Message from the Principal 

Well we are now well and truly into the full swing of a year of learning at Greenhills Primary School. After an important period of settling in, making connections with classmates and of course the teacher too, our teaching and learning program is fully up and running. 

This year our Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) will have a strong focus on Numeracy & Wellbeing.  Significant time and resources will be directed into Numeracy as our teaching teams work through an evidenced based cycle each term. In schools, this process is formally called a Professional Learning Community or PLC. Each of our teams is currently in the first phase (there are four phases) which is Evaluation & Diagnose. This involves a deep analysis of our PAT testing data (a large scale standardised test we use each year across the school) in maths. We look for areas of the curriculum that our students need more focus on and identify individual students who may have not made the growth we might expect. This is then followed up with a range of more direct and focused assessments that are completed in classrooms through observation and conferencing. This provides another insight and source of data. The photo in the newsletter last week showed what this looks like. 

Through this process, our teachers identify the specific learning required for particular cohorts of students and then plan detailed and focused learning to meet their point of need. Our teaching teams or PLC’s spend time each week on a Monday or Tuesday after school between 3.50pm and 4.50pm working through the cycle. One of the most powerful results of this work is our staff learning from each other, collaborating and reviewing what effective teaching looks like through a better understanding of what is working or not working and why.

In the newsletter next week I will outline more about the Wellbeing component of our AIP.

STUDENT AGENCY

Over the next few weeks, students will start to see a new classroom display being developed in all classrooms across the school. This is our Student Agency Wall. This project was started last year under the leadership of Janine Hough and Brad Ryan. Now after a series of student focus groups and staff professional learning sessions, we ready to use our model to build and increase student understanding, ownership and responsibility for their leaning. 

Our Student Agency model revolves around different levels of growth or competence that can be demonstrated through five identified learning traits that directly correlate to our core values. The traits evolve and grow from surface level or land based (represented by a bus symbol) through to sky (represented by a balloon) and onto space (represented by the rocket). In this way, our students can see and explore how each trait develops in stages and can therefore be built and developed. It is very similar to our bump it up walls or 1-4 star examples that we use across the school and that our students are very familiar with.

Over the next four weeks, the students will begin using the model through a focus on Grit. Keep up with this newsletter during this time to find out more about how students are developing Grit in their learning.

BUILDING UPDATE

Blink and its gone…..the old hall is now well and truly a memory. It has been amazing to watch how quickly the builders did this and the systems and steps they used. Our students certainly had a first-hand view of how the demolition was phased. The next step involves significant ground works to prepare the space to build our new full size competition grade basketball court. This will involve lots of digging and removal of soil. As always, all vehicle movement will be done in conjunction with the school and there will always be a traffic warden walking in and out with each vehicle. Large deliveries and movement is also timed away from recess, lunch breaks and other key times through a school day. We appreciate the co-operation of our builders from AMA in looking after our student, staff and parent safety.

PARENT ASSOCIATION 2022

Thank you to everyone attended our first PA meeting for the year. We had a very strong attendance and it is GREAT to be part of a school that has such strong parent involvement. Over the last couple of years, we have had a very engaged and committed PA, but we haven’t been able to do everything as planned.  

This year has huge potential and importance for us as we try to welcome back on-site activities that foster shared learning, community building and that real sense of what it means to be part of Greenhills.

At the meeting Josh Lucas was elected as our PA Convenor and Justin Parr-Davies as our Deputy Convenor and Secretary. 

Our first community building and fundraising event will be a BBQ on Friday 25th March. Other plans this term include an Easter Raffle and Hot Cross Buns drive and a Colour Run. This awesome event was planned for late last year, but with all things Covid we didn’t get the chance to run it.   

I will outline the full calendar of PA events for this year one they have been approved by our 2022 School Council and the next PA meeting is on Tuesday 23rd March at 7pm in the staffroom.

MASK MADATE REMAINS

Thankfully there has been some changes to mask wearing rules in most settings however things have not changed for students in primary school settings. This means that all students in Years 3-6 must wear a face mask whilst indoors. This can be a challenge, especially in the warmer weather but it remains an important step in stopping the spread of the virus given that the vaccination rates for our younger students are lower than the rest of our population. If your child has not been vaccinated yet I encourage you to do so and keep up those appointments for the second dose. 

YEAR 6 CAMP MEETING

This is a reminder to all of our Year 6 parents and carers that our Year 6 Camp to Anglesea is fast approaching and our staff team are working through ensuring that we can make the camp as Covid safe as possible. We are hosting a Webex for parents and carers who might like to find out more about this camp and also have time for any questions you may have as well. 

The Webex will be at 7pm on Tuesday 1st March:

Meeting Number: 2651 719 9781

Meeting Password: greenhills

If you have any specific concerns or questions that you would like covered please email them through to me:

james.penson@education.vic.gov.au

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTION & ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Our School Council election closes tomorrow at 4pm. Then on Monday 28th February after the votes counts are counted, I will announce the results via Compass.

We will hold our first meeting during the week of the 7th - 11th March. 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.