11 Dec 2023
Principal's Message
Hello parents and carers and welcome to the Term 4 Week 9 newsletter -our last one for the year. We are wrapping up what has been an incredible 4 terms filled with joy, learning and of course the challenges and opportunities that make our school such a great place to be.
Staff Recognition
At this point in the year we have been able to also celebrate some achievements and signifficant milestones for our staff. On behalf of our school community I would like to thank these incredible professionals for their dedication to public education.
30 Years of Service: Gary Clayton
20 Years of Service: Sally Jackson
20 Years of Service: Andrew Petersen
Staff Awards
Metropolitan South Performance Network Award
for 2023: Neale Rudland
This award is presented by the Director Educational Leadership for the Girraween Network and recognises sigifficant contributions to the education sector, the citation reads; Neale holds responsibility for all aspects of student learning and wellbeing at The Hills School. He is a gifted teacher and exceptional special educator with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field. Neale is instrumental in the development of teacher quality and strives to improve how the school meets the needs of all students at every opportunity. Neale is known for his tireless pursuit of solutions for the most complex and unique learners. His deep listening and focused consideration leads to immeasurable successful outcomes for all students. He is a passionate advocate of knowing students well and recognises this as the foundation for exceptional education. Neale is known to all and by all students, staff and families because he makes a point of connecting and deeply understanding each individual. He has a determination to nd solutions in any circumstance that meets the collective need of each stakeholder. He combines wisdom, experience, care and service to diligently address the needs of the school community. Neale’s expertise is sort out by schools, networks and professionals to help guide and shape great teaching and leading practice. Neale is a worthy recipient of the Metropolitan South School Performance Network Awards for 2023.
Year 12 Graduates
We would like to congratulate our graduands of 2023; Joshua, Amelia, Riley, Farzad, Ethan and Habeel.
As with all of our graduands, there are many support people that ensure their journey has been a success and we are grateful for the contribution of family members, therapists and other support networks that all have made an indelible difference in the lives of this amazing group of young adults. Graduates of 2023, we wish you all the very best for the future.
Year 6 Graduates
Congratulations to Naomi, Curtis, Brady, Lochlan and Mustafa for successfully completing Year 6 and primary school. We wish you all the very best as you formally move into our senior school and look forward to ongoing outstanding achievement from you in the future.
2024 School Captains
Each year we run through a process of selecting student leaders and while the task is daunting we have such a brilliant group in our new senior cohort that we are genuinely spoilt for choice. After a signifficant process of nomination and voting our staff have determined our school leaders for 2023 will be:
Captain Taiana Kenny
Captain Samuel Haddad
Vice Captain Kelly Cheung
Vice Captain Dakshya Giri
Prefect Aaron Bush
Prefect Luke Takacs
Prefect Krishnan Venkataraman
Prefect Siara De Silva
Prefect Christian Capple-Lomano
Prefect Nilesh Srikanthan
Congratulations to our student leadership team for 2024 – we expect great things from you all and we know you'll do a wonderful job.
Class Allocations 2024
After much work the staff have put together the classes for 2024. Parents and carers will soon receive a letter that will indicate your child’s room number, teacher and their School Learning Support Officer for next year. Please be aware that there are occasions where adjustments need to be made at any point in the year. We have a number of new students joining us in 2024 and, as a result, expect some change to occur.
End of Year
I would like to extend my thanks to the staff and community of The Hills School for the tremendous cooperation we have experienced this year. We are indeed very fortunate to have such a connected and collaborative school community. We are very much looking forward 2024 and seeing the fruits of ongoing work in developing even better teaching, opportunities for our students and improving community cooperation and partnership.
School will resume for students onThursday 1 February 2024. I hope you all have a enjoyable holiday break. We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.
Mark Gosbell
PRINICPAL