15 September 2022

Newsletter Articles

Dates to Remember

September

October

From the Principal

Attendance

Regular school attendance will help your child to gain the skills and knowledge needed for success both now and later in life. Attending school every day helps your child to make steady progress with their learning. Your child will also be able to make friendships by joining in with others in school activities. If your child has to be away from school, it is important to tell the school and provide the reason for your child’s absence as soon as possible. You can:

• Send a note or email to the school
• Send a Text
• Phone the school office
• Visit the school.

The principal may ask for a medical certificate or statutory declaration to explain absences for illness after a child has been absent for a total of more than 5 days in any school year, but this is only required if the principal has requested it counts. The below table shows the impact of children missing school.

Term 4 calendar

We can confirm a number of events planned for term 4 and are ready to share these with the school community in the table below. When organising these activities, we have taken into account a number of different views and considerations. We understand that some of these events may cause distress to some members of our school community, and we can assure you that there will be supports and choices in place to help you and your families. Further information will be available as these dates approach.

Jeff Triffitt – Acting Principal

Queen Elizabeth II

On Thursday, 22 September there will be a national public holiday to mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Students are not required to attend school on this day.

3 Way Conferences

Our 3-way conferences - between parents, teachers, and students - are a vital part of developing our partnership in working together to support your child’s learning progress. The 3-way conference provides an opportunity to identify the great progress your child is making and contributes to identifying areas and ways of supporting further development in their learning.

We encourage all parents and students to take this opportunity to meet with your child’s class teacher. Conferences will be available on the following dates.

• Monday 19 September - Wednesday 21 September

Nb. Due to the National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II - Thursday, 22 September is now unavailable for bookings.

Bookings can be accessed on the following link

Or if you have our Schoolzine app you can book directly from there. Each meeting is scheduled for 10 minutes with the priority for specifically discussing the progress of your child in class.

COVID-19 Changes

New changes to COVID-19 isolation

Public Health has recently changed the mandatory COVID-19 isolation period from seven days to five days.

This means COVID-19 cases can leave isolation, provided they:

• are no longer displaying symptoms on Day 5 of their isolation period, and
• have had no fever for 24 hours prior to Day 5.

People that leave isolation on or after Day 5 must wear a face mask in all settings for Days 5, 6 and 7 – even if they are not displaying symptoms. People are strongly recommended to wear a face mask indoors on Days 8, 9 and 10.

Students under the age of 12 and all primary school students are not required to wear face masks when leaving isolation.

To read more about this change, please visit the Tasmanian Government Coronavirus website.

For any COVID-19 enquiries, please contact the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738, or Department of Education COVID-19 Support Hotline at COVID19support@education.tas.gov.au  or on 1800 816 057.

If you need support translating or interpreting this information, contact the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450.

2022 School Satisfaction Surveys are Open!

Every year the Department of Education conducts School Satisfaction Surveys to find out what your child(ren)'s school does well and where it may improve. Your feedback is very important to help us inform our school improvement planning and decision-making.

If you have not had the opportunity to complete the survey about Hillcrest Primary School yet, it is open until Friday 23 September 2022 and should take about 5 minutes of your time.

Each family should nominate one person to fill in this survey for their child(ren).

Take the online survey by clicking this link or pasting it in your browser:

The survey is carried out on a secure website and all responses are anonymous and confidential.

All families in this school received the same survey link and no identifying information is collected. A summary of the survey results will be provided to schools. Responses from individuals or small groups will NOT be disclosed to any Department of Education staff.

Please contact your school if you require any assistance.

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

Reece High School Enrolment Forms

All of our Grade 6 students were recently given enrolment forms to complete. It is important for all forms to be returned as soon as possible, either directly to Reece High School or to our school office.

No Hat No Play

In Term 4 all students will need to wear hats outside. Please clearly name your child’s hat. If your child has their hat at home, please send it in their school bag. Hats are also available for purchase at the school office.

NWPSSA 3-4 & 5-6 Athletics Carnival

Congratulations to the following students who have been chosen to represent Hillcrest in the 2022 Inter Primary Athletics Carnival at the Penguin Athletics Centre.

Piper, Taj, Tyler, Mikayla, Mia, Axel, Heath, Charlie, Coby, Amelia, Kyiesha, Amelia, Cooper, Mahalia, Hunta, Hayley, Charlotte, Lawi, Makeysha, Tyla, Mackenzie, Tahj, Alicia, Josh, Lucas, Shataya, Aaliyrah, Brody, Melanie, and Jesse.

Grade 5/6 students will participate on Wednesday, 21 September. Due to the National Day of Mourning Queen Elizabeth II, Grade 3/4 students will now participate on Tuesday, 20 September.

We look forward to hearing all about it!

Hilly Kids Are Friendly Kids

Our current Hilly Kids focus topic is ‘Seeing it Through’. Our next focus topic for term 3 will be ‘Problem Solving’.

Problem Solving

From time to time, we make mistakes. Sometimes we make these mistakes accidentally; other times we are careless or, occasionally, we simply choose to do something we should not. Mistakes are a normal part of growing up and if we learn from our mistakes, we end up better in the end.

Learning to fix things up after mistakes is a difficult thing to do, but it is so important. Problem solving means repairing the damage you have caused to someone or something. It means you take responsibility for what has happened and, through your actions, prove to others and yourself that you know you have made a mistake and you want to improve the situation.

Be prepared to say sorry and then prove you are sorry by not letting it happen again. If something has been damaged, offer to fix it or replace it.

Take responsibility for your actions and be the first to say sorry; don’t wait until you have to apologise or need to be told by someone else to apologise.

Our Hilly Kid for the ‘Good Winners/Good Losers’ topic was Lucas from 5/6P, and our Aussie of the Month for August was Lily from 5/6K. Congratulations, Lucas and Lily!

Well done to our other class representatives:

What’s Happening in 1-2 Sims

In 1/2 Sims we have been learning about time. One of the highlights has been using loose parts to make our own analogue clocks. Our clocks have a minute and hour hand. Some clocks have small pieces to represent the minutes around the outside of the clock.

“Did you know there are five minutes to the next number on the clock”

“There are 60 minutes around a clock.”

“The clock has 12 hours and then it goes around again to make 24 hours.”

“The hour hand is the shortest hand.”

“There is also a second hand and that moves the fastest.”

“Some clocks don’t have numbers. They have roman numerals.”

“The sun can help people tell the time.”

“The analogue clock can split into 4 quarter to help tell the time.”

P-1 Lawes – Past and Present

In Prep/1L we have been exploring the question ‘How have things changed from the past to the present?’ and as a part of this we have looked at how toys have changed over time. Last week we spent some time playing some older-style games: knuckles, marbles, pick-up sticks, tiddly winks, and dominoes. We had such a great time and the children have requested to play these games again in the near future.

A few comments from our students in P/1L:

Axel - I liked the pick-ups ticks because you had to get the sticks without moving them.
Blaze - I liked the marbles game because I liked the marbles. They had pretty colours inside of them.
Kenzie - I liked the tiddly-winks because I was good at it!
Riley - I liked playing knuckles because it makes me think of the Knuckles character from Sonic.

2023 Calendar

Earlier this week families were sent home an order form for a 2023 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 ASAP. Calendars will not be printed until they are paid for.

Fundraising Committee

Fathers’ Day Stall

Thanks to the wonderful efforts and generous donations from families and students, over $590 was raised from our Father’s Day Stall this year. What an amazing effort!!

A big thank you to Fiona Smith for helping on sale day.

Congratulations to Zoe in 5/6K, the lucky winner of our Father’s Day Stall draw!

Fundraising Committee

Mid-Year Raffle

A big thank you to everyone who bought tickets in our fantastic raffle. A huge thank you to the businesses and people who generously donated prizes we are very grateful for their support.

The raffle has been drawn and the lucky winners notified.

Fundraising Committee

Soccer Tops

The Soccer season is over for another year. Thank you to all families/volunteers who assist with canteen, coaching, training, and umpiring.

Please return your soccer tops to the office as soon as possible to receive your $5.00 bond.

Tuckerbox Tips

What are ‘everyday’ foods?

Food from the five food groups are called ‘everyday’ foods.

The five food groups include:

• Vegetables
• Fruit
• Grain foods
• Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, beans
• Milk, yoghurt, cheese

What are ‘sometimes’ foods and drinks?

‘Sometimes’ foods don’t fit into the five food groups.

These foods and drinks are not a good source of nutrition. They are high in saturated fats, sugar and salt and should only be eaten ‘sometimes’ and in small amounts.

Examples of ‘sometimes’ foods and drinks include:

• Chocolate
• Lollies
• Sweet biscuits
• Fried foods
• Fast foods
• Takeaway food
• Cakes & ice-cream
• Soft drinks
• Cordial
• Sports and energy drinks.

Lyn Aherne – Canteen Supervisor

Move Well Eat Well

Rainy day activities with kids

Check out some of these great ideas for rainy day activities:

• Make a fort/cubby with blankets and pillows, and have an indoor picnic
• Play balloon volleyball or balloon ping pong with bats out of paper plates
• Get cooking in the kitchen e.g., mini pizzas, muffins, pikelets
• Get crafty - make and decorate paper aero planes and have a race
• Indoor treasure or scavenger hunt
• Pop on some wet weather gear and get outdoors

MWEW Team