R-12 Open Night
Our very first Hallett Cove School R-12 Open Night on 27 March was a huge success!
Our kitchens were buzzing as our Food and Hospitality students cooked up a storm for our visitors (rumour has it the sliders were next level!), music filled the air from our very talented Ivory Waves and Retilix and families were blown away by our Junior and High School dance groups!
Families could wander at their own pace or join one of our guided tours and not only did we get the opportunity to show our school off to prospective families but we got to see our school shine!
Easter Surprises
At the end of last term we were visited by the Hallett Cove School Holiday Bunny and he left plenty of treats behind!
This year our Seniors wanted to get involved so they traded off with the Junior School to hide each others eggs!
Our Year 12’s had all of recess to find the eggs hidden by our Year 5 and 6 classes across the Senior School, then at lunch time, the Junior School students had to find all the egg tokens hidden around the Junior School by our Year 12’s and exchange them for some holiday treats!
This year we also had two very special golden eggs in the Junior School and the hunters won an extra special treat!
Our Easter Raffle was also a big hit with our community raising over $1100 for projects across the school. We must say a huge thank you to all the local businesses who donated to our raffle including Harcourts Plus Hallett Cove, Little Love Boutique, Woolworths Hallett Cove, The Corner Coffee Shop, Cheffy Chelbys, Essential Beauty Hallett Cove and HCS families and staff.
Anzac Day
In April we had the honour of being joined by Captain Benjamin Kirk and Private Tiffany Power from the Australian Army to talk to our students about Anzac Day.
Private Power spoke to our Junior School about what Anzac Day means and the importance of celebrating our heroes. Our little ones loved hearing about how we celebrate Anzac Day and were intent listeners, even adding their own stories and asking plenty of questions!
Captain Kirk spoke to our High School students about the history of Anzac Day, explaining what happened in Gallipoli and shared stories of soldiers who bravely fought for their country.
Captain Kirk and Private Power then joined our SRC for a morning tea where we presented them with a small token of our thanks and enjoyed Anzac biscuits and Vegemite scrolls freshly made by Mr King and Ms Fletchers Year 9 Fun, Food and Health class.
On Anzac Day, Hallett Cove School was proudly represented at the ANZAC Cove Dawn Service by School Captains, Elysia and Rhys.
On behalf of the entire Hallett Cove School community, they showed their appreciation and respect to the ANZAC’s by laying a wreath, and reading the poem Flanders Fields.
Indigenous Professional Development
We recently had the opportunity for Azra Coombe, a Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna, and Narungga educator, come to Hallett Cove School to talk about effective cultural immersion within the classroom. As a teacher herself, Azra has been working with our First Nations students for 15 years.
Azra’s focus was for Hallett Cove School staff to understand and build their own skills and confidence when including First Nations perspectives in their classroom setting. She had a range of activities for us to do, including asking us to be vulnerable, as we often ask our students to be, with a fun ‘Just Dance’ and area of study specific conversations about how we can best support our First Nations students.
Azra offered an authentic insight into our departments’ movement towards Cultural Responsiveness with discussions around the concepts of ‘Knowing, Doing, and Being’ and gave our staff some great tools to help with their own planning and creating authentic opportunities.
Staff vs. Students
Our High School students rounded off the term with the first Staff vs Students of 2024!
They managed to squeeze in three games over lunch and it was the closest it has ever been! Staff won the first game 13-10, students won the second 12-10 and the buzzer cut the last game short at 3-2 to the staff!
While the students put in all their effort, MVP goes to groundskeeper Greg who dusted off the sneakers and dressed for the occasion to show us what he was made of!
Come N Try Surfing
A group of Year 7 girls grabbed the last of the sunshine and warmer weather in April and headed down to the beach for a very exciting Come ‘n’ Try surfing experience.
The weather was so perfect for them and the waves were gentle, so by the end of the session everyone was able to stand up and ride the waves like a pro!
Year 3 Museum Excursion
A few weeks ago our two Year 3 classes visited the South Australia Museum in Adelaide. The day started out a little differently than planned with a surprise train strike but they soon got on track and ventured deep into the amazing exhibits.
As part of their Earth Sciences topic here at school they have been learning about rock, minerals, soils and fossils and how Indigenous Australians once used these items to make items such as tools, weapons and even face paint.
They headed straight for the unbelievable collection of crystals, minerals, rocks and fossils where they learnt about all the beautiful things that can be found in the ground! They also headed to the multi level Aboriginal exhibit to see all the rocks and minerals in action as import parts of Indigenous life.
Ella in Japan
Over the April holidays, Year 10 student Ella Griggs, embarked on an incredible journey to Japan with a group of other SA school students who had won the prestigious Mishima Scholarship.
Ella stayed with a local family close to the school and learnt how to make all sorts of traditional Japanese food as well as getting an in depth experience of everyday Japanese life.
During her amazing stay she got to experience the vibrant city life of Tokyo, the serene magic of Hakone National Park, stunning views of Mount Fuji, and the incredible cherry blossoms that were in full bloom!
After a few days of travelling Ella went to school to experience a Japanese High School. She was greeted by a heart warming welcome ceremony and was introduced to the Principal and the Mishima School students who will be visiting HCS in 2025.
At the end of her trip, Ella presented a heartfelt farewell to a supportive group of teachers, host parents and friends and shared one last meal with old friends and new to celebrate an amazing experience, one we’re sure, she will never forget.
Pupil Free Day
The staff at Hallett Cove School kicked off Term 2 with a lovely sunny, if a bit chilly, morning at Glenthorne National Park.
After a good catch up after the holidays, we spent the morning split into groups and working on some very serious team building activities on the swings and climbing frames of the nature play. In the absence of children, it seems we became the children.
Moving back to school for the second session of the day, we refocussed ourselves onto our new school values once more. If you came to our Parent Teacher Interviews at the end of last term you may have been asked about what values are important to you and what should be important to the school.
We spent the rest of the day unpacking those values and feedback and worked out what each value looks like at Hallett Cove School and how they impact our community.
Our Purpose and Values Reference group has plenty of work to do over the coming weeks, but we are one step closer to rediscovering who we are as a school and what we want to stand for.
Mid-Year Receptions
The first Friday of the term, we were joined by the bravest of little people as they took their first steps into school!
Our new mid-year Receptions and their parents joined us for their first morning of school ever!
While their parents were distracted getting to know all about our HCS community, our newest students had the opportunity get to know each other and their new teacher Ms McKenzie. Ms McKenzie is also new to HCS and is so excited to not only joining an amazing Early Years Team but to be teaching our newest students!
The little people will be joining us every Friday of this term so keep an eye out for more of their Early Years adventures!
Longest Kick
In honour of the Showdown on 2 May, we had a longest kick competition for our students to show off their skills! From our littlest to our biggest, everyone had a go to plenty of cheers from the by standers!
We had great results with a boys and girls title from each year level and the winners each taking home a Port or Crows donut!
Even Mr Hall got in on the action but sadly couldn’t break the staff record set by Mr Duguid!
Amanda Rishworth Visit
In Week 1 we had the pleasure of hosting Hon Amanda Rishworth MP at a morning tea to celebrate some of our amazing student volunteers.
Amanda joined us to present certificates to students who have been outstanding volunteers either in the wider community or at HCS, thank our Student Leadership Team on their commitment to becoming the leaders of tomorrow and to say thank you to Student Captains, Elysia Mamosy and Rhys Cluderay for their reading at the Dawn Service on Anzac Day.
Our Student Leaders were thrilled to have the opportunity to sit with Amanda and have a chat about what she loves about her role, what are the most challenging aspects and what it takes to become a great leader. Amanda shared plenty of pearls of wisdom that hopefully inspire our students onto great things.
Walk to School
Last Friday was a great morning to walk to school for National Walk Safely to school Day!
Walking to school is the perfect way to start the day by getting some exercise and fresh air, ready to start school with a clear mind!
Mothers Day
Our wonderful Parent & Friends Committee once again held a Mother’s Day stall for our Junior School students to treat mum.
Gifts ranged from $1-5 and we had everything from candles, lip balm and earrings to drink bottles and reed diffusers. Plenty of options for all the special mothers or mother figures in our lives.
They managed to raise nearly $400 that will go towards education improvement projects across the Junior School.
International Update
It’s a busy and exciting term for our international students!
A recent excursion to the Adelaide Careers & Employment Expo offered a wealth of opportunities for networking, exploring, and career planning Aussie style.
It’s fantastic that the new students also got to discover such diverse places like Victor Harbour, the city centre, and Urimbirra Wildlife Park. Some students are already camping in the Aussie bush down at Second Valley, whilst others are canoeing on the Murray River and another group are on a Rock Climbing Camp. All students have their own Outback Camp in the next week followed by some local excursions. Semester change over will allow the students to try another new round of diverse subjects offered by the school.
In two weeks time, students from Vietnam will arrive for a five week stay. For Term 3, we are expecting our biggest post-COVID intake with 32 new students to join our existing 20 students.
Previous or new homestays are always welcome by contacting the school.
Our Junior School Breakfast Club is in full swing this term with plenty of toast, cereal and on Fridays, pancakes, to go around!
Mr Hollick and Belinda are cooking up a storm every weekday starting at 8:10am, so make sure you pop in to start the day with a tummy full of brain food!
Located under the Early Years Pergola, Breakfast Club is free to all Junior School students.
Fruit, Veg and Bread
Hallett Cove School will be continuing with Fruit, Veg and Bread next year. We are fortunate to receive donations of fruit, vegetables and bread from local businesses and charities.
Each even week of term, we will have fruit and vegetables available on Monday afternoons, and every Thursday we have bread available outside the Early Years for families to collect.
Phone Policy and Yondr Pouches
Thank you to all of our students and families for their support with implementing the South Australian Government ban on mobile phones in schools in 2023.
The use of Yondr pouches at Hallett Cove School made an immediate impact on phone use and students are happily engaging in learning, during class and at break times.
Your ongoing support with encouraging your child to follow our phone policy is appreciated.
Hallett Cove School aims to take advantage of the reach and instantaneous nature of social media to communicate with our families.
Social Media
We have long had a regularly updated Facebook page and last year we added Instagram to our media presence. Links to all our pages are included at the bottom of this page.
Along with our main page, we have also created two additional Facebook pages for particular audience members of our community:
- Hallett Cove Career Pathways: To keep parents and students informed of career information and opportunities through Hallett Cove School.
- Hallett Cove School Community Announcements: To keep parents, students and the wider community informed about education sessions and educational opportunities, to raise public awareness around the current trends in society and provide information about upcoming events and opportunities.
Parents and Friends
Hallett Cove School values the contribution of our community and we encourage any of our parents and friend to consider joining the Parents and Friends Group (P&F) in 2024.
The P&F support key functions in the school. In 2023, our P&F have held a Sports Day stall, Harmony Day stall, Quiz Night and parents are assisting in managing our Street Libraries (outside the Vegetable Garden and Early Years Centre) and organising our inaugural Quiz Night.
Please email info@hcs.sa.edu.au if you are interested in joining P&F and the school will put you in contact with our P&F representative and our Volunteer Coordinator.
Kiss and Drop Areas
When dropping off/picking up your child(ren), please remember that the middle lane (Gledsdale Road Kiss and Drop) and right lane (Sanderson Road Kiss and Drop) should not be used as a waiting/parking lane.
Local councils are often out and about at schools ensuring the community use these spaces safely.
SchoolTV
Hallett Cove School is pleased to provide SchoolTV to our community. SchoolTV is an all-in-one resource for the community aimed to offer parents a fresh approach to the concerns and pressures faced by Australian children.
SchoolTV is a unique online resource delivering powerful and credible information to empower parents with the skills to address these concerns and raise happy, well and resilient children.
You can access the bank of SchoolTV resources via our website
Feedback and Suggestions
As always, should you have any feedback or suggestions on how we can continue to further the quality of experience we offer our community, I welcome your contact via email, phone or in person.
Yours Sincerely,
Tony Hall
Principal
A little bit more…
Materials and Service Charges and Semester 1 subject charges are now overdue.
If you have an outstanding account with no active payment plan in place, please contact the Finance Team on (08) 8392 1020, option 2.
If you believe you may be eligable for a school, please apply as soon as possible at https://www.education.sa.gov.au/parents-and-families/financial-support-and-concessions/school-card
or contact the Finance Team for assistance.