End of Year Newsletter – Principal’s Message
Glen Iris Primary School

Dear Glen Iris Primary School community,

As we come to the end of another school year, I want to pause and reflect with deep pride and gratitude on what we have achieved together at Glen Iris Primary School.

Our school vision — Growth through belonging; a community where every child thrives — has truly come to life this year. It has guided our decisions, shaped our learning spaces, and strengthened the way we care for one another. Belonging has not just been something we talk about; it has been something we have actively built, day by day, through relationships, learning, and shared experiences.

Throughout the year, our students have shown remarkable growth — academically, socially and emotionally. We have seen children take risks in their learning, persist through challenges, and celebrate their successes with pride. Just as importantly, we have seen them learn how to belong: to their classrooms, to their friendship groups, and to our wider school community.

Our school values — Respect, Honesty, Resilience, Gratitude and Empathy — have been visible in countless moments across the year. We have seen respect in the way students care for one another, our learning environments and our traditional lands; honesty in their reflections and conversations; resilience in the way they navigate challenges; gratitude in their appreciation of staff, peers and families; and empathy in their growing understanding of others’ perspectives and needs. These values are not just words on a wall — they are lived every day at GIPS.

We proudly achieved our 2025 targets for staff collaboration, student wellbeing, and parent satisfaction for our 2025-2029 strategic plan. We look forward to sharing whether or not we met our academic targets, data we will receive next year, in term one 2026.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our dedicated staff, who bring passion, professionalism and care to their work each and every day. Your commitment to knowing your students, supporting their wellbeing and inspiring their learning is the foundation of our strong school community.

To our families and carers, thank you for your partnership, trust and support. The connection between home and school is vital, and your engagement strengthens our shared work of helping every child feel safe, known and valued.

And to our students — you are the heart of GIPS. Your curiosity, kindness and enthusiasm make this a joyful place to learn and grow. We are so proud of who you are becoming. We say a bittersweet goodbye to our graduating grade 6s. We know they're ready for their journey ahead, which makes the goodbye easier. We look forward to hearing about all about it next year when you visit us at Evening on the Green!

As we head into the summer break, I hope you enjoy a well-earned rest and time with loved ones. We look forward to continuing our journey together next year, as we keep building a community where every child belongs and every child thrives.

End of Year Reflection: Strengthening Teaching, Learning and Collaboration

As we reflect on the year that has been, I am incredibly proud of the collective work undertaken by our staff to strengthen teaching and learning at Glen Iris Primary School. Our Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) set a clear and ambitious focus: building teacher capability, deepening collaboration, and ensuring every student engages in learning at their point of need. I am pleased to share how this work has come to life across the year.

A major focus has been embedding Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as the engine room for improvement. PLC inquiry cycles were established from Term 1, with teams meeting weekly to analyse assessment data, plan differentiated instruction, monitor student progress and reflect on impact. Weekly PLC Facilitator meetings supported consistent practice across the school. Over the year, PLC agendas, minutes and inquiry cycles increasingly reflected purposeful, data-informed conversations focused on student growth.

Alongside this, we worked intentionally to ensure staff voice shaped our professional learning. Staff surveys informed professional development priorities, and systems were introduced to support peer observation, shared practice and moderation. Teachers collaborated to moderate assessment tasks and collectively scaffold student learning. These systems have laid strong foundations for ongoing reflective practice and continuous improvement.

In teaching and learning, a significant milestone this year was the embedding of a whole-school approach to mathematics and writing, aligned to the Victorian Curriculum 2.0. Developmental scope and sequences in number and algebra and writing were implemented to both challenge and support learners across all levels. Teachers engaged deeply with formative assessment practices to identify unmet needs and respond through explicit teaching, guided practice and timely feedback.

We also made important progress in early literacy, with synthetic and structured phonics explicitly taught in Foundation through Grade 2. Modelled professional learning supported staff to strengthen phonics instruction, morphology, writing development and numeracy extension, ensuring consistency and clarity in practice across the school.

Meagan Cofield, Shanae Hill, and Lisa Gough, our teaching and learning leadership team, supported this work by providing targeted professional learning, resourcing and feedback, updating reporting processes to align with Victorian Curriculum 2.0, and modelling responsive use of assessment data in planning and PLC meetings. Semester 1 reports reflected increasingly consistent and accurate curriculum-aligned reporting in English and Mathematics, an important indicator of our shared progress.

Most importantly, the impact of this work has been seen in classrooms. Students have engaged in learning experiences that are increasingly tailored to their point of need, supported by teachers who know their learners well and work collaboratively to respond effectively.

This year has been one of building strong systems, shared language and collective responsibility. While there is always more work to do, we end the year with confidence that the foundations we have laid will continue to strengthen teaching, learning and student outcomes into 2025 and beyond.

Thank you to our staff for your professionalism, openness and commitment to growth, and to our community for your ongoing support.

Maddie Witter

Principal

Glen Iris Primary School

Strengthening Student Voice, Learning and Wellbeing in 2025

As we come to the end of the year, we are proud to share how our school has made strong progress toward our Key Improvement Strategies (KISs), with a clear focus on student voice and agency, goal setting and feedback, and social and emotional wellbeing. These priorities sit at the heart of our vision: growth through belonging; a community where every child thrives.

Elevating Student Voice and Agency

This year, we deliberately strengthened systems that ensure students have a genuine voice in their learning and in the life of our school.

Across classrooms, leaders observed consistent use of Morning Circles and What Went Well (WWW) routines, giving students structured opportunities to reflect, contribute and feel heard.

Beyond the classroom, student voice was amplified through:

• Fortnightly Student Representative Council (SRC) meetings

• Regular student focus groups to gather feedback on learning, wellbeing and school improvement

• Student voice documented through SALT, assemblies, working groups and leadership forums

Strengthening Social and Emotional Wellbeing

Supporting the wellbeing of every student remained a core priority in 2025. Our work was guided by ambitious 12-month targets focused on emotional regulation, perseverance, bullying prevention and staff confidence in supporting complex learners.

We embedded a consistent, whole-school approach to wellbeing, including:

• Daily Morning Circles at 9am in every classroom

• Ready to Learn Plans to proactively support regulation and engagement

• Explicit teaching of the science of stress in the body, Zones of Regulation and emotion coaching

• Consistent use of restorative practices and shared language for managing behaviour and repairing relationships

• Ongoing triaged support from our Wellbeing Officer Dr Meg

• Clear, communicated systems for managing bullying, shared with staff, students and families

Teachers engaged in Days 2–4 of the Berry Street Education Model, strengthening our collective capacity to educate and support students with diverse and complex needs.

Classroom observations and planning documentation showed:

• Consistent use of brain breaks, positive primers and somatosensory activities

• Ready to Learn Plans actively supporting students

• Wellbeing curriculum embedded using the Berry Street Education Model, The Resilience Project and Respectful Relationships curriculum

• Clear referral and prioritisation systems for wellbeing support

Students engaged in social-emotional learning experiences at their point of need, building skills in emotional awareness, self-regulation and perseverance.

Looking Ahead

The progress made this year reflects the strong commitment of our students, staff and families working together. Through intentional systems, shared language and a relentless focus on belonging and growth, we continue to build a school where every child is known, supported and empowered to thrive.

We look forward to building on this work in 2026 as we deepen student voice, strengthen learning growth and continue to prioritise wellbeing across our community.

Debbie McDermott

Assistant Principal

Glen Iris Primary School

In Prep

As the year comes to a close, we want to thank all our Prep families for their support. It has been a busy year filled with memorable events, including Nursery Rhyme Day, 100 Days of Prep, Grandparents Day, the Prep Breakfast and excursions to the farm and the Botanic Gardens.

A special thank you to our parent helpers for your time and support throughout the year. It has been greatly appreciated!

The Prep Team

In Grade One

What an incredible 2025 it has been for the Grade Ones! This year, our students have grown into confident readers, writers and mathematicians.

2025 Highlights:

• Academic Growth: Mastering phonics, exploring place value and becoming independent readers.

• Social Skills: Building strong friendships and learning to show gratitude through our wellbeing programs.

• Memorable Moments: From celebrating Harmony Week and Games Night to our exciting hands-on Wild Action Zoo incursion.

Thank you to all our families for your support throughout the year. We are so proud of everything the students have achieved and wish everyone a safe, happy summer holiday. We can't wait to see you all back for Grade Two in 2026!

In Grade Two

Grade 2 has had an amazing year, and we would like to sincerely thank all parents and carers for your wonderful support throughout the year. We have truly loved teaching your children and are so proud of all they have achieved. They are well prepared and excited for the journey into Grade 3. We finished the year with a delightful class party, enjoying Christmas music and spending time together as we celebrated a successful and memorable year. We wish you all a happy holiday season and a safe, joyful New Year.

In Grade Three

What a fun-filled year it has been—from Cross Country to camp and our Grade Three Wellbeing Day! As we draw to a close for the year, we’d like to extend our warm wishes for the festive season and hope that everyone enjoys a relaxing holiday break.

We’d also like to say a heartfelt thank you to our class reps and volunteers for helping out with various school activities. Extra hands are always appreciated and make a big difference.

Warmest wishes from,
The Year Three Team

In Grade Four

Grade 4LS created a Christmas writing piece, imagining what it would be like to be one of Santa’s elves, working hard at the North Pole to spread holiday cheer. They described a day in the life and responsibilities of an elf. To make this task even more creative and personal, students also created their own elf, giving it a name, special job, and unique personality to bring their writing to life. Thank you to the grade four class reps and families for your support all this year. We are looking forward to grade five in 2026!

In Grade 5/6

Our year in 5/6 has been busy, memorable and full of exciting moments. We shared many fantastic experiences, including 5/6 Camp, Adventure Park and our visit to Sovereign Hill. Alongside these highlights, there has been a strong focus on learning, growth and challenge. It has been wonderful to see how much the students have developed both academically and personally over the year. We want to send a huge thank you to our families and class reps for your support.

In Spanish Class

What a fantastic year it has been in Spanish! Students across all year levels have been actively engaged in learning the language through meaningful and enjoyable experiences. Highlights included Spanish Day, as well as Years 3 to 6 reading short chapter books to build comprehension and confidence. Prep to Year 3 students have been developing their language skills through passports and interactive booklets, exploring Spanish vocabulary and themes in creative ways.

On the Oval

We wrapped up the year in P.E. with lots of fun and teamwork, playing games of modified tennis and softball. During our final week, students revisited many of the games they learned throughout the year, including team favourites such as Capture the Flag, Golden Child, and Kickball. It was a fantastic opportunity to work together as a team one last time with classmates, celebrating our skills, sportsmanship, and friendships before moving on to our new grades!

Literacy Highlights at GIPS in 2025

It has been an exciting year for Literacy at GIPS! In Term 1, almost 5,000 new decodable texts arrived to support phonics and reading in Prep and Year 1. Thanks to our Prep and Year 1 teachers and a wonderful team of parent volunteers, the books were quickly sorted, labelled and ready for students.

Later in the year, our resources continued to grow. New Literature Circle texts were added for Years 5 and 6, hundreds of guided reading texts for Years 2 - 4, and hundreds more take-home books for readers across the school. Big books received a much-needed update, and classrooms gained new resources exploring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, peoples and cultures.

A key focus this year was the introduction of Sound Waves from Prep to Year 6. Beginning readers concentrated on hearing, saying and blending sounds to read and write simple words, while older students applied these skills to more complex spelling patterns, longer words and unfamiliar vocabulary. Morphology (word meanings) was emphasised to help students read fluently and spell accurately. This consistent, school-wide approach allows students to confidently build on prior learning, and we are excited to see how it will further improve and support student learning in 2026.

Our work in writing was strengthened through a return visit from writing consultant Lisa Keskinen. She modelled lessons in classrooms and led professional learning for teachers, helping to refine best practice and ensure consistency across year levels. Teachers also met regularly to moderate student writing, focusing on consistent expectations, high-quality teaching and clear progress for all learners. This collaborative approach ensures that student achievement is accurately assessed and that learning continues to build from year to year.

It has been a big year for Literacy at GIPS - now it’s time to relax with a good book and look forward to 2026! - Meagan Cofield

In our art room

This year’s legacy mural is a big one to celebrate the school’s 160^th year! An amazing milestone to celebrate! Year 5/6 students spent this term looking at a range of circular artwork from a variety of cultures, like Australian Indigenous art, mandalas, middle eastern geometric designs and mathematical patterns as well. The Year 5 students worked on paper and the Year 6’s had the privilege of painting on old CD’s to create their artwork. Students also had the opportunity to paint a small heart to add to the mural as well.

Over several days the mural gradually appeared on the portable wall. The tree symbolizes our school motto “Growth through belonging a community where every child thrives.” Year 6 visual art SALT team from this year and the year to come, had the opportunity to contribute. Many thanks to Ms Sjogren who helped paint as well. The mural will be complete on our last day with the chance for everyone in our incredible community to “Make their Mark at GIPS.” See you there!

In our community

SRC

A huge thank you to all members of the GIPS community who generously donated food to our CamCare collection.

When CamCare came to collect the donations, the van was so full there was barely room left for the driver!

The kindness and thoughtfulness of our families was evident not only in the large amount of food donated, but also in the high quality of the items given.

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful support of the SRC throughout the year. We have truly enjoyed our time representing our school community, and now it is time for a new group of students to step into the role of SRC Representatives in Grades 2–6 next year.

Bye from GIPS SRC Representatives for 2025

Medication Collection

In line with our medication policy, all student medication that has been supplied to the school must be collected at the end of the school day on 19 December 2025. If you would like your student to collect on your behalf, please email the office to provide consent.

This holiday break is a perfect opportunity to update medical plans and ensure that all medication is well within its use by date. Please ensure that all plans & medication are returned to the office on the first day of term 1 (28th January, 2026).

Semester Reports Now Available

We are pleased to let families know that Semester Reports are now available via Compass. To access the reports, go to the Compass app, click on the photo of your child, click on the report tab, and then click on the report.

These reports provide a snapshot of your child’s learning progress, achievements, and next steps across the semester.

For families whose children are exiting the school, we kindly remind you to download and save a copy of all reports for your records. Once students leave the school, access to reports through Compass will no longer be available.

Engaging Your Child in Their Report

Semester reports are a valuable opportunity for meaningful conversations with your child about their learning. You may like to:

• Read the report together
• Celebrate areas of growth, effort, and improvement
• Ask open-ended questions such as:
• What are you most proud of this semester?
• What did you find challenging?
• What would you like to keep working on next term?
• Focus on progress and learning habits rather than just outcomes
• Encourage your child to reflect on goals for the coming semester

Our aim is for reports to support a shared understanding between home and school, reinforcing that learning is a journey built on effort, resilience, and growth.

TeamKids School Holiday Program

Get ready for a summer packed with new adventures, hands-on activities, and memories your child will talk about long after the break - all

with TeamKids at Glen Iris Primary School!

Here’s what you and your child can look forward to:

• Unique adventures every single day

• Value-packed programs

• Screen-free FUN

• Delicious and nutritious morning & afternoon snacks

• CCS-approved care

📌 See what’s happening at your school → https://downloads.teamkids.com.au/glen-iris-primary.pdf

🔗 Book NOW →Glen Iris Primary | TeamKids

School Fun Fair – A Huge Thank You!

We are thrilled to share that our inaugural Glen Iris Primary School Fun Fair raised an incredible $21,000 (with a small number of reimbursements still being finalised). This is a remarkable achievement and a true testament to the generosity, energy and community spirit of our school.

As this was our very first Fun Fair, there were naturally higher start-up and operational oncosts involved. Even so, the funds raised will make a meaningful contribution to supporting our students and enhancing learning and community experiences at our school. Importantly, the systems, resources and learnings we have established this year mean we are confident that the funds raised in 2026 and beyond will be even greater.

This success would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of so many people. Thank you to our families and carers for your attendance, donations and enthusiasm; to our volunteers who gave so generously of their time; to our staff for their support and flexibility; and to our students, whose excitement and joy made the day so special. We also extend our sincere thanks to our sponsors and community partners for their generous contributions.

The Fun Fair was not just a fundraiser — it was a celebration of our community and our shared commitment to growth through belonging. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped make it such a memorable and successful event, and we look forward to building on this wonderful foundation in the years ahead.

Thank you once again for your ongoing support of GIPS.

2026 Class Reps

Thank you to the volunteers who have put their hands up for class reps next year.

We are requesting parents to volunteer as Class Reps for 2026. The role of Class Rep is an important duty which is a rewarding and vital part of our school community. The students and their teachers appreciate your support, and it’s a great way to be involved with the school.

Class Representatives duties include:

• Welcoming new families starting at the school
• Working with your class teacher to produce a roster for classroom helpers – if required
• Helping or organising helpers for any ‘house keeping’ jobs the class teacher may have
• Organising social events for your class / year level. We encourage at least one get together per term.
• Sharing communication from the school and school council with your grade.

The Class Rep co-ordination is run from the GIPS office. We will provide you with a class list, which will be updated every time a parent changes their details. If a parent sends you a change to their contact details, please pass it on to the school so that we have the same information. The school’s partnership with class reps and our parent community is one way we hope to achieve our vision: Growth through belonging, a community where every child thrives.

If you would like to volunteer as a class rep, please contact our Front Office at glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au or on 9885 3624 in the new year.

Kind regards,

GIPS Front Office Team

See the table below for the grades that still need class reps.