2 December 2021

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

December

From the Principal

Reports

As you are no doubt aware, teachers have been busy writing end-of-year reports. Reports will be sent home, with information regarding your child’s class, on Friday, 10th December. Levy information and advice regarding 2022 will also be included. If you have any questions regarding reports, please ask your child’s teacher or contact the office.

Concert

Our end of year Concert will be happening next Wednesday, 8th December at the Don Centre, from 11.00-12.30. Free tickets can be collected from the office (2 per family). If you don’t wish to use your allocation, please let us know so they can be re-allocated. We are also taking names for those interested in possibly getting extra tickets. We have had some queries regarding young children at the event. Unfortunately, due to occupancy restrictions, all attendees (children and adults) count toward the 2-ticket limit.

Farewells

It is always hard to say farewells and this year is a particular challenge. We have a few staff moving on who have all made a significant contribution to our school.

Carol Miller has been at Hillcrest since arriving in 2004, from East Devonport Primary School. I have also known Carol for a long time, particularly with our involvement in amateur theatre over the years. Carol has made a huge contribution to our school, teaching most of our students in her years as Kinder teacher. Carol, you have touched the lives of many families during your time here and I wish you all the best in your move to West Ulverstone Primary School. Good luck!

David Carter has also been at Hillcrest for many years, starting here in 2005. David has made the move to Miandetta and will continue his teaching there. I have always appreciated David’s excellent organisational skills – the Athletics Carnival being a great example – he wasn’t even present, and it still ran like clockwork! All the best at Miandetta, David, and thank you for your contribution to our community.

Anna Lizotte has had a long association with Hillcrest, being involved as a parent or employee for over 33 years! Anna has worked in the office for over 17 years, 13 of those as School Business Manager. I have also known Anna since my early career, as I was at the school as a teacher in 1994-1995, with her son Kyle in my class. Anna has been a great support to both the school and me, and I cannot thank her enough for her kindness and professionalism as the School Business Manager. Anna has a wonderfully caring manner with all in our school and I am sure the community joins me in wishing her all the best for her retirement. Good luck and goodbye!

Stephen Fenn will be moving on to a new school and we wish him all the best.

Lisa Shepherd has worked as a Teacher Assistant at Hillcrest, supporting classes and working with individual students. Lisa has been a great asset to the school, and I wish her all the best in 2022.

Sam Guyatt has also been with us for a short while but has been a great support in the Kinder. Sam will also be finishing up at the end of this year, all the best for 2022, Sam.

Michele Bradshaw has been with our community this year, working in the early childhood classes. I want to thank Michelle for her work and wish her all the best for next year.

Jerome Pape - Principal

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our current Hilly Kids focus topic is Sharing. Our next focus topic for term 4 will be Celebrate!

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.

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 for the ‘Including Others’ topic was Yazmin from P-1L. Congratulations, Yazmin!

Well done to our other class representatives:

Student Assistance Scheme (STAS)

The Department of Education offers a Student Assistance Scheme (STAS) for families that are eligible. Parents/Carers who have a current concession card, as listed below, can apply for dependent students for assistance under this scheme:

Service Australia Centrelink Health Care Card, Centrelink Low Income Health Care Card, Pensioner Concession Card or Department of Veteran Affairs – Pensioner Concession Card.

To assist with processing applications for new applicants, an online form is available. The online form can be completed here:

Please note that, if you are already receiving student assistance, you do not need to complete a form.

Once a validated form is completed, the Department of Education will confirm the outcome of your application in writing. This process takes approximately 14 days.

If the online option is not possible for you, please enquire at the school office for a paper copy.

Celebration Tea Towels

Don’t forget to get your Celebration Tea Towel before the end of the year! The tea towels were printed to mark Hillcrest’s 40th birthday and every child and staff member in the school drew their self-portrait to be printed on it. Once we sell out, that is it...there are no more! Call in to the school office and get yours soon! What a bargain at only $10!

Hands on Learning

Mr Lizotte worked with us on building a game called cornhole. The object of the game is to have two teams and score points by trying to throw a bean bag in the hole. It was a really big build for us, and we got to safely use a lot of tools that were power tools to build it. It is a fun game and we really enjoyed building it. We have started to paint it and next we will teach our friends to play it.

Addison

5-6 Fenn

Furoshiki

Last week in Japanese we had a visitor from Japan called Yumi. She helped us learn about folding a sort of scarf called a furoshiki, which are traditional Japanese wrapping cloths traditionally used to wrap and/or to transport goods.

Pop Art

In Art, 5/6 F worked on Pop Art pieces. We thought this was very interesting because we had to use different layered materials to give it that “3D” effect. In the end, it took us two Art lessons to finish our work, but the end result was definitely worth it.

Another Art piece we did was called “Roll a Masterpiece” where we had to roll a die to choose what type of figure we drew and what accessories we gave them. Then we used bright colours to make them stand out. This was a very fun and easy to make Art piece.

There are pictures to go with it. Some students sent a variety of the two pictures we described.

From Lucas and Alicia

Student Banking – Last Day

December 8

The last day for student banking will be Wednesday, December 8. The School Banking program will not be continued in schools after that. Even though the program will not be returning to schools after this year, you can continue to make deposits into your child’s Youthsaver account through online transfers or at any CommBank branch. If you need further information, please phone 132 221 or visit your local CommBank branch.

We would like to thank Fiona Smith and Alice Marshall, who have been our coordinators this year. Thank you also to all our past coordinators who have made this program possible for so long.

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, Friday, December 3rd. The raffle will be drawn on Thursday, December 9th. Good luck everyone!

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

2022 Calendar

Have you ordered your calendar(s) yet? All families were sent home an order form for a 2022 calendar featuring your child’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 6th. Calendars will not be printed until they are paid for.

Fundraising Committee

Tuckerbox – Last Day December 10th

Friday, December 10th is the last canteen day for the year. To celebrate, we will be selling Jolly Jelly and 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 in the canteen and make our special events run smoothly. A huge thankyou to Theresa Johns and Jackie Langmaid for their hard work throughout the year.

Lyn Aherne – Canteen Supervisor

Brekky Club – Last Day – Dec 15th

Wednesday, December 15th, 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 for the wonderful food donations from Loaves and Fishes via the Devonport Chaplaincy. A special thankyou to Mrs Hillier, Mrs Willett, Mr Peace and Ms Johns for helping out.

Lyn Aherne – Coordinator

Move Well Eat Well

Nature Play

So much fun in the sun! Take up the ‘summer challenge’ with your family during the summer break:

• Play in a creek
• Catch a crab
• Build a sandcastle city
• Play beach or backyard cricket using sticks as stumps
• Do yoga or martial arts poses barefoot on the grass
• Collect sticks to make a kite
• Press flowers or leaves
• Draw pictures or play noughts and crosses in the sand

MWEW Team

Devonport Community House

It’s summer!!! And there’s plenty of Christmas cheer and activity happening here at the House.

Many sessions will recess for 2 – 4 weeks however the gardeners will continue, harvesting some fabulous produce available in the FoodShed from 2pm – 3pm weekdays.

For locals we have Christmas in the Park on Thursday 16th Dec and Pizza in the Garden on Monday 20th Dec – join us if you live in the Highfield, Morris Avenue & Chichester Drive area.

Another year has nearly finished, thanks for your support throughout 2021 and have a fabulous holiday season!

Kate Beer – Manager Devonport Community House