Message from the Principal 

NAIDOC WEEK 2025

NAIDOC Week's a time to celebrate the histories, cultures and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s held each year during the first week of July and is an important annual event where everyone’s invited to join in the celebrations. 

2025 is the 50th anniversary of NAIDOC Week, and the theme this year is ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy’, which celebrates the achievements of the past and a bright future ahead. 

NAIDOC Week is important as it’s an opportunity for learning, connection and community. 

It gives First Nations people and non-Indigenous people the opportunity to celebrate and connect with community and Country. And it’s a chance for everyone, not just First Nations people, to celebrate all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures.

As well as this, with its origins based in one of the first major civil rights gatherings in the world, NAIDOC Week is an important time to reflect on the challenges faced by First Nations people — to look at how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go.

Our school will begin Term 3 exploring some of the themes around NAIDOC Week for 2025. This will include a wide range of library books that Jen Ellis our Librarian has organised in our Indigenous Perspectives collection.

CHOIR ASSEMBLY

It was G.R.E.A.T. to listen to our school choir perform at our last assembly. These students have been rehearsing and enjoying singing together each Tuesday morning under the direction of our new Choir Director Stephen Valeri. We can look forward to more performances throughout this year. 

HOME LEARNING POLICY UPDATED

Our School Council recently approved an updated Home Learning Policy. The main change being an increased focus on ensuring our students are taught to develop the organisation skills required to successfully transition into high school. We have had recent feedback from our past graduates that they felt they needed to have a better preparation around the demands and expectations of home learning. 

The updated policy for Year 5 & 6 now includes the following details:

Will mainly consist of daily reading to, with, and by parents/carer or older siblings.

Students will also be encouraged to have technology free time and develop responsibility and organisational skills through helping with tasks at home. 

Optional lists of suggested learning that can be provided to students, parents and carers including: cooking (numeracy skills), science investigations, home projects, games, art, mindfulness, physical activity etc.

Revision tasks or completing unfinished class learning or learning that relates to individual student goals e.g. spelling, word study, or a writing task related to classroom learning and the current Inquiry Unit (approximately 45 minutes in total, per week).

Organisation tasks relating to school production, action teams, assembly or leadership role.

Students will use school diaries to assist with organisation of home learning tasks and other weekly responsibilities and activities.

The completion of Home Learning requirements as set by the Year 5 & 6 teachers will be monitored regularly (either weekly or fortnightly). Those students who do not complete set requirements will be required to do so during a time as set by the teacher which could include when the class has free time, recess or lunch play or other class time e.g. interschool sports or activities etc.

Please also note that our Prep to Year 4 Home Learning Policy details have not changed.

THANK YOU SEMESTER 1

Wow – we made it through to the end of a long and challenging term. Looking at our staff and students we only just made it and the holidays have come at the perfect time. 

I have been really pleased with our first half of the year. Our staff, students and parents have worked together and remained as connected as possible and we can look forward to GREAT things continuing in the second half of the year. 

There have been many highlights to celebrate this semester:

• Smoking Ceremony & Welcome to Country
• Launch of our High Impact Learner Agency Traits
• House Swimming, Athletics & Cross Country
• Grandparents & Special Person’s Day
• The camps, excursions and events organised as part of our extensive extra- curricular programs across our school.
• Terrific support from our PA with our End of Term BBQ’s, Mother’s Day Stall, Crazy Coin Collection, Bunnings & Election Day BBQ’s.
• Student leadership activities such as our JSC Big Freeze.
• Continuous Reporting change using COMPASS.
• Inducting so many parent helpers and having so much parental involvement and support across all year levels.

LAST DAY OF TERM – FINISH AT 2.30PM

A reminder that on our last day this term, Friday 4th July we will finish at 2.30pm. Our assembly will start at 2pm.

SIBLING ENROLMENT FORMS

This is the final call for any sibling enrolments for Prep in 2026. At the beginning of next term, we will be sending out confirmations of enrolments to families on our waiting list and start to organise the class structure for preps next year. It is vital that if you have a student starting school next year that you put in an enrolment form.

ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS!

I hope that all our families get some time together to enjoy life away from the school routines and can come back refreshed for Term 3!

Finally, thank you for your continuous support of our school. I am so grateful the work of our dedicated staff, the engagement of our students each day and the home school partnership our school has built over such a long period of time. Working in our school each day is an absolute privilege because I see so many good things happening, and our students always have smiles on their faces. Greenhills is a GREAT place to be.

James Penson,

Principal.