PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers,

What a tremendous start we have had to Term 3 here at Hillsborough Public School. Teaching and learning is in full swing and our students and teachers have embraced the enhancements made to the school over the mid-year break. Classrooms have had new blinds installed, we have had lockers installed in our Stage 2 bag rooms, flexible learning furniture is being used in every classroom and we have begun planning for improvements to our playground. Staffing Update It is with a mixture of great excitement and sadness that I inform our community that Mrs Pike will have her last day of teaching 4/5P on Friday, 31 July 2020. Mrs Pike advised me late last week that she has made the decision to follow her long standing passion, for assisting young people, in a new direction. She has accepted a position with another departmental agency, where she will be able to make a difference in the lives of children who are disadvantaged or at risk. This position commences on Monday, 3 August 2020. Recruitment for a new teacher in 4/5P began in earnest last week and I am pleased to advise you that Mrs Kathy Sullivan will begin teaching the class from Monday, 3 August 2020. Mrs Sullivan comes to us from Garden Suburb Public School, where she has gained experience teaching Stage 2 and Stage 3. We welcome Mrs Sullivan to our school community. While this is terribly sad and disappointing news for us here at Hillsborough Public School, it is exciting news for Mrs Pike, who has not made the decision to change careers lightly. The impact that Mrs Pike has made in the lives of students, staff and families of HPS will remain for years to come. I would personally like to thank Mrs Pike for all that she has contributed to our learning community over the past 6 years. While I have only had the privilege of working with Tahnee for a short period of time, I have learnt that her passion, commitment and dedication that she has towards young people will hold her in good stead for the role she is about to undertake. Tahnee’s warmth, generosity, kindness and compassion makes her an ideal fit for her new career and I know that you will join with me in wishing Mrs Pike all the very best as she takes the brave leap towards following her heart and her passion. At the very end of Term 2 a merit selection process was conducted for our vacant assistant principal position. A panel comprising of a representative from the teaching staff, a community representative from the P&C, a representative from the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group, a representative from the Director of Educational Leadership and myself conducted the process. After rigorous deliberations, I am pleased to advise that Miss Teagan Doosey has been appointed to the position and will commence the role in Term 4. Miss Doosey is a substantive assistant principal at Shortland Public School and she will bring with her a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with our community. Mrs Mills will remain in the role of assistant principal for the duration of 2020. We thank Mrs Mills for the exceptional work she has done as assistant principal at our school and look forward to her continuing in the role and supporting our staff, students and community in that capacity for the remainder of 2020. Issues at school I would like to remind our community to contact the school if there are any issues or concerns that you have regarding the education and wellbeing of your children. It is incredibly important that we are informed of any

Term 3 Week 2 29 July 2020

 

 

niggling issues, or significant issues, in a timely manner so that we can address them. The first port of call for any issue is the classroom teacher. We welcome and encourage you to call the office on 49435695, where Mrs House and Mrs Montgomery will put you in contact with the teacher. The classroom teacher will address the immediate concern and make a record of the course of action they have taken. The classroom teacher will support you and your child through any issues and may refer matter to the assistant principal, as required. If the teacher is unable to resolve the issue, please ask to speak to one of our assistant principals. Mrs Mills - Early Stage 1 & Stage 1 Mrs Miller & Miss Oosterveen – Stage 2 Mr Scott – Stage 3 The role of the assistant principal is to investigate any issues, report the concerns to me and make plans to support students and families. Assistant principals also communicate plans and courses of action to the whole staff. The assistant principals will support classroom teachers, students and families to resolve issues. If these actions do not resolve the issue, please ask to speak directly to me. Occasionally a meeting with the classroom teacher, assistant principal, learning and support teacher and me may be required. Please know that we can only assist when we are aware of issues and we encourage you to speak with your children about reporting their worries or concerns to a teacher in a timely manner. We are always seeking ways to improve our service delivery to our community and value the input and feedback you provide. Enrolling Now If your child is turning 5 on or before 31 July, 2021 and you are interested in a possible Kindergarten enrolment, please contact our friendly office staff on 49435695 to discuss enrolment procedures. We are also currently accepting enrolments for all grades in 2020. If you know of any families seeking enrolment, please encourage them to contact the school so that we can provide them with all the information they need to begin the enrolment process. Cassie Bate-Barnier

Principal

DATES TO REMEMBER ASSEMBLY

This week’s assembly will be an online presenta on 

in each class room. There will not   be a class  item 

this week. 

Notes Sent home

ICAS Test

4/5P Staff Update

 

25—27 August  Book Fair 

 23 September  Cultural Day 

25 September  Last day of Term 3 

12 October  Term 4 Begins 

   

   

 

 

 

P&C

The next P&C mee ng will be 

Monday 3 August 2020 at 

6.30pm. This will be a zoom 

mee ng. 

ALL WELCOME TO ATTEND! 

KH   1D   1M Seth C 

Tahlia D 

2S Sophie A 

Mason G 

2/3M Stella M 

Tristan P 

3/4A Siena T 

Ellouise A 

3/4M Jay H 

Stella T 

4/5P  

5/6S Neve K 

Chloe C 

5/6W Cody S,  Remi D  

Tom B from Mr 

  

 Sco  

   

 

 

 

25 Nights Milla G & Isha V 

50 Nights Isabella H 

75 Nights Bailey A & Sophie B 

125 Nights Stella T & Isaac L 

150 Nights Oscar C & Abigail B 

175 Nights Vesper B 

200 Nights Jack B 

100 Nights Violet B & Isabella C 

 

 

 

 

 

Farewell Mrs Pike

 

As men oned  previously  in  the  newsle er, Mrs  Pike  is  taking  up  an  opportunity  to  follow  her 

passion and work with young people  in a different government department. Mrs Pike’s colleagues 

have put together a reflec on of their  me teaching together.  

Mrs Pike started teaching at HPS when her now 14 year old daughter, Kyah was in Kindergarten. If 

the walls could talk they could tell you many, many funny and outrageous stories about Mrs Pike 

and her shenanigans. However, thankfully they cannot, so we will have to do the sharing instead. 

In 2011, Mrs Pike ini ally worked in the library, then moved briefly onto Year 1 before later moving 

to the Primary classes where her love, talent and passion for sport could thrive. Mrs Pike, who was 

once a professional surfer,  is a fierce compe tor and took great pride  in coaching girls’ and boys’ 

cricket and soccer teams. One of her career highlights was helping girls realise and find their own 

strength and determina on  in such contact sports and also  taking a  large group of students and 

their families to see the Socceroos play. Students got to walk the field and take in the atmosphere, 

which she described as surreal. Mrs Pike’s passion for sport has enabled many, many classes over 

the  years  to  engage  in  exci ng  and  different  sports  ac vi es  that  teachers  and  students would 

otherwise  not  have  experienced.  Some  of  these  sports  are  orienteering,  table  tennis,  AFL, 

basketball and gymnas cs. These great programs were also heavily subsidised by the Government 

to make  it affordable for students to par cipate and they o en donated goods to the school and 

students. As a  result of one  ini a ve, our hall currently houses several  table  tennis  tables which 

have been well loved over the years. 

Mrs Pike dedicated lots of  me over the years to gardening and growing fruit and vegetables within 

the  school  gardens. Mrs  Pike  and  the  school  community  spent many  hours  over  several  years 

 

 

developing  gardens  and  growing  produce  to  sell  back  to  the  community  and  raise  funds  for 

different purposes.  

Did you know that Mrs Pike has shaved her head  in front of the HPS school community not once, 

but twice?! The first  me Mrs Pike had shoulder length hair and decided to shave it off to support a 

close  friend who was going through cancer treatment. The whole school had an  incredible  ‘Crazy 

Hair Day’ and Mrs Miller took great pleasure in cu ng off Mrs Pike’s coloured pig tails and shaving 

her head!  

Unfortunately,  shaving  heads  is  not Mrs Miller’s  forte  and Mrs  Pike 

came off second best with a very uneven shave and several bald spots! 

Mrs Pike grew her hair back, but in typical style, when she heard about 

an  illness of  a past  student  from HPS  also ba ling  cancer,  she did  it 

again (she even trusted Mrs Miller again, this  me  with new clippers!) 

and  helped  raise  awareness  and  support  for  the  student,  her  family 

and friends.  

Over  her  career  at HPS, Mrs  Pike  has  been  spo ed  spor ng  several 

injuries. Although she loves a good sing along Karaoke style; Mrs Pike’s 

injuries have been mostly  spor ng  related and  she has worn  several 

moon boots, had crutches, s tches and was once knocked out cold  in 

the back oval by a flying soccer ball.  

Her ego, however, suffered the biggest injury when she and her class of 2018 lost the ‘Stage 2 Our 

Kitchen Rules’  cook‐off  challenge. Mrs Pike and her 4/5P  class me culously prepped, baked and 

fried incredible food with their eyes set heavily on winning the highly sought a er prize and status 

of being  crowned OKR  champions.  To  this day, Mrs Pike  s ll  struggles  to  acknowledge  that  the 

 

 

3/4M  class of 2018  (now Year 5 and 6), who  cleverly played  to Mrs 

Farrell’s weakness and made a tradi onal Vietnamese coffee, took the 

win. Those  students and  their  teacher  s ll claim bragging  rights and 

have the trophy in their possession.  

Mrs Pike  is and always will be a  larrikin. There was not a Book Week 

parade  that  went  by  where  Mrs  Pike  did  not  delight  us  in  some 

outrageous ou it (who can forget the Captain Underpants a re?!), a 

camp that was not filled with playful pranks (Stage 3 could tell you all 

about how Mr Hansen  and Mrs Pike  set up Mrs Miller with  several 

wombat pranks!) and a day  that would go by where either  students 

and/or  teachers were not  in fits of  laughter  from one of Mrs Pike’s 

jokes or comments from her warped sense of humour.  

If Mrs Pike isn’t saving lives at the swimming carnival, she was having 

her husband the Police Officer come  in and arrest Mr Purdon  (Pre 2013 HPS Principal) under the 

COLA as a joke, much to the students’ horror/amusement, or taking students to sport or deba ng 

ac vi es.  

Over the nine years Mrs Pike has been at HPS the one thing she has done is have a major impact on 

students’  lives. She has shown great passion,  innova on and dedica on  to  the profession and  to 

our  school. Mrs Pike has always had an  interest  in  the mental health of young people, and  it  is 

wonderful  to  see  her  follow  her  heart  and  con nue  to  support  children  who  need  her  care, 

empathy and warmth. 

Mrs Pike will be greatly missed by the students, staff and community of HPS and we thank her for 

all that she has contributed  to our great school over the years. We  thank her  for  the  laughs,  the 

dedica on and the love that she has given us all. We wish her all the very best in her new journey 

and for the future.