Hills Times - 2024 - Term 1 - Edition 1

As we embark on another academic year filled with promise and potential, I am honoured to address you in my final year as your Principal. It is with a mix of nostalgia and anticipation that I share some exciting updates and future projects that will shape the journey of our beloved institution.

College Projects Adventure Playground: Unleashing Creativity and Imagination

Week 3 marks the commencement of a transformative venture that will redefine our campus experience—the construction of the College’s Primary School Adventure Playground. This innovative space is not just a playground; it's a realm where creativity and imagination come to life. Students will soon have a vibrant and dynamic environment that encourages exploration, social interaction, and, most importantly, fun. The Adventure Playground is a testament to our commitment to holistic education, providing a space where physical activity and imaginative play intertwine.

Harmony in Notes: The Music Centre Refurbishment

In sync with our commitment to fostering talent, we are thrilled to announce the commencement of the refurbishment of our Music Centre. Week 3 will witness the beginning of a project aimed at creating an acoustic haven for our budding musicians. The upgraded Music Centre on the top floor of the Resource Centre will not only enhance the learning experience but also provide a platform for our students to express themselves through the universal language of music. We look forward to unveiling a space that resonates with harmony, both in notes and in spirit.

Looking Ahead: Future Projects to Ignite Passion and Excellence

While we celebrate the present transformations, we also set our sights on the future, envisioning a campus that continues to inspire and facilitate excellence. I am delighted to share our plans for a state-of-the-art Health and Physical Education Centre, complete with a multi-purpose court and a stage area. This ambitious project aims to promote well-rounded development, emphasizing the importance of physical fitness and performing arts. The envisioned facility will be a hub for diverse activities, fostering teamwork, discipline, and self-expression.

As I bid farewell at the end of this academic year, I am filled with immense gratitude for the privilege of serving as your Principal over 14 years. The growth and achievements of our students, the dedication of our staff, and the unwavering support from our community have made this journey truly memorable.

Together, let us embrace the exciting transformations ahead and continue to nurture the spirit of excellence that defines our institution. I am confident that, under new leadership, Hills College will soar to even greater heights in the years ahead.

Thank you for entrusting me with the honour of leading this extraordinary community. Here's to a year of innovation, growth, and lasting memories.

Mr Kevin Lynch
Principal
Hills International College

A huge welcome back to our 2024 school year!

I hope all our College families had a restful break and are looking forward to an amazing year at Hills International College. I thank Mr Stuart Ablitt who greatly assisted in my absence during the first week to ensure a smooth transition back into school for our students and families. I was largely absent in the first week with COVID, which I am extremely disappointed with! The first week is usually spent reacquainting with our students and ensuring our new College members are settling into the rhythms and routines of Hills as well as ensuring our processes are running smoothly. I have a week to catch up!

The start of the school year generally means your child will be navigating many new things in the next few weeks. This probably includes joining a new cohort in new classes, with new teachers and new expectations. As such, I thought I would share some insight from Dr Helen Street, founder of the Positive Schools Initiative.

It’s understandable if some of these ‘new things’ cause anxiety for your child… and for you. For example, your child might be upset their best friend is in another class, or they don’t yet have their timetable.

This is OK.

Supporting your child’s wellbeing and resilience is all about guiding and cheering them to effectively understand, manage, and embrace change.

Here are some suggestions to help pave the way over the next few weeks.

1. Listen to your child’s concerns. This means letting them know you understand how they feel, and what they are concerned about.
2. Honour their thoughts and feelings. Acknowledge and help your child name their feelings and understand their thoughts. Don’t try and cheer them out of their concerns straight away. Understanding and awareness are key.
3. Cheer them on with confidence. Don’t rush to offer solutions or try and change things. Begin with a show of confidence in your child’s ability to deal with change themselves. Let them know you have faith in them.
4. Check your own beliefs, thoughts, and feelings. The more assured and positive you are about the school year, the safer and more confident your child will feel. Your attitude will guide your child’s attitude, whether you try to hide it or not.
5. Acknowledge if it matters, it matters. Make sure you don’t unintentionally minimise your child’s concerns. We can understand how important something is, without necessarily jumping to change it.
6. Play the long game. It takes time to adjust well to change. This is especially true if the change seems scary or unwanted. Many children will need several weeks to establish new friendships and feel authentically part of their classes. But when they take this time, good things happen. Tell your child that you appreciate the importance of their concerns and agree to check in again in two to three weeks to see how things are going.

Finally, keep in mind that managing change takes energy. As does getting up early, spending lots of time with others, and learning lots of new things. Whatever their age or stage, children and teens need plenty of time to rest, recover, and re-energise during the first days of term.

Wishing all parents, students, and school staff a fabulous start to a fabulous year ahead!

Mr Matthew Noel
Head of Primary

matt.noel@hills.qld.edu.au

Primary Leadership team

Our 2024 Primary Leadership Team consists of:

Primary Captains- Caoimhe Stone and Vyass Nadiminti

Primary Vice Captains- Isabella Gabriel and Tyler Davidson

House Captains- Levi Pham and Piper Musgrave

Evie Panther and Zoey McGuiness Cleo McLaren and Bane Laurie Annabelle Easter and William Lansky

Our Captains will be inspirational in ensuring students' voices and will play active roles in supporting their Primary peer's wellbeing and school involvement. The Primary Captains meet with the Head of Primary weekly and look over school policy and set goals and initiatives to enhance the Primary school. Congratulations to our 2024 Primary Captains!

Welcome new Staff and Students

This year, including our Preppies, we welcomed 102 new students. It has been a joy seeing them settling in so beautifully and showing pride in their school.

We warmly welcome our new Hills College Primary Staff;

Natalie Weaver, Prep
Angela Hall, Year 1C
Taleaha Dempsey, Year 2B
Kristie Macpherson, Year 3A
Juliet Waud, Year 6A
Kyle Moffett, Year 3-5 H/PE
Teresa Zheng, Prep -Year 3 Chinese

We are also pleased to announce that Mrs Rachel Carter will be our new Digital Technologies, P-6, and will join us in Week 4 of this term.

Construction progress and updates

The Primary Playground has been severely delayed. The College and builder are desperate to see the wet weather disappear! Works on the upper floor of the Resource Centre will commence on Monday 5 February and this is expected to take two months.

Our shade sail has been removed, and this impacts our assembly service. In the interim, we will still acknowledge student achievement through L.A.W.S. Awards and this will be carried out as a Year level approach during the school day.

The Unisex toilets are one week behind schedule, and these should be finished by Week 4.

We are expecting some disruption for a short period of time for families accessing the Prep parking area. We will provide some helpful advice to ensure a smooth transition to and from this location when a time frame is locked in.

Friendly reminders

Parking

Families, the Hills Early Learning Centre has kindly requested that families not park in this space. To the point, families who drop off their child at the HELC and then drop a sibling off at Hills. Many thanks for your attendance to this matter.

Families on site

A warm reminder that families should not be onsite before 3.00pm. Early arrivals can impact the valuable time that teachers use for classroom activities and preparations. It can also cause interruptions to the daily routine for students if they see you at the window or outside their classroom, before 3.00pm.

To enhance the teaching and learning experience, we urge you to plan your arrival for pick-up within the designated time frame. If there are special circumstances or potential delays, please communicate with the school office in advance so that we can assist accordingly.

Primary Learning Maps

Our Primary Learning Map is a comprehensive and informative document that outlines the curriculum, goals, and objectives for each year level’s upcoming Unit of Inquiry. It is designed to provide a clear understanding of what your child will be learning and the skills they will be developing. Our goal is to ensure that every student has the opportunity to reach their full potential and succeed academically. This week, you should have received your child’s Learning Map for their first Unit of Inquiry.

Parent engagement is an essential component of your child's education. Studies have shown that when parents are actively involved in their child's education, it leads to better academic outcomes and a stronger sense of community. We encourage you to stay informed about what your child is learning, communicate with teachers, and participate in school events and activities. Embedded within the Primary Learning map are suggested parent engagement activities to further enhance the learning journey and strengthen the connection between home and school.

We understand that parenting can be challenging and time-consuming, but we assure you that even small efforts can have a significant impact on your child's education. Whether it's attending parent-teacher conferences, volunteering in the classroom, or simply checking in on your child's progress, your involvement is valued and appreciated.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me, or your child’s classroom teacher. We are committed to working together to ensure that your child receives the best education possible.

New Interactive Touch Screens

Over the last two weeks, our IT and Maintenance departments have been very busy in rolling out brand-new BenQ Touch Screens in our Prep - 3 classrooms. These state-of-the-art interactive displays are designed to create an immersive and collaborative learning experience for our students.

The BenQ Touch Screens are not just another piece of technology; they are a gateway to a world of interactive and dynamic education. With features like touch functionality, vibrant display, and user-friendly interfaces, these screens empower our teachers to bring lessons to life in ways we've never seen before.

Our Early Years teachers are buzzing with excitement as they explore the endless possibilities these interactive screens offer. The BenQ Touch Screens are not just tools; they are catalysts for creativity and engagement. Teachers are eager to incorporate these cutting-edge devices into their lessons, enhancing the learning experience for every student.

To ensure that our teachers make the most of these incredible tools, BenQ will be providing specialised training sessions. These sessions will equip our educators with the skills and knowledge needed to harness the full potential of the interactive displays, fostering an environment where curiosity and exploration thrive.

We eagerly await the immersive and enriching experiences that these new classroom devices bring with them.

Mr Stuart Ablitt
Deputy Head of Primary & Head of IB Programs

stuart.ablitt@hills.qld.edu.au

Lessons from beyond the classroom: Emotional Wellbeing

The start of the school year can be a very stressful time for many students. However, in the words of Albert Einstein “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it’s stupid." In other words, try your best to see your challenges as an opportunity for growth rather than something to be afraid of, and stop comparing yourself to others!

Our students are fortunate to have super approachable and caring supports at Hills, including our Heads of Year, our counsellor Ms Comerford, and Mr Pope (all pictured below). Our three Heads of Year are Mrs Ogoti (Year 7 and 8), Mrs Lee-Perkins (Year 9 and 10), and Mrs Parer (Year 11 and 12). Hills is a connected community, and because of this, we strongly encourage students to reach out to their teachers and fellow students while navigating the ups and downs of school life.

Speaking of school community; we asked members of the Hills family for their favourite strategies for fostering emotional wellbeing, and here’s what they had to say: Mrs Lee-Perkins and Mrs Parer emphasised the importance of staying active, and spending time with loved ones. They also suggested that while it may feel daunting to ask for help initially you will feel better afterwards if you do! Finally, they reinforced how crucial it is to use class and homework time productively – basically, “make future you, thankful for past-you."

A final idea which was echoed by Mrs Lee-Perkins, Mrs Parer, and our student contributor, Ryan Bar from Year 8, was “talk to your friends, (too)!”

We are super grateful to our teachers and peers for this wise and actionable advice, on how to support our emotional wellbeing on the daily, not just when times are tough.

With that said, we wish you all a fun, engaging and productive school year ahead!

Joshua Feeney, Lukyn Hytongue and Owen Eggart

Hills Reporting Team

Uniform Update

2024 has seen an absolutely excellent display of student integrity and diligence with regard to uniform standards. We're proud of how well the students are wearing their uniforms, and ensuring they are staying sun-safe in their hats while outside.

In order to help us ensure we are maintaining our high standard of presentation and safety, please ensure that:

Students have their formal hat with their formal uniform - naming of hats is essential, and we recommend using thick pen on the inside of the shell/brim rather than on the label/tag.
Students wear the correct shoes. Formal shoes are to be of a patent (shiny) leather, and not a plimsoll or crepe-sole style. Sports shoes should be shoes designed for running or cross training on a range of surfaces. For this reason, basketball shoes, flat soled shoes, and street/casual shoes are not appropriate.
Please ensure that excess jewellery is not worn, as this will be confiscated (for up to the end of the year).

If your child is not able to wear the correct uniform for any reason, please provide a note in their planner, or send a note or email to me or the Head of Year. We do ask that families make every effort to ensure that students have sufficient laundered uniforms for a full week of school, but we do understand that very occasionally this may not be possible.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. ben.pope@hills.qld.edu.au

Child Protection Policy and Behaviour Management Updates

By the end of next week, the College will have completed the initial stages of the annual review process for its key policies and procedures. After a consultation period last year involving staff, students (via the Student Council) and parents (via the Wellbeing Community), our new Behaviour Management Policy will be available. This is not a major departure, but does provide some clarification in some areas; you will not find anything unexpected in the new policy, as we stand firmly behind our approach to positive behaviour management that has seen our community display such great compassion and integrity.

Importantly, our Child Protection Policy has been updated, and this more detailed document will be associated with the following new documentation:

Child Protection Policy (containing the Child Risk Management Strategy): Available on our website
Child Protection Procedures
Complaints and Appeals Procedures: Available on our website
Forms for:
- Reporting a Child Safety Incident/Concern: This is for reporting potential harm/abuse of a person under 18.
- Reporting a Safety Incident: This is for reporting accidents or near misses
- Reporting a General Hazard: This is for reporting things that could cause an accident on-site
- Reporting a compliance concern: This is for reporting a matter that you think could break some other part of policy/legislation
- Reporting a Complaint or Dispute: This is for reporting dissatisfaction with a decision or process made by the College

If you have any questions about these policies or documents, please do not hesitate to contact me at ben.pope@hills.qld.edu.au

Please also remember that you can contact any of our Child Protection Officers (me, Mr Lynch, or Mrs Comerford) at any time to discuss a matter related to child protection. We will investigate any concern sensitively, completely, and in a timely fashion.