16 December 2021

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

December

2022

Term Dates for Students- 2022

From the Principal

It has been a very busy year- I cannot believe another year has passed us by! As always, we have had a very hectic couple of weeks, and I am sure everyone is looking forward to the holiday season.

As previously advised, we will have a few staff changes going into 2022.

Jess Bellchambers will also be leaving us at the end of this year, to take up a position at Devonport Christian School. Jess has been a member of our school community since 2016 and has made a valuable contribution to our school. I wish Jess all the best in her new role.

Jess Bellchambers will also be leaving us at the end of this year, to take up a position at Devonport Christian School. Jess has been a member of our school community since 2016 and has made a valuable contribution to our school. I wish Jess all the best in her new role.

Jayden Wicks is also heading to a new school. Although Jayden has been here for a short time, he has had a positive impact on the school. Jayden will be working at Ulverstone Secondary College in 2022.

As you are no doubt aware, Anna Lizotte will be retiring at the end of the year. Renee Pardoe will be joining us as the new School Business Manager. Welcome, Renee. I am sure the community will make you feel very welcome.

It is also a sad goodbye to our grade 6 students and families that are leaving at the end of this year. I wish you all the best for your futures and look forward to hearing about the great things happening for you.

Thanks go to our School Association Committee members who will be leaving at the end of this year. Megan Butler and Jackie Langmaid have been great contributors to our community. Kylie Lunson, who has had the role of School Association Chairperson since 2015, will also be leaving. Kylie has been a wonderful support to the school, and I thank her for her wisdom and kindness during the time we have worked together. All the best to you all!

Teaching Staff for Term 1, 2022

Launching into Learning – Jane Lewis
Kindergarten – Jane Lewis
Kindergarten – Emma Sterta
Prep/1 – Kimberley Parker
Prep/1 – Naomi Lawes (with Intern teacher Sia Gorniak)
1/2 – Charlotte Shephard
1/2 – Chelsea Sims
3/4 – Vina Bonner
3/4– Matt Hortle and Julie Baker
5/6 – Gaye Kelly
5/6 – Janmaree Peace
HPE – Davis Forward
Performing Arts – Jodianne Smallbon
Japanese – Rosie Baker
Support Teacher and AST – Ann-Maree Mulcaster
Support Teacher and AST– Jaime-Lea Duff
Quality Teaching Coach and AST – Naomi Archer
Principal - Jerome Pape

As this is the last newsletter for the year, I wish to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Hillcrest community for your ongoing support of our school. I wish everyone a well-deserved break over Christmas and hope you have an opportunity to spend time with family and friends. Have a safe break and I look forward to catching up with you in 2022!

Jerome Pape - Principal

Book Collection Days

Hillcrest Primary

Wednesday 2nd February 9am – 2pm and Thursday 3rd February 9am – 2pm

Reece High

Wednesday 19th January 730am – 3pm and Thursday 20th January 9:30am – 6pm

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

We have had a great year and now it is time to celebrate and look forward to next year. The last weeks of school have presented us with many opportunities to celebrate. There have been class parties, excursions, fun, games, the concert, the parade and the end of year assembly. Thanks for joining in on all the celebrations. We hope you enjoyed yourselves! Well done to all.

Our final Hilly Kid for 2021 for “Sharing” was Torrah from 5-6K and our Aussie of the Month for November was Joel from P-1P. Congratulations, Torrah and Joel!

Well done to our other class representatives:

Covid-19 Vaccinations

Bookings are now open for children aged 5 to 11 to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Special vaccine clinics will run exclusively for children aged 5 to 11 across Tasmania from 10 January 2022. Clinics will be held at community locations across the state to give every primary school aged child the opportunity to get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before they return to school in February.

Vaccinations are not mandatory to attend school, but we would encourage parents to get their children vaccinated to protect their children, their families, and our school community.

Last week a smaller paediatric dose of the Pfizer vaccine was approved as safe and effective for children aged 5 to 11 by Australia’s top medical experts. Children will get two doses, eight weeks apart – but they will only be available in special children’s clinics and GPs.

Bookings are essential for children’s clinics and children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

To find out more, including how to book, visit the Tasmanian Government’s coronavirus website:

Student Council Updates – Term 4

This week our Student Leaders had their last meeting for 2021. We celebrated with a luncheon and reflected on our year’s achievements. We are so incredibly proud of the Respect, Courage, Growth and Aspiration these leaders have not only personally developed, but also the way they have supported these values across our school. Jehanne gave a wonderful toast at our meeting and shared her pride for the way the group had supported each other to improve in so many ways. It was wonderful to listen to the personal stories of individual growth and goals being achieved from their participation as part of the Student Leadership Team. We talked a lot about confidence, new speaking skills, feeling a true sense of community and the feeling of belonging to our school.

We are excited to see where these children venture to next and expect they will continue to develop the skills of being positive role models and citizens. Congratulations to a wonderful bunch of kids!

A special thank you to Bonne Bouche Catering for our yummy lunch!

Jaime-Lea Duff – Student Council Coordinator

Early Years End of Year Report

This year we have welcomed many new faces to the Launching into Learning programs. Both adults and children have developed friendships and skills in the space that these sessions have offered.

The pre- kinder sessions were particularly successful and have prepared our 2022 kindergarten students with a focus on social skills, oral literacy and fine motor development.

It has been an honour working in the LIL position over the past 2 years. I have loved working with you and your children. Thanks for all the wonderful memories and best of luck in 2022!

Jess Bellchambers

Christmas Raffle Winners

Thank you to all the families that participated in our raffle and the wonderful supporters who donated the prizes. We raised over $530! What a fantastic effort! Congratulations to the lucky winners:

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

Celebration Tea Towels

There are still some Celebration tea towels available from the school office! They 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. Call in to the school office and get one for that last minute Christmas gift!! What a bargain at only $10!

HPSA Fundraising Report

The Hillcrest Primary School Association has had another great year of fundraising. The fundraising enables us to provide valuable resources for classrooms, fund programs for students and upgrade the playgrounds and equipment. Along the way we get our families and school community together, organise, participate, share, communicate and, most of all, have fun!

A big thankyou for the amazing effort by everyone who volunteered, donated, manned a stall and came along to support our School Fair to make it the huge success that it was.

I would like to thank everyone who donated items for our fundraising, bought and sold raffle tickets, took orders for the Pie Drive, packed all those pies and ordered calendars.

Lyn Aherne – Fundraising

Chaplain’s Chat

It is the end of another year and, despite the fact that life in 2021 has continued pretty normally here in Tasmania, we are aware that life is not the same as it used to be and the world around us is very different.

It is in these times of great uncertainty that we can look forward to being with family and friends and celebrating Christmas.

For our family, December is an incredibly busy month, and it is not uncommon for my husband to announce at breakfast that he must attend a function that evening he had forgotten about.

In amongst the business of the silly season and the uncertainty of this world, it is important to make sure we are taking time out, a few minutes here and there for our own self-care. It is essential that we make time to check in with ourselves about our mental and emotional well-being.

Can I encourage our wonderful HPS community to think about the reason for the season and the hope that comes with that message? For me the message of Christmas is the hope of my personal world. It is the foundation of my life and brings enormous comfort in this world of uncertainty.

Christmas is a great opportunity to have discussions with your children around creating your own family traditions and about why we celebrate our Christian Christmas here in Australia. Many local church communities have special Christmas events. If you would like to know more, please ask me.

If anyone is looking for Christmas activities, you may find something suitable at the link below:

Wishing all our students, families and staff a wonderful and blessed Christmas season.

Alison Hillier - Chaplain

Reminders

Newsletter 2022

If you no longer wish to receive newsletters from us in 2022, please let the school office staff know either by phoning 6424 5211 or emailing hillcrest.primary@education.tas.gov.au. If you subscribe to the Schoolzine emailed newsletter, you can unsubscribe online.

If you would like to see all the photos etc in our newsletter in lovely colour in 2022, please subscribe via the link below. You will be emailed a link every fortnight at 10am on a Thursday.

Those who cannot access the internet to view the digital newsletter may get a printed copy from the office; however, it will be in black and white, the pdfs will not print as they are links and you will not be able to scroll through any photos, which will be thumbnails. If you would like a paper copy, please notify the school office when you come in to collect your child’s books.

Book Collection 2022

The school office will close at 12:30pm on Friday, December 17th and re-open on Monday, January 24th. Please do not come in to collect books or buy uniforms, etc until book collection day. Book collection/levy payments and uniform sales will take place February 2nd & 3rd strictly from 9am -2pm in the school office. Please remember to bring your blue levy sheet, which was in your child’s report, with you on the day. Allow enough time to check and update the validation forms which will be handed out on the day. You can pay your levies and uniform by cash, cheque or EFTPOS. Some second-hand uniform may be cash only.

Second-hand Uniform

If you have any second-hand uniform items in good shape that you won’t be needing, please consider either donating them to the school or bringing them in for us to sell on your behalf. We always have families looking for second-hand uniform!

Lost and Found

There are a number of items in our lost and found basket in the office. At the end of the year any school uniform left in the basket will be washed and put into our secondhand uniform cupboard for sale. Any other items will be donated to an op shop if not claimed by 12:30pm tomorrow.

School Car Parks

Please remember that families are not to use the staff car parks for dropping off and collecting children. Please park in Lawrence Drive. Please DO NOT park in the layby as that is a ‘No Standing’ zone.

RWVP

Remember, you must have a current Registration for Working with Vulnerable People card to do any parent help at all at the school. The holiday break could be just the time to register via the link below. Remember to add ‘Department of Education’ as an employer (even though you are only getting a volunteer card) and choose Hillcrest Primary School from the drop-down list.

Remember: if you wish to attend a class excursion with your child/ren or help in the class in any way, you are required to have this card.

Student Banking

Just a reminder that the Student Banking programme has now come to an end and will not be continued in schools in the future. 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.

Enjoy your holidays and see you in 2021!

Admin Staff

Grade 6 Major Awards

These awards are a recognition of excellence for the 2021 year. However, through their primary years, these students have consistently displayed persistence, hard work, respect, responsibility, and resilience. It is because of these attributes that they have received the highest accolades in our school.

• Encouragement Award: Nevayah
• Kindness Award: Bianca
• Personal Growth Award: Oliver
• Hilly Kids Award: Bianca
• Sports Awards: Alexis and William
• Arts Achievement Award: Jehanne
• Mathematics Achievement Award: Kai
• English Achievement Award: Veronica
• The Minister’s Respectful Student Award: Jehanne
• Principal’s Award for Contribution to the School: Chloe
• Exemplary Academic Achievement Award: Veronica

Outstanding Achievement Class Awards

Certificates of Appreciation 2021

The following students have been reliable helpers in our school for the 2021 school year and have received Certificates of Appreciation:

Student Council 2022

Students from grades 3-6, and staff recently participated in the election of the 2022 HPS Student Council. Each student participated in a process involving nominations and speeches to their peers. I congratulate, on behalf of the school community, the following students who make up the 2022 HPS Student Council: Inika, Shataya, Ella, Brody, Maya, Melanie, Addison, Jazmyne and Tahj.

Jaime-Lea Duff - Coordinator

Sports Leaders 2022

Congratulations to the Hillcrest Sports Leaders for 2022 who, I am sure, will do a fantastic job next year leading us all through the Daily PE programs! They are Alicia, Joshua, Lucas D, Chace, Inika, Aaliyrah, Brody, Loralie, Maya, Lucas R, Torrah, Addison, Jazmyne and Lily

Jayden Wicks – PE

Tennis Camps

School Holiday Gymnastics Training

Tuning into Teens

Tuning into Teens is a FREE eight session parenting program aimed at parents and caregivers of adolescents. It will commence on Thursday, March 17, 2022 at the Devonport Community House. Bookings are essential. Please find more information below.