GHPS Life

STUDENT LEADERSHIP NEWSBREAK

Written by Alanah V and Elanna T

Over the past couple of weeks, the grade 2’s commenced their swimming lessons, which is held on Fridays. In order to get some insight on how the students are enjoying it, we have decided to talk to one student from each year level. Our first student is from 2LO, her name is London. Swimming has been fun for her. She enjoys every aspect of it, but her favourite strokes are backstroke and freestyle. She thinks some styles can be challenging for many students, but wouldn’t change anything about it.

Our next student, Willow, from 1JC. Her favourite stroke is Starfish, but struggles with the torpedo. Willow's goal is to hopefully swim in the deep pool soon. The Grade 1’s swimming lessons are held on Thursdays.

Looks like the grade 1-2’s are enjoying their swimming lessons, keep up the good work guys and have a great weekend.

INTERSCHOOL SPORT

No Interschool Sport this week due to our Curriculum Day.

COMMUNITY SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

Australian Little League Baseball Championships

Congratulations to Oli B (6SM) who is off to the Australian Little League Baseball Championships in Sydney from Monday 6th June - Tuesday 14th June. He and his Victoria Twins teammates will be competing for a chance to represent Australia at the Little League World Series in America later in August. Games will be televised on Kayo throughout the week.

Oli has been a member of the Research Lower Plenty Baseball Club (https://researchbaseball.com.au) for 8 seasons, and is looking forward to strengthening the ties he has with his teammates and enjoying the privilege of playing at a national championship.

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.

REBEL COMMUNITY KICKBACKS PROGRAM

Greenhills Primary School is involved in the Rebel Community Kickbacks Program

What can you do to help Greenhills primary School benefit from this program?

Staff, family and friends can link the school to their Rebel Active Loyalty Program account and instantly start earning credits.

Thank you,

Jordan Daley

SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS

You can’t ask that: The School Council Edition

Have you always wanted to contribute to Greenhills’ G.R.E.A.T.-ness, but are worried it would take hours out of your busy schedule and loads of hard work?

Not so! If you join a School Council Subcommittee, you will make your opinions heard and influence the way our school runs!

But what are these subcommittees, I hear you ask. Let me explain, starting with the Family Partnerships Subcommittee.

What are these subcommittees I keep hearing about?

Subcommittees is where the real work of the School Council happens. Subcommittees are decided and formed at the beginning of each school year. Each is convened by an elected member of the School Council, with all members of the school community encouraged to join, according to their interests and expertise.

What’s Family Partnerships?

The Family Partnerships Subcommittee is all about improving the channels of communication between the school and the school community.

Who’s involved?

The subcommittee is made up of two parents, Irina Fainberg and Adam Laws, as well as Greenhills Principal James Penson and Grade 6 teacher Becc Stephens. And soon, hopefully, also you.

How does it work?

Parents ask questions, raise concerns and suggest solutions to communication challenges. They also act as a source of honest feedback and a sounding board for ideas.

How long does it take?

The subcommittee meets at the school (Principal’s office!) twice a term, for about an hour, at 6:30pm on Monday evenings. Unbelievably, there are only four meetings left for 2022: 18 July, 22 August, 10 October and 21 November. The dates and times are also advertised in this newsletter.

Why should I bother?

Joining a subcommittee is the best way to make your voice heard. Your experiences and your ideas will influence the way the school communicates with the wider parent community. You may also acquire minor celebrity status and be accosted for autographs at school drop offs and pick ups.

How do I get involved?

All you have to do is email Irina Fainberg on Irina.fainberg@education.com.au or James Penson on James.Penson@education.com.au, and we will welcome you to the next meeting.

Not into families and communication?

Tune in next week, when we profile another one of our fantastic subcommittees!

The catalogue has been distributed at school and can also be viewed online at

HERE

Online orders only:

https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/Parent/Login.aspx

Orders will be delivered to your child – free of charge!

Please order for Issue 4 by Thurs 9 June, 5pm!

TEACHING KIDS TO BE KIND - by Rachel Tomlinson

Judgement and criticism are the stock in trade for many people in today’s fast-paced world. In our playgrounds and parks, children often act cruelly – or are simply uninterested in how other people feel. Little kids, big kids, and even adults can respond reactively and unthinkingly, or sometimes intentionally, with unkindness.

Although being unkind is nothing new (it’s happened from the beginning of humanity), technology is enabling cruelty in faster, easier, anonymous ways. Technology is also making it hard for our kids to develop skills to delay gratification. Exercising impulse control – self regulation – is trickier because waiting isn’t needed. These things combine to make it increasingly hard to be a compassionate and kind person, someone who considers the needs of others rather than acting out of self-interest. It demands intention and commitment.

The helper’s high

Our brains release “feelgood” chemicals (like oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins) which fight stress and make us feel happy when we engage in, or even witness, acts of kindness. It’s called the “helper’s high” and it’s our brains’ way of rewarding us for doing good, making us want to repeat the behaviour to get the same good feeling again. Not only does being kind feel good, but it generally keeps us safe because it makes us more likely to be accepted by social groups. It builds social capital when we are considerate of the needs of others.

Create opportunities for kindness

Even though they are hardwired for kindness we still need to create opportunities for our kids to engage in acts of kindness. We also need them to know what it feels like to have someone treat them kindly (so they know what behaviours to copy, and why kindness is important). So how can you help them?

Model kindness

Show your children how you treat others kindly. Hold open doors for people, put trolleys back that are in the middle of the car park, drop a meal to a sick family member, donate old towels to an animal shelter, let someone in when traffic is heavy.

They don’t have to be grand gestures, just small and gentle ways of considering the needs of others.

Use kind language

Consider how you speak to your child and what you say when you speak. Ask how you speak about others (and yourself). Our kids use our behaviour as templates for how they should act. So let them see your compassion shine through for those around you. Be kind as you listen. Be kind as you talk. Say kind things.

Encourage helping

Is one child great at maths and their younger sibling isn’t? Invite them to teach them or guide them through their homework. Ask them to show you how to play their favourite video game. If they are great at cooking, ask them to help you prepare dinner. Having them involved in prosocial ways gives them a helper’s high.

Build their emotional intelligence

Kids who struggle to regulate and manage their emotions will find it harder to treat others with compassion. An essential part of teaching kids to be kind centres on teaching them to manage challenging emotions, and giving them coping strategies to navigate their way through.

Teach them the words for feelings. Without the right words to share how they feel it can leave kids confused, fearful and frustrated…which only serves to make their big feelings more intense. When you see them experiencing a feeling, name it for them: “I can see that made you so mad”, “I wonder if you felt sad when your friend left you out”.
Help them identify when they are escalating, but don’t try and reason with them when they are in the “red zone” – we cannot reason with them at this stage as they are in the emotional part of the brain (mid brain) not the part that lets them be logical (pre-frontal cortex). Discuss strategies and practice when they feel calm. Get them doing things like squeezing play dough, talking about how they feel, going for a run, switching on music that makes them feel good, drawing or writing stuff down.

When you do this, you’re being kind, teaching kindness, and helping them be kind to themselves.

In closing

Encouraging kids to be kind is essential in helping them avoid seeking instant gratification, ego-centric solutions, or being cruel. When people are empathic and kind they are more likely to experience better overall wellbeing, this is in part due to the helper’s high, but also because they feel fulfilled and tend to have better quality relationships. Kindness is cool!

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

Term 2 Week 7 - Presented at assembly Friday 17th June 2022

HERE ARE THE SUPERSTARS FOR THIS WEEK!

STUDENT	CLASS	COMMENTS
Jordan P	Prep BH	For the amazing sentence he wrote to describe our baby chicks. Well done Jordan on your 5 Star writing! You included a capital letter and a full stop too. I am super proud of you!
Luca O	Prep SM	For the amazing EFFORT you have been putting into your school work. I love how hard you have been working on your reading as well as putting up your hand to share your wonderful ideas in class discussions. Well done Luca!
Lincoln L	1GC	For being Tiddilick the Frog on our CERES excursion. Lincoln, you should be very proud for always putting your hand up to participate in different activities, even when they are out of your comfort zone. You are a star!
Fergus F	1JC	Your participation at our CERES excursion was fantastic. You seemed so interested in all the activities and I can see you gained a lot of knowledge from the experience. You were super at playing the role of Tiddilick the Frog. Well done!
Charlie M	1KO	For being a curious learner during our excursion to CERES. Charlie the thinking you shared helped with our learning and you asked questions to help us learn even more. Keep up your curiosity and love of learning Charlie!
Jacob B	2JM	Jacob has done an amazing job during term two picking up his energy and showing some real determination. He's right on top of all his work and loving his time at school. Well done Jacob.
Chris W	2LO	For your incredible addition strategies to solve tricky problems and explaining your reasoning to the grade. Chris, you are a maths whizz and we all love learning from you. Keep up the awesome work!
Georgia N	2SH	For the outstanding effort you put into your biography. Georgia, I was really impressed with the effort you showed when writing your biography, as well as the interesting details you included. I can’t wait to see your final presentation! Well done Georgia!
Liam K	3AK	For turning our classroom into a relaxing and harmonious environment with your amazing guitar tunes, during our wet day timetables. Keep playing those amazing string notes, you are so talented!
Oliver	3MH	For being a ‘Super Scientist’ when making elephant toothpaste and conducting experiments with ‘Mad About Science’. You have shown great curiosity and teamwork skills. I loved the effort that you put into your ‘Think Boxes’ following our scientific explorations!
Daniella J	4BJ	For your fabulous work in our Buddy Maths sessions! Daniella, I am so proud of the way you approached each session with a positive attitude, putting in all of your grit and effort to tell the time! Well done, you superstar!
Noah K	4DS	For the EFFORT and ADVENTURE you have shown in maths. Noah, I enjoyed seeing you apply a range of strategies to solve problems involving the conversion of units of time. Keep up the GREAT work!
Claire M	4TW	Claire, thank you for being such a kind and caring friend to everyone in 4TW. I love the way that you can make people smile and always look after your friends. You are awesome!!
Amalie N	5BC	Amalie is doing an amazing job in Maths Games displaying grit, effort and adventure! You should be incredibly proud of your achievements, Amalie!
Noah	5JR	For Noah and his incredible efforts throughout Term One and Two. You have achieved so much and transitioned so well in your short time at Greenhills, you should be really proud of how far you've come. Keep up the GREAT values its been a pleasure having you in 5JR.
Remi	5RE	For your fantastic questions and research you have done for Science. You were able to locate information about your topic of Floods and answer your questions. Well done Remi, keep up the fantastic work.
Ella D	6SM	For constantly challenging yourself with all aspects of your learning! Ella, I have absolutely loved watching you throw yourself into everything you do. Your passion and enthusiasm to learn is contagious!