GHPS Life 

CULTURE INCURSION - INDIGENOUS ART SESSION

This week we have had the pleasure of working with Emma Bamblett.  Emma is a proud Aboriginal woman, descendant from the Wemba Wemba, Gunditjmara, Ngadjonji and Taungurung people and was born and raised in Echuca on the Murray River. Emma is an established artist, businesswomen, community worker and an all-round wonderful person!

Throughout the week Emma has worked in every classroom sharing her connection to country and sharing how indigenous people use art in storytelling.  Emma also talked about the 6 seasons of the Kulin Nation. 

Kooyang – Season of Eels: Late summer (late January to late March)

Swangal Moronn – Season of the Honey Bees – Autumn (late March to June)

Chinnup – Season of Cockatoos – Winter (June to late July)

Larneuk – Season of Nesting Birds – Early Spring (late July to late August

Petyan – Season of Wildflowers – Late Spring (August to mid November)

Ballambar – Season of Butterflies – Early Summer (mid November to late January)

“I think it’s safe to say we learnt a lot when Emma came to present her art. Emma not only taught us about her culture, but she opened our eyes to the world of art. One of the highlights of the incursion was when Emma showed us some important parts of her culture, such as her possum skin. The possum skin isn't just to wear, no, each possum skin tells a different story about the person it was made for. Emma also brought in a boomerang that her daughter made and a dress that her daughter would wear to ceremonies. Something else I found interesting were some of her stories. Especially the one about not following the birds when you are young because eventually birds get thirsty and go find water. Where Emma used to live, there was no fence, just the river. And where do the birds go when they're thirsty? The river, so if you follow the birds you might end up in the river. Twaganin  -  Farewell”

Koda

“Something I learnt from Emma Bamblett was there are 6 aboriginal seasons! I learnt that Chinnup is winter in aboriginal seasons.  I learnt that aboriginals sketch or carved pictures on possum skin.”

Kieran

You might see Emma around our school over the coming months.  Emma will be working on an exciting project with our Indigenous Perspectives Action Team students. She has also been working as a consultant on our Capital Works Project designing indigenous panels that will be display on one of the walls in our new basketball stadium.

ICAS Assessments 2022

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 - 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 - Students will focus on the knowledge areas of Earth and Beyond, Natural and Processed Materials, Life and Living, Energy and Change.

Mathematics - 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 - Only vailable 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. 

Each assessment will run at a cost of $19.25, except for the Writing assessment which is $23.65. The assessments will be completed at school in August. If you would like your child to participate or require further information please contact Becc Stephens at rebecca.stephens@education.vic.gov.au by 24th June.

Becc Stephens

Learning Specialist

High-Ability Practice Leader 

Roslyn Mackie

Parents Partnerships Leader 

INTERSCHOOL SPORT

Round 3: Friday 11th March 2022

Greenhills A VS Glen Katherine A  – HOME

Greenhills B VS Glen Katherine B - AWAY

COMMUNITY SPORTING ACHIEVEMENTS

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     

GREENHILLS FOOD RELIEF PROGRAM 

FROM THE OFFICE

Student Information

Thank you to the parents that have returned their Student enrolment information forms. If you have not yet done so - could you please check the information, make amendments, sign the form and return to the office in person or to the school email: greenhills.ps@education.vic.gov.au ASAP.  This is a Department of Education requirement that we audit family details on an annual basis.

Book Lists

We do have some spare book lists available at the office to purchase – if you have not yet had a chance to buy one or if you are new to the school.

Afternoon Messages

We offer this service for urgent messages only, please contact the office before 3:00pm where possible, as it can otherwise be difficult to get the messages to the children on time.  If you have more than one child it would be a great idea if they have a meeting place – we can then deliver the message to the eldest child to pass on to their siblings.

Medication

If your child requires medication, please label the medication with your child’s name and class -complete the medication authorisation form which can be found at the office or on our website: www.greenhillsps.vic.edu.au.  The medication should be left with Karen or at the office.

Lost property

Please remember to label your child’s drink bottle, hat and uniform as we regularly have a large amount of unlabeled items which sadly cannot be returned to students as we do not know who it belongs to.

CSEF

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities. If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF.  The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child. If you received CSEF in 2021, there is no need to re-apply, we can rollover your application from 2021. However if you have a sibling that started school this year, we do need this form completed.

First round applications must be submitted by 26th April 2022

Click herefor the application form for 2022, copies are also available from the office.

Unexplained absences

We currently have a lot of unexplained absences on Compass. Could you please check on Compass if your child has any and enter an explanation. We will be following up any unexplained absences in the next couple of weeks with a letter. 

How to check on Compass to see if your child has any unexplained absences and add an attendance note. 

 Click the alert and it will take you to your child's unexplained attendance tab where you will see any sessions listed for which thy are marked Not present or Late 

Victoria, Nicole, Kiera and Karen

The hard copy catalogue has been distributed at school and can also be

 viewed online at

https://scholastic.com.au/media/6789/bc222_web.pdf

To place your order, please visit:

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

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

If you like to keep it a surprise from your child, please select “gift order” 

and you will receive a call when the order is ready to collect from the office!

Please order for Issue 2 by Fri 18 March, 5pm!

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

Term 1 Week 6 - Presented at assembly Friday 25th March 2022 

HERE ARE THE SUPERSTARS FOR THIS WEEK!

OSHCLUB NEWS

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Club Fun! 

Last week saw the introduction of our new and exciting clubs! On Tuesday for “Art Attack”, children learnt how to make chatter boxes and then had great fun writing messages inside and playing endless games with them. Wednesday saw our very first “Potterhead Club” run, with children decorating Harry Potter bookmarks and then listening to Greenhills OSHClub educator Jordan Martin read the first few chapters of the book; we’re really excited for the activities we have coming up for this club. Friday’s hot and humid weather had everyone trying out a couple of new card games most of the children had never played before “Uno Flip” and “Alpha Zulu”. Most of the children had played “Uno” before and liked the variation of “Uno Flip” and “Alpha Zulu” saw children needing to answer simple questions by spelling out the answer using random words—which turned out not to be as simple as anyone thought! Unfortunately, we weren't able to start our cooking club last week or this week, but rest assured it will be back as soon as we’re back in the STEAM Room. If you would like to book your child(ren) in for any of these awesome clubs, please do so through the iParent Portal or by calling or texting us on 0437 928 183 or emailgreenhills@oshclub.com.au. 

OSHClub's More Fun Than... 

OSHClub has a new competition that could see a family win FREE Before- and After-School Care for Term 2 this year for one child, for the recurring bookings made for the term. The competition runs from February 1st to April 7th 2022, with each child with a booking getting an entry into the competition, making it an even chance for everyone to win! Good luck!

OSHClub’s On The Move!

After a few weeks in the school library and the school hall demolition nearly complete, OSHClub will hopefully be moving back to the STEAM room soon! When we move, we will have signs up on the library reminding children to go to the STEAM room, and children in Prep will still be being picked up and taken to OSHClub each day. If you have any questions, please let us know by either calling or texting us on 0437 928 183 or emailing us at greenhills@oshclub.com.au. See you soon!

__________________________________________

If you need to make a booking, please do so through the iParent Portal or contact the service on 0437 928 183 or greenhills@oshclub.com.au. 

Greenhills OSHClub is open 6:45-9:00am for Before-School Care, 3:00-6:30pm for After-School Care and 6:45am-6:30pm for Vacation Care/Pupil Free Days. 

OSHClub Service Phone: 0437 928 183  

OSHClub Service Email: greenhills@oshclub.com.au

Coordinator: Megan Statham-Danckert  

Educators: Jordan Martin, Jorja Sullivan

OSHClub Head Office: 1300 395 735 or oshaccounts@junioradventuresgroup.com.au 

All families must be enrolled to attend the service, remember this is FREE!! Please create an account online at www.oshclub.com.au. All bookings and cancellations can also be managed via the iParent Portal.