Henley Beach Primary School Newsletter

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last night’s Christmas Concert. It was great to see so many families at school and enjoying the opportunity to socialise. All classes did a fantastic job of presenting their item. Over several weeks, with the great support of their teachers and under the guidance of our Performing Arts teacher Elena Sourbis, they have worked hard to prepare and it is always terrific to see the enjoyment they get from performing in front of family and friends. Despite our endeavours to provide an inclusive event for the entire community, we acknowledge that there were some difficulties with the booking system for tickets; I would like to thank families for their patience in working through this process. I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the canteen staff and volunteers for providing catering on the night and our upper primary comperes who helped lead each concert and entertained the audience with some Christmas themed humour.

As this will be our last main newsletter for the term, please be aware of the following information:

2022 Class Arrangements

Next Monday all students will have the opportunity to visit their new class and meet their teacher for next year. On the day students will be provided with a letter to take home which will indicate their placement.  As mentioned previously, every effort has been made to ensure each class has a balanced profile (gender, academic achievement, friendships). We acknowledge that children will respond differently to this change and we ask that you support your child through this experience and frame it in a positive way.

End of Year Reports

Your child’s end of year report, which details their achievement against the Australian Curriculum will be made available (online) next Wednesday 8 December. Please contact the school if you have not received the login information to access the online portal. If you have any queries about the information provided in your child’s report, please contact their class teacher.

Governing Council

Next year we will be looking for new members to join the school’s Governing Council. Governing Council have a very important role in representing the parent community to help inform and monitor the directions of the school. The group meets twice every term (after hours, normally from 6.30pm). If you are interested in joining the Governing Council please consider nominating.

End of term assembly and dismissal

A reminder that the last day of term is Friday 10 December and students will be dismissed at 2pm. A whole school assembly will be held at approximately 1.10pm, please be aware that only parents/carers of children who are being presented with an award will be permitted to attend as an audience member (the school will notify you next week if your child will either be getting an award or be acknowledged for receiving a graduation award).

School of Languages

Japanese language lessons for students, Rec – Yr 6, will be offered year. Lessons will occur after hours, 3.10-4.40pm on Mondays, and be facilitated by a teacher from the School of Languages. If you are looking to enrol your child/ren, please do so via the School of Languages website: www.schooloflanguages.sa.edu.au or phone 8301 4800.

Early Dismissal - Friday 10 December @ 2pm

I want to begin by saying a big thank you to the whole school community.

It has been a privilege to work with such lovely staff, children and families.

As Early Years Leader I have enjoyed strengthening our transition processes, building stronger connections with our local Kindergartens and welcoming families into school.

Creating a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics and early reading skills, developing student intervention support and working collaboratively with staff in strengthening writing practices across the school have all been areas of my Literacy role that I feel proud of.

Although I am really excited to begin the next stage in my career, there are so many things that I will miss.

Henley Beach Primary will always have a special place in my heart. 

Social/Emotional Groups Celebration

On Weds, December 2, Carolyn (youth worker) and Dr Donna held two clay workshops to celebrate and thank students for their hard work in our extension social/emotional groups.  We used a special self-setting clay which can be painted at a later time.  Everyone worked so well; sharing tools and letting their creativity flow.

Student Voice—Book Making Competition

We have some fabulous book makers at HBPS.  The overall book making winners were announced at the Week 7 assembly.  Our winning team contribution was entitled, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs which was written, illustrated and produced by the Year 2 team of Joshua D., Kealan R. and Lincoln A.  The winning book created by an individual was called, The Caring Heart by Elise H., also a Year 2 student.  The persistence award went to Harper B. for her story entitled, Mickey and the Honey Bees.  All books entered in the competition may be viewed in the library.

Student Voice—Community Fundraising

Our community-minded Year 6 fundraising team, this term led by Indy V-F, have promoted donations to St Vinnie’s and have also raised funds through a bake sale.  Indy makes a wicked honey joy!

Student Voice--Shelter Shed Renewal

My thanks go to the team of dedicated Year 6 and 7 students who repainted the shelter shed and brightened our yard.  There are plans to replace the benches and provide a more salubrious area for students.

My Thanks

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all students, staff and families at HBPS for making the final placement in my working career such a memorable and rewarding experience.  As most of you know, I will be retiring at the end of 2021.  I will take with me a sense of having made some good friendships and positive contributions to life at our school

Many thanks for your support and well wishes.

Arbury Park Camp 2022

Dear parents/carers of next year’s Year 4 students, 

We are very excited to announce that we have secured Arbury Park Outdoor School, run by the Department for Education, for our camp from 2-4 March in Term 1 (3 days/2 nights).  It is a wonderful venue with great opportunities to learn about nature, sustainability and build co-operation and confidence in the group.  All meals are provided except lunch on the first day and we go there by bus.  The total cost is around $100 per student (final costs are to be confirmed). At this stage we do not require any information from you; further details will be sent out in the new year regarding attendance confirmation, costs and volunteer requests (please be aware that if you are considering volunteering that a Working With Children clearance is required).

Regards

Year 4 Staff

This year we are proudly supporting St Vinnies by collecting a gift for children who would otherwise not have a present to unwrap on Christmas day. We are also collecting tins, jars, supermarket vouchers or gift cards to put towards a Christmas hamper. These collections will be donated to St Vincent de Paul for less fortunate families this Christmas.

Please do not wrap the gift, just put a tag on the item to identify gender and age.

Tags can be found on the tree in the office and the gift is to be placed in the box next to the tree (located in the front office).

Hamper items can also be placed in the box in the front office.

Collection closes Tuesday 7 December.

Again, we have had some fantastic results in School Sport.

 SAPSASA Tennis

Charlie G played as part of the District Team at the SAPSASA Tennis State Championships.  This carnival was played over 4 days this term and Airport went through undefeated, winning the State Championships.  Charlie was an important member of the Airport team and played exceptionally well. Congratulations Charlie.

 Hockey 5s

Hockey 5s was a Year 3-5 Carnival held at Adelaide University Hockey Club.  We entered one team into the boys competition and tied for equal third.  Connor P, Isaak L, James R, Olivia L, Naish F, Aidan D and Jack W all came together well as a team and played great games.  They played a number of teams comprised of straight year 5s which made them work hard, but they had lots of really strong wins.  Well done team.

 Tag Rugby

We entered 3 teams into the Tag Rugby State Championships held at Barratt Reserve.  We fielded a Year 5 team who went to the carnival looking to develop their skills for next year.  The team played exceptionally well, surprising some of the much older teams they came up against.  The boys in this team tried hard in all games and should be really proud of a very good result.  We also entered a boys team made up of year 7s.  They came third on the day, playing some tough matches.  Finally, we entered a mixed Year 6 and 7 girls team.  This team won the carnival, becoming the Girls State Champions!  They had some tough games and fought hard throughout the day, staying positive, working together and playing exceptionally well.  Well done girls.

We have had a successful 2021 for Out of Hours School Sports, with a high participation in school basketball, soccer, football and Auskick, and netball. We really thank our parent/carer volunteer coaches and managers for the time they have given to enable our students to play; Out of Hours School Sports would not be possible without them.

 Each sport requires a co-ordinator to support the coaches and work with the sporting associations. In 2022 we have some fantastic co-ordinators continuing on for Basketball (Leah Jeffries), Football (Vanessa McCormack) and Netball (Boon Toh). We are looking for nominations for a Soccer coordinator in 2022, to allow school soccer teams to continue. If you are interested, please contact the front office on 8356 2117 or email to dl.0177_info@schools.sa.edu.au 

 The sports coordinator’s duties include:

• Making team selections based on student registrations.
• Determining the number of nominated teams, including the organisation of team registration fees (with support from school Finance Officer).
• Allocation of coaches and team managers.
• Establish an information folder for each team to assist coaches and team managers.
• Maintain communication with coaches/ team managers, parents and individual players eg. Sporting Association expectations, COVID-19 protocols and other safety and risk management aspects.
• Organise training times in negotiation with coaches/team managers, subject to availability of facilities.
• Support with allocation of equipment, including First Aid and uniforms, to coaches and team managers in consultation with school staff.
• Assist with end of season presentations.

If you think you would be interested in being the Soccer coordinator please phone the office on 8356 2117 or email to dl.0177_info@schools.sa.edu.au 

Westside Schoolwear is now taking orders for year 6 students in 2022.

HBPS Polo Tops and Senior Jumpers are now available to order.

Orders for Senior Jumpers close on Friday 3 December 2021.

You can order online or visit the uniform shop.

Open hours

Monday  - Wednesday 10.00am - 5.00pm

Thursday - 10.00am - 7.00pm

www.westsideschoolwear.com.au 

Canteen staff would like to wish all students and staff leaving this year, good luck for the future.  We would also like to thank our volunteers; we greatly value your support with a special mention to Melva Smythe who will be finishing this year.  Her champion muffins, camaraderie and volunteer work will be missed by us all.

Special thanks to the students who gave up their lunchtime to volunteer with serving and restocking the canteen this year. They were an outstanding group of young people who used their initiative many times with great success. Best of luck for the future.

Thanks also go to my coworkers Nicole and Shannon who have gone above and beyond this year. Many thanks also to the canteen committee who have given great support as we tried a range of different things in the canteen. Your continued support is invaluable. Lastly, thank you to the school community for supporting the canteen and for the continued fundraising, we appreciate it very much.

We will be reducing stock this week and also in week 9 so items will not appear on QKR as we sell out of them. Don’t forget that last day of school there is no QKR.  Just bring your money ($2-$3) and buy snacks and lunches over the counter.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  We wish year 6 and 7 students all the best and much success as they move on to high school.

We are almost at the end of the school year! This means that we are about to embark on our first summer Vacation Care! Bookings close on December 10 (last day of school). Be sure to secure your place as days are filling up!

A lot has changed at OSHC this year. A new Director, new program, new staff, vacation care and renovations. At the start of the year, we set ourselves the goal of developing a strong and positive reputation in the community. It has been reassuring to receive such positive feedback, develop connections with families, and most of all, see children enjoying themselves at OSHC. Myself and staff continue to look forward to working in partnership with the community next year.

• Year 7 Graduation - Monday 6 December
  
• Year 6 Graduation - Tuesday 7 December
• Last Day of school  - Friday 10 December, early dismissal at 2.00pm