Hallett Cove East Primary School

• March 21st - Annual General Meeting
  
• March 28th & 29th - Footsteps Dance Harmony Day Cultural Celebrations

Dear Parents /Caregivers,

2022 IN FULL SWING!

It is hard to believe we are already more than half way through Term 1. Our students and staff are all working very hard on many interesting and challenging activities across the curriculum. It has been great to visit classrooms and hear the enthusiasm students are displaying in their learning. R-4 Swimming was a particular highlight this week and we were most fortunate that it was able to go ahead, in spite of the pandemic.

COVID UPDATES

Like you, we are all very much looking forward to when restrictions on general attendance by parents and caregivers on school grounds, are lifted. Thank you to everyone for your patience as we continue to follow the Department for Education advice to minimise adults on site. You may or may not be aware that many of the daily SA cases of COVID are actually occurring in schools and many of you know that currently our school is no exception to that. When the school is notified of a positive COVID case there are many protocols that have to be enacted behind the scenes to monitor and reduce opportunities for the infection to spread. If infection takes hold in a school, not only does it affect student attendance but probably more importantly, staff attendance is also affected. This in turn interrupts the ability to keep programming and staffing consistent for students and their learning. This is why we strictly follow the DfE expectations of continuing to minimise other adults to help ensure safety of all our students/staff and consistency of learning. You can also help us further by ensuring you do not send children who are unwell to school. Even if you think they only have a cold or stomach issue, please keep them home and have them tested. If your child has a positive RAT test, please also ensure you register with SA Health. SA Health will provide text information about how long to isolate and provide a completion certificate at the end.

I am sure that restrictions will soon be lifted and we will certainly notify you as soon as they do, but in the meantime thank you for your continued support in this important process.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

This week our year Yr 6 students applied for a student leadership role. Each role supports students and the school through participation in a range of programs. Students each wrote a letter to me describing skills and experiences that would help them in one of 4 leadership roles of their choosing. Next week Andrea Hayden, Yr 6 teachers and I will be choosing which students will hold which roles based on what they wrote and which role best matches what we know about them. The final list of student leaders will be published in the Week 10 newsletter.

While our Yr 6 students participated in leadership application processes, our Yr 5 students also participated in a process so teachers could choose possible candidates for our school Student Voice in Learning (SVIL) team. In this program, problem solving, creative thinking and the ability to readily discuss and share ideas are all valuable skills. Over the next few weeks the SVIL team will also be finalised.

Once further restrictions lift, the Japanese Wellbeing program known as Genki Kids will also commence. This is the last major program where older student leaders help to manage development and delivery of the programs. More information about Genki Kids will be provided in coming weeks.

ACQUAINTANCE OVERVIEWS

By now you should have received an acquaintance overview outlining class expectations and programs for 2022, from your child’s class and specialist teachers. If you haven’t received them or have questions about anything contained in the overviews, please contact the teacher/s via class Dojo.

WELCOME TO A NEW SSO

We welcome a new SSO, Renee Briggs. Renee will be working in classroom support programs.

IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO JOIN GOVERNING COUNCIL!

PLEASE RETURN COMPLETED NOMINATION FORMS TO ME.

PLEASE RETURN AGM INVITATION SLIPS TO INDICATE YOUR ATTENDANCE ON MONDAY MARCH 21st AND SEE YOU THERE!

I hope you all enjoy your long weekend and the lovely weather we are having!

With regards

Anne Rathjen

Principal

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

School Support Officer (SSO) in the Classroom Update

Our current classroom SSOs are Cherie, Irene, Carina, Kelly, Alex, Kate, Sally and Renee.

This year all classes receive two lessons of SSO Literacy support and two lessons of SSO Numeracy support. It may be the same SSO or it may be a combination of our very capable SSOs. The teacher is in charge of the learning program and the SSO generally works with a small group. Some groups are constant and others change on a regular basis. If your teacher tells you your child receives Literacy or Numeracy support it is during these sessions.

SSOs are also in the classroom for targeted intervention with identified students who have received funding. At various times throughout the day an SSO may also be in the classroom to give extra support for a range of reasons.

Road Safety

Our Traffic Monitors have returned their forms and, as soon as we get the “all clear” from SAPOL, we will have traffic monitors before and after school on Quailo Ave.

I was speaking this morning with a group of students who are riding their bikes to school to ensure that they are aware of their rights and responsibilities when using shared paths. I thought that I would share that I got my information from the booklet found at the following website:

https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/23438/DPTI-Cycling-and-the-Law-Booklet.pdf

A reminder for all those families who are interested in their children playing soccer for the school.

Mel Vlachos, the 2022 Soccer coordinator for HCEPS, sent out information via Skoolbag last week including the registration form. All teams require personnel such as coaches, team managers and, at this stage, a Covid Marshal. A team cannot be formed without these volunteers, so please email Mel on hcepssoccer@gmail.com if you have any queries or are interested in these roles.

Swimming for R-4 Students

Our students were so fortunate to get to participate in the DfE swimming program this week despite the impact of COVID. We have endeavoured to follow all protocols to ensure we could continue for the entire week. There is always a lot of extra work by all adults at school to ensure swimming week occurs but this year there were added complications.

Thank you to all the staff at HCEPS for the way in which you have put in extra time to ensure that our students could go to swimming. Thank you to all our parents for following the requests of the swimming centre and the department. And a big thank you to all of our students who conducted themselves with respect, responsibility, excellence and fairness!

I hope you all get to enjoy the three day break as much as you can.

Kind Regards,

Andrea Hayden

Deputy Principal

We are now half way through the first half of term 1 and planning and preparation is being carried out for Class Excursions and much more.  A timely reminder that incursions/excursions/camps etc must be paid prior to students attending and participating.

Please make sure you have cleared your accounts to allow your child to attend and participate in all planned activities.

Please call the Business Manager if you are having difficulty settling your school accounts.

MATERIALS AND SERVICES FEES/INCURSION EXCURSION LEVY/SCHOOL CARD

 Materials and services fees together with the 2022 incursion/excursion levy invoices of $60 should now be cleared,

 if you have overlooked settling your account we urge

 you to pay the $60 incursion/excursion levy as soon as possible. 

We provide our community with several payment options, cash, cheque, EFTPOS, a 24/7 BPOINT payment option via our school website, alternatively

fees can be paid via the Qkr App which is our preferred form of payment.

We also have an online direct debit payment option which allows our families and caregivers to select a regular payment option to be deducted from a selected bank account or credit card on a weekly/ fortnightly or monthly basis. If you would like to take up this option please complete the application online via the school website. Details on how to access the Qkr App are available via the school website.

Please note this year school card applications should be submitted online, please read the attached information and click this link for step by step instructions to lodge your application online

If you do not qualify for the 2022  School Card but you are experiencing financial difficulty with settling your account please contact the school finance officer to arrange a payment plan.

Imelda Jolly

Business Manager

Volunteers are important to our school community. Our canteen relies on help from volunteers to deliver a meal service to our pupils.

To enable us to provide a varied recess and lunch menu offer to our pupils we really do need your help.   

If you have a spare hour or more we would welcome your support.

Not registered with the school as a volunteer?  Volunteer application packs are available from the front office containing all the information you need to submit your registration as a volunteer...... WE NEED YOU

At the moment the second hand Uniform shop is closed, but hopefully will reopen soon.

In the meantime, if you have any uniform items in good condition that are now surplus to your needs our volunteers would appreciate donations.  

Donations can be left at the administration office.  Thank you.

Qkr App (pronounced quicker) is Hallett Cove East Primary School and Out of School Hours/Vacation Care preferred form of payment. 

Please click for more details Qkr App

Download on the App Store or Get it on Google Play