Message from the Principal 

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy some quality time as a family during the break and that our students had the opportunity for some sleep ins, games, movies and all those activities that seem to relax us but also enable us to re-charge as well. 

During the school holidays our staff competed at the Victorian Teacher’s Games. The event was held in Geelong and we entered teams in Laser Tag, Mixed Netball, Mixed Basketball and a range of other social activities. It was lots of fun and we did Greenhills proud!

Fourth terms are always very busy times for schools with end of year activities and also lots of planning and organisation for the next year happening as well. Looking at our school calendar over the next few weeks highlights this and demonstrates that we have hit the ground running. 

To help keep track of this, I have attached an updated Community Term Calendar in this newsletter. Don’t forget that our Compass Calendar is now the main go to for making sure you are up to date with all the activities and events each school term.

BUILDINGS & GROUNDS UPDATE

During the school holidays there was a range of works completed as part of our Buildings and Grounds and our OH&S program. This included a new concrete sleeper retaining wall to replace the wooden sleeper fence outside the Prep and Year 2 classrooms, a new wooden fence near the school office, 2 x Year 6 classrooms and breakout space being freshly painted and gutters vacuumed.

Works to redevelop the toilets next to the Art room has also started and is expected to be completed in the next two weeks. 

We have also replaced all lighting across the school with LED’s. This not only means a better quality of light for all of our learning spaces but less electricity usage via higher efficiency globes. Thank you to our Sustainability & Environment Subcommittee for this initiative and our Parent Association for organising the funding to make this possible through last year’s Online Trivia Night and Auction.

TRANSITION 2023

As we begin the term, I thought that I would outline more details about our Transition Program for 2023. The aim of this program is to ensure that every child feels more confident about next year by removing some of the unknowns before the end of this year!

Our Transition program includes our Year 6 High School Experience Day on Wednesday 19th October. This is a day of role play where they will experience different subjects and teaching styles, moving to different areas of the school for lessons as they start to get a feel for what next year might have in stall!   

Our 2023 Prep Transition Program also continues following on from our very successful “Experience Greenhills” sessions. These commence on Thursday 17th November, continue over 3 weeks and will be run by our Prep 2023 team.  

On 19th October we have our Prep Information sessions for parents and carers. Overall this comprehensive and staged approach enables confidence and comfort to be developed whilst ensuring that our future students develop key school readiness skills. 

We have also added on a special whole school “Connections Day” on Tuesday 25th October. This is being developed by our Staff Connections team with a focus on bringing students together from different classes so that new connections can be made as we start to build classes for next year.

At 7pm on Tuesday the 15th November, we are hosting a “Step into 2023 Family Education Night”. Events like this were a feature of our school prior to Covid and it will be great to bring students and families back together to experience and share what learning looks like at our school. The focus will be on students attending sessions set up for the following school year level. For example our Prep students and families will experience what it will be like in our Year 1 classrooms.   

On 8th and 13th of December, we will have our “Meet the Teacher” whole school transition sessions. This is where we turn the whole school into 2023. More details including the timings of these days will be outlined in future newsletters so keep your eye out. (*Please note that our Preps for 2023 will only attend the first “Meet the Teacher” session on 8th December).

As you can see, there has been lots of thought and time put into developing a very comprehensive transition program across the whole school. We believe this is really important, especially given the rise on anxiety levels that schools are experiencing.  The more students can experience and understand what the future looks like at our school, the more prepared and ready they will be. 

If you have any questions about our transition program please contact me at the school.

PARENT REQUEST PROCESS FOR TRANSITION INTO 2023

Our team have begun the process of finalising our school structure for 2023. At this stage we will continue with 22 classes including 3 x Prep classes, 4 x Year 2 classes and 4 x Year 4 classes. Considerations around the social, emotional, academic and physical needs of each of our students will form part of this process. Parents are able to make requests for consideration when placing their child into their 2023 class. These requests will only be accepted via email and must be received by Friday 21st October: james.penson@education.vic.gov.au

Please note that requests with respect to specific teachers will not be considered. 

Our staff will use this information as part of all the different considerations taken when building our grades. These factors include the social, emotional, physical and academic needs of all students. It is a complex and time-consuming task as we try to ensure that we set up the best possible structure for a successful 2023. During this entire process our decisions are always guided by one major factor and that is the best interests of our students. Details relating to the school organisation, classes of children and the allocation of teachers will be released to students prior to our first “Meet the Teacher” whole school transition sessions on the 8th December and to parents and carers that afternoon.  

James Penson

Principal