Message from the Principal 

NAIDOC WEEK 2022

As promised in the newsletter last week, here is the full Uluru Statement from the Heart.

In 2017, Indigenous people from all around the country came together as part of the National Constitutional Convention to write this Statement:

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion; the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’ and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.

How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years? 

With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.

Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are alienated from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

We all for the establishment of a First Nations Voice in the Constitution.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

In 1967 we were counter, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of Australian people for a better future.

THANK YOU SEMESTER 1

Wow – we made it through to the end of a long and challenging term. Looking at our staff and students I think we only just made it and the holidays have come at the perfect time. 

I have been really pleased with our first half of the year, especially given the hurdles of staff and student absence, shortage of casual relief teachers and other things beyond our control that our school community has had to deal with. As always, our staff, students and parents have worked together and remained as connected as possible and we can look forward to GREAT things continuing in the second half of the year. 

There have been many highlights for me this semester:

• House Athletics & Cross Country
• Ride to School Days
• Keeping our yard clean with our improved rubbish pick up system being led by our student leaders.
• Footy day lead by our Girls Education Action team
• Smiling Mind launch day and Parent Info night
• Choir and Band public performances
• GREAT Art Mural
• Working Bee
• Breakfast Club every Monday morning 
• The ever changing showcase cabinet outside the office. This is a special visual reminder of some of the important things happening across our school each term.
• Our staff working in Professional Learning Teams to track student achievement data, focusing on the impact their teaching is making and then developing curriculum around the needs of our students.
• The camps, excursions and events organised as part of our extensive extra- curricular programs across our school.
• Terrific support from our PA with our End of Term 1 BBQ, Mother’s Day Stall and Election Day BBQ.
• Inducting so many parent helpers and actually being able to run our Parent Helpers Program.

The biggest highlight for me was the continued commitment to our 3 x 15-minute focus sessions each day. These Reading, Numeracy & Agency sessions are starting to have a real impact. This is evidenced by the feedback we are getting from students and in particular their self-reflections in the Semester 1 reports. 

We have been very strategic in the timing of these sessions each day and are working with our staff team to ensure consistency and high levels of engagement. Our challenge is around maintaining our energy and focus across every classroom, every day. In this way, we are ensuring that we are “walking our talk” when it comes to the three educational outcomes that are the most important to us at Greenhills. 

WORKING BEE THANK YOU

Thank you to our amazing team of working bee legends. This team of parents and students took on a pathway tidy challenge and won! Together we filled a 6m skip full of weeds and green waste, we moved 10m of mulch and we planted close to 100 plants. All of the students who attended have enjoyed a $5 canteen voucher and we are keen to run another working bee next term. We would love you to join us so keep your eyes out for the date!

SOME IMPORTANT DATES FOR TERM 3:

In the newsletter this week, I have included a Term 3 calendar. This provides families with a list of dates for the different activities we have organised next term. 

Four of the most important dates to remember is:

• Wednesday 27th July – Family Partnerships Night – Maths for Parents with Michael Ymer
• Wednesday 8th August – Curriculum Day – STEAM Focus
• Tuesday 30th August – Student Led Conferences (Variation to School Hours Day). On this day students only attend school for the duration of their conference. We will then be running individual Student Led Conferences for students and their parents / carers from 9.00am until 6.50pm on this day.
• Monday & Tuesday 12th & 13th September – Whole school Production

LAST DAY OF TERM – FINISH AT 2.30PM

A reminder that on our last day this term, Friday 24th June we will finish at 2.30pm. Our assembly will be filmed and the Clickview link sent out via Compass

SIBLING ENROLMENT FORMS

This is the final call for any sibling enrolments for Prep in 2023. We have sent out confirmations of enrolments to families on our waiting list and are now beginning to organise the grade structure for preps next year. It is vital that if you have a student starting school next year that you put in an enrolment form.

Finally, thank you for your continuous support of our school. I am so grateful the work of our dedicated staff, the engagement of our students each day and the home school partnership our school has built over such a long period of time. Working in our school each day is an absolute privilege because I see so many good things happening, and our students always have smiles on their faces. Greenhills is a GREAT place to be.

ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS!

I hope that all of our families get some time together to enjoy life away from the school routines and are able to come back refreshed for Term 3!

James Penson 

Principal