Class read-alouds
2GJ students have been reading ‘The 13 Storey Treehouse’ by Andy Griffiths as our daily class novel. We were inspired to create our own magical ‘18 Storey Treehouse’ where every student wrote and illustrated their own chapter, with our chosen characters, Glen and Iris. Students then created a diorama – a three-dimensional representation of their scene in a shoebox. It’s been an inspiring and creative week seeing our students’ ideas come to life. Pop into our classroom and see for yourself!
Debates in Grade 5
This term the Grade 5's have been learning about public speaking and debating. In teams, we debated various topics and learnt about the format of a debate. It was lots of fun!
SALT in Grade 6
Student Action Leadership Teams (SALT) make focused impact within the school and its community by carrying out initiatives and at-school events. The SALT teams have been working hard on initiatives and plans for days in Semester Two this last week.
Curiosity
The week in STEM our students tested their design thinking and understanding of buoyancy. If you made a boat from a 20 cm piece of foil, how much weight do you think it could hold?
Building emotional intelligence with emotion wheels
Did you know that there are 34,000 distinct emotions? As part of our work in wellbeing, we have incorporated the below emotion wheel into our classrooms and playgrounds,. You may want to try it at home. There are many benefits in using an emotion wheel which
- helps improve emotional intelligence
- can help children figure out the causes of their emotions
- supports children to cope with uncomfortable emotions
You can use the emotion wheel at home, too to help find the emotion that best describes how your child is feeling in the moment. It's particularly helpful when experiencing intense feelings. To be able to identify one's emotions is a skill that is part of emotional intelligence (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). When we help children expand their emotional vocabulary, that can help build regulation (Kircanski et al., 2012). Keep in mind, we can often experience emotions concurrently. We don't often experience one emotion in isolation. The goal is not to identify an uncomfortable emotion and try to replace it with a comfortable one. Instead, the goal is to talk with more specificity about the emotion you may be experiencing.
Grade Four Incursion
On June 27th 2024, Grade 4 went on a Wurundjeri incursion in the hall. An Aboriginal elder came and taught us about the digeridoo, native animals and dances. All the grade 4’s got ochre placed on their skin. We listened to him play the digeridoo and the song sounded really nice. I loved listening to it. – Alice
In our staffroom
At GIPS we are saying a fond farewell to Liam Wood who has been acting as Assistant Principal this term. Liam is returning to his base school at the start of Term Three when Debbie returns from her trip. As Liam embarks on his next chapter, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude for his dedication and leadership at Glen Iris Primary School. His impact has been profound, and he will be dearly missed. We wish him all the best on his future endeavours, and we hope he visits us soon. We are excited to welcome back Debbie who is returning from her Long Service Leave at the start of Term Three. If you see Liam this afternoon, please wish him well!
Congratulations to Michele Freedman
This week Ms Freeland returned to the art classroom whilst Ms Synman has been away visiting Uluru. We want to offer Ms Freeland an enormous congratulations on her 45th year of service in the Department of Education. Teaching is inspiring, fulfilling, and no easy feat. Thank you for inspiring generations of students and colleagues alike. Your contributions to our school have been truly invaluable Here's to celebrating your outstanding achievement and the legacy you have built. Congratulations Michele!
In our community
Teapot Morning Tea
Congratulations to all of our teapot morning tea recipients who this term were recognised for showing one of our school values: gratitude, resilience, respect, empathy and honesty. Our student voice and agency team have been collecting feedback on ways to make our assemblies better. It might come as no surprise that we have received many requests to increase the number of teapot morning teas that we hold! So, starting next term we will have more based on student feedback. However, our wise grade 6 leaders have advised not too many... or they won't feel as special. Thank you to our grade 6 wellbeing leaders who hosted the tea.
HART of Melbourne Community Mural Celebration
GIPS students in grade four last year participated in creating a mural, over 50 feet long!
To mark this special occasion, the organisers are hosting a celebration at the Hartwell Shopping Precinct on Saturday, June 29, from 1pm to 2.30pm. This event will give everyone the chance to meet and chat with the artists, including Angharad Neal-Williams, who conducted the workshops with your students. We've also planned a fun chalk-art activity for families and will serve some light refreshments.
They would be delighted to have you, your students, and your friends and families join us to celebrate this fantastic community achievement. Your involvement was crucial to bringing this project to life, and we'd love to honour that. (location 1134 Toorak Road Camberwell).
For more details about the event, please visit:
Happy School Holidays!
As we approach the end of another successful term at Glen Iris Primary School, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude and pride in our incredible community. Together we have celebrated achievements and fostered a nurturing environment where we aim for all students to thrive. Your dedication, support, and collaboration have been instrumental in creating a positive and enriching learning experience for our children. As we look forward to the well-deserved holidays, I encourage our children to take this time to rest, rejuvenate, and enjoy precious moments with loved ones.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our school and for entrusting us with the education and wellbeing of your children. It is truly a privilege to serve such a vibrant and caring community. Thank you to everyone who has helped support by volunteering this term, whether it be on incursions, helping support fundraising efforts, or reading side by side in the classroom. We are grateful for all that you bring to our school. Thank you to our community for helping us improve our systems of communication. In the last newsletter we asked that any urgent messages that need to go to children during the day not go to teachers but instead go to our front office team at glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au or 9885 3624. Our fantastic teaching team avoid checking emails during classroom time to optimise their impact in the classroom. We are already seeing the positive change.
Semester reports are now live and can be accessed on Compass. We ask that you look at them with your children and discuss moments that they're proud of, something they want to work on for the next term, and ways in which they've improved. Please look out for communication next term regarding how to book Parent Teacher Conferences. This is also a friendly reminder that if you do want to check in with our teaching team for a quick chat, the best time is during dismissal at 3:30 pm rather than 8:50 am as our team are starting their routines in the classroom. If that time doesn't suit, you're welcome to reach out to us and we will find a time to connect.
Finally, thank you for celebrating our staff with heartfelt messages of thanks- our team were very much surprised and really appreciated your gratitude. We are putting on one additional assembly this afternoon at 1:50 pm to show our gratitude to our community. It's going to feel a bit different today. Please stop by the hall to see it.
Enjoy the school holidays!
