Message from the Principal 

THANK YOU SUZIE HUSSEIN, JON McFARLAND, GEMMA CORREZZOLA & BEC ZAPPIA

It is with very mixed emotions that we will say thank-you and farewell to Suzie Hussein, Jon McFarland, Gemma Correzzola and Bec Zappia at the end of this year.

Suzie Hussein has been serving our Greenhills school community since 2005 and she has decided that it is the right time to move from a teaching role at our school and into a disability inclusion facilitator role with Australian Healthcare Associates. She will work to support children with disabilities by meeting with families, schools and principals to help deliver the best possible outcomes for each student. Suzie will leave a lasting legacy in terms of her commitment to student wellbeing, connection and ensuring that all the students in her class are known, listened to and cared for. She has always been able to strike that balance between learning and fun and our students are at the centre of everything she does. Suzie has led our Junior School Council and ensured that these groups of students have developed leadership skills and have been very active across the school. Suzie you will be a massive asset for IHA, a strong advocate for students and families and we know that you will make a genuine difference in the lives of everyone that you will support.   

After 13 years at our school, Jon McFarland has accepted a position at Penders Grove Primary School. Not only is this school much closer to his home, it also offers Jon an opportunity to experience working in a different school setting. As such, this is a terrific learning and leadership experience and one that will ensure the great processes and knowledge that Jon has gained at our school can be shared and he can also learn and grow through being exposed to another environment. Jon’s impact across Greenhills is seen through his genuine connection and relationships with students. His deep thinking and reflective capacity provided interesting insights both through the teams he worked with and across the school. Student agency and voice was a part of what he was doing in his classroom long before this became such a focus in schools. Jon your new school is very lucky to have you and we wish you all the best for the future there. 

Gemma Correzzola has been a wonderful member of our staff team over the past 3 years. During this time, she has built strong partnerships with parents and families. Gemma has been a valuable team member, she has stepped up into different roles as required and also assisted across the school with our productions, choir events and much more. Gemma’s passion is in the performing arts and the great news for her is that she has secured a much-coveted ongoing position as the performing arts specialist at Barrawang Primary School in Wollert West. This is a wonderful opportunity that was too good to pass on. Whilst this is our loss, we know that through her energy and expertise, her new school community will really be able to shine in this area. Gemma, well done on being selected for this role and good luck with everything you do in the future.   

After one year at our school as a classroom teacher and years before that as a singing teacher, Bec Zappia has also secured a role as the performing arts specialist at Rosanna Golf Links Primary school. This is such a wonderful opportunity for Bec as her passions and talents in this area are something to behold. I can imagine how professional the productions, concerts and program will be at her new school, and I do know how lucky those students will be to have such a skilled and dedicated teacher. Bec’s ability to bring large scale events and celebrations together have really been appreciated by our school community. The singing concerts under the sails, the trivia night last year and 100 days of Prep are just a few examples of her talent on show. Bec, thank you for the impact you have had in such a short time and we wish you all the very best for your new role.   

As you can see, we have some pretty big shoes to fill and in our newsletter in future weeks I will share some news about securing some of our wonderful existing staff and the new teachers we have appointed for next year.

YEAR 4 CAMP

Our Year 4 Camp was a G.R.E.A.T success. Our camp team (staff and students) braved some rainy and wet conditions but that didn’t dampen the fun and adventurous experiences and opportunities camps provide. 

Camps provide our students with a wonderful opportunity to try new things and challenge themselves. It might be having a go on the zipline and facing a fear of heights, working with a group of peers to complete a range of initiative activities like hut building involving leadership and teamwork or even simply being able to meet new friends or broaden a friendship group. 

These opportunities are only organised thanks to the dedication and commitment of our staff. Many thanks to Tracey Watts for her organisation of the camp and thank you to the staff who attended: David Symeonidis, Isabelle Hall, Jake Rowley, Brad Ryan, Steph O’ Donnell, Ashlee Mackinven and our parents Jayce Dall’Amico, Taryn Francis, Matthew Mooney. 

YEAR 2 LATE NIGHT

Our Year 2 Late Night was a huge success. This experience is geared around ensuring opportunities to build connections and confidence. It is not only part of our camps program but also a strong part of our transition program as well. Thank you to Suzie Hussein, Lauren O’Connell, Jon McFarland, Abby Drapper and Janine Hough.

Our staff are truly one of the strengths of our school and I take this opportunity to thank them for all that they do to make our school G.R.E.A.T. 

YEAR 6 HIGH SCHOOL DAY – POSITIVE TRANSITIONS

As we start to plan ahead for next year, our school has a strong focus on doing everything we can to ensure all of our students have a positive transition into the next year of school. Very visibly we see that this involves our Prep transition program which has already included 5 x 1 hour Experience Greenhills sessions and we are now ready for our prep orientation sessions. 

At the other end of the school, we support our students for a positive transition by providing experiences like High School Day. This involved allocating additional staff into the mix and running a range of lessons across the school that resembles what high school might look like. Our students were encouraged to wear their high school uniform or free dress and spent the day following their timetables and moving to different areas of the school. There was a real buzz about this and I know how excited our Year 6’s were throughout the day. Thank-you to Becc Stephens, Tegan Smith, Jess Johnston, Lauren Richardson, Janine Hough, Gillian Wilkins and Lynsey Barrett.

 MEET WITH THE PRINCIPAL TEAM

Keep the date free: Wednesday 15th November at 7.30pm. This will be our Term 4 Mid-Term Meet with the Principal Team. The session will be held via Webex with the link sent out shortly. Some of the topics that we will cover include:

• School structure & class sizes model for 2024
• Planning and Key Actions for 2024

Hope to see you there!

ACTIVE TO SCHOOL

Our school is currently engaging with the “Active to School” campaign with the support of Banyule City Council. This program encourages and support school, students, parents, carers and families to find healthy active ways to travel to and from school. Whether it is the entire route or just part-way, every bit of active travel helps to improve our environment and our health.

We are using classroom wall charts to help track the number of trips our students are active to school and there will be a prize for the class that records the most active to school days. We will also be hosting our Fuel Free Friday on 1st December, so we are encouraging everyone to make a special effort on that day too! Banyule City Council will also be setting up a pop-up stall that morning which was so much fun last year.

James Penson

Principal