In our classrooms, staffroom, and community

Read on to find out what has been happening in our classrooms, staffroom and community the past few weeks.

In our classrooms

Visual Arts

This week in Art we have reflected on National Reconciliation Week. Each student walked the grounds of GIPS to find gum leaves, a symbol of our country. Students used markers to pattern and decorate their chosen gum leaf and add their piece to the class artwork. These beautiful leaves form a connective circle around an Acknowledgement of Country that will hang in their classroom. Please pop into your child’s classroom and see their beautiful work. Well done to all students for their respect and enthusiasm!

Acknowledging Sorry Day

4WB have been learning about Indigenous culture, with a special focus on the significance of Sorry Day and the reasons behind why we say "sorry." It has been heartening to see them embrace these lessons with such maturity and empathy.

In our library

What a wonderful week we have had in the library this week sitting around our campfire in our yarning circle. Sharing stories, reading beautiful Indigenous stories, and learning about native plants, flowers and seeds.

District Cross Country

On Tuesday 14 May, 58 GIPS students competed in District Cross Country. All students gave it their all, with everyone finishing. The students’ support and care for each other on the day was special and was remarked upon by other schools on the day.

Firefighters visit the Preps

The Preps were lucky to have a visit from firefighters from Glen Iris Fire Station. We learnt all about fire safety, good and bad fires, the importance of having a safe meeting place, and when to call 000.

On our second visit, the firefighters brought their truck. We got to climb through and have a look inside before we got to spray the hose!

Thank you to all our parents who came into school to talk about your job as a Community Helper. We really appreciate your time!

Como House Incursion in Grade One

Grade One visited Como House last week as part of our unit Learning From the Past. Students had the opportunity to explore the Armytage Mansion, dance with a partner in the magnificent ballroom, and play old fashioned games in the gardens, which included croquet and a good old sack race. We washed the clothes as servants, without a washing machine (gasp!) and explored the huge estate searching for clues to an old Armytage family mystery. A great day was had by all!

Maths Olympiad

Maths Olympiad is a select Maths program for 30 Grade 5/6 students who compete with other students around Australia. Students in the Maths Olympiad program have been working on cryptarithms and conceptual mathematical problems the last two weeks.

Grade 3/4 Camp

We had a fantastic time at camp full of lots of lasting memories, perseverance, and only a bit of rain. I hope you enjoy the slideshow below capturing some of our memories.

Gardening Club

Our gardening club is back in action focussed on weeding out our gardening beds and helping getting our garden ready for plants, veggies, and fruits. We have submitted a grant to help our garden beds, and fingers crossed it comes through. Thank you to School Council for your help with the grant.

In our staffroom

The last few weeks have been busy at GIPS. We continue to thrive in our PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) that take place most Mondays. During our PLCs, groups of teachers, guided by student data, investigate an upcoming skill or strategy in the curriculum in depth and through collaborative problem-solving, work together to discuss ways to ensure all students master the skill.

Our learning specialists, Shanae Hill and Meagan Cofield led staff through several workshops where we unpacked learning data from recent assessments including the Progressive Achievement Tests (undertaken by all grade one to six students) and the timed writing pieces (undertaken by all prep to grade six students).

In our community

National Reconciliation Week

Uncle Glenn visited GIPS this week and led a Smoking Ceremony for our school.

Andrew visits the Preps

Recently Andrew came to talk to the Preps about his role as the crossing supervisor.

Mother's Day Brunch

Thank you to Georgie, our School Council, and our Mother's Day Brunch working group who hosted our inaugural Mother's Day Brunch. On behalf of the School, we would like to thank everyone who supported this event. Money raised at the event will go towards iPads and readers across the school.

Grandparent's and Special Visitor's Day

On Friday we hosted our Grandparent's and Special Visitor's Day with the Preps. It was a very special day where we showcased our Prep reading classrooms, sang two songs to our visitors, and ended the festivities with a morning tea. Thank you to our parent volunteers who helped us with our morning tea.

Michael Carr-Gregg Visited GIPS

Eighty parents from around our community joined us in an evening with Dr Michael Carr-Gregg who shared insightful and practical strategies for raising happy and resilient children. Thank you to our School Council Community Relations sub-committee for leading the event.

Working Bee

Thank you to everyone who helped support us with the Working Bee over the weekend and thank you to our School Council Buildings and Grounds sub-committee who led the event. The school is looking fantastic!

Renovated Portables Sneak Peak

The grade one portables are nearly ready for a handover and check out some photos for a sneak peak.


National Simultaneous Storytime

On Wednesday 22 May, our students took part in the annual National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS).

Over 2 million readers across 21,969 locations shared Bowerbird Blues, by Aura Parker.

This beautiful picture book stars a beautiful bowerbird on the search for BLUE! It’s a moving story of longing and connection, that unfolds as the bowerbird’s search sends him soaring across the sea, sky and city. He swoops and snatches vibrant treasures for his collection, and soon his bower—a mix of natural and unnatural objects—attracts something greater and more fulfilling than he could ever have imagined.

SRC Book Stall

Our SRC led a second-hand book stall with money raised going to support cancer efforts. Thank you to the SRC and their leadership! We will update the community about the money raised soon.

Camberwell High School Master Class for Grade 4 Students

Camberwell High School is offering Grade 4 students with curiosity and inquiring minds the opportunity to take part in one of four master classes in Music, Science, Maths and Information Technology. More information and direct enrollment can be located by parents using the code provided.

A note about communication

We truly value partnerships. Our fantastic teaching staff are available between 3:30 to 3:40 pm every day for quick catch ups if you have a question. Because teachers spend the majority of their time in the classroom, GIPS teachers don’t have much time to check their emails during school hours. Whilst teaching, teachers do not check their devices. Please do not email teachers directly if you have a reminder you need sent to your child. We won’t be able to deliver the message because we aren’t checking emails throughout the day. There's also a chance that the teacher might be away on leave, and thus the message won't be checked. Please contact our front office if you have a message you need delivered to your child at 9885 3624 or glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au. Then, we will be able to deliver the message for you.

A reminder about drop off

Glen Iris Primary School’s grounds are supervised by school staff from 8.45am until 3.45pm. Outside of these hours, school staff will not be available to supervise students. If you need to drop off your child earlier, we have before care provided with our provider Team Kids. We aren't available to provide supervision on the grounds before 8:45 am. Please do not drop off children before supervision commences. You can book Team Kids here if you need your child supervised before school starts. Thank you.

Choir Club

Junior Choir at Glen Iris Primary School has begun! Tuesday 12.50 – 1.20pm

Senior Choir- Wednesday 12.50 – 1.20pm.

New member always welcome.

Used Uniform Shop

Thank you Sarah and Kym for all of your help with the used uniform shop. Reminder that it is open until 4pm today. If you can't make it, you can stop by our main office and the team can provide you with a key to open it up.

From our school council

School Council met on 1 May, 2024 for the Annual Report to the School Community presented by the school's principal and the School Council meeting.

The School Council met on 1st May 2024. The following have been actioned by the Council’s sub-committees.

Community relations-

  • On 20th May, we hosted renowned psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Greg with ~80 people attending the event. Tickets were sold on a cost-recovery basis, and we are grateful to the school community for their engagement and participation. Fletcher’s Glen Iris continued to show unwavering support for the school community by offering to put up 4 advertising boards for the event. We also extend a big thank you to Pantry Glen Iris and Misoo Macraild for the generous donations of food. We will be seeking feedback via a separate correspondence; please look out for it.

Buildings and Grounds

  • A working bee was held on 26 May. Thank you to the parents who attended and helped out.

  • The sub-committee applied for a Victorian School Garden Program to re-establish the GIPS garden. Outcomes will be announced in early June.

Fundraising -

  • The Mother’s Day events were a remarkable success. Thanks to the parents and carers who participated in the family photo shoot, which earned the school over 1000$.

  • The Mother’s Day lunch was held on 10th May and attended by 64 GIPS mums, grand mums, aunties, and carers and raised over 4000$. Thank you to Georgie LS for organising this successful event.

  • The Make and Bake Sale on 3rd May brought hoards of excited kids to the coloured squares to purchase their share of goodies provided by parents from Grades 1, 3, 5 and 6. We were successful in raising ~$2880 for the school.

We would like to remind you to please remember to make your Parent Payments via Compass, if you haven’t done so already.


From our outside providers

Click to find messages from the outside providers.

Outside Providers

From Team Kids

Read on to find out about what has been happening in the Team Kids program.

Issue 7, 2024 From Maddie's Desk - 31 May 2024

In our classrooms, staffroom, and community

Read on to find out what has been happening in our classrooms, staffroom and community the past few weeks.

Maddie Witter

Principal

2133

In our classrooms

Visual Arts

This week in Art we have reflected on National Reconciliation Week. Each student walked the grounds of GIPS to find gum leaves, a symbol of our country. Students used markers to pattern and decorate their chosen gum leaf and add their piece to the class artwork. These beautiful leaves form a connective circle around an Acknowledgement of Country that will hang in their classroom. Please pop into your child’s classroom and see their beautiful work. Well done to all students for their respect and enthusiasm!

Acknowledging Sorry Day

4WB have been learning about Indigenous culture, with a special focus on the significance of Sorry Day and the reasons behind why we say "sorry." It has been heartening to see them embrace these lessons with such maturity and empathy.

In our library

What a wonderful week we have had in the library this week sitting around our campfire in our yarning circle. Sharing stories, reading beautiful Indigenous stories, and learning about native plants, flowers and seeds.

District Cross Country

On Tuesday 14 May, 58 GIPS students competed in District Cross Country. All students gave it their all, with everyone finishing. The students’ support and care for each other on the day was special and was remarked upon by other schools on the day.

Firefighters visit the Preps

The Preps were lucky to have a visit from firefighters from Glen Iris Fire Station. We learnt all about fire safety, good and bad fires, the importance of having a safe meeting place, and when to call 000.

On our second visit, the firefighters brought their truck. We got to climb through and have a look inside before we got to spray the hose!

Thank you to all our parents who came into school to talk about your job as a Community Helper. We really appreciate your time!

Como House Incursion in Grade One

Grade One visited Como House last week as part of our unit Learning From the Past. Students had the opportunity to explore the Armytage Mansion, dance with a partner in the magnificent ballroom, and play old fashioned games in the gardens, which included croquet and a good old sack race. We washed the clothes as servants, without a washing machine (gasp!) and explored the huge estate searching for clues to an old Armytage family mystery. A great day was had by all!

Maths Olympiad

Maths Olympiad is a select Maths program for 30 Grade 5/6 students who compete with other students around Australia. Students in the Maths Olympiad program have been working on cryptarithms and conceptual mathematical problems the last two weeks.

Grade 3/4 Camp

We had a fantastic time at camp full of lots of lasting memories, perseverance, and only a bit of rain. I hope you enjoy the slideshow below capturing some of our memories.

Gardening Club

Our gardening club is back in action focussed on weeding out our gardening beds and helping getting our garden ready for plants, veggies, and fruits. We have submitted a grant to help our garden beds, and fingers crossed it comes through. Thank you to School Council for your help with the grant.

In our staffroom

The last few weeks have been busy at GIPS. We continue to thrive in our PLCs (Professional Learning Communities) that take place most Mondays. During our PLCs, groups of teachers, guided by student data, investigate an upcoming skill or strategy in the curriculum in depth and through collaborative problem-solving, work together to discuss ways to ensure all students master the skill.

Our learning specialists, Shanae Hill and Meagan Cofield led staff through several workshops where we unpacked learning data from recent assessments including the Progressive Achievement Tests (undertaken by all grade one to six students) and the timed writing pieces (undertaken by all prep to grade six students).

In our community

National Reconciliation Week

Uncle Glenn visited GIPS this week and led a Smoking Ceremony for our school.

Andrew visits the Preps

Recently Andrew came to talk to the Preps about his role as the crossing supervisor.

Mother's Day Brunch

Thank you to Georgie, our School Council, and our Mother's Day Brunch working group who hosted our inaugural Mother's Day Brunch. On behalf of the School, we would like to thank everyone who supported this event. Money raised at the event will go towards iPads and readers across the school.

Grandparent's and Special Visitor's Day

On Friday we hosted our Grandparent's and Special Visitor's Day with the Preps. It was a very special day where we showcased our Prep reading classrooms, sang two songs to our visitors, and ended the festivities with a morning tea. Thank you to our parent volunteers who helped us with our morning tea.

Michael Carr-Gregg Visited GIPS

Eighty parents from around our community joined us in an evening with Dr Michael Carr-Gregg who shared insightful and practical strategies for raising happy and resilient children. Thank you to our School Council Community Relations sub-committee for leading the event.

Working Bee

Thank you to everyone who helped support us with the Working Bee over the weekend and thank you to our School Council Buildings and Grounds sub-committee who led the event. The school is looking fantastic!

Renovated Portables Sneak Peak

The grade one portables are nearly ready for a handover and check out some photos for a sneak peak.


National Simultaneous Storytime

On Wednesday 22 May, our students took part in the annual National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS).

Over 2 million readers across 21,969 locations shared Bowerbird Blues, by Aura Parker.

This beautiful picture book stars a beautiful bowerbird on the search for BLUE! It’s a moving story of longing and connection, that unfolds as the bowerbird’s search sends him soaring across the sea, sky and city. He swoops and snatches vibrant treasures for his collection, and soon his bower—a mix of natural and unnatural objects—attracts something greater and more fulfilling than he could ever have imagined.

SRC Book Stall

Our SRC led a second-hand book stall with money raised going to support cancer efforts. Thank you to the SRC and their leadership! We will update the community about the money raised soon.

Camberwell High School Master Class for Grade 4 Students

Camberwell High School is offering Grade 4 students with curiosity and inquiring minds the opportunity to take part in one of four master classes in Music, Science, Maths and Information Technology. More information and direct enrollment can be located by parents using the code provided.

A note about communication

We truly value partnerships. Our fantastic teaching staff are available between 3:30 to 3:40 pm every day for quick catch ups if you have a question. Because teachers spend the majority of their time in the classroom, GIPS teachers don’t have much time to check their emails during school hours. Whilst teaching, teachers do not check their devices. Please do not email teachers directly if you have a reminder you need sent to your child. We won’t be able to deliver the message because we aren’t checking emails throughout the day. There's also a chance that the teacher might be away on leave, and thus the message won't be checked. Please contact our front office if you have a message you need delivered to your child at 9885 3624 or glen.iris.ps@education.vic.gov.au. Then, we will be able to deliver the message for you.

A reminder about drop off

Glen Iris Primary School’s grounds are supervised by school staff from 8.45am until 3.45pm. Outside of these hours, school staff will not be available to supervise students. If you need to drop off your child earlier, we have before care provided with our provider Team Kids. We aren't available to provide supervision on the grounds before 8:45 am. Please do not drop off children before supervision commences. You can book Team Kids here if you need your child supervised before school starts. Thank you.

Choir Club

Junior Choir at Glen Iris Primary School has begun! Tuesday 12.50 – 1.20pm

Senior Choir- Wednesday 12.50 – 1.20pm.

New member always welcome.

Used Uniform Shop

Thank you Sarah and Kym for all of your help with the used uniform shop. Reminder that it is open until 4pm today. If you can't make it, you can stop by our main office and the team can provide you with a key to open it up.

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