Exciting News!!!

Welcome back, everyone! It's fantastic to see such a smooth start to the term. We hope you had a restful break and are ready for an exciting few months ahead.

We have some incredible news to share with you today. We are thrilled to announce that Herdsmans Cove Primary School has been awarded a grant of $400,000 from the Commonwealth Schools Upgrade Fund! This grant will be instrumental in the development of a nature-based play area at the front of our school. Not only will this enrich our learning environment, but it will also be a wonderful addition to the Herdsmans Cove community, especially benefiting our early learners. We can't wait to see the positive impact it will have on our students' experiences.

A big thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to be members of our school association. Your support is invaluable. As an association, we will be actively engaging with local, state, and federal governments to advocate for further upgrades for our school and the broader community. Together, we can make a real difference in providing the best possible facilities and resources for our children's education.

Building a national picture of child health – Prep families only

From May 2024, our school, along with thousands of others across the country, will participate in the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

The AEDC is a teacher-completed census (similar to a questionnaire) which provides a comprehensive picture of how children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school.

The AEDC is an Australian Government Initiative and is completed nationally every three years.

Children don’t miss any class time while the AEDC is completed, and parents/carers don’t need to supply schools with any new information.

The data collected through the AEDC is used by schools, communities and governments to better understand children and families’ needs, and identify the services, resources and support they need.

AEDC data is reported at a school, community, state/territory and national level. AEDC results for individual children are not reported and the AEDC is not used as an individual diagnostic tool.

Some teachers have found that completing the AEDC made them more aware of the needs of individual children and their class, and that the data was useful for planning for transitions to Year 1 and developing programs. 

Participation in the AEDC is voluntary, however the AEDC relies on all schools with children in their first year of full-time school participating in the collection. Parents/carers don’t need to take any action unless they choose not to include their children in the census.

To find out more about the AEDC and how it is being used to help children and families visit: www.aedc.gov.au.

Stay tuned for more updates and exciting developments throughout the term. Let's make Term 2 one to remember!

Warm regards,

Tobin McColl, Principal

During Term 1, in Science, Prep were learning about ocean animals and their external features. To support this learning on Monday 6 May we went on an excursion to the Marine Discovery Centre in Woodbridge.

At the Marine Discovery Centre, we got to pat sharks and rays. In the touch tank area, we got to touch and hold starfish, hermit crabs and sea cucumbers and then make mini aquariums. At the end of the day we got to feed the fish. All the Prep students had the most amazing time and a highlight for most students was getting to pat the sharks. 

A special thank you to Miss Sutton, Danielle, Sharon and the parents that joined us on our excursion and made it such a fun day.

Congratulations to Scarlett, Clover, Alexis, Annalise, Isabella, Dakotah, Amelia and Shayla on representing Herdsmans Cove Primary School at the Champions Athletics Carnival on Wednesday 1 May at the Domain Athletics Centre.

The girls displayed wonderful sportsmanship and respect towards their competitors and did a fantastic job representing our school.

Well done to our relay team for placing 2nd in their event.

A special congratulations to Clover who has been selected to participate at the upcoming State Athletics Champsionship in St Leonards on Friday 10 May, competing against the best athletes in the State.  Clover will be participating in the 100 metre sprint and reserve for the relay team.

Starting on Monday 13 May, Herdsmans Cove Primary will be participating in the School Fire Education Program. This program is held regularly for Grade Prep to 6 students. Kinders will have their own age appropiate program delivered to them.

Our school photo day has been locked in for Tuesday 4 June.  More information will be sent home to parents in the coming weeks.  Parents will once again be able to order their photos on-line and family photos will be taken from 8.30 a.m. in the GP Room.

Our Swimming and Water Safety Program will begin on Monday 24 June and run through to the end of term, Friday 5 July at Oceana.  Permission/consent forms will be sent home to students in grade 3, 4, 5 and some identified grade 6 students shortly.  

Swimming caps will by provided by the school.

Thank you to everyone for supporting this important component of the school curriculum.

National Simultaneous Storytime is an annual event where a chosen story is read on the same day at the same time to students across Australia.

This year's Simultaneous Storytime will be on Wednesday 22 May at 12pm.

This year's book is called Bowerbird Blues written by Aura Parker.