Message from the Principal
James Penson
A very special welcome to all our new Prep students and to our new families. The Prep team is ready and excited for a GREAT year ahead, full of curiosity, new connections and challenges. A big thank you to both our 2024 and 2025 Preps team who were able to deliver a best practice transition program throughout 2024 and into this year. This effort has certainly had a very positive impact on how our students have started school this year.
You can also read more about our Get Set Connect Program in our Wellbeing section of this newsletter. Here Janine & Brad will outline more about this program that we have designed to support all our students across the school to have a positive start and set a foundation for learning this year built on wellbeing and connection.
SCHOOL COUNCIL 2025
Thank you to Rosita Zakaria, Jessica Allen & Krystal Hinwood for nominating and joining our School Council for the next two years. This year we will not host an election as the number of nominations in the parent member category is less than the number of positions available. At this stage we still have one position available for a two-year period and one casual vacancy position for a one-year period. Brad Ryan will join as one of the staff representatives and we have one more position to fill in this category. They will join our existing members Sam Redman, Matt Mooney, Irina Fainberg, Janine Hough & Shirley O’Shannessy to form our 2025 School Council.
Our first School Council meeting will be held on Tuesday 4th March at 6.45pm in the staffroom. At this meeting, we will elect our School Council office bearers including our School Council President. We will also organise both the structure and membership of our sub-committees. The actual core work of our School Council is achieved via our sub-committees, and we encourage parents to become involved with these each year. I will outline the role of each sub-committee and the meeting schedule after this first School Council meeting.
PARENT HELPER INDUCTIONS
All helpers at our school must complete this process each year. We have now updated the Parent Helper Induction Online Video which can be found on our school website. This means that you will be able to complete this process at a time that suits you.
Simply access our school website, click on the “For Parents” tab along the top menu and select “Forms & Notices.” At the bottom of that page are the link to the video and all the forms required as part of the induction process. Once you have watched the video, you will need to read, complete and sign three separate documents (these forms can be collected from the office) :
You will also need to provide our office with a copy of your Working with Children’s Check so that we keep our annual register up to date.
WORKING BEE SATURDAY 1ST MARCH
Each term we host a school community working bee. Our focus for Term 1 is on a big garden bed tidy up. Looking after our school grounds is always a challenge and our working bee’s help to ensure that our school looks as great as the community it serves.
Please let us know you can assist by logging into CareBooking by Thursday 27th February. This will help us to plan out what we can achieve on the day.
Booking Code: JGU9L
If you have any garden tools, wheelbarrows etc. please bring them along. All students that attend with their families will receive a $5 canteen lunch voucher.
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
MID TERM MEET WITH THE PRINCIPAL TEAM
TEAM Communication is something that we continually work on and because our school is such an active place, we know how challenging it can be to keep up with everything going on. As such we host a “Mid-Term Meeting with the Principal Team” each term. These are held online via Webex which means that you can attend from the comfort of your own home. It also provides us with an opportunity to connect with parents and carers who are unable to attend on-site each week and say hello.
Our Term 1 Mid-Term meeting will be on Wednesday 5th March at 7.30pm.
I will send out the link before the day. The plan will be to outline some of the events and activities that are coming up over the remainder of the term and share some details about what we do at Greenhills Primary School. If there is any topic you would like us to cover, please let me know: james.penson@educaiton.vic.gov.au This will be an open forum and we will be happy to answer any questions you have and be very keen to listen to any suggestions and feedback you have.
SCHOOL TOURS (ENROLMENT 2026)
Next week I will start hosting school tours at 9.30am each Tuesday. If you know of anyone with a child ready to start school next year, please direct them to our school website or have them contact our school office so that they can join me on a tour and see what our school has to offer.
SCHOOL HOURS 8.45AM – 3.45PM
I need to remind parents and carers that our official school opening hours are from 8.45am through until 3.45pm each day. Our Duty of Care (which we take very seriously) commences at 8.45am in the morning through to 3.45pm after school. Your Duty of Care is the time up until 8.45am and after 3.45pm. At times we have students who arrive well before this time and some who stay in the school grounds after that time. There is no adult or teacher supervision of students outside of these times and I request that you make the appropriate arrangements to ensure the safety and well- being of your child.
We are fortunate to have TeamKids available to provide before and after school care for those families that need it.
James Penson,
Principal.
