From the Principal
Dear Parents,
I can’t believe we are already at the end of Week 3, doesn’t time go so quickly.
There were lots of great things happening this week!
Firstly, a huge congratulations to our wonderful buddies in Year 4 and 5, who helped welcome our Kindergarten 2025 cohort! You all showed exceptional kindness, encouragement, and helpfulness, ensuring our newest students felt comfortable and excited about joining our school. It was great to see the positivity, kindness and thoughtfulness on display, great job! I think one of the special things about our school is how our older students are so warm and friendly to our younger students and really do take on a big brotherly/sisterly role in helping them feel settled.
Well done also to the Year 6 students, who did such a fantastic job organising the snack shop that we’ve been running on Wednesdays, they have done a great job in organising all of the stuff. It was all their idea and they wanted to “raise some money for the school” before they left. I was so blown away by their hearts to serve.
It was also great to hear some wonderful feedback we received from the swim school where our Kindergarten’s go each week. They shared how impressed they are with the respect and politeness of our Kindergarten students, and one of their employees who only works at the place occasionally, even expressed that they come back at this time of year each time because they enjoy working with the HopePoint students. As our students consistently make the experience so rewarding. What lovely feedback!
I also wanted to address something that’s been on my heart a bit lately. There is sometimes a fine line between strong friendships and cliques. I never want our school to be a place where we don’t include others, have “cool’ groups and others are not included. Frankly, I’ve heard of a few instances where children have asked to play with others, only for the response to be “no, I only want to play with ____ people”. I even had one boy tell another student “no, you can’t play with me because my mum said so”. This is heartbreaking for primary school children to navigate. Playing tips with another child does not mean they will be a lifelong best friend. Now, perhaps there is nuance to this and I don’t claim to understand the dynamics of every friendship and situation, but by and large I want our students to CHOOSE kindness, thoughtfulness and to include others in their play. As parents, we must continue to coach our children through various friendship challenges that arise. Encouraging them yes, to set healthy boundaries around the type of play that they like, but at the same time to want to engage with others, particularly those students who might be slightly different to the type of child that they would normally warm to. It is not realistic that in life our children will go through, being immune from anyone who doesn’t tick every box of friendship. Like you, in my life I have been exposed to all kinds of people, many of which haven’t been “my kind of people”. However, learning to communicate kindly with people like this is key to healthy growth and one day navigating a workforce of diverse personalities.
Thank you, parents, for your ongoing support and for raising such remarkable children who bring light and joy to our school.
My door is always open,
Joe Britton
Lunch Orders
Our Term 4 Lunch Orders are open! Thank you again to Georgette and her team for providing this service to our school community.
Lunch orders will take place every Friday for Term 4, starting Friday the 18 October 2024.
If you would like to volunteer and help out with the lunch order preparations, please be so kind as to email Mrs. Jordaan.
Please see below the menu and associated link for you to order the lunch orders for the term.
Week 4, 08 Nov: Rice with meat and chicken with or without a drink (click here)
Week 5, 15 Nov: Sausage Roll and watermelon with or without a drink (click here)
Week 6, 22 Nov: Meatballs and potatoes with rice in sauce with or without a drink (click here)
Week 7, 29 Nov: Chicken burger with or without a drink (click here)
Week 8, 06 Dec: Sausage sizzle and ice cream with or without a drink (click here)
A reminder our orders close on Thursdays at 11am.
If you have any questions, please email or speak with Mrs. Jordaan (pa@hpcs.nsw.edu.au).
Before and After School Care
As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we are please to have signed a contract with Extend to provide an on-site OOSH service from 2025. The service will be available for Kindergarten to Year 6 students. Please see the flyer below for all additional information.
Stage 2 Excursion to Wattamolla.
Year 3 and 4 attended Wattamolla Beach, Royal National Park as part of their Geography unit on the Earth’s environment. Students explored the perceptions and protections of the environment. Thank you to the staff for arranging and escorting our students on their excursion.
Here are some photos to enjoy:
Save the Dates: Upcoming Dates
6 November: Kindergarten Swimming Lessons
7 November: Stage 1 Science Incursion
8 November: Year 4 Chapel
11 November: Year 5 + 6 Basketball Gala Day
13 November: Kindergarten Swimming Lessons
15 November : Year 3 Chapel
18 November: Year 3 +4 Basketball Galal Day
19 November: 2025 School Captains Speeches
20 November: Kindergarten Swimming Lessons
21 November: Year 5 Bushfire Hazard and National Park Excursion
22 November: Pet Safety Incursion – Kindy, Year 1+2
22 November: Kindergarten Graduation Chapel
27 November: Year 6 Fun day
28 November: Year 6 @ Jamberoo
29 November: Christmas Chapel
4 December: Year 6 Graduation Dinner
5 December: Presentation Night
6 December: Graduation Ceremony
6 December: End of Term 4