GHPS Life

INTERSCHOOL SPORT - WINTER SEASON

Round 14: Friday 1st September 2023

Greenhills A VS Yarrambat A – HOME

Greenhills B VS Apollo Parkways B – AWAY

DVPSSA DISTRICT ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Massive shout out to Heidi K (5SM) who represented TeamVic at last weekend’s SSA National Cross Country Championships in Canberra.

Amazingly, Heidi finished first in her 3km race, in a time of 10:31 - making her the National Champion! This is an unbelievable result and reward for all her hardwork and dedication.

Well done, Heidi! The whole Greenhills community is incredibly proud of this result and can’t wait to see what you achieve in the future. 

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.

Thank you, 

Jordan Daley

FATHER'S AND SPECIAL PERSON'S BREAKFAST

The Greenhills PA invite all our Fathers, Grandfathers, Special People, and Students to breakfast on the basketball courts on Thursday 31/08 from 7.45am.

Come brave the cold for a hot toastie, a cuppa, and a chat!

CONNECTED SCHOOLS

Fatherhood Redefined

Dads of all kinds are important contributors to families. Biological fathers, step-fathers, legal guardians, foster fathers, grandfathers, even close family friends acting as faux fathers can all perform important roles in families. 

There is even a YouTuber who acts as “Dad” to 4.6 million subscribers, who turn to him for “Dadvice” about everything from how to shave a beard to how to inflate a tubeless wheelbarrow tire.

 However, the benefits of having a present and involved dad go far beyond having someone around to teach wheelbarrow maintenance. In fact, Harvard family scholars Marc Grau Grau and Hannah Riley Bowles state that “The importance of engaged fatherhood is now undismissable in ways it was not in earlier decades.”

Fathers are not like mothers. Fathers parent in unique ways, which offers unique and important benefits to their families and children. 

Here’s a few things dads can do to be uniquely helpful: 

Take paternity leave 

Fathers who take paternity leave, especially if they take at least two weeks, are significantly more likely to dedicate their time to childcare and housework, not only during their leave period, but at least until the child is two to three years old! 

Be present 

It seems simple, but remember that having a present father in the home is a protective factor for reducing antisocial behaviour in boys, and reducing teen pregnancy, depression, and early sexual activity in girls. 

Share the load 

It’s highly likely that the distribution of childcare and housework tasks isn’t as even as you might like to believe it is. By stepping up and sharing the load, fathers can help close the gender gap even further, model for their children how healthy relationships function, and set expectations for their children’s future relationships. 

Play 

Dads play in unique ways, particularly by encouraging risk taking and exploration. The sort of vigorous, stimulating rough-housing play that dads are so great at predicts enhanced social competence, while decreasing externalising and internalising behaviour problems.

Read to the kids 

Reading books together, telling stories, and singing songs to the kids are all important forms of cognitive stimulation which have established benefits for improving literacy outcomes in children. Interestingly, these benefits are more pronounced when dad does the storytelling. 

Talk with the kids 

Dads also engage in a unique communication style with their kids. Fathers seem more likely to use bigger words when they speak to their children. Mums keep it simple. Both forms of communication are valuable for kids, but this report from the American Academy of Pediatrics points out data showing that “at 3 years of age, father-child communication was a significant and unique predictor of advanced language development in the child but mother-child communication was not.” 

Engage in discipline 

To discipline means to instruct, teach, and guide. Parents can effectively discipline their kids by setting limits in a way that explores what’s going on, explains our reasoning for desired behaviour, and empowers kids to problem solve and come up with reasonable ways forward. Fathers are typically more authoritarian than mothers, so may need to work harder to move away from coercive and punitive discipline methods. 

There’s so many other things dads can do to be excellent fathers. But… here’s the vital thing: 

Fatherhood matters. Period. Even if dad is not in the family home. Even if dad is not married or together with mum. Even when it’s not part of the ‘package’ deal. (Which is, by the way, ideal… but the world is far from perfect.) 

In Australia, there are more than 1 million single parent families, and 86% of those families are mother-led. Additionally, data from the US suggests that 27% of non-resident fathers don’t see their kids at all. That is a lot of kids who are growing up with absent fathers.

Living away from the kids does not mean that a father can’t provide them with the benefits of being involved. This meta-analysis of 52 studies finds clear support that non-resident fathers can still have a positive impact on their children’s academic achievement, behavioural adjustment, and emotional well-being. Being involved matters. 

Having a positive father-child relationship matters. Taking an interest in child-related activities matters.

Spending time with the kids matters.

Mothers are not fathers. Mothers can’t fill in for absent fathers; they can’t provide their children with all the benefits that come from having involved and present fathers in their lives. 

And fathers are not mothers. They don’t parent in the same way. Instead, they provide unique, important contributions to their families; contributions that should not be dismissed or devalued.

AUTHOR

Dr Justin Coulson 

Dr Justin Coulson is a dad to 6 daughters. He is the parenting expert and co-host of Channel Nine’s Parental Guidance, and he and his wife host Australia’s #1 podcast for parents and family: The Happy Families Podcast. He has written 9 books about families and parenting. For further details visit happyfamilies.com.au

Parents Partnerships Leader - Roslyn Mackie 

Dear Greenhills families, 

Over 3 terms our community partnership team has been working hard to make a bake sale happen. This will take place on Friday 8th of September 3:30pm and all money raised will be going towards the Diamond Valley Food Share. 

Our action team members will be the main chefs, but if any twos to fours would really love to bake, you’re more than welcome to join in. A notice has been handed out to the eldest child of each family. On the day, children will be running small stalls and selling baked goods. 

Make sure to bring some small coins/notes to pay. 

From the Community Partnership Action Team.

MONTMORENCY SECONDARY COLLEGE ARTS ALIVE 2023

Each year Montmorency Secondary College invites local primary school students, in Years 4, 5 & 6, to enter their artwork into a competition as part of the annual Arts Alive exhibition. This year's theme is ‘You Can Be Anything’. The art work must be A4 or A3 in size and can be created using 2D, 3D or ICT media. Suitable types of artworks include paintings, collages, photographs, mixed media, printing, sculpture or animation. 

Twenty finalists will be chosen to be showcased on the opening night. All finalists will be invited to attend a special workshop to be held later on in the year and there will be prizes and a presentation for those students awarded 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. 

The submissions must be dropped off at Montmorency Secondary by Friday 6th October.  

Our Greenhills artists have been very well represented in the past and we encourage as many students as possible to get involved. If you have any questions please contact one of us or Montmorency Secondary. A flyer and entry form is attached. There are printed versions available at the main office.

Looking forward to some amazing artworks.

Kind Regards

Andrea Williams & Sarah Leach

CANTEEN

Helpers Needed

If you have a spare hour on a Wed, Thurs or Fri between 1pm and 2pm, come along and help in the canteen. There is no food preparation involved, it's very simple and the kids love seeing parents there!

You need to have completed the Volunteer Induction, and sign up through CareBookings - www.carebookings.com.au - access code is JGU9L.

Helpers get a canteen voucher for their kids to use for their next lunch order! 

Thanks, 

Miriam.

STUDENTS OF THE WEEK

Term 3 Week 8 - Presented at Assembly 15th of September 2023