12 AUgust 2021

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

August

From the Principal

Grades 3-5 Swimming & Water Safety Program

As Tasmania is an island state surrounded by coastline, as well as inland waters and other aquatic environments, swimming and water safety are necessary life skills that add to our health, fitness and wellbeing. Activities such as fishing, boating, water play, swimming, surfing and diving require swimming and water safety skills. Planning is well underway regarding the grade 3-5 swimming program, with details being sent home to families in these grades. If you have not returned the forms for the swimming program, can you please do so as soon as possible. Students will be starting the program next Monday, 16th August.

Parents - Satisfaction Survey 2021

The 2021 Parent Satisfaction Surveys will be open for respondents to complete from 23 August to 17 September 2021. Please find details below. We look forward to your participation!

Each year the Department of Education conducts School Satisfaction Surveys in Tasmanian Government schools, to gain feedback on what you think our schools do well and where you think we may improve.

We encourage you to complete the survey about Hillcrest Primary School. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school planning and decision-making.

You can complete the online survey from 23 August until Friday 17 September 2021.

Survey link:

All responses are anonymous and confidential with the survey carried out on a secure website. Feedback is only accessible to the school principal and teachers and relevant Department of Education staff, in online summary report formats with no individuals or families identifiable.

For any assistance, please contact Education Performance and Review by emailing: schoolsurveys@education.tas.gov.au.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this survey.

Jerome Pape - Principal

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our current Hilly Kids focus topic is Use Your Voice. Our next focus topic for term 3 will be Good Winners Good Losers.

Good Winners Good Losers

Winning is great fun, but we should remember that we need to win in a way that keeps our friends and promotes others’ respect for us. Celebrate our successes but do it in a way that does not offend or hurt others.

At all times play fairly. Give others a go and stick to the spirit of the rules. In the end the game should be fun for all, win, lose or draw.

Do

• Keep smiles and celebrations low-key.
• Comment on good players but do not overdo it.
• Always try hard even if you are losing.
• Thank others for the game.
• Encourage your team members and give everyone a go.
• Respect your opposition and all their hard work.

Don’t

• Boast about your ability or victory.
• Comment on how far behind the others are.
• Point out where the others are going wrong.
• Act happy about others’ mistakes, e.g. don’t clap or laugh at poor shots.
• Cheat or manipulate others.

Our Hilly Kid for the ‘Smile’ topic was Baylee from 2S and our Aussie of the Month for July was Taylor from 3-4HB. Congratulations, Baylee and Taylor!

Well done to our other class representatives:

RHS Information Night – TONIGHT!

The Reece High School parent/student information night is happening TONIGHT, August 12, at Reece High from 6:30-8:00pm and is for students starting grade 7 in 2022 and their parents.

School Photos

School photos are this Tuesday morning, August 17th. Kinder children will have their photos taken in the FIRST time slot so they should come in the morning at 8:55am sharp. If you are late, you may not make the class group photo.

Remember to get a sibling envelope from the office if you are wanting a photo of your children together. All children in the sibling photo must attend Hilcrest.

All children will have their photo taken on the day, whether parents intend to purchase any or not, so all students need to wear full school uniform, including a school jumper. Teachers will encourage students to comb their hair and ensure their clothing is neat.

Celebrate our 40th Anniversary

This year Hillcrest Primary School celebrates its 40th anniversary. To help celebrate our birthday we invite you to take part in our fortnightly challenge. This fortnight the task is to make 40 words (or more) using the letters in HILLCREST PRIMARY.

Place your entry in the box outside the ALS before Monday, 23rd August. Make sure your name and class are included. The winner will be randomly drawn from the box and announced in the following newsletter and on Facebook. Family members are encouraged to work together.

From the Quality Teaching Coach

At HPS we have a priority of Quality Teaching for Learning. Our teachers work collaboratively together to support improved student outcomes. The middle primary teachers have been working closely to improve the way they teach multiplicative thinking. Mr Hortle, Mrs Peace and Mrs Bonner have been excited to begin to hear the students use mathematical talk to explain how they are solving problems.

Here are some thoughts from the students:

Double double 3 is 12. If you double, double, double that’s 24. – Josh

I had a friend ask me 8 x 12 and I turned it into four 24’s and then I turned it into two 48’s and it turned out it was really easy - Gabi

You can use lots of strategies to work out multiplication, like the split strategy and the jump strategy - Shataya

We’ve been learning about arrays because it’s easier to do multiplication with arrays and count in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s - Max

I’ve been learning how to times big numbers because I didn’t know how to do it - Jazz

I didn’t know how to times numbers but now I’m actually learning how to times numbers. - Flick

I’ve been learning different strategies to times different numbers and divide them. I’ve learnt to break the number down. - Scarlett

Book Week 2021

During Book Week we take the opportunity to celebrate books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. All students participate in a morning of book activities and are invited to dress up as a favourite book character.

This year we will have our Dress Up Parade on Tuesday 24th August at 9:00. Parents are welcome to stay and watch the parade. Please ensure you sign in at the office and also check in with the QR code on arrival. The theme for 2021 is ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’.

The Student Council will also be organising a social on the day of the parade. This is instead of the Heroes Social that was planned for August 19th.

Some ideas that might help with your costume designs are:

• Old World – dinosaurs, kings, queens, princesses
• New World – aliens, astronauts
• Other World – mermaids, monsters, wizards, fairies, dragons, giants

Naomi Archer - AST

2 Shephard

100 Days of School in Year 2S

In Year 2 we started Term 3 with a celebration of 100 days of School. We have been counting since day 1 of 2021 and on Friday, 30th July we reached our 100th day. To celebrate 100 days of learning, we spent our afternoon completing activities surrounding the number 100. Our 4 challenges were;

1. To build a bridge that could hold 100 toys.
2. To make a trail of 100 dominos.
3. To make a tower from 100 plastic cups.
4. To create the number 100 in 3D from 100 blocks.

We had an amazing time completing these challenges, even though some were harder than others. We were able to demonstrate the teamwork, persistence and creativity we have been developing this year.

Fathers’ Day Stall

The Fathers’ Day Stall will be held on Wednesday, September 1st. The purpose of the stall is to give each child an opportunity to buy a small gift for Fathers’ 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, August 30th. Please do not wrap gifts. Your child will put the present in a box in the classroom and tick their name on the list on the box. Every child who donates to the stall will go into a draw to win a gift for Fathers’ Day.

On the day of the stall please send your child to school with $3 to purchase a gift. If you do not want your child to participate, please tell him/her beforehand.

Donations of wrapping paper are also needed. Offers of assistance to help run the stall on the Wednesday from 9-10:30am would be most welcome. Please leave your name at the school office if you can help on the day.

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising Coordinator

From the School Nurse

Tuckerbox Tips

Aim for two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables daily. What’s in a serve?

One serve of fruit:

• 1 piece of medium sized fruit - apple, banana, orange or pear
• 2 pieces of smaller sized fruit - apricots, kiwis or plums
• 1 cup of tinned fruit in fruit juice, no added sugar

One serve of vegetables:

• ½ cup cooked green or orange vegetables - broccoli, carrots, pumpkin or spinach
• ½ cup cooked, dried or canned beans, peas or lentils
• 1 cup leafy or raw salad vegetables
• ½ cup sweet corn
• 1 medium potato or sweet potato
• 1 medium tomato

Lyn Aherne – Canteen Supervisor

Move Well Eat Well

Fun Food Facts

Did you know:

1. Tomatoes are a fruit…and they are the most popular fruit in the world!
2. Strawberries are technically not berries – weird but true! Berries, by definition, have their seeds on the inside, whilst strawberries hold their seeds on the outside.
3. Potatoes were the first vegetable to be grown in space. In fact, the year was 1995.
4. Not all oranges are orange. In some regions the temperature doesn’t get cold enough for the skin to turn orange, so the orange could stay green or yellow, even if the fruit is ripe.
5. Cranberries can bounce. When they are ripe, they bounce!
6. Pumpkins and cucumber are also classed as a fruit, not a vegetable, not to mention olives, avocado, aubergine and capsicum, which are also fruits.

MWEW Team

Devonport Junior Soccer

Please find below information about a free all ages Grass Roots Coaching Course that has been changed to Saturday, August 14th 12:30-3:30pm at Meercroft Park.

Devonport Basketball Spring Roster

The 2021 Devonport Basketball spring primary school roster commences on Friday, September 3rd for grades 3-6 and on Wednesday, September 8th for grades 1 & 2. For further information on the upcoming rosters and to register, please go to the link below. Registrations close on Sunday, August 22nd. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the DBC Office on 6424 2440.

Bus Safety

Please find tips on bus safety, safety rules, riding the bus, exiting the bus and tips for parent in the brochure below. It is essential that children and parents understand the importance of safety, both as a passenger on the bus and as a pedestrian around the bus.

Saver Plus

Saver Plus offers fun and free financial education, and $500 in matched savings for education costs. Please find more information below.

Devonport Community House

Please find the DCH August/September calendar below with a number of warm, inside activities for you to enjoy! You can also warm up with fabulous Leaping Goat Coffee from 10am Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays!

Junction Arts Festival for Families

Junction is an intimate celebration of Tasmanian community and creativity, inspiring audiences through exciting and diverse performances of art, music and dance; a festival in which contemporary art and music break out of theatres and galleries into the streets, public spaces and extraordinary buildings that make Launceston so unique. Junction runs from the 1-5 SEPTEMBER and our Festival Hub is in the beautiful Prince's Square.

Art is for everyone - especially children! Junction's 2021 program features some fantastic projects for kids and families to get involved in, with lots of free events in addition to ticketed ones.

Please see the attached poster. To find out more... Head to the link below.