In our classrooms
It’s been a fantastic fortnight here at Glen Iris Primary School, brimming with exciting excursions and enriching experiences that have truly highlighted the spirit of belonging and our school motto, Aim High. Our recent outings have not only broadened our students’ horizons but also reinforced our community values.
Our Grade 5/6 students had an unforgettable adventure at Camp Anglesea. Nestled among lush landscapes and grazing kangaroos, Camp Anglesea provided a perfect backdrop for students to bond, challenge themselves, and embrace the spirit of teamwork. From biking trails to team-building exercises, our students demonstrated resilience and support for one another, truly embodying our motto of aiming high.
Meanwhile, our Prep students had a hands-on, farmyard experience at Chesterfield Farm. The joy on their faces as they interacted with animals and explored the farm was delightful. This excursion was not just an adorable experience, but also an important step in helping our youngest students feel connected and at home in their learning environment. It's a huge step in resilience to do an excursion for a Preppie.
Our Grade 3 students took a cultural deep dive with a visit to the Immigration Museum and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in the city. This trip offered them a broader understanding of Australia's diverse heritage and the importance of storytelling in our lives. It was a valuable experience that reinforced our value of belonging by appreciating the rich tapestry of cultures that make up our community.
Grade One was equally thrilled with their special visit from Australian animals. Meeting a wombat, snake, and Tawny Frogmouth up close provided a unique educational experience that fostered curiosity and wonder. These moments of hands-on learning are essential in helping our students feel connected to their environment, their peers and their integrated topic.
As we reflect on these wonderful excursions, it's important to remember the significance of belonging and resilience in our school community. At Glen Iris Primary, we are committed to nurturing both of these qualities in every student. To further support our focus on wellbeing, we have been reviewing the results from The Resilience Project student survey data for Grades 3-6. The data indicates that 34% of our grade 3-6 students self reported as not having high levels of resilience. This insight is crucial as we continue to develop programs and strategies to support our students' emotional and mental wellbeing. There is an upcoming family workshop with Dr Bridget McPherson that will provide practical strategies for parents to help improve student resilience: a key life skill for high school. The event will also now be available remotely via video for families who want to attend remotely. Visit the Try Booking link to find out more.
We are dedicated to enhancing our resilience-building efforts and are working closely with students, staff, and families to create an environment where every student feels supported and empowered. Our aim is not only to help students bounce back from challenges but also to thrive and excel in all areas of their lives. Thank you for your continued support in fostering a sense of belonging and resilience at Glen Iris Primary School. Let’s keep aiming high together as we build a positive and inclusive community for all our students.
- Maddie Witter
GIPS Go for Gold School Production
Students are coming home today with information regarding our School Production.
Tickets are now available here: https://www.trybooking.com/CUO...
If your child has a surname starting with A-L, book the early concert.
If you child has a surname starting with M-Z, book the later concert.
What the students will need to bring from home for the production
Prep - Kitchen Apron (any colour)
Grade 1 - Yellow or Green plain T-shirt and/or swimming cap and goggles
Grade 2 - nothing (school will supply)
Grade 3 - Basketball headband or cap
Grade 4 - Swimming cap and/or swimming googles
Grade 5 /6 - Long soccer socks and/or Matilda or Socceroo Jersy
If your child/ren are required to bring part of a costume from home, can you please put it in a plastic bag with the name and grade on it and send it to their classroom by the 9th September. All children are required to wear black pants and top on the night except for grade 1 who will be wearing black pants and either a green or yellow plain t-shirt.
- Mrs McDermott and Ms Hardie
Book Week
Our librarian Krista has been busy getting our library ready for Book Week! This year's theme is "Reading is Magic". We have two authors coming to GIPS. Adam Wallace is visiting all grades and Amelia Mellor is visiting grades 3-6. Books have arrived for children if you ordered them in advance of the authors' visits and they will be distributed on the day the author visits.
The Book Week Parade is 9 am Thursday 22 August on the oval. Families are invited. Students are encouraged to dress up as a favourite book or character.
In Grade Two and Four
One of the favourite parts of our week is our buddy activity between year 2 and 4 students. It has been delightful to observe the flourishing friendships between younger and older students. This week we focused on wellbeing and how we can spread kindness throughout our school. Students created kindness inspired artworks and wrote a personal message of kindness that we have proudly published into a class book. Look out for our display in the year ¾ infill area.
- Grade Two Team
Grade 5/6 Camp at Camp Anglesea
Last week the Grade 5/6's went to Camp Anglesea for two nights. We had so much fun trying out all of the outdoor activities and spending time with our friends. Some of the activities included mountain biking, canoeing, vertical challenge, giant swing and a beach carnival by the sea on the last day. It was a blast!
- Grade 5/6 Team
Grade 3 Excursion to the Immigration Museum and ACMI
Our grade threes travelled to the Melbourne Immigration Museum to learn about the different ways people have come to Australia. They also visited the ACMI exhibition (The Story of the Moving Image) to learn about how stories have been visually told over time.
- Grade 3 Team
Prep Excursion to Chesterfield Farm
On Wednesday Prep students put on their gumboots and overalls and headed to Chesterfield Farm! We fed lots of animals including goats, cows, deer, kangaroos and even camels! We got to milk a cow and see lots of baby animals.
“My favourite thing was riding on a tractor.” Scarlett Prep K
“I liked feeing the animals straw.” Lachie Prep K
“It is unbelievable that they have an old racehorse!” Violet Prep K
“I liked patting the bunnies!” Will Prep K
- Prep Team
Wild Animal Incursion Grade One
Lots of furry, feathered and scaly friends visited the grade ones this week as part of their integrated topic on Australian Animals. We learnt about the natural habitat of each animal, how they support our ecosystem, and the ways in which we can help them survive in our beautiful environment. Did you know that Sugar Gliders are pollinators like bees? Their soft fur collects the pollen and spreads it around. Cats can hurt sugar gliders so it's important to keep cats indoors at night. It was informative and fun.
- Grade One Team
In our art room
In Art, Year 5/6 students have been inspired by the recent Indigenous Australia exhibition at the NGV called My Country. The exhibition celebrated a connection to country and place. Students were asked to paint on fabric, a place of special significance to them. Students enhanced their painting using threads and wool, then stitched their design into a small decorative pillow. The finished works form two soft sculptures of wonderful and special places, that are on display in the senior buildings.
- Ms Synman
On our oval
Over the past two weeks, students in Prep – Grade 2 have continued exploring a variety of Olympics sports and events including Shot Put, Tennis, Basketball and Soccer. Grades 3-6 have continued training for the upcoming Athletics Carnival taking place at the end of the month. Over the two weeks, students have trained for Shot Put, Sprints and Hurdles. It has been great to see the students focusing on the various techniques involved in each event and giving their best go at everything. For an event like the Athletics Carnival to run smoothly, we require a number of parent helpers to assist on the day. We are still seeking 15 parent helpers to assist in running events or groups on the day. If you are able to assist, please email glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au.
Upcoming Events
(3-6) Thursday 29th August – Athletics Carnival @ Bill Stewart Athletics Track
Wednesday 11th September – District Athletics @ Bill Stewart Athletics Track
- Miss Kidd
Preparing for our school performance
Our students have been working hard preparing for our upcoming performance. Below the 5/6s are having fun learning the new dance.
- Mrs McDermott
Tournament of Minds
Good luck to all of our students who are participating in the Tournament of Minds this weekend and thank you to Mr Collopy-White for your leadership and guidance for our students as they have been working preparing their projects with creativity and independence.
- Grade 5/6 Team
Our new classrooms
Thank you to the families and staff who helped with the moving on Wednesday. The portables now have new ceilings, roofs, lights, carpets and paint. These works were funded by a grant with the Department of Education. Works will continue with the infills being painted thanks to the generous donations to our Buildings and Grounds fund.
- School Leadership Team
In our staffroom
We celebrated our last cycle of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) which are part of our current school improvement goals. With the support of our middle leadership team: Debbie, Meagan, Shanae and Shaye, teaching teams have been investigating student data in an inquiry process in order to improve student learning outcomes.
Shanae and Maddie, as part of the Inner East's numeracy improvement efforts, went to a workshop with Peter Liljedahl, author of Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics. The school team has been investigating ways in which we can continue to improve all of our students' skilled reading with a continued focus on structured synthetic phonics. The Scarborough Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001) illustrates the importance of structured synthetic phonics within the broader category of skilled reading.
In our community
Dr Bridget McPherson Coming to GIPS
Dr Bridget McPherson is coming to GIPS to present a workshop on emotion coaching. This practical workshop will help build resilience and emotional intelligence for all age-levels. Perfect from toddlers to teens! The workshop is now available remotely. Book via the link below.
Online Safety
The office of the eSafety Commissioner is Australia's national independent regulator for online safety. Each term, they provide a series of free webinars for parents and carers. Topics being presented in September include consent and online boundaries, online gaming and emerging technologies. Access these free webinars at www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars.
- Ms Bradbury
Grade 5/6 Open Morning
Maddie and Debbie presented the Grade 5/6 structure to parents of students in grades 3 and 4, and parents who were able to attend the open morning had a tour of the classrooms seeing Reading, Writing, Mathematics and Integrated Studies. Thank you to our student leaders who helped answer questions about our learning model.
Parent/Carer Survey
Please see the recent Compass post regarding the Parent/Carer survey. As a school team, we use your feedback to help form strategic decisions. We aren't able to include the links outside of Compass for security reasons, so please see Compass for how to respond to the survey. Thank you to the ten percent of parents that have already responded. We would love to get this number as close to one hundred percent as possible.
Upcoming dates
Authors Adam Wallace and Amelia Mellor are visiting GIPS for book week starting 19 August. We will be holding our annual book week parade on 22 August at 9 am. Please feel free to attend. Children are encouraged to dress up as a book. Please no costumes that include weapons.
Our grade 3-6 students will be participating in House Athletics Day on 29 August. More communication will be coming soon on Compass. Please have students wear their house colours.
Our grade 6 Health and PE Leaders are hosting Junior Athletics Day on 6 September. More communication will be coming closer to the date on Compass. Please have students wear their house colours.
We will be rehearsing for our school production on 12 September. More information will be coming soon on Compass.
Save the date: The School Production will be 13 September. More information including how to purchase tickets will be coming soon on Compass.
The last day of term is 20 September and dismissal will be at 2:30 pm.
