Fair Education Conference

On Tuesday 29th August and Tuesday 5th September, Hilltop Road PS held cluster meetings as part of the second phase of the Fair Education project, funded by the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation through Schools Plus.

The project is looking at transition to school as a Kinder student and transition at the end of school, in Year 6 when students are moving off to high school. The aim is to develop consistent

practice and support families and develop community partnerships. The school representatives who were at the meeting discussed ideas and developed a plan of where to next. The project includes three high schools – Greystanes, Arthur Phillip and Merrylands and five primary schools – Beresford Road, Greystanes, Toongabbie East, Moree East and Hilltop Road. We look forward to working together to support our students and families at such an important time in their lives.

Regional Spelling Bee On Wednesday, 5th September, four students participated in the regional spelling bee and did an outstanding job representing Hilltop Road Public School. Many students from within our region participated in the event and demonstrated great determination when attempting to spell such a wide variety of words. Congratulations to our stage 2 competition representatives, Hans Villanueva and Madeleine Phillips and our stage 3 competition representatives, Helen MacPherson and Jayden Oldfield for a job well done

A very big thank you to Miss Shabaz for all her hard work and organisation, ensuring our students were able to take part in this initiative. Thank you to Jayden’s mum for transporting our students to the stage three competition.

Father's Day Fun Afternoon

On Friday, 1st September, we enjoyed some quality time with our dads, grandpas and uncles at our Father's Day Fun Afternoon. Thank you to everyone who came along and made the afternoon a success, particularly the dads who tried their luck on the inflatable obstacle course. The afternoon captured the true ethos of Hilltop Road, with everyone having fun and supporting another school event. A special thank you to the teachers and community members who organised the afternoon, cooked the BBQ and gave up their time, to ensure our dads had a great time.

Thank you Club Merrylands

Club Merrylands Bowling continues to support our school in so many ways. On 23rd August, Hilltop Road Public School has received the following funding support through Club Merrylands Bowling

Ready Set Go for Kindergarten $9,999

Ready Set Go for Kindergarten is a valuable program which supports our preschool children to make a smooth transition into school. The Club has funded this program for over10 years. Thank you Club Merrylands Bowling. Hilltop Road appreciates your continued support for our school and the local area.

Year 6 First Forward

On Thursday 17th August, Year 6 students and teachers attended the Nirimba Campus for the day. A tour was conducted and students were provided with information about course options available for future careers. The students also experienced different lessons in coding, medical science and languages (Spanish). I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff for providing the students with such a wonderful opportunity.

Hip Hop Disco

Please see below the details for the upcoming disco being held tomorrow:

When: Thursday 7th September

Where: School hall

Theme: Hip Hop

Cost: $5.00 (includes entry fee and drink)

Times: K-2 from 4.30-6.00pm and Years 3-6 from 6.30-8.00pm

NB: Canteen facilities will also be available

Swimming Scheme

Thank you to the Year Two and Year Three families who have secured a valuable place in our School Swimming Scheme. It is pleasing to see so many families committed to ensuring their children learn valuable water safety and survival swimming techniques. My thanks to our dedicated teachers who facilitate this valuable program in conjunction with the Department of Education Sports and Recreation unit.

Our Debating Team

On Thursday 31st August, our debating team hosted a debate with Guilford Public School. The topic was ‘School age students must play sports’. Our student’s argued the affirmative and presented a strong argument, however, Granville Public School won the debate on the day Congratulations to our debaters who have developed their confidence and delivery throughout 2017.

Thank you Miss Harris for guiding and supporting the debating program at our school.

Colour Run Update

A big thank you to all of the students who took part in the Colour Run and supported this fundraising event for our school. As advertised, the money raised will go towards the purchase of technology to be utilised in the classroom. Our school is very fortunate to facilitate the one-to one laptop program and providing a wide range of technologies to ensure our students are connected and active global citizens.

However, it was disappointing to note that only 40% of our families supported this initiative by collecting sponsorship money or donations. I am hoping next year’s event will receive a better response from the community.

Year Two Taronga Zoo Excursion

On Tuesday 22nd August, Year 2 went on an excursion to Taronga Zoo and had a fantastic day. They 2 watched the seal show and enjoyed how Murphy and Bondi did a flip in the water and splashed everyone watching in the front. They also visited the new tiger trek plane and went inside a pretend plane and flew over to Sumatra! The doors opened and Year 2 arrived to Sumatra to see the strong and beautiful tigers. The students walked down to watch the bird show. The view was amazing and they could see the Opera house in the background. Throughout the day the students walked around and saw the giraffes, the elephants and went inside to see the reptiles. Everyone had a great day and really enjoyed their visit to the zoo.

Visiting Schools

On Monday 28th August, sixteen teachers from Newport Public School and three teachers from Dundas Public School visited Hilltop Road. They visited a variety of classrooms and viewed Project Based Learning, Socratic Seminars and Maths Groups. The teachers were impressed with the way Learning Intentions and Success Criteria (LISC) were imbedded in each lesson and how the use of Seesaw enhances the connection between home and school. Lots of questions were asked and quality discussions took place. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the teachers who willingly open up their classroom to allow visitors into their learning environment

K-2 Athletics Carnival

On Friday 25th August, our annual K-2 Athletics Carnival was held. This was a great day for our students and families as they ran in their age race and engaged in a wide variety of sporting experiences. Thank you to Mrs Baddour and K-2 staff for organising such a fun day for everyone.

Thank you to the P&C for organising and cooking a sausage sizzle lunch for our K-2 families.

Education Change Maker Conference

On Wednesday 30th August, the executive team attended a conference at Granville East Public School. The focus for the day was looking at innovative practices in teaching, ways to scaffold and implement new ideas and the importance of student agency in our schools. The executive team came away with some new ideas to trial and implement at Hilltop Road, that will make a difference to our students. Thank you to Granville East Public School for inviting Hilltop to this event.

Year 3 PBL Exhibition

On Thursday 31st August, Year 3 held their PBL photographic exhibition titled, Many Faces. The students looked at visual literacy and the art of successful portraits in photography. Members of our community, past and present, were interviewed and their stories were presented as an annotation alongside their photo. The students did an amazing job with their final display and the exhibition was a huge success. A big thank you to Miss Rowley, Mrs Boustani, Mrs Longe, Mrs Kamas and Mr Hall-Watson for providing such a wonderful opportunity for our students.

Father's Day stall

Thank you to our wonderful parents who put together the annual Father’s Day stall, which was held on Thursday ,31st August. Our children greatly appreciated the efforts of the team who purchased, wrapped and sold gifts at the stall. Your hard work ensured hundreds of our children had the opportunity to give their dad, or a special person in

their life, a great gift on Father’s Day.

Jersey Day

On Friday, 1st September, Hilltop Road supported Jersey Day and the students wore their favourite team jersey to school. Jersey Day is held every year to raise awareness for organ donation. A big thank you to everyone who supported this special event.

Congratulations Last Saturday, Dilan, Ethan, Hannah and Adnan represented Hilltop Road Public School at the All Schools Taekwondo Tournament held at Barker College, situated in Hornsby. All students performed well and secured a number of gold, silver and bronze medals. Well done, Dilan, Ethan and Hannah and Adnan.

Canberra PACER Excursion Our Year 5 students recently attended an education tour of the national capital. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $20.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion. Premiers Reading Challenge This year students from Kindergarten to Year 6 were encouraged during library lessons to participate in the Premiers Reading Challenge. The challenge aims to encourage a love of reading, for leisure and pleasure, in students and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. This year Hilltop Road had 374 students from Kindergarten through to Year 6 complete the challenge successfully. Well done to these students.

Early arrivals An increasing number of students are arriving at school before 8.00am each morning. Students are not supervised by a teacher until 8.30am, when the bell goes and a teacher is on playground duty. It is not advised to leave your children unattended in the school grounds before 8.30am, especially when some children leave and go to the corner shop. The Before and After School Care is a service provided on our school site that is open from 7.00am daily. SASS Recognition Week This week is SASS Recognition week. The staff, students and parents greatly appreciate the dedication, skills, knowledge and efforts of our valuable SASS staff. Our school would not run smoothly without their assistance. Thank you to our amazing SASS team, Mrs Nazerina Pandurevic, Mrs Gail Bennett, Mrs Anne Bennett, Mrs Lianne Andrews, Mrs Joyce Doust, , Mrs Karen Chapman, Mrs Robyn Hood, Mrs Sandra Stewart, Mrs Martha Lahood, Mrs Madonna Maroun, Miss Rhiannon Lusty, Mr Martin, Mr Lavery, Miss Catherine and Mrs Whale. Rescheduled Photos Due to high winds, our whole school, SRC and Year 6 photos will be scheduled for an alternate date this term or early next term. Have a good week. Regards, Natalie See

Diary Dates

Term 3

Students Event Date K-6 students Disco Thursday 7

September

Kinder students Parramatta Farmer’s Market excursion Friday 8 September

Year 5 and 6 students

Swimming Scheme Mon 11- Fri 22 September

Kinder students Parramatta Farmer’s Market excursion Friday 15 September

Selected students CTA performance evening Tuesday 12 September

K-6 students End of Term 3 Friday 22 September