Message from the Principal 

3RD DIVISION SIGNALS ASSOCIATION

Last Friday, a group of our Year 6 student leaders attended the Shrine of Remembrance to hold a special memorial service to honour the 3rd Division Signals Association. Our school makes this annual visit on the 24th of April, as part of our ongoing and special relationship with the Association which started back in 2007. The partnership fosters relationships and enables schools to carry on the legacy of an ex-service organisation, which is an incredibly special honour for our school. 

As part of the service, our students read pledges they have written. Here is an example of these written by some of the students:

At Greenhills, we have our GREAT values. We show Grit, Respect others, give Effort, use Adventure and build connections with Teamwork. Today we continue our promise to show all these values like the members of the 3rd Division Signals Association did. They served our nation by operating under difficult conditions, laying cables and wires and fixing these when they were interrupted by the enemy. They risked their lives to continue communication across units and ranks and we know that communication is critical at anytime - but even more so during times of conflict. We thank them and we pay our respects to all the brave members. 

Gemma

Today, as we stand here at The Shrine, we remember the sacrifice of the men and women who served our country. Today is a time for reflection, gratitude and most importantly respect. Respect for those who showed courage in the face of fear. Respect for the lives that were given so that we can live in peace and freedom. Respect for the families and communities who carried on. As students and leaders of Greenhills Primary School, we show respect not only by remembering, but by the way we act every day by being kind, by supporting one another and by standing up for what is right. Today we honour the 3rd Division Signals spirit and promise to carry that respect with us in the future. 

Grace

Today we remember and pay our respect to the 3rd Division Signals Association who served to protect our country. They were brave, beyond what any of us will hopefully ever have to face and they were able to carry out their roles despite how confronting the situation was or how scared they may have been. What helped them get through was teamwork - the ability to trust in those around you, to look out for each other and to stay strong together. Teamwork is also one of our Greenhills values and we can honour the soldiers who fought for our country by pledging to live by and uphold the values they demonstrated under the most difficult circumstances. We should all aspire to be a trusted team members capable to support our family, friends and peers through times of difficulty. We promise to always remember the sacrifices that Australian soldiers and all who have served made so that we can continue to live in freedom.

Cordelia

A big thank you to Lynsey Barrett for helping to organise the day with the Association and of course a big thank you and well done to our students.

ANZAC DAY COMMEMORATION EVENTS

On ANZAC Day last Saturday, we had a strong number of Greenhills students attend our local Greensborough RSL Sub-Branch Memorial Service. This included participating in the march up to the service along Main Street behind our school banner.

Once again, it was wonderful seeing so many of our students and their families there to represent our school and pay respects to all men and women who have served our nation. During the Service, our student leaders, dressed in full Greenhills uniform laid a wreath on behalf of our school community. 

At this time, each year I also like to remind our school community that we have our own memorial garden at Greenhills Primary School as well. For those of you who might not be aware of this, the garden is located outside the main office as you walk up to the school from Mine Street. This project was led by Andrea Williams our Art Specialist teacher and Helen Platania, a local artist. If you haven’t already seen it, please make sure you take the time to do so. A part of the garden includes a special plaque in recognition of the 3rd Division Signals Association and the face of the soldier in the centre of the mural is James Nolan who is the great, great uncle of the Thom family here at the school. 

WE WANT OUR STUDENTS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK!

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of our school. The Attitudes to School Survey is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist schools in gaining an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Our school will use the survey results to plan programs and activities to improve your child's schooling experience. Students from Years 4 to 6 at our school will participate in the survey. Your child will complete the survey online during school hours using a purpose built secure online survey tool.  It is important to note that we are not in any way “testing” your child. Your child has the right to refuse or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during, or after completion of the survey. 

Your child will be provided with a unique login to complete the survey. The student login is an assigned identifier that may be used to link data for statistical and research purposes only.  All responses to the survey are kept anonymous in the response file. Personal identification data will not be recorded in the survey response file. This ensures that the confidentiality of your child’s responses is always protected.

This year the Attitudes to School survey will be conducted at our school over the period Monday 12th May to Friday 13th June. The survey only takes 20 minutes to complete and occurs during your child's class time. The survey results will be reported back to the school later this year. All survey data that is made available in reports are for groups of students only so that no individual student can be identified. If you would like more information, please contact me: james.penson@education.vic.gov.au

LOST IN THE MOVIES – SCHOOL PRODUCTION LOGO COMPETITION

We are starting to get excited about our “Lost in the Movies” whole school production which is set for the 16th and 17th September. As part of this, we will need a logo for the show. This will be used to promote the show including on our production t-shirts (for students in Years 5 & 6) and on the tickets.

We are running a logo design competition for students. Please see the flyer in this newsletter and entries close on May 15th.

WAYS WE CAN SUPPORT STUDENTS & FAMILIES

Greenhills Primary School is proud to offer a Community Support Fund to assist families who may be experiencing financial difficulties. This fund is designed to ensure that all students can fully participate in all activities and events regardless of their circumstances. If your family is currently facing challenges and you would like to discuss how this support may be accessed, please contact me and we can explore the available options.

James.penson@education.vic.gov.au

TRANSITION UPDATE

Our Year 6 students and families are now in the process of organising their preferences for their placements into high school. This is an exciting time, but it can also be challenging and stressful for families as they make this decision. Schools must follow a strict regime of dates and processes, and it is very important that this is maintained. The next step is for all our families of Year 6 students to complete the "Application for Year 7 Placement 2026” form that has been sent home and send back to our school by Friday 8th May. It is also important for our Year 6 parents to understand that many schools in our area have enrolment restrictions. I encourage you to research this in detail and make the time to find out more about the school/s you may wish your child to attend. 

The Year 6-7 placement process is just one very small part of our transition program at Greenhills. A major part of our focus and work in this area is preparing all our Year 6 students for the transition into secondary school. The feedback we get from our local schools is that our students are very well prepared academically and socially. They are well equipped to deal with the many changes and challenges they must face including the movement from classroom to classroom, teacher to teacher and other key organisational aspects that impact on learning. 

This is the result of the way we set up and deliver our curriculum structures and programs, the quality of our teaching team and the many extra-curricular programs we operate. As a school community we can be immensely proud of the achievement of our students and know that they will leave our school very well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Reflection - Acting on Feedback

What is one piece of feedback you used to improve your work? 

What did you change?

James Penson,

Principal.