Principal's Message

Term 3 Week 2

What a fantastic start to Term 3! There have been so many positive events and adventures already this term.

NAIDOC Week:

Our term began with a very special GEPS Fest, celebrating NAIDOC week with an outstanding Acknowledgement of Country video prepared by our Koori Club students, and sharing the story “Mad Magpie” by Gregg Dreise. NAIDOC celebrations help us to walk forward together, recognising the past and looking forward to the future. This year NAIDOC celebrated 50 years of honouring and elevating Indigenous voices, culture, and resilience with the theme The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy. During the assembly we heard the story of Guluu, the magpie who learns to be resilient and use positive strategies even when things are hard. This special celebration and Guluu’s story about being calm and discovering our inner strength was a great way to start Term 3!

Stage 3 Excursion:

Our Year 5 and 6 students were able to attend their Sydney Harbour excursion last week after it was postponed because of bad weather in Term 2. Our students came back to school telling me about what an exciting day they’d had, learning about the natural features of Sydney’s harbour, examining different animal habitats and the incredible natural environments of our city. After the excursion, we received a message from the tour organisers, telling us that the behaviour and interest in learning they saw in our students was outstanding. The Stage 3 teachers and I are so proud of our Stage 3 students, who represented our school so well and learnt so much.

Athletics Carnival:

This week our whole school participated in the K-6 Athletics Carnival. It was a wonderful opportunity to be together as a whole school. Our younger students ran races and played games, developing their teamwork, learning to be a good sport and always trying hard, while our older students participated in races, high jump, long jump and shot put events. In all our events, I noticed our students trying hard as they competed and I saw fantastic school spirit in action as students cheered one another on. It was wonderful seeing our students living up to the school motto “Always our Best”. I would like to say a special thank you to the teachers who organised and ran the carnival, as well as parent volunteer Mrs McDonnell who helped out all day at the carnival.

Staffing news:

We would like to wish Mrs Hawchar the very best as she starts her maternity leave next week. We can’t wait to hear all the news about the littlest member of the GEPS family! We also welcome Mrs Maatouk who will be joining the Stage 3 team and team teaching with Ms Drar on 5/6 Dandelion for the remainder of the year.

Learning Walks

I would like to invite families to attend our first Term 3 Learning Walk next Thursday 7 August, taking place during Education Week. We are excited to invite a group of around 10 parents to join us, to visit our learning spaces and share in a group discussion about what learning means to you. The learning walks and discussions help us to learn about what is important for our families and to build our relationships for even deeper connection. Places are limited, so please see the flyer and call the office if you wish to attend. A second Learning Walk will take place later in the term, so if you are not able to attend this time, you may want to come next time round.

NAPLAN results

Year 3 and Year 5 students received an envelope with their NAPLAN results this week. Please use these as an opportunity to celebrate your child’s successes and speak with them about their learning. We congratulate our students for their achievements and always doing their best.

There are also so many exciting upcoming events to celebrate.

· Kindergarten will celebrate “100 days of School” and we warmly welcome our Kindergarten families to join us on Tuesday 5 August from 9-11am to celebrate with their child and enjoy a picnic recess together.

· The Sound Gardens team, who have been working with local artists and students from St Mary’s Primary School in Erskineville, will showcase their talent in a combined exhibition at Bangor Park, Auburn on Saturday 9 August from 2-4pm. This student-led public artwork celebrates friendship and storytelling. With the support of professional artists, students worked in small teams to produce incredible soundscapes, podcasts and artworks. Everyone from the GEPS community is invited to come and see the students and their amazing creations!

· Our SRC will be holding the first of their Term 3 fundraisers on Tuesday 12 August. You can read a special report about it written by Mahmoud S from 1/2A and Abdulrahim A from 5/6K later in the newsletter. Congratulations to our SRC for their thoughtful fundraising that supports students from all over NSW attend Stewart House.

· Our Dance Group will be performing at the 2025 Community of Schools Showcase at Granville South CAPA High School on Thursday 14 August. Families will hear more about the event and receive an invitation shortly. We’re looking forward to seeing our Dance Group on stage, performing amongst students from schools all over our area.

· Book Week is in Term 3 and we will mark this with our Book Fair and the Book Week character parade on Monday 18 August from 9am. Please see the flyer later in the newsletter for more details.

· NRL Coaching clinics: We are delighted that the NRL are supporting our school with coaching clinics for students in 3-6. Over the next few weeks all students will have a chance to participate in one of their coaching sessions.

Real Schools Partnership

I am proud to announce a new partnership with Real Schools- an organisation that is committed to working with the staff, students and community of Granville East to build even further on our positive and inclusive culture. Our goal is to build on the GEPS’ values of respect, pride and courage to ensure we are caring for the wellbeing of our whole community- staff, students and families!

One of our first whole-school actions is tackling litter in our playground. It’s not just about keeping our playground tidy: we want to show pride in our school and demonstrate care and respect for our shared environment- values that run deeper than just picking up our rubbish.

We will also be talking a lot and learning together about how our actions and words can affect others- and learning to pause, reflect and take responsibility for our own actions. We want our students to do the right thing, not out of fear of punishment, but because they genuinely care about one another and our environment. Staff are modelling the same mindset, creating a calm, respectful atmosphere where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities, not failures.

Our partnership with Real Schools will give the staff and students practical tools and ongoing support to keep building these habits. The real change is happening in the way we speak to one another, solve problems together, and celebrate progress- creating a culture where respect, pride and courage aren’t just words- they are lived, every day, by everyone at Granville East.