Message from the Principal 

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU

I just wanted to take a moment to say a very heartfelt thank you to our wonderful Greenhills community for the incredible kindness shown to Janine, Brad and myself for Principals Day last week.

The messages, cards, kind words and thoughtful surprises genuinely meant so much to us. It is easy to focus on the busyness of school life, but days like this are a lovely reminder of the relationships and connections that make Greenhills such a special place.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be the Principal of Greenhills Primary School and, most importantly, to be part of a community that cares so deeply about our children, our staff and one another.

Thank you for making me feel so appreciated. I am very lucky to be a Greenhills person. 

GREENHILLS WRITING COMPETITION…LET YOUR CREATIVITY SHINE!

Calling all Greenhills writers! We are excited to launch our 2026 Greenhills Writing Competition, giving every student the opportunity to showcase their imagination, creativity and love of writing. Whether you enjoy writing stories, poems, persuasive texts, information reports, comics, letters, songs or something completely unique, we'd love to read it! There are no limits on the type of writing you can submit - just let your ideas flow and create something you're proud of.

Entries close on Friday 4th September and should be handed into the school office, with your name and class clearly written on your work. Winning entries will be published in our very own G.R.E.A.T. Writers Book, which will be celebrated with a special launch event in Term 4. We can't wait to celebrate the incredible talent and creativity of our Greenhills students - happy writing! 

NAPLAN 2026 READING SNAPSHOT

YEAR 3

Year 5 

Our 2026 NAPLAN Reading results highlight strong achievement across Greenhills Primary School, alongside some clear priorities for continued improvement.

Year 3 Reading results were particularly strong, with 88% of students achieving in the Strong or Exceeding proficiency levels. This compares favourably with similar schools (82%), our network (80%) and the state (69%). 

Year 5 students also demonstrated strong levels of achievement, with 84% achieving Strong or Exceeding, compared with 85% for similar schools, 83% across the network and 74% statewide. 

Overall, the data shows that our students are achieving strongly in Reading, particularly in Year 3, with achievement results generally comparing favourably with state and network benchmarks. Our next priority is to build on this strong foundation by increasing the proportion of students making medium and high growth, ensuring that every student is supported and challenged to make strong progress in their reading.

WE WANT OUR PARENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

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. 

Some examples of the data from last year’s survey include (note that the green area represents the percentage of positive endorsement, the grey area is percentage of neutral and the black area percentage of negative responses):

As you can see the positive feedback around connection and progression, parent community engagement and safety are all above similar school and the State averages. These percentages have continued to improve over recent years as a result of your feedback to us. Examples of this include adding additional sessions to our Prep transition sessions to total a program of 10 hours, the introduction of a High School Day for our Year 6’s as they prepare for Year 7, Two Minute Tuesdays and three emails from each of our teaching teams each term and of course our School Wide Positive Behaviour System. All parents will be invited to participate in this year’s survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. 

This year, the Parent Opinion Survey will be conducted from Tuesday 18th August to Friday 18th September.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 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 will be sent out via Compass next week. Please contact me if you would like more information:

james.penson@education.vic.gov.au

FATHERS & SPECIAL PERSONS BREAKFAST

Our Father's and Special Person's Breakfast is being held on Tuesday September 1st from 7:45am.  All Fathers, Grandfathers, Special People, and Students are welcome!

We are now taking orders on QKR for Toasties and other breakfast food and drinks. Orders close on Wednesday August 26th and coupons to redeem your order will be sent home with students prior to the breakfast.

Parent Helpers are required on the morning, If you can help from 7am please sign up through Carebookings (JGU9L), ensuring you have completed the 2026 Parent Induction.

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 5 – Taking Responsibility

 What is one thing you have done this week that helped move you closer to your goal?

James Penson,

Principal.