childhood Cancer, in particular supporting Camp Quality in partnership with Maddi Penton’s ‘Made for Piper’ fundraiser.

We are excited to support Tina Hawley in her effort to walk 100km in October! Watch this space for upcoming fundraisers.

Zarlia, Mylee, Catherine – Student Councillors

Curriculum Catch Up

What a great start to Book week! It was exciting to see so many familiar book characters in our parade on Monday. Among the characters were Harry Potter, Where’s Wally, Cat in the Hat, Mrs Wishy Washy and several Spidermen. Thank you for your support in dressing your children for this event.

Naomi Archer – AST/Literacy Coach

Sunrise Bakery Pie Drive Collection

Thank you to everyone who made the effort to get orders for the Pie Drive. The delivery date for our pie orders is Wednesday, October 28th. If you are available to help pack orders first thing that morning, please leave your name at the school office.

Orders can be collected after 11am and before 4pm on that day. Please ensure that you collect your orders by 4pm that day as we do not have the capacity to refrigerate any orders left overnight.

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

5-6 Fenn News

Poetry Unit

Last term we did a unit on poetry. We worked on different genres such as Limerick, Kennings, Haiku, Ballad, Acrostic, Ode, Diamanté, Shape poems and Cinquain.

We had fun experimenting with word choice.

Here are our poems:

Grade 6 Transition to High School

As the end of the school year approaches, we begin to assist our grade 6 students with their transition to High School. Last term they had the opportunity to participate in a day where they meet with students from other local primary schools - Miandetta, East Devonport and Spreyton - who will also attend Reece High School,. The aim of the day was to build on relationships, using teamwork. It was great to hear back from students and staff who attended that our students really looked out for each other and participated following our school values.

Tuesday, 20 October, Grade 6 students attended Reece High School for the morning where they participated in a range of learning activities to introduce them to life in High School.

Ann-Maree Mulcaster – AST Primary

Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

Operation Christmas Child was a great success again this year! Thank you to everyone who wore silly socks last term and donated a gold coin towards this project. We also had donations of knitted and crocheted beanies and toys to add to the boxes. Our pile of boxes will be delivered to the drop-off point soon.

Mrs Ruth Cannon delivered a Certificate of Appreciation for our participation in last year’s project, which provides support to children around the world who are victims of war, poverty, famine and disease.

Alison Hillier & Lyn Aherne - Coordinators

Tuckerbox News

As Halloween is on Saturday, October 31st, Hillcrest Tuckerbox will be celebrating early, on Thursday, October 29th, by selling spooky, scary inspired treats!

Just for fun we will have Little Cakes of Horror and Spooky Jelly for 60¢ each. These special treats will be available at recess and after lunch. The lunch order menu will be as usual.

Lyn Aherne – Canteen Supervisor

Move Well Eat Well

Get Your Family Outside!

Here are some simple ways to become a more active family:

• Be active together. Quality time isn’t time in front of the TV or eating takeaway food in the car. Plan some trips. Picnics are great or a day at the footy or cricket. Being active together will improve personal relationships and get your family communicating better.
• Go for free family fun. Not all family activities cost you money. There are many free activities like a family walk or a game in the backyard or in the local park.

• Explore ways to be an active family. Explore a national park, go bushwalking, bike ride together, go beachcombing!
• Take part in community events. Help organise fun events in your community, volunteer for a litter clean-up or a working bee.

MWEW Team

Slipstream Circus Tiny Tumblers

Slipstream Circus has their Tiny Tumbler classes up and running! Saturdays 11am -12pm @ the Ulverstone Sports and Leisure Centre.

Soccer – Club Connect Series

Football Federation Tasmania have developed a new “Club Connect” programme aimed at supporting the transition of male and female players from primary school based competitions into club football (soccer) competitions from Grade 7.

The North West Club Connect series is a four-week programme commencing on Sunday November 1, with sessions to be staged at club venues in the region. The programme is open to boys and girls Under-12 (those born in 2008).

More information is available on the North West Club Connect Series page on the FFT website. Direct Link -

Basketball – Aussie Hoops

Aussie Hoops is a fun program promoting kids’ involvement in basketball and is for children aged between the ages of 5 and 8 years old. It will be held on Monday afternoons, starting on November 9th so register now to take part.