Principal's Message
From the Principal – RESILIENCE
Over these last few days, many Australians have reflected on the remarkable life and courage of Neale Daniher. Despite facing the challenges of Motor Neurone Disease, Neale continued to inspire others through his determination, positivity and unwavering commitment to making a difference. His story reminds us that resilience is not about avoiding hardship or simply “bouncing back” when life becomes difficult. Rather, resilience is about using our strengths, coping strategies and support networks to work through challenges.
As parents and educators, supporting children to develop resilience can sometimes be difficult. Naturally, we want to protect our children from disappointment, sadness or struggle, and often we feel a strong desire to quickly fix problems and remove discomfort. At times, we may also be responding to our own discomfort as we watch our children navigate hard moments. Developing resilience (our children’s and our own), however, requires opportunities for children to experience challenge in safe and supported ways. It can take mindful practice for adults to pause, take a breath, and respond with empathy, validation and encouragement, rather than immediately stepping in to solve every problem.
At Gray Street, we are committed to supporting our students to develop resilience through our Respectful Relationships curriculum, our Resilience Project program and our everyday conversations. Together, these programs help build students’ social and emotional competencies, develop positive coping strategies, strengthen relationships and encourage students to approach challenges with confidence, empathy and perseverance. As educators we hold both the short term goals in our thinking for your child, along with our long-term aspirations.
MAY REFLECTIONS
Cross Country – School, District, Division and Regional
Our Cross-Country program began in the first week of May, with all students from Years 3–6 participating in the course at Lake Hamilton. It was wonderful to see every student complete the course at their own pace, demonstrating persistence. The following week, 45 runners completed the same course, representing our school at District level. From there, eight students progressed to Division level in Warrnambool, where they competed in near perfect conditions. There were many personal successes throughout the program, leading with three students Sophie Stewart, Georgia Lewis and Camilla Robertson progressing through to Regional level earlier this week. With wet weather creating a far more challenging course this week, each of these three runners had to approach this event with determination. We congratulate each runner at each level for their efforts and achievements. We also thank parents for supporting their children across each of these events, a full set of results can be found in Mr Kelson’s Sports Report.
Division Aths
The beginning of May also saw 20 students attend the Division Athletics Carnival in Warrnambool. These students qualified through their performances at the District Athletics. As with Cross Country, there were many personal successes across the day, with each student representing the school, and themselves, with pride in their chosen events. Special congratulations go to the students who placed in the top six of a running event, or top three in a field event or relay, as they have now qualified to compete at the Greater Western Region Athletics Championships which will be held in Ballarat on 9th October. A full set of results can be found in Mr Kelson’s Sports Report.
Grip Conference – Monday May 4th
The GRIP Conference in Mount Gambier with our School Captains and Student Voice Leaders was a terrific day out. The conference provided valuable time for the team to consider how they would like to further shape their leadership roles throughout the year, along with implementing purposeful activities. Key areas of discussion included plans to continue adding ‘pops of colour’ across the school through improving creative spaces, particularly the mud kitchen, the space under the peppercorn tree and how we use the space outside the stadium. Plans are currently evolving for Term 3 to be a time where our student leaders can truly shine and further amplify their contribution to the school community. We look forward to sharing more about this plan in the next newsletter.
Bake Sale and Mother’s Day Afternoon and Activities
Our Mother’s Day celebrations were once again a wonderful reflection of the strong sense of community that exists within our school. It was fantastic to see so many mums, women and special people attend the afternoon. The opportunity to spend time in classrooms alongside their children created a warm and positive atmosphere across the school and highlighted the strong partnerships we value between home and school.
The Mother’s Day Bake Sale, which was part of this day was again a tremendous success. We were incredibly grateful for the many generous contributions, which extended well beyond baked goods to include flowers, preserves and other thoughtful donations. The event raised $2,800 which when added to the Easter Raffle fundraising will provide $5,000 to support the development of our school grounds A sincere thank you to all families who donated items, volunteered their time, attended the event and supported the afternoon in so many ways. Special thanks also to our School Council Fundraising Lead, Bec Doheny, for her ongoing organisation, leadership and commitment to building positive opportunities for our school community.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Our recent Parent-Teacher Interviews were well attended, with nearly all parents embracing the opportunity to connect with their child’s teacher. It was wonderful to see families taking the time to discuss how the year had started, celebrate early successes, and touch base on both learning and social development. In a follow-up staff meeting, teachers reflected on the value of bringing these interviews forward to earlier in the term. This timing allowed meaningful conversations that helped set clear goals for the remainder of the term. It was also lovely to hear that students are coming home excited to share their learning and achievements with their families. Conversations around the mentor texts being read across various area teams, as well as engagement with the Facts on Fire Maths Fluency program, were specific highlights.
COMING UP IN JUNE
Reconciliation Week – Wednesday May 27th to Wednesday June 3rd
This week we acknowledge and celebrate National Reconciliation Week. At our school, we are committed to developing students’ understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal culture and history through meaningful learning experiences, stories and discussions that deepen their knowledge of First Nations perspectives. Reconciliation Week provides an opportunity to reflect on our commitment to inclusive practices, ensuring every student and family feels respected, valued and has a strong sense of belonging.
Eisteddfod – Thursday June 4th
Next week, our choir of 38 students will attend the Hamilton Eisteddfod to compete in the School Choir section. Mrs Garland and the students have been working tirelessly over the past few weeks to ensure their performance is at its very best. It is wonderful to see how our school choir has grown over recent years, with more students embracing singing as an area of interest and enjoying the opportunity to perform together. This is a reflection of our strong specialist program where teachers share their expertise and passion and grow this in the students they work with.
Assessments and Report Writing Day – Friday June 5th
A Reminder to parents that Friday 5th June is a School Council Approved Assessment and Reporting day. No students are required at school on this day. Staff have been allocated this day to review midyear assessments and student work to inform midyear reports. Your child’s progress in learning will be represented through their progression point on the front page and in the Report Descriptors on the second page which show their competence in the skills covered in the first half of the year.
Report Changes due to Industrial Action
We will be providing student achievement reports for Semester 1 this year as usual. The reports will be distributed on XUNO on Thursday 25th June. The reports will continue to provide important details about student learning attainment, but full descriptive comments are not included. This is a result of industrial action taken earlier this term by the Australian Education Union and in agreement with the Department of Education. We will also be providing the opportunity to further discuss your child’s progress next term at parent-teacher interviews.
Swimming – Year 3/4
Our first swimming sessions for the year will take place across Weeks 8 and 9, from Tuesday June 9th to Friday June 19th. Across the nine sessions, students will be supported to develop their swimming and stroke technique. Staff work closely with HILAC instructors to ensure each child is placed in the most appropriate ability group. As with any skill development program, there is always a broad range of abilities within each group. We are fortunate to work with highly skilled instructors at HILAC who are experienced in differentiating their teaching to meet the needs of every individual swimmer.
Other Information
Staffing Update - Welcome Miss Abbey Hill
This week we welcomed Miss Abbey Hill to our ES team. Abbey is currently studying teaching and recently completed her teaching rounds with us. She will work with us for the next five weeks whilst she is home on university break. Abbey will be supporting the Year 3/4 team in the mornings and the Prep team in the afternoons.
Camp Program
This year, all camps will take place in Week 2 of Term 4, from Monday October 12th to Friday October 16th.
- Year 1 Day Trip (Port Fairy) – Thursday October 15th
- Year 2 (Port Fairy)- Wednesday October 14th to Thursday October 15th
- Year 3/4 (Grampians Retreat) – Monday October 12th to Tuesday October 13th
- Year 5/6 (Sovereign Hill ) – Monday October 12th – Wednesday October 14th
Report Changes due to Industrial Action
We will be providing student achievement reports for Semester 1 this year as usual. The reports will be distributed on Xuno on Thursday June 25th. The reports will continue to provide important details about student learning attainment, but full descriptive comments are not included. This is a result of industrial action taken earlier this term by the Australian Education Union and in agreement with the Department of Education. We will also be providing the opportunity to further discuss your child’s progress next term at parent-teacher interviews.