From the Principal’s Desk

Growth through belonging – a community where every child thrives

Dear Glen Iris Primary School families,

As we continue our shared journey in creating a thriving school community, I want to thank you for your ongoing support and feedback. At Glen Iris Primary School, we are committed to growing together—ensuring every child feels a sense of belonging and has the opportunity to flourish. Your voices help shape the way we work and communicate, and this term we’ve made some important improvements based on last year’s communication survey.

Communication Improvements Based on Your Feedback

We heard you loud and clear—clearer, more accessible communication helps everyone stay connected. Here's what we've done:

• Excursion Reminders: Every excursion now comes with a reminder to provide consent, posted as a Newsfeed item on Compass.

• Newsfeed Visibility: All Newsfeed items will now remain visible for the entire year, so you can easily refer back to important details at any time.

• Clearer Titles: Newsfeed titles now clearly reflect their content, so you can find what you need at a glance.

These changes are all about making information easier to access and supporting our partnership with families.

Learning and Wellbeing: Ensuring Every Child Thrives

We are deeply committed to our vision of “Growth through belonging – a community where every child thrives”, and this term has seen exciting progress in both learning and wellbeing.

Learning Improvements
Across all year levels, we have introduced a systematic and synthetic phonics program to strengthen our literacy foundations:

• In Prep to Year 2, students participate in structured phonics lessons focused on improving reading.

• In Years 3 to 6, we’ve shifted the focus toward morphology and spelling patterns to deepen students’ understanding of word structures.

• For students needing additional support, we have been providing the MultiLit program to ensure targeted intervention.

Based on this change, we have already seen dramatic growth in our readers and spellers. We are excited to share that data soon!

We are also continuing to drive academic rigour, with a strong emphasis on stretching all learners—ensuring they are making progress beyond age-expected levels in both literacy and numeracy.

Wellbeing Enhancements
Wellbeing remains a core pillar of our work. This semester, we are continuing to embed:

• Morning Circle routines to foster connection at the start of each day

• Restorative practices to support relationship repair and accountability

• Ready to Learn plans to help students self-regulate and access learning

• Explicit instruction on the science of stress, Zones of Regulation, and emotion coaching

We’ve also introduced our therapy dog program, continue to embed the work of our school psychologist, and run social groups to help children build friendships and social skills.

Sometimes, even with these proactive measures in place, students may display behaviours that raise concerns, including bullying.

Understanding and Responding to Bullying
The Department of Education (Victoria) defines bullying as:

"An ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons."

Bullying is not a one-off incident or social conflict, and it’s important we address concerns early and together. If you believe your child may be experiencing bullying, please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher and email our Assistant Principal at glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au. We are here to listen and support every child to feel safe, connected, and empowered to thrive.

Important Upcoming Timelines

As we plan ahead for the remainder of Term 2 and into Term 3, here are a few key dates and events to keep in mind:

• Prep 2026 Enrolments are now open and will close on 25 July.

• We’re hosting a Prep 2026 Open House for four-year-old kinder students on Monday 20 May at 9:30am. It’s a wonderful opportunity for little learners to experience a “day in the life” at GIPS.

• An Information Session for parents and carers will take place on the same day, 20 May at 6:30pm.

• We also encourage all parents of kinder-aged children to register for our Story Time sessions. These sessions help children feel familiar and excited about starting school. Details for both the Open House and Story Time are in the newsletter.

For our Grade 6 families, the Year 6–7 Transition process is now open. All families must submit the High School Transition form by 9 May, including those enrolling in independent or Catholic secondary schools. Please refer to the Compass Newsfeed for all the information you need.

As we celebrate Mother's Day this weekend, we want to take a moment to honour all the incredible people who provide love, care, and support in our lives. Whether it's mothers, grandmothers, aunts, foster carers, step-parents, or other special people who take on nurturing roles, Sunday is a chance to recognise and thank them. We understand that this day can mean different things to different families, and we hold space for everyone in our school community. Wishing you all a warm and meaningful Mother’s Day. We want to extend a heartfelt thanks to Georgie and the entire parent team who helped organise the Mother's Day Brunch today. We hope that the raffle goes well!

Thank you for your continued partnership in helping Glen Iris Primary School be a place where children grow, belong, and thrive.

Kind regards,

Maddie Witter

In our prep classrooms

In Prep, we’ve been learning important skills to help us become strong writers! We’ve been practicing how to hold a pencil correctly using the tripod grip—holding the pencil with our thumb, index, and middle fingers for better control. To make it fun, we sing “Pinch it, Flip it, Grip it” to remember the steps! We’ve also been working on good posture while writing. Sitting up straight with our feet flat on the floor helps us stay comfortable and focused. Here is some of our writing!

In grade one

This week, our Grade 1 students proudly celebrated their achievements as writers by publishing their own writing pieces! After working hard on planning, drafting, and editing, each student created a final version of their work, complete with neat handwriting and wonderful drawings. We are so proud of their efforts and can’t wait to see what they write next!

In grade two

Grade 2 have been busy learning about life cycles. Last Friday we had our incursion with Hands on Science where we learned about the life cycle of plants, butterflies, frogs and wood beetles. Feel free to come down to our classrooms and ask us questions about life cycles and metamorphosis.

In grade three

Grade Three students are learning about the states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. Throughout the term, we are running experiments to explore these different states and how they interact. This week, we mixed a solid (bicarb soda) with a liquid (vinegar). Together, they caused a chemical reaction that filled up a balloon with carbon dioxide! During the experiment, we made predictions and recorded our observations. Then we drew a labelled scientific diagram and explained why the chemical reaction occurred. Stay tuned for our next experiment!

In grade four

This week, some Grade 3 and 4 students got together to learn more about each other before going on camp. We asked each other about things we love and what we are looking forward to at camp. It feels good to have made a new friend.

In five/six

Grade 5/6 had a visit from author Nova Weetman. Nova spoke about how she chooses characters and sets the scenes for her novels as well as some other fascinating insights into the workings of a published author. We have continued with this learning in the classroom, using the ideas gained from the session with Nova to improve our own writing.

Grade 5/6 have begun work on the Gold Rush, our integrated topic this term. Students have been learning about the challenges of life on the goldfields for different genders, races and classes. We played a game on the iPad where students had to make choices for different characters on the goldfields. This was followed up with a related activity comparing the characters and their life/struggles.

House Cross Country

It was a beautiful day for House Cross Country! House spirit was high. Thank you to our parent volunteers, easy to pick out in their new very fashionable bright pink vests! Congratulations to all students for their perseverance, positive attitudes, and spirit. We want to extend our congratulations to students who are moving to District Cross Country.

Student Voice and Agency

Our Student Action Leadership Teams (SALT) have officially commenced. Each grade 6 student has an important leadership position at GIPS. Presently, the students are working together to begin formulating ideas about improvement initiatives. Here, our newly formed Cultural Connections team is brainstorming ways we can build cultural inclusivity and celebrate diversity here at GIPS.

In our garden

GIPS Garden Club has been hard at work keeping our garden thriving! Over the past few weeks, our young gardeners have been busy removing caterpillar eggs from our beautiful leafy greens. These tiny pests may look harmless, but they can quickly munch holes through our vegetables if we’re not careful!

Through careful observation and teamwork, students are learning how to identify the tiny eggs, water our plants, and protect our growing garden. Thank you to the wonderful gardening parents who are also helping our garden thrive! Our beautiful space is in great hands!

Miss Wellington and the Garden Club

An Easter Surprise

The You are Welcome Associated worked with Ms Witter to organise a student led, student created, and student inspired Easter Egg hunt for our junior school.

Recently in Performing Arts

Lights, camera, action – Term 2 marks the commencement of Drama in Performing Arts! Students have been flexing their facial expressions, movements and gestures while performing to an audience of classmates. Everyone is expressing their enthusiasm and excitement for Drama.

From our art classroom

The Art room has been filled with love and gratitude as all the students have worked with enthusiasm on special gifts of thanks to mums, aunts, grandmas, and carers. Students have been painting, sculpting, cutting, and gluing to create a special gift to take home. Thank you to all the students for their dedication and care on creating such special pieces. To all the recipients, enjoy!

In our staffroom

Inclusive School Playground

A New Place to Play, Learn, and Grow: Our Inclusive Playground is Nearly Ready!
Building skills through belonging and joyful play

We are thrilled to share that our new inclusive playground is nearly open—and what a transformation it has been! Thank you for your patience, support, and enthusiasm while this beautiful new space has been under construction. It will be well worth the wait.

At Glen Iris Primary School, we believe every child should have a space to play, learn, and connect in a way that supports their development and brings them joy. Our new playground has been thoughtfully designed by parents in our community with this in mind, offering a range of play experiences that are inclusive, accessible, and engaging for all students.

What’s New?

• A spacious sandpit that invites imaginative play and sensory exploration

• A dry creek river bed, perfect for climbing, balancing and nature-based interaction

• Musical bells and instruments to inspire creativity and rhythm

• A new swing set to support vestibular movement and cooperation

• An in-ground trampoline for safe bouncing and proprioceptive input

• New asphalt areas that will soon be painted with games and movement paths to encourage active, inclusive play

• New deck where classes can do morning circle outdoors

More Than Just Play

This playground isn’t just about fun—it’s also a powerful tool for learning. Our new play spaces have been designed to support the development of proprioceptive and interoceptive skills—helping children better understand where their bodies are in space and how they are feeling inside.

As students explore and engage with the equipment, we’ll be supporting them to:

• Build gross motor skills through climbing, jumping, swinging, and balancing

• Develop balance and coordination in a variety of movement-rich environments

• Practice cooperative play, turn-taking, and inclusive interactions with peers

• Learn how to be safe, responsible, and respectful in new play areas including on the rocky paths

Our staff will continue to guide students in how to use each area confidently and safely, while encouraging the kind of play that helps every child grow in confidence, connection, and capability.

This new playground is a reflection of our commitment to “Growth through belonging – a community where every child thrives.” We can’t wait to see the creativity, collaboration, and joy that will flourish in this space every day.

From Meagan's Desk- Sound Waves Resources

This year, we have been using Sound Waves Literacy to support our teaching of reading and spelling. Students are explicitly taught the 43 sounds of spoken Australian English. Students learn the different letters and letter combinations that represent speech sounds in written language. Each sound is accompanied by a sound icon, chant and action to help students articulate and remember the sounds. For example:

• Icon:
• Sound: /ou/ (as in cloud)
• Chant: “Cloud like a cow – /ou/, /ou/, /ou/”
• Action: Draw a cloud shape in the air with a finger.

The chants and actions are a big hit with our Prep to Grade 2 students. If you would like to learn the chants and actions alongside your child, you can access a copy [here].

Here are our Prep and Year 6 buddies making CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words using the Sound Waves icons.

Kindly,

Meagan Cofield, Literacy Specialist

In our community

Open Day

Designed to compliment a school tour, on 20 May from 9:30 am to 10:45 am, we invite prospective 2026 Prep students and their families to a GIPS Open Day. Grade 6 student leaders will bring small groups of prospective students to different classes, from literacy to numeracy... even some specialist classes! Bookings are essential.

GIPS Information Evening

Also designed to complement a school tour, on 20 May from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm, join GIPS' prep teachers, Assistant Principals, Principal, parents and students in an information evening that goes in depth about our curriculum, wellbeing program, student voice, and much more. If you have questions that you couldn't get answered on the school tour, bring them to the information evening where our team is there to support your decision. Bookings are essential.

Story Time at GIPS

All kindergarten children are invited to join our Pre-School Storytime sessions in the school library.

Held by one of our Prep teachers, the children will listen to a story and then do an activity. You may attend as many of the sessions as you wish, to help the children begin to familiarise themselves with the school environment. We would love to see you at all of our storytimes.

Parents, please stay with their children for the duration. If your kindergarten would like to attend a Pre-School Storytime, please contact our main office. Bookings are essential.

Annual Report to the School Community

On 21 May at 6:30 pm, we are holding our Annual Report to the School Community via Webex. To register your attendance, please contact the front office at glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au

We will provide the link to registered attendees as we are required to take attendance for this annual event. We look forward to seeing you there.

From Lisa's Desk

Why School Reports Matter (and Take Time)

As we approach the end of Semester One and the arrival of your child’s school report, you might find yourself wondering:

• What exactly goes into these reports?
• Why do teachers need so much time to prepare them?
• And, what should I do with all this information once I receive it?

Great questions—and we’d love to take you behind the scenes.

📘 More Than Just Grades

School reports are much more than rankings or marks. For primary-aged children, they offer a meaningful snapshot of your child’s learning journey—how they’re progressing academically, socially, and emotionally. Reports reflect the whole child, not just how they performed on a spelling test or on a maths quiz.

Teachers use reports to share how your child has developed in many areas over the past six months. These include:

• Academic progress in core subjects like Reading, Writing, and Mathematics
• Feedback on engagement and learning in specialist areas such as Spanish, Physical Education, Visual and Performing Arts
• Effort and participation across the curriculum
• Social development and classroom behaviour
• Emerging strengths and areas for further growth

🕒 Why Reports Take Time

Creating thoughtful and accurate reports is a significant and time-intensive process. Teachers gather a wide range of information—work samples, assessment results, classroom observations, and notes built up over many weeks. They refer closely to curriculum expectations and standards to accurately reflect each child’s development, and how it compares to expected achievement data at a local, state-wide, and national level (as is the case with NAPLAN for example).

Behind the scenes, teachers are:

• Reflecting on your child’s individual growth, learning style, and engagement
• Writing clear, constructive, and personalised comments
• Cross-referencing curriculum goals and achievement standards
• Carefully proofreading to ensure accuracy and clarity

Reports take time because your child is unique—and their report should reflect that individuality with care and precision.

🧡 What You Can Do

Once you receive your child’s report:

• Read it together. Celebrate progress, effort, and the unique learning milestones your child has achieved.
• Focus on the bigger picture. Marks matter, but so do attitude, perseverance, and curiosity—traits that shape lifelong learners.
• Reach out if needed. If you have questions or want to better understand something in the report, don’t hesitate to connect with your child’s teacher. We welcome those conversations.

🎯 A Shared Goal

At the heart of every school report is a shared commitment: to support your child’s growth. It’s not about perfection—it’s about recognising progress and identifying the next steps on their learning journey.

When reports become available via Compass at the end of this term, please know they have been prepared with great care, insight, and intention. Every word has been written with your child in mind.

Warmest Regards,

Lisa Gough

Run Club

Thank you to our parent volunteers who have organised run club at GIPS!

GIPS Tip: view school calendar in Compass app

Did you know? The Compass app shows a calendar of school events, to make it easy for you to keep on top of everything that happens here at GIPS.

Tap on ‘Calendar’ in the menu at the bottom of the home screen

You can view by day or by week, and use the drop-down menu to view different types of events or for different children.

You can also tap on some events (e.g. excursions) to view more information.

CSEF closes 27 June

The Camps, Sports, and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps, and sporting activities. If you have a valid means-tested concession card or are a temporary foster parent and you have not yet lodged an application at the school, you may be eligible. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. Means-tested concession cards must be valid on the first day of Term 1, 2025 (Tuesday 28 January 2025) or Term 2, 2025 (Tuesday 22 April 2025).

Eligible families will receive a payment of $154 per year for primary school students . The funds will be paid directly to the school to be used towards camps, sports, and excursion costs for the benefit of your child. If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the front office on Glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au and ask for an application form. If you have any questions, please reach out to our Business Manager David Patmore at the above email or contact the front office at (03) 9885 3624. Please return completed application forms to the front office no later than Friday 27th June 2025.

Scholastic Book Club

Scholastic Book Club Issue 3 is out now.

Due Date for online orders is Friday 16^th May. (No cash sales) Please make sure you select the correct class for your student when ordering.

Thank you for your support

Krista Morris - Library

Budget update from your School Council

Over 73% of GIPS families have now paid school fees or have a payment plan in place.

Thank you!

Your payments are vital to GIPS Aiming High for our kids.

Government funding covers salaries and staff professional development, but doesn't cover pencils, printing, art supplies, books, online learning subscriptions and technology upgrades. Any shortfall in parent payments means more fundraising work to do, to upgrade our classroom resources.

If you haven't paid yet, please pay via Compass today, or ask the school office about flexible payment options. Some contributions are tax-deductible so keep your receipts!

Thanks again - from your School Council

Walk-a-Thon Update

Thanks to your donations, we raised $14,231 on the event which is going to improved audio visual equipment for indoor and outdoor assemblies. Thank you!

Melbourne Football Club visit GIPS

Grade 5/6 were treated to a question and answer session by some of the Melbourne Football club players. Students asked some thought-provoking questions which had the players talking about social media, careers, and achievements amongst other things. The players asked their own questions of the students and handed out prizes. Thanks to the MFC for an insightful morning!

Democracy Sausage

Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who helped our Sausage Sizzle be such a success. Congratulations to Archie in 2GJ who was the winning raffle ticket. Well done to our SRC who pulled off a very successful event with only a week available to plan. We are splitting the proceeds of the event with the United Church, who are contributing their proceeds to a nearby charity. The school is using the resources to contribute to our maths program. Thank you!

Lael Stone "How to be a connected parent"

This is an event you can't afford to miss!

Parenting can be challenging and exhausting.

We are thrilled to be hosting best-selling author and TEDx speaker, Lael Stone live at GIPS.

TOPIC: HOW TO BE A CONNECTED PARENT

Offering us tools and information to support
resilience, empathy and connection with our children.

- Supporting children through challenging situations
- Navigating big feelings
- Simple ways to create cooperation
- Navigating anxiety and worry
- Building resilience and authenticity

Wednesday 4 June 7-8:30pm, GIPS Library

$45 per ticket

This event will sell out. BOOK NOW: http://trybooking.com/DAHMS

Lael is a highly sought-after parenting educator. This event is open to the public so more families can benefit from Lael's insights.

Please invite your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues to join us.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Your Event Organisers,

Maddie Witter (GIPS Principal), Jacqui Williamson (Grade 4 & 6 Parent) & Tyla Millerd (Grade 2, 4 & 6 Parent)

GIPS Container Scheme

GIPS now has a container deposit scheme donation code where you can donate your 10c container refunds to the school, this is a fantastic way to recycle while also raising funds for the school.

It is an easy 3 step process:

1. Collect eligible containers (can's, bottle and juice boxes) check for the 10c mark, often near the bar code HINT: you can keep lids on
2. Find your refund point HINT: CDS Vic Depot Oakleigh at 37-41 Oxford St Oakleigh is close by
3. Donate HINT: at the machine select "enter zone ID" and scan the GIPS barcode (the friendly depot staff can also help)

See attached poster for more information.

From

School Council

From Team Kids