The past two weeks at Granville East Public School have been very busy ones.

We celebrated Reconciliation Week in Week 5, which started with a special assembly which included a beautiful performance by our Stage 2 students of the sit-down dance of the song Taba Naba. This song comes from the Torres Islands and celebrates the activities of everyday life for Murray Islanders. The theme for National Reconciliation Week in 2025 is "Bridging Now to Next," which emphasises the ongoing connection between the past, present, and future in the reconciliation journey. This theme encourages all Australians to look ahead, learn from the past, and continue pushing forward together. At Granville East, Reconciliation Week reminds us to look for ways to include and connect with others, especially our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and Country. Teachers also spent some time reflecting on our Reconciliation Action Plan and how we can use the 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning in our work at Granville East Public School.

A big thank you to the teachers of Stage 1 who last Sunday hosted a Sausage Sizzle at Bunnings Villawood. Our teachers volunteered their time to organise and spend their day at this event to raise funds to support Stage 1 students and subsidise special events in 2025. Thank you to all the students and families that came along too!

We also held our Gold Badge assembly this week, recognising the excellent behaviour and attitude of students. Congratulations to the following students:

K Hakuna Matata - Amena W & Noah N

K Aloha - Musa M & Mysha Y

1/2 Bula - Xavi P & Tasnim Q

1/2 Tuwa - Ahida Q & Kena H

3/4 Waka - Bilal A & Manu H

3/4 Serenity - Asma A & Madina K

3/4 Amore - Amelia S & Neda A

5/6 Basma - Rana A, & Aisha S

5/6 Dandelion - Eva R & Amira A

5/6 Kudos - Ruya Z & Hussain A

We were happy to see so many smiling faces last Wednesday for our school photo day. I look forward to seeing the photos that capture those joy filled moments.

I have also been very proud of our teachers this week as they lived up to Granville East’s saying that “Everyone is a learner at Granville East”! Our teachers all participated in professional development that saw them visit one another’s classrooms, and have their colleagues visit them, to find out more about all the different ways successful learning happens at our school. While we were visiting the classrooms, we asked students to tell us about their learning. Here’s a little insight into what we heard:

Kindergarten: “We are learning to record our ideas.” and “We are learning about sentences.”

Stage 1: “I’m learning about modality words and persuasive writing and making sure our writing makes sense.” and “I’m convincing the teachers that reading books is better than watching TV.”

Stage 2: “I’m learning about the different parts of a fairy tale.” and “I am learning to change my words if my writing doesn’t make sense.”

Stage 3: “We are learning about making a draft of our ideas from planning our orientation.” and “We are learning to write a narrative and plan our ideas.”

We are very proud that our students can talk about their learning so well. I am sure you are proud of your children too!

This week, Granville East also hosted a group of teachers and leaders from around New South Wales- and even, via video link, from South Australia and New Mexico in the United States, as part of our Relational Leadership and Learning project in collaboration with The Smith Family’s The Connection group. We were sharing the important work that Granville East does to reflect that we are stronger as a community when we build our relationships and share the joy of learning with students, families and staff. I would like to make a special mention and give my thanks to Mrs Wehbe and Mr Aslan who came along to share with our visitors their experiences of being parents in our school, and our student leaders who showed our visitors around and spoke about why it is important to them to share their learning with their families.

Finally, I wish all of our families who are celebrating a wonderful Eid Al-Adha.

Term 2 Calendar