Hayes Park Public School

Congratulations to our team for the most engaging and informative NAIDOC Week  celebrations. Watching our dance team perform and seeing the amazing art works and projects made me feel that the future of Aboriginal education and its complex, enthrallig culture is growing. 

It has been a very busy few weeks including 2L leading the Remembrance Day service online, our chess team playing out the state semifinals, Year 6 transition to high schools, Kindergarten Leapfrogs orientation finished last Friday and staff planning for 2021. There is a lot happening and all for the benefit of our students.

This week coming we have Kindergarten at the Zoo, reward day Obstacool course, further high school transition and much, much more. I thank our dedicated staff for all they do to make these events happen. 

The P&C met last Monday evening and it was great to have a few new members. One of the biggest impacts you can have for your children is in their education and being a member of the P&C puts you in the forefront of the direction your school will take. I urge you to join us for the AGM Monday 7th December - either online or in person at school. That's right parents can attend meetings on site after hours in the latest COVID updates.

COVID is still at the core of our community wellbeing. At times we make mistakes and we fight the battle against complacency and exhaustion. Communication is at times challenging too as there can be mixed messaging. If we get it wrong please let us know so we can stop it happening again. I thank you for your understanding and thank the staff for making things still happen when so many events are cancelled. They truly are going above and beyond for your children.

Next week we will officially open the new basketball court (weather permitting) and the Talent Quest auditions begin. There are so many activities and events for the students to get involved and find their niche in life. That's what my quote at the start is about and it's what school is about - providing opportunities. 

Michael Honeywood 

NAIDOC Week Sunday 8th November- Sunday 15th November

Week 5 Hayes Park celebrated NAIDOC Week and this year's theme was Always Was. Always Will Be. 

At Hayes Park we participated in a range of exciting cultural experiences that provided our students with a better understanding and appreciation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture.

Some of the cultural experiences that we participated in was our first ever Koori Dance Group choreographed by our wonderful Aboriginal staff member Mr Munna King. The Koori Dance Group opened up our week of celebrations through our NAIDOC Assembly on Monday where we also had our NAIDOC address presented by Principal Mr Honeywood and Miss Scarcella.

Tuesday was a full day of foraging and creating instillation artworks using resources provided by Mother (earth). Students created three different artworks using x-ray art that is a traditional style used by the people of Arnhem Land in NT.  They created a goanna, a fish and a meeting place; all of which are significant to our local Dharawal area. Wednesday our students got to go around to the finished art instillations to appreciate the artwork and to have discussions around the materials and concepts used. 

Thursday and Friday were two big days where we had our Wall of Fame walkthrough and our Indigenous Games. The Wall of Fame was a new initiative that we ran this year to celebrate all of the amazing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander role models within Australia and across a range of different career fields. We even had WIN TV come and film our Wall of Fame! 

​The students absolutely loved our NAIDOC Week this year and we cannot wait for 2021!

Kindergarten

In the past couple of weeks, Kindergarten classes enjoyed researching Aboriginal authors and reading rich texts.  This coincided well with NAIDOC week and our English unit.

Tomorrow, we are super excited about our first Kindergarten excursion this year to Sydney Zoo.  This excursion complements our Science unit we studied earlier in the year ‘Living World’.  Kindergarten children will also have the opportunity to learn about aboriginal culture, the local Darug people, bush tucker and plants grown in the area. Students will need to be at school by 7.45am. We are anticipating returning to school by 3pm.  Updates will be posted via Facebook throughout the day. 

Years 1 & 2

This term Stage 1 has started their Second Step lessons and classes have been developing their foundational learning skills through songs, games and puppets! Our students have enjoyed learning to focus their attention by switching on their ‘attento-scopes’, using positive self-talk and being assertive to ask for help. We can’t wait for the social-emotional lessons on empathy and emotion management in the coming weeks. 

Students have been busy getting their dancing shoes tapping! 2L, 1/2V and 2C have gone back in time and have learnt the Heel and Toe Polka (a no contact Covid safe version). Next is the Square Dance where Mr Honeywood is going to join us as our special guest dance caller! 1C, 1T, 1M and 2M have been exploring dance, developing body skills and using their imagination during creative dance lessons. They have been creating and investigating different movements that mimic water within our world and have been learning how dance can be used as an expressive way of storytelling.

Today students went “Back to the Past” at Vaucluse House through a live virtual excursion. Students visited a 1820s kitchen and discovered how food preparation technologies have changed. We then all stepped outside to the laundry to discuss washing day and learnt about the time-consuming task of washing clothes by hand - not much fun at all! We all then returned into the house to explore the larder where we discovered food storing and cooling techniques.

Students also learnt how to play children’s games from the past, such as skipping, quoits and hoops, which we can have fun playing together at school.