Progress News

Dear Members of the Community

There will be no access allowed to the Hillarys Primary School oval, play areas or school site from Friday 23^rd September until Tuesday 11^th October.

The demolition of the stage 2 building will commence and as these buildings are deemed as containing asbestos we cannot have anyone on the school site.

• Demolition will be carried out by qualified contractors during the school holidays, when students and staff are not at school. The community is advised not to use the oval area of the school during this time. Signage will be implemented around the school site during the work.
• The Department of Education publication, Asbestos Management Plan, describes how asbestos containing materials in public schools and Department workplaces are managed.
• Air Monitoring of the school asbestos clearance area will be undertaken and is a process whereby air in and/or around an asbestos work area is monitored to detect the presence of asbestos fibres.
• A Clearance certificate will be issued by a third party upon completion of the work.

This is a certificate issued by an independent licensed assessor or competent person to certify that a clearance inspection of an asbestos work area has been conducted and the area is safe to be occupied.

Once we receive official clearance we will update the website.

The kindergarten block is at lock up stage and the landscaping and brick paving has commenced.

The Year 2/3 block is at plate height now and sits up high on the hill, the year 1 block will be along them. A walkway will connect this block to the Year 4/5 and 6, 2 story building.

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The children really enjoyed watching the transportable buildings go into place. A1 even looked at angles and shapes of the crane whilst watching the move.

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It was very exciting to arrive at work and see the bricks for the rebuild be delivered. At lunchtime the Preprimary students were very excited to see that some walls had already been build.

I wonder what it will look like after the holidays?

The progress of the rebuild is moving along nicely with cement being poured for the new Early Childhood Building.

It was great to have Premier Mark McGowan, Minister Sue Ellery and Member for Hillarys Caitlin Collins MLA at the school today to do the official SOD turn for the school rebuild. Our Head Boy Shaymus and Head Girl Florence had the privilege along with principal Mr Trevor Mitchell in participating the the event.

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Thank you parents and carers for taking the time to step back and process the significant changes to our school site.

Day one progressed very smoothly and this is contributed to your acknowledgment and support of the school rebuild project and our school operations.  Thank you.

Significant planning has occurred in preparation for the rebuild project and we will continue to review our operations and processes daily to enhance what we do. 

I’m sure you can see that we are doing our best with what we have, to provide play space for our students and maintain continuity of teaching and learning. 

Thank you to the HPS staff for their flexibility, support and solution-focused approach with managing the rebuild project.

Play Areas

Please keep in mind that any changes are for the short term and we all need to be patient and resilient.

School decisions regarding play areas are based on the playground space available, the number of students accessing the area, supervision requirements and site restrictions. 

Years 1 and 2 students will play at the top of the school, including the old undercover area.  As per a previous notification, the play area will be expanded as we find contractors to complete the work.  The extended play space will also include the terraced area and the top sand pit.

Parents and carers can assist us by volunteering time and resources with restoring the terraces and removing the old pool fencing and wire fencing.  This support will speed up the process of allowing students to access these areas.  Please email us at hillarys.ps@education.wa.edu.au if you can assist.  Thank you

Years 3 – 7 students have the paved, grassed and undercover sitting/playground space on the lower level of the school.  The lower carpark has been provided as a hardcourt space for students and the assembly area is now included as an eating and passive play space. 

The library will be available for all students, once staffing arrangements are finalised at the end of February.

New Equipment and Activities

The school has purchased additional playground equipment and hands-on activities to reflect the changes in the playground environment. 

These are being offered to students and will grow and/or be adapted over time.

Parking and Traffic Flow

Thank you for your understanding and patience with the access to parking and slowing down to support student safety and general traffic flow.

Reminder – The lower carpark is now a play space for students.  No entry.

Reminder – The access road near the Pre-primary is a construction entry/exit point, only.  No entry.  Please take extra care at the footpath crossover. 

Requests – We need parents and carers to consider changing parking and drop-off and pick-up routines.  

• ·        Leave more time for drop-off and pick-up as you may need to park further away
• ·          Make student drop-off and pick-up short to support parking availability for others, and general traffic flow in and around the school.

Staff have been allocated specific parking bays.  These include some of the grassed verge areas at the front of the school, and at the back of the Pre-primary building.  This ensures the majority of the main carpark is available for parents and visitors.

Construction Traffic

Project contractors will minimise their movements during the morning and afternoon peak school traffic times.  Please drive slowly and be patient at all times. Please take extra care at the footpath crossover at the entrance of the school carpark.

Do not ‘stress’ about students being a little late for class if there’s a bank up of traffic. 

Let’s focus on getting all students to class safely and calmly.  Take care and take a deep breath.

Out-of-School Care Buses

The drop-off and pick-up point for the Out-of-School Care program has been moved to the front of the Administration building.  This area will be marked with traffic cones.

Please keep this space free for the Out-of-School Care buses and for our Year 5/6 swimming lessons due to commence tomorrow.  Thank you

Fencing and Construction Site

Please do not enter this area for any reason. 

I understand it is frustrating not having a current access point at the back of the school, or from the oval. 

We did request an access point from the back of the school/oval for families; however, this request was declined due to strict occupational health and safety measures for the rebuild project.

Rebuild Project Stage 1 to Stage 2

The current operations and changes are of a temporary nature.  

In Term 4, we will need to pivot and adapt once again as we progress from Stage 1 and into Stage 2.  Teachers and students will move into the new kindergarten buildings and playground area, as well as the new general classroom block on the hill. 

Further information will be provided when needed. 

Ideas / Concerns

We need your eyes and ears in assisting us to successfully manage the school rebuild project. 

Please share your ideas and or report any concerns via an email – hillarys.ps@education.wa.edu.au

Communications

Ongoing CONNECT notifications will be provided to keep all families informed.  Previous and current notifications and information is available on our school website.

Stay safe everyone and thanks for your anticipated patience and support

Best regards

Trevor Mitchell

Principal

01/02/22

The kindergarten play equipment has been relocated to the top of the hill on the oval this will give the students an area to play on when we have limited space on the oval throughout the rebuild. The students are loving being able to play on new equipment.

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So that we can maintain the safety of students and ensure our rebuild works are not delayed we would like the following things to happen:

• All students to be off the school site by 3.10pm
• Students not to play on the oval, playgrounds or basketball courts after school 
• All students to wait for parents in Kiss n Drive 
• If parents have not collected students by 3.15pm, students are to come to the office
• Parking only in designated bays 
• We have some lovely parks close by that have both playgrounds and toilets that are available for community use.

Thanks for your support during these exciting times.