Message from the Principal 

BOOKWEEK FUN

Today we enjoyed a wonderful celebration of Book Week 2026. For me, these types of activities and events are what school is all about. Dressing up on special days is such a fun way to enjoy and promote a love of reading. It was certainly a GREAT parade, and I think our Djila Djerring is the perfect space for parades in the future.

How good were all the costumes….I’m just a little disappointed that less and less students know who Tintin is….although I did manage to find a few fellow Tintin’s this year! 

A big shout out to all our parents and carers for supporting our students to source or make costumes and getting fully into the spirit of the event.  This is not always an easy thing to do but know that your commitment was worth it.

As part of Bookweek, the Children’s Book Council of Australia presents annual awards to books of literary merit, for outstanding contribution to Australian children's literature. Congratulations to all the winners of the 2026 Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards.  Many of the books are available in the school library for our students to enjoy. 

Book week is also a GREAT opportunity to acknowledge and thank Jen Ellis for her work in our school Library – you are awesome Jen!

It is also important to note that Greenhills Primary School is a GREAT reading school and we want to keep getting even better. We have great teachers, we are implementing an evidence based approach to reading that is built on the Big 6 + 1 (oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension and writing).

we have a superb Library and of course a strong level of parent support for reading for pleasure at home.

So how do we keep working to make sure we remain such a strong reading school?

At school, we will achieve this through a very strategic and detailed professional learning plan based on ensuring high levels of staff knowledge around what high quality reading teaching is and how we deliver this consistently across the whole school each day. You can also participate with us by doing something similar at home too.

At home, you can assist your child to find an extra 10 minutes a day to read. It might be as simple as 10 minutes less on technology or reading for 10 minutes before dinner. We know that you can become better at something if you focus on it more. Reading becomes easier and more enjoyable the more you do it! If you need some motivation have a think about this: If your child currently reads for just 1 minute a day, they will read 21,000 words this year. Increasing this by 10 minutes a day will lead to 321,000 words being read in a year. It also works for those students that are already reading for the suggested 15 minutes a day. Currently these readers would be churning through 1.8 million words a year. Ten minutes more would take this to over 2.7 million! 

Help your child to choose different types of books to read and take turns to read with them. Talk about the book and look for words to pay special attention too. Most importantly, make the experience as fun and engaging as possible.

CLASS OF 2025 RE-UNION

Last Wednesday our Graduating Class of 2025 returned to our school for their re-union. I know the students really enjoyed catching up with old friends and sharing stories about their journey into high school. 

This event is just one small part of our very organised and extensive Transition program. Just like we set up our Experience Greenhills sessions for our future prep students (which have started this week!), we also work hard right through all the primary school years and beyond to ensure Greenhills students are connected with their peers, teachers and the school community.

PARENT / CARER OPINION SURVEY

This is a reminder that our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents think of our school. The Parent Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst all parents. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parents’ perceptions about your child’s learning, teachers at the school and general satisfaction with the school Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies. All parents and carers have been invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year, the Parent Opinion Survey has been extended and will close at the end of this term on Friday 19th September.

The survey is conducted online, only takes 15-20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.

An invitation to the survey with a link and password has been sent out via Compass as newsfeed.

Please contact me if you would like more information:

james.penson@education.vic.gov.au

HILAT Focus: Pursuing Goals

At Greenhills, we want our students to take ownership of their learning by setting goals, making plans and reflecting on the progress they make along the way. Our weekly reflection question is a simple way to continue these conversations at home and encourage children to think about how they can keep growing as learners.

Week 7 – Adjusting Your Plan

Have you needed to change your plan along the way? What did you change and why?

James Penson,

Principal.