GHPS Life

INTERSCHOOL SPORT - WINTER SEASON

Round 7: Friday 14th July 2023

Greenhills A VS Apollo Parkways A – AWAY 

Greenhills B VS Sacred Heart – HOME

Congratulations to Tayla P (6LR), and her U13 Div 1 Diamond Creek Viper teammates, who won their netball Grand Final over the holidays. Tayla played Goal Shooter in the team’s runaway 24-13 victory. 

Well done, Tayla!

Congratulations to Mia P (5BC), Bella Z (4DS) & Isla T (5BC), and their U12 Greenhills teammates, who won their basketball Grand Final over the holidays. It was an absolute nail-biter, with a final scoreline of 23-21. 

Well done, girls!

If your child achieves something special (grand final win, most valuable player award, best and fairest etc.), please email me (jordan.daley@education.vic.gov.au) through photos and an overview of the achievement to post in Contact. It is important to celebrate and recognise such successes with the school community.

Thank you, 

Jordan Daley

Connected Schools – Empathy and Compassion

Together parents and teachers can improve the incidents of compassion being displayed by children, and educate them on the importance of cooperation and kindness in everyday life. Modelling compassion on a daily basis is the best possible way for children to better understand what this behaviour means in real-world settings. What we focus on, we find. 

Prosocial behaviours are learned behaviours, through person-to-person connections with others. The development of empathic abilities begins early in a child’s life.

A better understanding of the perspective of others gives children the opportunity to practice compassion. Compassion is like a muscle, it gets stronger the more it is practiced. The more words a child can use in explaining empathy and the actions of compassion, the deeper the understanding of its importance will be. Asking, “How do you think they felt?” can be a powerful way to ignite a child’s ability to empathise with another.

Look for the following types of compassionate strength behaviours and help kids grow the behaviour each day. Celebrate with them on what they already do and encourage the behaviour’s growth.

Notice when your child….

1. Does nice things for others without expecting something in return.
2. Says encouraging things to cheer others.
3. Shows interest in others by intentional reaches in prosocial (helping) behaviour.
4. Participates in active listening.
5. Respects privacy and avoids gossip.

The best way for kids to learn compassion is through watching models of this behaviour. Teachers, parents, and other adults need to behave this way for children to see it as valuable and find approval in copying it. Finding compassion in moments of adversity is a skill that all adults should be working to master. 

Teach children self-compassion. We learn too quickly to be hard on ourselves about failure. While we all want kids to succeed, notice when your children are suffering from that failure instead. Help them to know that it is okay to make mistakes, especially if we can learn from it.

1. Model, Model, Model. Show your children what it means to have compassion toward others and toward yourself. Be sure your interactions with children are lead with compassion.
2. When your children are involved in social interactions and building relationships, be sure to observe and praise them when noticing compassionate behaviour. Point out compassionate behaviour in others as well.
3. Help them learn self-awareness. Teaching kids to be aware that their actions affect others is vital in understanding empathic action behaviour.

Parents Partnerships Leader -

 Roslyn Mackie 

ICAS Assessments 2023

This year, Greenhills Primary School will be offering Year 2-6 students an opportunity to participate in the ICAS Assessments. ICAS is designed to target students’ higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling Bee and Digital Technologies. Each assessment celebrates students’ accomplishments by providing opportunities for recognition and development. Every student will receive a printed certificate and an online results report. Top performers will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.

This year, Greenhills Primary School will be participating in the following ICAS Assessments: 

• English - Test date 17th August Students will read a variety of texts which narrate, describe, explain, argue, persuade and review. The texts will increase in complexity within each paper, moving from simple texts dealing with familiar subjects and topics to complex texts discussing abstract concepts and using sophisticated language structures.
• Science - Test date 21st August Students will focus on the knowledge areas of Earth and Beyond, Natural and Processed Materials, Life and Living, Energy and Change.
• Mathematics - Test date 31st August Students will answer a range of questions related to number and arithmetic, algebra and patterns, measure and units, space and geometry, chance and data.
• Writing - Test date 9th August Only available for students from Years 3-6. Students will be required to write a narrative or persuasive text and be assessed on their ability to write an extended response to a given task. 

Our school access code is: ZKJ143

Each assessment will run at a cost of $19.25, except for the Writing assessment which is $23.65. Payments are to be made by July 28th. The assessments will be completed at school in August. 

If you require further information please contact Roslyn Mackie at 

Roslyn.Mackie@education.vic.gov.au

LOST PROPERTY

We have now installed new shelving/tubs in the old sand pit area to hold any lost items including uniforms that are found around the school. Parents and students are welcome to look for any of their lost items in these tubs. We make attempts to return the lost items to their owners, however if items are not labelled it makes it extremely difficult for us to do so.

The canteen relies on the help of parent volunteers to operate. Parent helpers are needed for a maximum of one hour, from 1pm - 2 pm (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).   Helpers need to have completed the 2023 Volunteer OHS Induction. 

To book in to volunteer, please go to ‘Care bookings’ http://www.carebookings.com.au).  Access Code is JGU9L. 

Thanks, 

Miriam.