Message from the Principal 

GREENHILLS MUSIC FESTIVAL

We were treated to a wonderful range of performances at our 28th Annual Greenhills Music Festival. The bar is always set very high at this event and yesterday was no exception.

Our vision at Greenhills is for our students to be curious, connected and open to challenge – we call them our 3 x C’s and I think this event tonight totally encapsulates all 3.

I would like to thank everyone who attended. Our young musicians really appreciate opportunities to perform and be heard. Having such a supportive audience really makes events like this so special. 

Well done to all of our performers. It was a real treat to hear our Recital Choir, Training Choir, Year 5/6 Band, and so many other ensembles and solo performances.

Thank you to the whole team who deliver and drive our Performing Arts program. This includes Bec Zappia, Steve Dowell, Ollie Rolfe, Sheena Shi, Jackie Pace and Jenny Cranston and of course the rest of our whole staff team.

A special thank you and acknowledgement to Kate Stewart. We are all in awe of the enormous work, dedication and energy Kate puts into our school.

I am already looking forward to our 29th Music Festival next year! 

THANK YOU SCHOOL COUNCIL

As we move into the last two weeks of 2022, I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank all members of our School Council this year for their significant contribution to our school: Irina Fainberg, Sam Redman, Adam Laws, Jaime McCowan, Kelly Rogel, Rosita Zakaria, Justin Parr-Davies, Daniel Kelly, Janine Hough, Brooke Connane, Becc Stephens and Victoria Harris.

This group of dedicated parents and staff have further strengthened the educational environment for our students.

In particular, I acknowledge Irina for her leadership as School Council President. Irina’s leadership of Council has ensured that we have been able to successfully manage the challenge of providing time for rich discussion and debate whilst also ensuring that all matters are covered in a timely and productive way.

Thank you to Daniel, Rosita, Justin, Kelly and Becc who will be finishing their terms on our Council. We have appreciated Daniel’s leadership of our STEAM Sub-Committee, Rosita’s leadership of our Sustainability and Environment Team, Justin’s role as PA liaison and member of Finance team and Kelly’s management of the Canteen Sub-Committee. A special thank you to Kelly who with the Year 6 graduation of her son, will be leaving our school community. Kelly has been a long serving member of School Council and also held the role of President. Her contribution has been significant and lasting. 

Overall, much has been achieved in 2022. We can all be proud of our school as it is today and excited about our school into the future.

Next year there will be number of vacancies to fill to form our 2023 School Council. If you would like to find out more about the role of a school councilor and the time commitment involved, please contact me. One of the strengths of our school is our strong parent involvement and support and we need this to continue with our School Council in 2023 so that all of our work and momentum can continue!

ACTIVE TO SCHOOL – FUEL FREE FRIDAY

Don’t forget tomorrow is a Fuel Free Friday. This is part of our Active to Schools program being supported by Banyule City Council. They will even have a pop up stall near the school entrance at the Pumpkin Patch with some activities and information for students and parents to access.

EXCITEMENT AROUND OUR TRANSITION PROGRAM

One of my favourite days of the school year is when our students attend the first transition session, so just like our students, I am very excited about next week.

Our team is really looking forward to these transition sessions next Thursday and the following Tuesday. They provide our students with a great opportunity to feel more confident with what next year will look like for them. We can then all have a relaxing holiday with less worry about what school will be like next year.

At this stage, we do not usually make any more changes to the classes as much time and effort has been already spent on developing the best grade structure and student placement as possible. Part of this process did provide all parents with the opportunity to make requests based on educational grounds. These are just requests and whilst they are considered they are not always granted as there are several other factors that have a higher priority for us. 

It is important to become literate and numerate but just as important are the life skills of resilience and the ability to deal with situations when we do not get our own way. A big part of this is teaching our students to accept the umpire’s decision and focus back on going the best we can in the game. The best way to teach this is through modelling this behaviour ourselves. 

A really important part of this process is for our students to be supported by their parents so that the transition into a new class and year level can be positive. There might always be some hesitation, nervousness and apprehension, but our teachers will work very hard so that each and every child can achieve success.

END OF YEAR ARRANGEMENTS

With so much happening over the next couple of weeks here is some important information to assist your family with planning for the end of the school year and rush into the Christmas. 

We will be holding our Christmas Concert on Tuesday 6th December at 6pm. This event is a fun and very informal celebration where each year level will sing a song or present an item. It will be held on the Tigerturf.

Our final school assembly for this year will be held at 2.40pm on Friday 16th December.  At this assembly, we will be saying farewell as a whole school to our Year 6s. We will also acknowledge and thank our staff members who are leaving our school. This will be the last official school event for 2022.

Semester 2 Reports will be accessible on Compass on Wednesday 14th December. Please note that if you would like to keep a permanent copy of the report you will need to print it out. If your child ever attends a school that does not use Compass, the reports will not be accessible as you will not have access to the program.

Monday 19th December is a Professional Practice Day for our staff. On this day students do not attend school. Please note OSHClub will be proving a full day care program.

Tuesday 20th December we will be spending time moving furniture and setting up classrooms for 2023. We have a large number of teachers moving into different spaces so it will be a busy morning. To assist with this process and with the predicted less numbers of students attending, teachers may be combining classes and offering students a range of activities such as art and craft, cooperative games, movies and outdoor games.

Students who attend on this day will be dismissed directly from their classrooms at 1.00pm.

James Penson

Principal