In our classrooms

It's been a buzzing two weeks here at GIPS from school swimming to graduation preparations. Many of our grades are also going on their term excursions to supplement their integrated studies curriculum.

School improvement targets are driven from Strategic Plans. We had a strategic review in 2021 and our Strategic Plan is from 2021-2024. We are excited to be able to focus on strategic improvements next year for our next school review. Two priority goals in our strategic 2021-2024 plan were focussed on writing and numeracy.

In writing

This year our improvement effort for literacy has been focussed on writing to reflect GIPS' strategic review developed in 2021. Our writing NAPLAN data for the past two years has demonstrated excellent growth, and we are proud to be one of the top performing schools in the state in this area. Below students in 2B are in pairs helping each other edit and make their writing more interesting. Thank you to Meagan Cofield who has been leading this effort across the school.

In numeracy

Our other academic improvement effort, also derived from the 2021-2024 strategic plan, has been in numeracy. Across the school, for several years, we have been refining our approach using Professor Di Siemon's Big Ideas. The Big Ideas rigorously build mathematical concepts. Below students in grade 4 are working on the problem, "How many different shapes can you make with a volume of 5 cubes?" The students drew their shapes using isometric dot paper- a challenging and fun new skill! Thank you to Shanae Hill, our numeracy learning specialist, who has been leading this effort across the school.

Graduation Preparation

Our graduates are busy preparing for their upcoming graduation. Here Miss Chapman, who is currently away on family leave, is teaching our grade six team their graduation dance.

In the Art Room

Year 2 students have studied the colourful artwork of American artist Laurel Burch, as inspiration for their clay cats. The students sculpted their own cat out of clay. In the style of Burch they decorated their cats using acrylic paints and Posca pens making many colours and patterns. Artwork is currently looking beautiful on display in the Admin building. Well done Year 2!

Grade One Community Excursion

Friday our Grade 1 students had an exciting walking excursion through Ashburton! We started by walking to Ashburton library, where students enjoyed exploring books and learning about the many resources available in our community. After a stop at Bakers Delight for a special and delicious treat, we continued our journey to Ferndale Park. There the students had a chance to relax and enjoy the outdoors and play on the wonderful playground! We had a fantastic time exploring our community, practice our road safety walking skills, and enjoying some fresh air. A big thank you to all the parents and members of the local community who helped make our excursion so much fun!

Grade Three Excursion to Cranbourne Gardens

On Thursday 14^th November, Grade 3 students went on an excursion to Cranbourne Botanic Gardens. We learnt about how spending time in nature can benefit our mental wellbeing. We made nature art, explored the gardens and even had a paddle in the water!

In our community

Parent Payments 2025

Glen Iris Primary School is looking forward to another great year of teaching and learning and would like to advise you of Glen Iris Primary School’s parent payment financial contributions for 2025. Schools provide students with fee free instruction to fulfil the standard Victorian curriculum, and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary.

Nevertheless, the ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you for your support, whether that’s through fundraising or volunteering your time. This has made a difference to our school and the programs we can offer. The contributions we are requesting will allow us to resource our classrooms; upgrade our classroom furniture; help maintain our library; ensure we have the best apps and subscriptions for student learning; and resource our wellbeing program.

For further information on the Department’s Parent Payments Policy, please see the recent newsfeeds. Payments can be made via Compass, under the Course Confirmation tab. For any questions, please contact our Business Manager David Patmore at david.patmore@education.vic.gov.au or 9885 3624.

Grade 3-6 Sports Uniform Transitioning Out Commencing 2025

Three years ago, School Council determined that the Grade 3 – Grade 6 sports top was not SunSmart.

After consultation with the students, teachers and community, new SunSmart Sports top and shorts were designed.

School Council decided to make this transition from the old sports uniform to the new sports uniform, a 3 year transition, beginning 2022.

Therefore, commencing at the beginning of Term 1 2025, the old-style PE top (V neck) and old-style basketball shorts, will no longer be part of the GIPS uniform.

Please find a link to the PSW website.

You will be able to utilise the $400 School Savings Bonus to assist in purchasing these new items once it commences.
To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, visit School Saving Bonus | vic.gov.au

Working Bee and Thank You for Donating to the Buildings Fund

We want to thank our School Council's Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee for organising the Working Bee on Sunday 17 November. Thank you to all of the helping hands who helped cleared out decades of old furniture hidden beneath the school as well as other much needed jobs. We also discovered some oldie but goody GIPS artefacts that we can add to our collection of GIPS treasures!

We rely on the support of our working bees as well as contributions to our buildings fund to help keep our school looking as fresh and tidy as possible. Thanks to generous donations to the buildings fund this year, we have been able to update Mr Collopy-White's carpeting in the 5/6 classroom, we have repainted the two portable infills, and we have scheduled works to recarpet and repaint the prep building during the school holidays. With continued support in 2025 through the Parent Payment tax-deductible contributions to the building fund, we hope to refurbish the grade two and remaining grade 5/6 rooms next year. Our long-term hopes are to repaint the exterior of our buildings which are in a much-needed refresh. We also want to update you regarding current works in progress. The works to repair the broken tree screen near the oval are in progress. We are also hoping to repair the footy net that came down which is pending once we can have more trees cut back to have the repairs completed. Finally, we are working with School Council to plant some beautiful new plants along Glen Iris road.

Make and Bake

Thank you to our Make and Bake parent sub-committee and our School Council and all of our parent volunteers for your help with this semester's make and bake! Thanks to your efforts, we made approximately $3500.

Community Garden

Prep P has been busy getting their hands dirty and helping to plant new seedlings in our school garden! The students had a wonderful time learning about different plants and how to care for them. A big thank you to our wonderful garden loving parents Sarah, Christie, and Veronica who donated seedlings and kindly helped reconnect the water irrigation system, ensuring our garden will thrive throughout the year.

We are incredibly grateful for the amazing support from our parent community, who continue to lend their time, expertise, and enthusiasm to our garden. With everyone's help, our garden is blossoming into a vibrant space where students can learn, grow, and connect with nature. Thank you to all who are involved in making this a success!

We are excited to announce that we are enhancing our school garden, and we need your support! Our garden not only provides a beautiful space for students to learn about nature but also fosters teamwork and creativity.

We are seeking donations of the following items:

• Seeds (vegetables, flowers, and herbs)
• Bird netting
• A scarecrow
• A mechanical lawn mower
• Bird feeders and seeds
• Outdoor weatherproof paint (colourful for the fence!)
• Paintbrushes
• Planter boxes of all sizes
• Soil
• Growing stakes
• Pavers for a path
• String or wire
• Small planks of wood for signs
• Anything else you think would be useful!

If you have any of these items or can help us acquire them, we would greatly appreciate your support! Please bring any donations to Miss Wellington’s room in the Grade 1 portable.

We will purchase anything we don’t receive, but your contributions will help us keep costs down.

Thank you for helping us create a vibrant learning environment for our students!

• Miss Wellington and Garden Club

GIPS Christmas Tree Sale

Orders are now available for a School Council sponsored Christmas Tree sale. Proceeds will go to the school. See the QR code below or visit this link to order: https://www.trybooking.com/CWZ...

Could This Be You?

Thank You Morning Tea

To show our appreciation, GIPS Parents and Community Members who have volunteered in any capacity are invited to a morning tea hosted by the GIPS staff.

Thank you to our School Council

On behalf of the School, we would like to thank our School Council this year for their tremendous work supporting our school's improvement and fundraising initiatives. They do so much work behind the scenes and their work this year has been phenomenally supportive to our school. We would also like to thank the following school councillors whose terms are coming to an end: Kirsty, Ken, Josh, Misoo, Maithili, Alicia, Debbie, Lucy, and Craig. A call for our new school council will be made in February 2025.

Dance Club Performing 5 December