Henley Beach Primary School Newsletter

Welcome to the new school year! We commence the term with 360 enrolments (15 classrooms). This includes 46 reception students who are starting school for the first time. We welcome these children, and also students in other year levels who have joined the school. We trust their time at Henley Beach will be enjoyable and rewarding.

I have been really impressed with how our students have commenced the year and engaged in their class work. Last week we had a welcome back assembly during which I spoke to students about the importance of our school values and each class has also spent time discussing the importance of our school values and other factors that contribute to a productive and safe learning environment. Already I have seen many examples of students putting our values into action, well done kids!

The staff have worked hard to prepare for the term ahead and we are committed to striving towards achieving positive outcomes for all children this year. We will continue to have a strong emphasis on reading and mathematics which are the two key areas of focus within our site improvement plan. Family feedback via the 2022 parent opinion survey indicated that providing information to you about learning tips to help your child and the year level standard of work expected for them are areas that you would like further information about. To support this area, we will be holding an information session about our school’s approach to teaching reading for junior primary families (Rec-yr 2) prior to the start of Acquaintance Night (Feb 21). The session will run from 5.30-6.15pm and be held in the gym.

We aspire to be a school that the community is proud of and the staff and I look forward to working collaboratively with all families throughout the year. Supportive and positive home-school partnerships are crucial in providing a great environment for our students and we are looking forward to building these connections. Whilst the areas above are the 'what' of our work I would also like to share my personal 'why' as principal; learning and education has an incredibly powerful influence on young people's pathway in life and we are in a privileged position to guide and teach them. I get immense personal and professional reward serving the school community and always striving to do my best for students, families and staff. 

At any time during the year I encourage you to talk to myself and our teachers about your child, their learning and any queries you may have.

Staffing Overview

As well as welcoming many new students, we also welcome some new staff to the school. The school’s leadership team will be composed of myself, Aileen Clancy (Assistant Principal) and Alecia Cailes (Student Wellbeing and Inclusion Leader and Early Years Literacy R-2). 

Student Safety and School Organisation Perspectives

Please be aware of the following aspects relating to student supervision and safety:

• School grounds are supervised between 8.30am – 3.10pm. Students should not be on the school grounds prior to 8.30am. It is also a requirement that in the afternoons (beyond 3.10pm) if students are on the school grounds, they must be accompanied by a supervising adult.
• Students are not permitted to ride their bikes or scooters on school grounds. Students who ride a bike or scooter to school need to walk once they are inside the school gates. Students are allowed to ride bikes on school grounds after 4pm (provided they have parent/carer supervision).
• Students (from Rec – Yr 6) cannot leave the school grounds during regular class time on their own, regardless if a permission note has been provided by a parent/carer. All students need to be collected by a parent/carer from the front office if they need to leave the grounds between 8.30-3.00pm.
• Please use the start of the year to reinforce safe pedestrian habits with your child by using the designated school crossings when arriving and leaving school. We look forward to our student crossing monitors continuing in this role; if your child has the opportunity to volunteer to help with this job, please encourage them to do so as it is a great way to promote positive community values. If any parents or other community members are interested in volunteering to be a crossing monitor supervisor please let us know.
• Please ensure the kiss and drop space is used appropriately as it is only a short term parking space.
• Parents/carers are requested to not wait with/for their child in the STEM covered area at morning drop off and dismissal time.

The Department for Education has recently updated its mobile phone and personal device policy. It is the Department for Education’s position that access to personal devices during school hours must be managed so that students can be fully present in their learning and in their interactions with their teachers and peers. The aim of this policy is to help promote safe environments with reduced negative impacts of inappropriate use of devices at school, such as cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and critical incidents that involve mobile phones.

The Department for Education’s policy requires all students at all department schools to keep personal devices ‘off and away’ between the start and end of each school day, and while they are attending school activities off-site, such as camps and excursions. Students will not be able to access their personal devices at any time during school hours, unless they have received an approved exemption from the school to use the device for a specific, agreed reason.

Once students enter our school grounds, mobile phones/wearable devices must be switched off and not used. Prior to the first bell, students are to hand their mobile phone to the front office where they will be stored securely. Students can collect their device from the office after dismissal time. Henley Beach Primary School does not take responsibility for any loss of a phone/device that is kept in a school bag throughout the day, so please strongly encourage your child to follow these expectations. Further to this:

·        Students are expected to communicate respectfully with others and not use a mobile phone or other personal device to bully, harass or threaten another person. Students must respect others’ right to privacy and not take photos, film or audio records of other people at any time regardless of if they have given consent or not. This expectation applies during school hours and after dismissal time.

·        If a student has a wearable device, the same expectations apply for its use, including making and receiving messages/calls during school hours. We request parents/carers refrain from messaging their child during the day to avoid distractions; if a message needs to be conveyed to your child, please do so via the front office.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The assessment provides parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process – it does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance. 

 Our students in years 3 and 5 will be participating in NAPLAN Online this year. The NAPLAN Online test window is 15 to 27 March (weeks 7 and 8, this term). Whilst we encourage all students to participate in NAPLAN there are options for families who do not want their child to participate. This can be done through seeking either an exemption or withdrawal. Please speak to your child’s teacher over the coming weeks if this is something that you want to discuss further.

Prior to the actual test, all schools will participate in a national coordinated practice test (CPT) on Tuesday 28 February. The practice test runs for 45 minutes and student performance is not assessed. The purpose of this test is to ensure the technical capacity of the school is satisfactory and to familiarise students with the testing platform.

Please be aware of the privacy collection notice and parent information brochure that have been made available via skoolbag. If you have any queries regarding NAPLAN please contact your child’s class teacher or a member of the leadership team.

Families will receive a $100 discount per student on the annual materials and services charge. You do not need to do anything to claim the $100 discount as it will be reflected in the invoice and statement that will be issued by the school. Please be aware that the discount does not apply to families approved for school card. 

Hello everyone,

What a lovely start to the year we have had; lots of new and familiar faces excited to be back at school.

This is my fourth year at Henley Beach and I have enjoyed getting to know our students, families and staff and working together to ensure the best learning opportunities for our students. Because we have new families to the school, I will give you some information about me.

I migrated from the UK to South Australia in 2013 and I live in West Lakes. I was a Year 6/ 7 teacher at West Lakes Shore School for 6 years and prior to that I taught in the UK for a number of years. I have held a number of roles in schools with different responsibilities over this time and genuinely love teaching.

My teaching philosophy centres around building resilience and responsibility in students. I believe in student agency – giving students some control over decisions in their learning and environment. The sense of accomplishment and success that children feel when they have triumphed over a challenge – perhaps a difficult task or question - even with a little support from an adult where needed, is far superior to always getting it right first time. Setting the right level of challenge is the goal for teachers.

My role here at Henley Beach is to provide curriculum support and leadership to students and teachers across the school. Please feel free to contact me if you have concerns or questions which relate to my areas of responsibility.

I am looking forward to the year ahead where we will focus on our improvement goals in maths and reading. The academic achievement of our students comes from a partnership between home and school; working together is how we optimise this achievement. I will be writing regularly in our newsletter and will provide further tips on how you can support your children at home with maths and reading.

Dear families,

I hope you all had a wonderful festive season and school holiday break. Welcome to the 2023 school year! This year I am fortunate to be working at HBPS in the roles of Wellbeing and Inclusion. I started at Henley Beach Primary School in 2022 in the special class, and supporting special education and inclusion across the site. Prior to that I have worked in junior primary classes, kindergarten and special classes. I am particularly passionate about working with children who have experienced trauma, inclusion for all learners and celebrating all children's progress. 

As a part of my role I will also be taking on the responsibility of Autism Inclusion Teacher. In this position I will be focused on assisting staff to improve existing supports for autistic children and help identify appropriate adjustments to enhance their learning and engagement at school. I will also be sharing contemporary evidence-based resources and training for staff throughout the year.

Feel free to come and say hello if you see me out in the yard or on crossing duty, I look forward to meeting more families.

Hello everyone, as the Youth Worker at Henley Beach Primary School I am on-site on Tuesdays and Thursdays and if you would like to catch me for a chat on either of those days please come and find me in the Wellbeing Room which is right next to the front office. Alternatively, you can email me on belinda.harriss666@schools.sa.edu.au

I am committed to supporting the wellbeing needs of students and will be working in partnership with students, staff and families to achieve this. I look forward to working with the school community again this year.

School Times:

8.30am                                    Yard supervision commences

8.50am                                     School Begins

8.50am -  10.40am                 Class

10.40am - 11.00am                Recess

11.00am - 12.40pm                Class

10.40pm – 12.50pm               Lunch eaten with teacher

1.50pm -  1.20pm                    Lunch

1.20pm -   3.00pm                   Class

3.00pm                                        School Dismissed

3.00pm – 3.10pm                    Yard supervision concludes

Maintaining positive school and home partnerships is a priority for our school and to help facilitate this we use two communication platforms, Skoolbag and Seesaw.

The Skoolbag app is used as a communication tool for the Principal, administration etc. to publish the newsletter, school calendar events and reminders.

The Seesaw app is used as a communication tool by your child's class teacher. Please note that staff will endeavour to check Seesaw daily (Monday-Friday) and respond to messages at their earliest convenience. Messages sent after 4.00pm may not be viewed until the next teaching day. If you have any pressing/urgent needs you should contact the office on 8356 2117.

We hope you will find the use of  Skoolbag and Seesaw helpful and enjoy the opportunity to share in your child’s learning. If you are having any difficulty setting up your account please speak to your child’s teacher for Seesaw and the front office for Skoolbag.

Any child who is not in their classroom at 8.50am is considered late and must present to the front office to sign in and collect a printed slip to give to their teacher. If your child needs to leave school early, parent/caregivers are asked to come into the front office to sign their child out.

The number to text for student absences is 0476 857 370 (please note, the absence text message line should not be used for other purposes). Please text this number by 9am if your child will be late or absent from school and include a reason for their absence. The marking of attendance is a legal document. All absences (regardless of if it is a couple of minutes late or a day long absence), are marked as unexplained unless parents/carers provide the school with an explanation (via telephone, text or written note). A text message will be sent to parents/caregivers if a child is late or absent without explanation.

Attendance Exemption

If a student will be absent from school for a period  than 5 days, must fill out a principal approved application for exemption from school. These forms are located in the front office.

Should you need to get a message to your child during the day, all communication must be made through the front office by calling 83562117. We will attempt to contact the class teacher to pass urgent messages only. Parents/carers are kindly asked to make personal arrangements before school as much as possible to limit the disruption to classes.  Any general communication to your class teacher should be done via seesaw or email.

We also ask that if you need to drop anything off during the day (forgotten lunches, musical instruments, homework etc.), please do not go to the classroom, rather drop it to the office and we will get your child to collect it.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation with these matters.

It is Department for Education policy that the guidelines below are followed:

If your child has flu like symptoms or is sick, please keep them at home.

If your child has/had vomited and/or diarrhea they must not come to school for 24 hrs.

If a child presents to class with these symptoms you will be called to pick your child up and take them home.

Sick Certificate

If your child is absent for 3 days you must provide the school with a sick certificate from a doctor.

Health Care Plans

If your child has a medical condition or health care plan please ensure that you have informed the school. This is to be done annually and if any changes to plans occur throughout the year, please let the school know. All medication must be labelled with a pharmacy label with the child’s name and dose. Please check and ensure the expiry date is current. If your child self-medicates (e.g. asthma puffer), a form needs to be signed by the parent and Principal.

Medication

Medication cannot be administered in an education or care service without written advice on a medication agreement (with the exception of emergency medication for anaphylaxis and asthma).

Medication cannot be administered by education and care staff if:

• a medication agreement has been modified, overwritten or is illegible.
• any of the ‘medication rights’ are in doubt.
• the medication needs to be injected or administered rectally.

All sections of the medication instructions must be completed and match the pharmacy label on the medication.

All requirements listed in the 'authorisation and release' section must be checked and parent or guardian details entered.

The agreement section must be completed by a treating health professional where the medication is:

• a controlled drug
• oxygen
• pain relief (ie paracetamol, ibuprofen) that is needed regularly or administered for more than 72 hours (3 days) in a week.

Allergies

There are students in our school that suffer severe allergies to a variety of food types. The worst of these allergic responses can result in ANAPHYLAXIS.

The school policy is based around “Harm Minimization” which essentially means that we take precautions to reduce the chance of a child contacting or ingesting foods they are allergic to.

In your child’s class, parents may be asked not to send food containing significant amounts of nuts. This includes peanut butter, nutella, nut bars, cakes and slices. Many products including chocolates, muesli bars etc. have a “may contain traces of nuts” warning as a precaution. These are acceptable at school but must not be shared. If this applies to your child’s class a more detailed letter will be sent home.

Fish, cheese, shellfish and eggs are also identified triggers for children in our classes. For these we request that parents do not send items containing these products for shared meals such as class parties or picnics where they may be eaten without knowledge.

If there is an issue please see the class teacher for clarification.

Children will be encouraged to practice good hygiene and wash their hands before and after eating.

Spills and accidents can happen at school, please consider providing a spare set of clothes in your child's bag to cover them in the instance of an accident or wet weather. We only have a limited supply in the front office.

The wearing of the school uniform by all students is school policy, approved by Governing Council. The uniform is available from Westside Schoolwear, Shop 6, Falkirk Avenue, Seaton. There are many advantages, for both parents and the children, in wearing a school uniform. In particular it gives children a sense of belonging and develops pride in the school as well as being cheaper, functional and non-competitive in terms of fashion.

School Photo Day - Monday 6 March

Catch up Photo Day - Thursday 16 March

Please order as per below.

We are committed to providing a diverse range of sporting opportunities for our students to complement the current Physical Education program. Below is an overview of sports that students will have the opportunity to participate in this year (depending on their grade level); please note that these sports are separate to the out of hours sports competitions that will be run this year. Thank you to the parents who have offered to support with some of the knockout sports; we will be in contact when the time arises.

All information below is as accurate as possible given the information available from SAPSASA at this stage of the year. There are also opportunities in Diving, 5km running and Mountain Biking. These are on the School Sport SA website, as is information about trials for state representation at Nationals competitions in certain sports.

Information about sports opportunities is provided directly to each class and students can then nominate their initial expressions of interest. Follow up information is then distributed via notes and Seesaw. Please be aware that an expression of interest is not a guarantee of participation as many of these sports have trial sessions, some in school and some across the district.

Along with the competitions below we will also be looking to partner with Henley High School which will involve students from their sporting program visiting our school to run coaching sessions for students.

Term 1

Swimming 2013 born and older · District Trials · SAPSASA State Carnival

Softball

Year 5/6 · SAPSASA State Carnival

Hockey

Year 4/5/6 · Tiger Cup

Knock out sport

Year 5/6 · Cricket

Term 2

Cross Country 2013 born and older · District Trials · SAPSASA State Carnival

Hockey

Year 5/6 · SAPSASA State Carnival

Football

Year 5/6 · SAPSASA State Carnival

Netball

Year 5/6 · SAPSASA State Carnival

Golf

2013 born or older · District and state competitions

Knock out sport

Year 5/6 · Netball · Soccer

Term 3

Football Year 5/6 · Crows Cup (Girls)

Rugby

Age Group TBC · Tackle

Soccer

Year 5/6 · SAPSASA State Carnival

Athletics

2013 born and older · District Trials · SAPSASA State Carnival

Knock out sport

Year 5/6 · Basketball · Football

Term 4

Hockey Age Group TBC · West Beach Cup

Knock out sport

Year 5/6 · Softball · Cricket

Rugby

Year 5/6 · Tag Carnival

Cricket

Year 5/6 · SAPSASA Carnival

Tennis

Year 5/6 · SAPSASA Carnival

School Soccer Competition

In order for the school to nominate student teams we need to have a parent volunteer take on the role of coordinator. At this stage we do not have a volunteer for the soccer coordinator role; if the role is not filled we will be unable to nominate any teams. Please contact the school as soon as possible; the association organising the competition have planned their first meeting for 27 February which a school representative is required to attend.

Netball and Basketball

Nominations closed Tuesday 7 February. The coordinators are now busy putting teams together and organising coaches. 

Cricket

Nominations closed Monday 6 February. 

For both of these sports, the coordinators will be in contact with further information in the coming weeks.

Below are some important dates for families to be aware of. Please refer to the school calendar available on our website for the full overview of the term.

Acquaintance Night 21 February

5.30-6.15pm: Reading information session for families of Rec – Yr 2 students (held in the gym)

6.15-7.15pm: Classrooms (Yr1 – Yr 7) will be open for families to have an informal opportunity to visit their child’s classroom and meet their teacher.

Specialist teacher areas will also be open.

 Assembly

Our first whole school assembly of the year will be held on Thursday February 23 from 2.20pm. Assemblies will be held in the gym and class teachers will notify you if your child’s class is presenting an item.

 Year 4 and 5 class camps

Next week our year 4 (Mon-Wed) and year 5 (Wed-Fri) will have their class camp to Arbury Park. Unfortunately, last year's camp had to be cancelled, hence why a camp has been offered to our year 5 cohort in 2023.

SCHOOL PHOTOS

School photos Monday 6 March

 NAPLAN

The assessment period is from Wednesday March 15 through to Monday March 27.

 Parent-teacher interviews 

Monday March 24 – Friday April 6. Booking information will be sent out later this term that details teacher availability.

Sports Day

Friday May 5 (week 1 of term 2)

2023 Pupil Free Days

Monday 15 May

Friday 23 June

Friday 8 September (Adelaide Show)

Monday 11 September

Friday 3 November

Congratulations to the following students in receiving a student achievement award for 2022.

Japanese and French (new for 2023) language lessons for students, Rec – Yr 6, have commenced this week. Lessons occur after hours, 3.30-5.00pm on Mondays, and are facilitated by a teacher from the School of Languages. If you are looking to enrol your child/ren, please visit the School of Languages website: www.schooloflanguages.sa.edu.au or phone 8301 4800.

Henley Beach Primary offers private lessons in both piano and guitar.

These lessons are optional at a cost organised through the private provider. If you would like to enrol your child, please contact the instructor directly:

Piano - Tim Borzillo E. timborzillo@gmail.com.au P. 0410 298 830

Guitar - Rob Gentilcore P. 0468 915 440

The school’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 14 February at 6.30pm, in the library. 

After the AGM has finished the first Governing Council meeting for the year will occur. Governing Council has an integral role in representing the school community and if you are interested in nominating to be a member of this group, please fill out the nomination form located on the school’s website.

The Department for Education has mandated rules regarding volunteering in schools and we are committed to doing our upmost to keep our children and school community safe.  All volunteers need to complete a Volunteer Application Form. As a volunteer you will also require a Working with Children Check (WWCC) screening clearance and complete an online Responding to Risks of Harm, Abuse  and Neglect (RRHAN-EC) course. Volunteering cannot commence unless these aspects have been completed.

It is the responsibility of the volunteer to keep there documents up to date. Please check expiry dates on clearances.

At the Grub Club we aim to give students a fun hands-on experience in the school garden and help them develop healthy habits and a love of vegies! We rely on volunteers, to maintain the school garden and help groups of students to do a wide range of activities including planting, harvesting, cooking and craft.

Grub Club needs you! The more volunteers we have, the more students have the opportunity to participate in Grub Club. Parents usually volunteer with their child’s class and no gardening experience is necessary. If you would like to volunteer please get in touch with your class teacher or contact Nancy via the school office.

In order to volunteer, it is essential that you have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC), complete the Reporting of Abuse and Neglect (RRHAN-EC) online training, complete the DfE's general volunteering training online, and attend a school site induction. Please ask at the school office for more information on these requirements.

A further after school opportunity that is being offered to students this year are lego themed workshops. The workshops have a focus on using lego to complete challenges and building activities. Please refer to the flyer below for additional information.

Playgroup is back from this Friday the 10 February, 9.00am to 10.20am.

Cost is $3 per session and payment is via Qkr. 

Dress your kids in clothes that are appropriate for wet, sandy, messy play! I’ll meet you on the Metcalfe Lawn this Friday.

Any queries please email HBPS.playgroup982@schools.sa.edu.au

Welcome new families to the Henley Beach Primary School Community!

Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) is a service run on school grounds for Before School, After School, Pupil Free Days and Vacation Care. We work closely with the school staff and teachers to ensure that children’s safety, developmental needs and interests are met. We aim to provide an inclusive environment for all our children. 

Our environment has a major focus on learning through play, allowing our children to develop their social skills, build and develop an identity, and learn to engage in an environment with a range of different age groups. 

Please take the time to view our Parent Handbook as it is has all the necessary information regarding operating hours, fees, Childcare Subsidy, booking and cancellation processes, vacation care information and drop off/pick up information.

If you have any questions about OSHC, or you wish to enrol your child, please contact Andrew.

Welcome back to school and welcome to the new students and their families. We are both excited to be back.  We love providing delicious, nutritious, home cooked food.  We've cooked up a storm so all of the popular menu items, including bolognese, butter chicken, chicken nuggets and sausage rolls are all fully stocked ready to order. All of the kids' favourite homemade snacks are available to purchase over the counter, including muffins, cookies, and slams (homemade ice blocks). 

We've made lots of changes since taking over the service and will continue to make improvements this year.  Following a successful trial late last year we have successfully switched to reusable forks and spoons for many menu items.  We are looking forward to making additional sustainability improvements this year.  We've also changed the QKR cutoff time to 9.10am each day.  If you do have any issues please give us a call, we're happy to help.

Canteen is reliant on volunteers for its success.  Year 5 and 6 students can volunteer in the canteen.  It's a great opportunity for the students to learn skills in customer service and safe food handling.  We also need additional parent/carer/grandparent volunteers so if you have a few hours to spare please reach out to us, we'd love to meet you.

If you have any questions about the canteen service, what food is offered or any ideas please feel free to visit us in the canteen or send us an email: Canteen.Canteen878@schools.sa.edu.au

We appreciate your input and value your feedback.

FAMILY GUIDE TO THE CANTEEN

Please use Qkr to order lunches where possible as it is our preferred method.

Ensure you have filled in the correct year level and teacher in Qkr.  

Qkr cut-off is 9am on the day (some meal specials may have a different time to help with planning) and we have 2 specials each term when possible. 

You can order ahead. If you miss the cut-off you can phone your order through and pay via EFTPOS.  Please do this before 11am to allow us time to prepare the lunch.

If your child forgets their lunch, canteen provides a cheese or vegemite sandwich. You will receive an invoice which can be paid on Qkr under the tab “money owed to canteen” or by cash in an envelope.  Reminder emails for payment will be sent out at the beginning of every month.

Please find attached some details to share with interested families or via your school newsletter or social media channels about the Adelaide Botanic High School selective entry program. Applications are now open for selective Entry into Year 7 in 2024 – for current Year 6 students not in the Adelaide Botanic High School zone. Applications close on 15 February 2023. Further information can be found on the link below:

https://abhs.sa.edu.au/learning-at-abhs/health-stem-pathways/

A message from the Charles Sturt Council:

The City of Charles Sturt has implemented comprehensive traffic management and parking schemes in the streets surrounding the schools within our community to help make it a safe place for children and help manage the traffic flow during peak periods. They will soon commence their School Safety inspections program for 2023 and will be conducting patrols at schools within the Charles Sturt area throughout the year.

In the course of our previous year’s inspections, They identified some common parking issues and have designed a brochure which covers some of the day to day parking issues around schools.  Please refer to the brochure that provides a summary of this area.