Message from the Principal 

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Walking around the school, spending time in classrooms and talking with our students over the past few weeks has continually reinforced to me so many of the strengths of our school. These are the commitment and positive intentions of our staff, the energy and sense of adventure our students have around learning and the partnership we are building with you – our parents and carers. As you read our newsletter this week you will see lots of evidence to back these thoughts up.

THANK YOU RACHEL EMMERLING, BONNIE JONES & BIANCA FEDELE

It is with very mixed emotions that we will say thank-you and farewell to Rachel Emmerling, Bonnie Jones and Bianca Fedele at the end of this year.

Rachel has been serving our Greenhills school community since 1995 and she has decided that it is the right time to retire with the aim of spending more time with her family, travelling and of course doing all the things that working at such a busy and dynamic school has prevented her from doing. Rachel will leave a lasting legacy in terms of her commitment to supporting our students to develop a love of reading and in particular those students who find reading difficult and challenging. She has dedicated her time at our school focused on the wellbeing and welfare of not only the students in her class, but across the whole school. Having worked with Rachel over a number of years, I am particularly in awe of her “radar of concern”. She has always developed deep connections with her students and is in tune with how they are travelling through the ups and downs of primary school life. Her passion for learning, fun and her genuine care is shown by her always putting everyone else first and checking in to see how you are traveling. I think she was asking RUOK well before this became such a focus. We will celebrate Rachel’s contribution and service at a special event towards the end of the term.

Bonnie has accepted a position at Garrang Wilam Primary School. This school is much closer to her home and the move will mean that Bonnie’s work life balance will be in a much better way without the hour of travel each way everyday. As importantly, this school is also growing and building and there are plenty of leadership opportunities for Bonnie to contribute to. Bonnie’s career has blossomed at Greenhills and she has had a whole school impact through her work as our Smiling Mind Mindfulness Champion. Her works in this area has been outstanding and our students love hearing her voice in the mindfulness sessions she has recorded that have been specially tailored for our schools student agency focus.  Bonnie you will be a massive asset to your new school and we wish you all the best for the future there. 

Lats year, Bianca was seconded to the Department of Education to work on several initiatives and projects. I think they knew what they were looking for because they have decided to keep her! Bianca is thriving as a Senior Project Officer and is officially now working in the Tech Schools and Digital Learning Branch. Bianca’s organization, focus and ability to do everything she did to such a high level will be something that she will be remembered for at our school. 

As you can see, we have some pretty big shoes to fill and in our newsletter next week I will share some news about the three new graduate teachers we have appointed for next year.

YEAR 2 SLEEPOVER

Our Year 2 sleepover was a huge success. If you look at the comments on our Facebook page, you may even see that this was the best day ever for some students. Apparently, the BBQ was cooked pretty well too!

Events like this are only possible due to the dedication and commitment of our staff team. Our team is geared around ensuring experiences and opportunities to build connections and confidence. The Year 2 sleepover is not only part of our camps program but also a strong part of our transition program as well. Thank you to Suzie Hussein, Lauren O’Connell, Jon McFarland, Cara McLean, Sam Mothersole, Nicole Pearson and Raelene Turner.

Our staff are truly one of the strengths of our school and I take this opportunity to thank them for all that they do to make our school G.R.E.A.T. 

YEAR 4 VISIT TO KINDER

Another strength of our school and one that we are keen to keep building on is our links with our local community. Last week this was evidenced by our Year 4 classes visiting Greenhills Kinder. This is an annual event for our school and helps to build our partnership with our local kinders. During the visit our students were able to share our school’s love of reading with the kinder kids which was an experience enjoyed by all. This is also part of the way our students develop their skills and leadership ready to become a big buddy when they are in Years 5 & 6.

YEAR 6 HIGH SCHOOL DAY – POSITIVE TRANSITIONS

As we start to plan ahead for next year, our school has a strong focus on doing everything we can to ensure all of our students have a positive transition into the next year of school. Very visibly we see that this involves our Prep transition program which has already included 5 x 1 hour Experience Greenhills sessions and we are now ready for our prep orientation sessions. 

At the other end of the school, we support our students for a positive transition by providing experiences like High School Day. This involved allocating additional staff into the mix and running a range of lessons across the school that resembles what high school might look like. Our students were encouraged to wear their high school uniform or free dress and spent the day following their timetables and moving to different areas of the school. There was a real buzz about this and I know how excited our Year 6’s were throughout the day.

MEET WITH THE PRINCIPAL TEAM

Keep the date free: Wednesday 9th November at 7.30pm. This will be our Term 4 Mid-Term Meet with the Principal Team. The session will be held via Webex with the link sent out shortly. Some of the topics that we will cover include:

• School structure & class sizes model for 2023
• Planning for 2023
• Opportunity to discuss the Parent Opinion Survey 2022 and provide feedback into 2023

Hope to see you there!

CONTINUOUS REPORTING

Over the next two weeks, another sample of your child’s work will be available via Seesaw. We know from our Parent Survey that one of things you are looking for is more communication about your child’s progress. Our Continuous Reporting strategy is about providing more frequent snapshots into the learning your child does at school and as importantly, the next steps in this journey. The GREAT thing about Seesaw is that you can also be part of the process through two-way communication. Just like our teachers provide feedback via a comment, you can also provide feedback to your child. This is something we would really love you to do and is more powerful than you can imagine!

DOGS IN SCHOOLS

At our School Council meeting this week, our Dogs In Schools Policy was discussed and then approved. I have included a copy of this policy with the newsletter but in short:

Whilst Greenhills Primary School understands that many families in our school community keep dogs as pets, to ensure that our school remains a safe and inclusive place for everyone, pet dogs are not permitted on school grounds under any circumstances (unless prior approval has been granted by a member of the Principal Team).

Our school community is diverse, and may include people that are allergic or uncomfortable around dogs. We are also conscious of the health hazards that may be posed by dogs. We ask that families please leave their pet dogs at home or safely tether them outside school grounds when attending our school or school events. 

James Penson

Principal