Message from the Principal 

CLASS OF 2023 RE-UNION

Last Wednesday our Graduating Class of 2023 returned to our school for their re-union. I know the students really enjoyed catching up with old friends and sharing stories about their journey into high school. 

This event is just one small part of our very organised and extensive Transition program. Just like we set up our Experience Greenhills sessions for our future prep students (which start next week!), we also work hard right through all the primary school years and beyond to ensure Greenhills students are connected with their peers, teachers and the school community. Many thanks to Becc Stephens and Tegan Smith for organising the event.

YEAR 6 MORNING TEA WITH AN AUTHOR

Our Year 6 students have been writing historical fiction narratives which was supported by our Inquiry history unit. To celebrate our incredible Year 6 authors and what they have achieved, we held a “morning tea with an author”. Events like this are a G.R.E.A.T. way to build authenticity and real-life purpose and connections in learning. It was also a wonderful opportunity for our students to build confidence, share their successes and build their organisational skills. Of equal importance, opening our classrooms like this, gives parents and caregivers the opportunity to participate in their child’s education.

Thank you to all our families who came to celebrate with us!

WE WANT OUR PARENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

Our school is conducting the annual Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey and is seeking your feedback. The survey, offered by the Department of Education, is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. 

Your opinions are important to us and will contribute to identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. The department will use the results from the survey for research purposes and to improve outcomes for students.

The survey will be conducted online and only takes 20 minutes to complete. It can be completed on any internet enabled device (desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone) and is compatible with most browsers.  The survey is available in English and 10 other languages: Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 29 July to Friday 30 August 2024.

An invitation to the survey with a link and password was sent out via COMPASS last week and we will send it out again this week. Please contact me if you would like more information:

james.penson@education.vic.gov.au

GETTING READY FOR 2025

Next week we start our “Experience Greenhills” sessions with our 2025 Preps visiting the Art room. The 2025 preps will also visit our other specialist areas each week over the next month, as we build towards our students starting school next year. We have 61 students enrolled in Prep next year, so at this stage we anticipate to running three classes. 

On three of the Experience Greenhills dates, we will also be hosting short parent sessions in the multi-purpose room (where TeamKids operate). This will be a GREAT chance to catch up for a chat and find out a little more about our school. The sessions are open to all our parents and carers, not just our Prep 2025 ones!

The session outlines are as follows:

Monday 12th August 2024  “Reading” presented by Sharon Draper who is one of our Literacy experts. Sharon will talk about literacy at home and how to spark a love of reading.

Monday 19th August 2024 “Number Fluency” presented by Janine, Brad or myself.  We will talk about ways to engage with math’s at home and how we teach math’s throughout the school.

Monday 26th August 2024 “Student Agency” – presented by Janine, Brad or myself. We will share some insights into what Student Agency looks like across our school and our plans to grow this event further next year and beyond.

MEET WITH THE PRINCIPAL TEAM – TONIGHT

Our next Mid-Term Meet with the Principal Team is tonight (Wednesday 7th August) at 7.30pm via Webex. The meetings are held at the mid-point of each term with the aim of helping to keep you in the loop with things that are happening across our school. They are also another forum to ask questions, provide feedback and suggestions and continue our strong home school partnership. Here is the link : https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/j.php?MTID=m07273d042e573818557defe5d7eede38

Meeting password: greenhills

Meeting number (access code): 2652 483 9738

VALE JACK BRAIDIE

Yesterday we were given the sad news that Jack Braidie passed away. Jack was the last surviving member of the 3rd Division Signals Unit that served in Papua New Guinea during World War 2.

Our school has formed a close link with the Unit since 2007 and each year we are part of their Annual Memorial Service. Jack always attended this service including the one earlier this year.  Jack was 101 and 7 months old!  

We send our condolences and best wishes to his family and all those associated with the 3rd Division Signals.

James Penson 

Principal