Message from the Principal 

TERM 1 – THANK YOU

Thank you to everyone for a GREAT term and it has certainly flown by. We have been very proud of the respect that our students are showing and the courage they are showing across all areas of the school. This means that we have achieved so much already and really set the scene for an awesome 2025. 

One of the biggest bright lights through this term has been evident in the positive, calm and encouraging attitude of our staff team. The staff have been working hard to ensure that all students are connected, curious and challenged. This started with our very first “red carpet” entry into the school on the first day and has continued every day since. The photos above are of our Monday Madness chalk drawing activity this week and another GREAT way that we build connection each week.

I would like to use this newsletter to formally thank each one of the Greenhills Primary School staff for their professionalism, dedication and commitment to not only the learning, but also the wellbeing and welfare of every student. 

I would also like to say a special thank you and acknowledge the work of Janine Hough and Brad Ryan. We are so lucky to have Janine and Brad as part of our Principal Team. They both serve our school community with selflessness, passion, commitment and genuine care. Janine and Brad drop everything to help students, staff, teaching teams and families and this takes an incredible amount of energy and time. When you see them (and you always can because they are always out and highly visible)– give them a thumbs up and smile! 

A big thank you too to all our parents and carers for your support for our school. We have a rich history and culture of strong parent contribution and involvement, and this term has been no exception. A GREAT example of this was our Student Agency Conferences last week and of course 24 families attending our Term 1 Meet with the Principal Team Webex.

It’s always hard to pick a highlight but for this term…. but for me it was our launch of High Impact Learner Agency Traits.  We launched with a successful curriculum day with our staff team. This is a key part of our Annual Implementation Plan for 2025 and is being led by Krysten O’Leary.

Our High-Impact Learner Agency Traits consist of interconnected components that we believe are key to fostering a high level of agency in learners. These elements serve as the foundation for developing confident, self-directed individuals who can navigate their learning with purpose. 

A key part of our work in empowering our students to develop each of these traits, is the time and focus we will spend on each specific trait. This sequence of learning will be built over several years and our starting point across the whole school is Acting with Courage. Each HILAT is also broken down into a development continuum. In this way, our students can build and grow their capacity, skills and competence over time.

Our staff team working together on our Curriculum Day.

Our Year 1/2 students sharing their examples of Acting with Courage in their learning journals.

STUDENT AGENCY CONFERENCES 

Our Student Agency Conferences were delivered successfully last week and there was a GREAT vibe across the school during the day and evening. A highlight for me was hearing from our teachers about how students are continuing to develop their agency, voice and responsibility for their learning. These conferences are evolving into a powerful platform to further enable this agency and enhance our parent partnership. 

It has also been very positive to see our students and families engaging with the feedback from our very first continuous reporting program via Compass Learning Tasks. Linking in our continuous reporting, with our agency conferences is helping to maximise the feedback provided to students. This feedback has one of the most powerful effects on student achievement and is something that we are very committed to keep developing and growing at our school.

 PA BBQ

How good was last Friday’s Parent Association End of Term BBQ!! It was just a wonderful feeling having parents, carers and friends on-site enjoying the atmosphere and conversation. Building our sense of community and connection is what our PA is all about and what a GREAT job they are doing. We also raised close to $600, which will be spent on purchasing some large-scale outdoor games for various events throughout the year.

A big thankyou to Mel Lucas for co-ordinating the event and thank you to everyone who helped.

AN AMAZING BOOKFAIR 

A big shout out to Jen Ellis for organizing our Bookfair last week. It was wonderful that so many families took a moment during our Student Agency Conferences to come and check it out and because of your support we raised $2168. This means that we have already been able to purchase 81 new books with over $1000 still to spend.

This is an awesome result, and it will help us to maintain our well-resourced library. This is something we are very passionate about and proud of. 

ANZAC DAY

Each ANZAC Day, the Greensborough RSL Sub-Branch invite our school to attend the ANZAC Day Memorial Service on the 25th of April. The Service will be held at the Greensborough War memorial Park, 203 Henry Street, Greensborough commencing at 9.15am and concluding around 10am. This year our school will also be involved in the march to the service. This starts at 8.45am from outside the Greensborough RSL. If your family is attending, it would be GREAT for them to wear Greenhills School uniform as a mark of respect. Those students who attend will also be able to lay a wreath on behalf of our school community. 

Have a safe and relaxing school holidays and I am looking forward to a massive

 Term 2!

James Penson,

Principal.