In our classrooms

Welcome Back

Welcome back to term four, where we are excited to aim high as we close out an amazing year. We've only been back for a few days, so our newsletter this week is a short one. Be sure to mark your calendars for important dates found at the bottom of this newsletter.

Premiers' Reading Challenge

Congratulations and thank you to all students who participated in the 2024 Premiers' Reading Challenge. We read over 2940 books in total, and 67 students completed the Challenge.

Certificates for students who completed the challenge will be arriving soon. Students in Prep - 2 were asked to read 30 books or more to meet the challenge requirements, and Students in year 3 - 6, 15 books.

We look forward to the Premiers' Reading Challenge in 2025.

Junior Athletics Carnival

On Thursday we were lucky to have beautiful weather for our Junior Athletics Carnival. We were so impressed by senior students' leadership on the day. It was wonderful to see lots of smiles. Thank you to everyone in the community who came by to watch.

Welcome back Mrs Morrison

Welcome back to our STEM teacher Mrs Morrison who has been away on Long Service Leave!

En Clase Español

This semester, from Prep to Year 5/6, we are diving into Spanish with fun songs, games, and creative projects. We are exploring the basics and getting a taste of the language through catchy tunes and colourful activities. Plus, we are learning a bit about the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries. It’s a new journey, and we are excited to see where it takes us!

Year Level Newsletters

Year level newsletters for term four are coming out next week. Please refer to them to better understand your child's academic curriculum this term as well as upcoming important dates. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's teacher.

Building improvements over the holidays

Over the holidays we had some painting works done. Stop by our portable buildings to see the improvements!

In our staffroom

Professional Learning

During the last week of Term Three, Debbie and Maddie attended the NAPLAN roadshow to have a closer look at our NAPLAN data. Our learning specialists Meagan Cofield and Shanae Hill are working with staff this term to look at ways to continually drive school improvement in areas where we can make more growth.

2025 Grades

This term we are building grades for 2025. If you have a mandatory request, reach out to the Front Office via email at glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au with attn: Grade Request in the subject line. Or, please email Maddie or Debbie. Please keep in mind that due to the very complex nature of creating class assignments, we cannot guarantee all requests. The deadline for requests is 25 October 2024.

Staff Announcements

We are delighted to share that we have a new staff member commencing in the front office: Karen Hall. Karen is joining our school as a front office administrator. She has years of experience supporting primary schools in the front office. If you see Karen, please introduce yourself and help her feel welcome. We also want to share that our business manager Sofia is no longer working at GIPS. On behalf of GIPS, we want to wish her the very best in her next professional endeavour. David Patmore has been serving as Acting Business Manager for the past month, and we look forward to his support for the rest of 2024.

In our community

Child Safety Policies

We are currently in the process of reviewing our child safety policies which are available on our school website. If you have any feedback on the policies related to child safety, please reach out to Debbie McDermott.

Communication Survey

To help set up for success in 2025, we want to know what works well and what could be better in how we communicate with you. On the 9th of September we sent out a survey link via our Compass newsfeed. To ensure that only our community responds to the survey, the link is found via our Compass app. Would you take 5 minutes please to answer this short survey, which dives deeper on this topic compared with the recent statewide Family Opinion survey. Please respond by next Friday 18 October.

School Saving Bonus

As shared with you previously, parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025 will receive the one-off School Saving Bonus $400 support.

In the coming months, the Department of Education will send you 2 email communications for each of your children enrolled in Victorian government schools.

By Friday 18 October 2024, please ensure that your child’s 2025 enrolment is completed and that your contact information is up to date.

The 2 emails from the Department of Education will:

1. Confirm your email address between mid-October and late-November.

2. Provide you with your unique $400 School Saving Bonus code by the end of November.

If you do not receive a confirmation email from the department by late-November, please check your spam or junk folders and contact our front office if needed.

You can read more about the School Saving Bonus on the Department of Education website, with key information now available in 14 different languages.

Supporting Safe Social Media Usage and Warning Signs to Look Out for

We encourage all parents to read the following information provided by the Department of Education.

Parents and carers play a key role in guiding their children as they navigate the online world and begin to learn through exploration, play and social interaction.

Parents and carers can prepare their primary school aged child to be safe on social media even if they don’t use it yet. You can do this by building good online habits and staying informed about online safety.

You can learn more how to help your child begin their online journey on the eSafety Commissioner’s website.

You can also learn about the range of social media, games, apps and sites in the eSafety Guide, including what all the apps are, their minimum age requirements, how to protect personal information and how to report content within the apps themselves.

Supporting safe and supportive online experiences for your child

There are a range of resources available to support you to support your child to have a safe experience online.

• The eSafety Commissioner’s website provides:
  • eSafety parents page including: information on how to have hard conversations about tricky topics like cyberbullying or seeing pornography.
  • webinars to give parents/carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support safe online experiences including supporting primary schools children to understand consent and online boundaries and how to support your child with online gaming.
  • family friendly videos and advice sheets in multiple languages to support your family stay safe online, getting started with social media, safer online gaming and getting help when your child is bullied online.
  • eSafetykids page with child friendly information you can share with your child including what to do when someone is being mean online, being safe online, sharing photos and personal information online.
• Bully Stoppers provides dedicated resources on cybersafety and cyberbullying for primary aged students and a dedicated resource page for parents. You can also access cyberbullying advice sheets for concerned adults through Bully Stoppers.
• Alannah and Madeline Foundation provides DigiTalk, an online safety hub for parents. It includes resources on topics such as becoming a screen smart family, navigating online bullying, and choosing, protecting and engaging with games for children.
• Raising Children Network provides resources for parents of primary school children on topics like healthy screen time, digital family life, digital play and learning and online safety.

Warning signs to look out for

A child’s online activity might have a negative impact on them if they don’t also have a healthy balance of offline activities. Sometimes, your child might show signs that they are having negative online experiences or that they are being bullied.

Your child may not tell you if an online ‘friendship’ or situation has become compromising or difficult. They may feel embarrassed or ashamed, or afraid it might make things worse.

Be alert to changes in your child's behaviour or mood. Watch for signs of withdrawal, anxiety, sadness or changed interactions with family or friends.

Signs can include:

• less interest in social activities like meeting friends or playing sport
• not doing so well at school
• tiredness, sleep disturbance, headaches, eye strain
• changes in eating patterns
• reduced personal hygiene
• obsession with particular websites or games
• extreme anger when being asked to take a break from online activity
• appearing anxious or irritable when away from the computer
• becoming withdrawn from friends and family

You can learn more about warning signs of bullying on Bully Stoppers and warning signs of grooming on the eSafety Commissioner’s website.

What to do if your child experiences something unsafe online

There are many ways that parents can raise a concern or get help if there is an incident.

• You can talk to us about any concerns you might have or if something has happened. Schools have policies and processes that can help. We can also work with you to make sure that your child gets extra support if they need it. Contact your child’s teacher or the school’s wellbeing team to start. Read more about talking to your school on Bully Stoppers.
• If your child has been involved in an online incident it is important that you work together with us to provide your child with the support they need. Learn how to help your child after an online incident on the eSafety Commissioner’s website.
• You can contact the eSafety commissioner for advice and to report abuse. The eSafety reporting system helps parents of children who experience serious cyberbullying and image-based abuse by working with platforms to have the content removed.
• If someone is contacting your child and this contact is unwanted or makes them feel uncomfortable, there are things you can do to help. Read more about child grooming and unwanted contact and what to do on the eSafety Commissioner’s website.
• The Alannah and Madeline Foundation provides advice on what to do in instances of image-based abuse online and through Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Where to reach out if your child needs more support

• Contact 000 for urgent assistance
• Talk to your child's teacher or our wellbeing team (Debbie, Shaye, Meg, Maddie)
• Contact the eSafety Commissioner. for advice or to report online abuse
• Visit your local GP if you want to talk about mental health support
• Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800 kidshelpline.com.au
• Parentline provides a confidential telephone counselling for parents and those who care for children. This including advice on internet use, and online bullying and safety.
• Lifeline: 13 11 14 lifeline.org.au
• Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636 beyondblue.org.au