Message from the Principal 

STUDENT AGENCY STARTS EARLY AT GREENHILLS

Student Agency, Reading and Numeracy are the three core pillars of education at Greenhills Primary School. As such we have organised our whole school day around them. At the beginning of every day in every classroom the whole school starts with 15 minutes reading. After recess every class spends 15 minutes with a numeracy focus. Then at the end of each day, all of our students engage in 15 minutes of focus on student agency. This is best described as students having the ability to understand their learning and have control and responsibility for their learning through reflection, metacognition (thinking about thinking), goal setting, voice and choice.

It is a big work in progress and it starts with our Preps. This photo is an example of how our youngest students are supported to start to develop their sense of student agency. By thinking back through the school day, they identify highlights of their learning and then share these with their classmates. For example I heard one prep share that she was proud of her writing because she could sound out the words she used. 

You can get involved with this at home as well by asking this question to your child/ren at the end of the day. “What is something you are proud of today?” Most importantly, follow this up by asking them why and see what you can find out! 

PARENT HELPERS INDUCTION PROGRAM

We are getting closer to be able to open our doors and start our parent helpers program. I anticipate this to commence around 21st March which gives us a few weeks until the end of the term to get things up and running. 

In preparation we will run some Parent Helper Induction sessions. These will be approximately 15 minutes in duration and enable us to cover off all of the OH & S and Childsafe standards that we have in place.

The sessions next week are:

9am Tuesday 8th March (staffroom)

6pm Wednesday 9th March (Webex)

3pm Thursday 10th March (staffroom)

The evening Webex session will not have a limit and the link will be sent out via Compass. After this session the documents that require reading and signing will be sent home with your child/ren so that you can sign them and return them to school.

MICHAEL YMER WORKING WITH OUR STAFF

This week, all of our teaching teams have spent time working with Michael Ymer (Maths Consultant) as part of our staff professional learning program. Each of our teams is currently working through an inquiry cycle that started with a deep analysis of student achievement data. This was used to identify a specific teaching point of need and then our staff have investigated and are in the process of developing targeted teaching strategies to ensure that we deliver the very teaching we can. 

Michael’s visit has been timed to provide expert advice to our teams during this part of the cycle. Part of Michael’s expertise is his ability to work with teachers to develop broader maths learning that has a range of entry and exit points to accommodate the skills, knowledge and needs of all the students. He also assist teams to find multiple curriculum links within maths so that whilst a key concept is the focus, it is being covered in a very rich and real life way.

A highlight of his visit over the three days with us was a classroom modelling session he delivered in 1GC. This was an opportunity for our graduate teachers to observe Michael teaching students in the classroom. Something they certainly got lots of learning from.

Michael will return later in the year to run a parent information night. This will be a great opportunity to learn more about how we teach maths effectively. No longer is it just the rote learning of number facts and times-tables. Our students need to understand a wide variety of maths concepts and skills and then be able to apply these effectively in a range of settings. We want our students to be effective thinkers and problem solvers in maths. I will keep you posted on the date once it has been confirmed.

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTION & ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Next Tuesday 8th March at 6.45pm, we will hold our first school council meeting for 2022. This is where office bearers such as School Council president will be elected. School Council meetings are held in the staffroom.

At this meeting we will also establish our sub-committee structure and schedule for this year.

These committees are open to all members of our school community to join and where the work of School Council is actually done. It is great to have a mix of parents and carers from across the school on each of these. All of our school council members also serve on at least one of these sub-committees. I will outline the role of each sub-committee in the newsletter next week along with the time and dates for the meetings which are twice per term).

STUDENT INSURANCE

This is a reminder to all parents and carers that the Department does not provide personal accident insurance for students. Parents and guardians are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs. These costs may be recoverable where an injury is caused by the negligence (carelessness) of the Department, a school council or their employees or volunteers.

Student accident insurance policies at reasonably low cost are available from commercial insurers.

These cover a range of medical expenses not covered by Medicare or private health insurance. I encourage all families to investigate these options and make a decision that suits your needs and requirements. I also encourage everyone to ensure that their ambulance membership is up to date.