1 April 2021

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

2021

From the Principal

eSmart Accreditation

Late last year Hillcrest Primary was successful in gaining our eSmart accreditation after 2 years of solid work by our whole staff. This means that we are committed to the wellbeing and safety of our students by teaching the smart, safe and responsible use of online technology. Shortly there will be sign taking pride of place on our administration building, sharing our status. If you would like to know more about the program, here is a link to a short YouTube clip explaining the program. Well done, everyone!

(Making an eSmart Australia - YouTube)

NWPWSSA Sports

A big congratulations go to Myha, who was recently selected to participate in the NW team competing in the PSST State Athletics Carnival 2021, to be held in Launceston. It is always nice to see our students being successful in many different ways. Great job, Myha!

Congratulations!

Speaking of congratulations, a huge hooray! goes to Naomi Archer and family, who have just welcomed a new baby girl. Mum and baby are doing well, and we have a very proud grandparent at the school, this week.

See You in Term 2

It seems like yesterday that we were starting Term 1 and here we are at the end. I wish everyone a happy and safe Easter and holiday break and look forward to catching up in the new term. Remember that the first day of Term 2 is Wednesday, April 21st.

Happy holidays!

Jerome Pape - Principal

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Goal Setting

Our current Hilly Kids focus topic is Rights. Our first focus topic for term 2 will be Goal Setting.

Doing your best and setting goals are two very helpful strategies. Interestingly, setting your goals will help you do your best. Setting goals means working out what you want to achieve before you start. If you do this well, you should have some idea of how you can achieve what you want.

When setting your goals try to make them realistic – in other words, try to aim for something that you can achieve and, most importantly, aim for something you really want to achieve. Don’t be concerned with the goals of others around you. Work out what you want and go for it.

Our Hilly Kid for the ‘Respecting People’ topic from weeks 7 & 8 was Miranda from 5-6F and our Aussie of the Month for March was Coby from 3-4HB. Congratulations, Miranda and Coby!

Well done to our other class representatives:

Easter Raffle

A big thankyou to our parents and students who supported this year’s Easter Raffle by selling and buying tickets, making it, once again, a great fundraising event! The raffle was drawn on Tuesday. Congratulations to the winners!

• Melanie Crawford
• Grace J
• Kate Bramich

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

HPSA Family Market

On Saturday, March 27th, the Hillcrest Primary School Association held a Family Market in our school GP Hall. We had an amazing array of stall holders and consultants who made for a spectacular display that filled the hall with colour, noise and wonderful aromas!

It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day and people were encouraged to come along and be tempted by coffee, sausages and hamburgers and to sample, shop and try and buy from our stall holders.

The winner of our lucky door prize was Kerrie-Anne Graham.

A huge thankyou goes out to our volunteers, parents and staff who helped out on the day and made the day such a wonderful success!

HPS Fundraising Committee

Mother’s Day Stall

Our Mother’s Day stall will be early in Term 2, on Wednesday, May 5th. The purpose of the stall is to give each child an opportunity to buy a small gift for their mother or a special person for Mother’s Day. It is also a School Association fundraising event.

Parents are asked to buy or make a small gift to the value of $3 and send it to school by Monday, May 6th. Your child will place the present in the box in the classroom and tick their name on the list on the box. Every child who donates to the stall will to into the draw to win a gift for mum. PLEASE DO NOT WRAP GIFTS.

On the day of the stall, please sent your child to school with $3 to purchase a gift for Mum. If you do not want your child to participate, please tell him/her beforehand and also mention it to the class teacher. Donations of wrapping paper are also appreciated as the children are given paper to wrap their gifts.

Please leave your name at the school office if you can help on the stall between 9 – 10am on that day.

HPS Fundraising Committee

Soccer Information

New Launching into Learning Babies Group starting in Term 2! Enrol now!

Launching into Learning

New Launching into Learning Babies Group starting in Term 2! Enrol now!

3-4HB

We have been working scientifically in 3/4HB during Term 1. The students have been learning about how a scientist must work safely and calmly to test their theories and predictions. It led us to create our very own Safety in the Science Classroom poster to follow whenever we do experiments.

So far this term, we’ve started to learn how to do a fair test experiment which means one thing (variable) is changed, everything else remains the same and one thing is measured. We did this by mixing a liquid (vinegar) with some different solids you can find in your kitchen cupboard, like flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. We used our iPads to document any reaction that took place, which also helped the students to measure the size of the reaction.

We’ve also begun learning about how heat can affect liquids and solids. One experiment we’ve started is a monthly ice melting investigation where we are timing the speed in which an ice block melts in direct sunlight. It will be interesting to see the difference in melting times as the year progresses. Did you know it took an average of 21 minutes for a single ice block to melt in a plastic zip lock bag on a 23° Celsius, March afternoon? We hope you enjoy looking at some of our photos taken during our experiments.

Chaplain’s Chat

It is almost the end of term and difficult to see where time has gone already this year. This year I am working at school on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. You might see me helping in your children’s classes or at Breakfast Club in the morning before school.

At lunchtime I continue to hold art and craft sessions for any child who might like to come along and do an organised activity, just play a game, play with some Lego, or just draw.

I belong to a team of Chaplains that work for Devonport Chaplaincy across most of our Devonport schools. Our sister organisation, Loaves and Fishes, provides all the supplies for Breakfast Clubs in Devonport, Port Sorell, Sheffield, Latrobe and Ulverstone schools. As a Chaplain, I am also able to assist with emergency supplies for families facing crisis.

I am here to provide pastoral support to your child and family and school staff. If I can help in any way, please leave a message for me at the office or with your child’s teacher.

Easter is a time of fun and relaxation for many families. It is also a season of hope and a great opportunity to remind ourselves of why we celebrate Easter.

Wishing you and your family a very happy and relaxing Easter and school holiday break.

Alison Hillier - Chaplain

Hillcrest Tuckerbox

Vegetables and legumes (e.g. kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils) are a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibre. It is important that children eat a rainbow of different coloured vegetables every day.

Add vegetables to a range of different foods in your child’s lunchbox to keep it interesting. To increase vegetables in lunchboxes, try these tips:

• Vegetable sticks with dip
• Vegetables added to muffins, pikelets, scones & mini pizzas
• Salad in a container –celery, carrot & cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, snow peas
• Pasta salad or coleslaw
• Frittata or quiche

Lyn Aherne – Canteen Supervisor

Move Well Eat Well

Nature Play

So much to explore! Take up the “Autumn Challenge” with your family in your own backyard during the school holidays:

• Collect different types of leaves
• Paint and decorate pinecones and acorns
• Splash in a puddle and make mud pies
• Collect some bugs in a clear container and draw them
• Plant bulbs or some winter veggies
• Dig for dinosaur bones
• Organise a backyard scavenger hunt (just google ‘backyard scavenger hunt’ for great ideas)
• Build a backyard obstacle course
• Rediscover forgotten corners of the backyard
• Plan a camp-out in the backyard

MWEW Team

NW Hockey