GHPS IS COMMITTED TO CHILD SAFETY

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Principal’s Report

2022 Prep Transition & Enrolment

This week, we welcomed the 2022 Preps for the second transition session. Thank you to Ms Ashleigh Smart, Ms Amandine Lucas- Lely and Mr David Jenkins for taking the two groups in a Library and Music session. We hope the pre-schoolers enjoyed the opportunity to participate in these activities.

The next session will be on Tuesday 23 November at 9.30am and they will meet the teachers and move off to the Art Room with Ms Justine de Bruyn and have PE with Ms Jessica Russo. It has been wonderful to have the transition program running.

All the very best to Ms Denise Rimanic

Denise has advised me that after much consideration, she have decided to resign with her final day being at GHPS on Thursday 2nd December 2021. Denise has made her decision due to family commitments and she is looking forward to being a grandparent again early next year, which is very exciting.

We would like to acknowledge and thank Denise for being an education support member of GHPS since 2013. Denise has greatly assisted teachers, students, and parents during her role at GHPS and really enjoyed the opportunity to work at GHPS. She has made many friendships, been in all levels across the school in one capacity or another and had a rewarding time supporting with those she has worked.

We wish her a wonderful time as she heads to the next part of her life and look forward to hearing about how she is enjoying spending time with her family.

2021 Cabaret Day

Today was a very exciting one for all students who have finally been able to enjoy this year’s creative version of the GHP Cabaret. Together with Mr David Jenkins, our music teacher and Kira from STOMP the students across the school are ready to perform with their class and have the Cabaret recorded and cut into a DCD. We hope all the students have really enjoyed their dance cases with STOMP and thank them for their practice and persistence in learning their dances.

The Music Captains Nefeli and Arnaud have opened the recording with a Welcome to Cabaret and acknowledgment of Country. Thank you to the Year 6 Hosts, including the School Captains, Emma and Arnaud who have been terrific in their role as presenters. It has been particularly enjoyable hearing all the sounds coming from the rehearsals and notably the dedication and practice of the school bands: Second Chairs and Party Hats. Mr Jenkins has done a fabulous job getting everyone prepared.

Grade 3/4 Camp

A very enjoyable time was had by all students and staff who attended Camp from Monday – Wednesday this week at Waratah Bay. The very windswept conditions prevailed for some of the time but the smiles on the faces of everyone showed that the activities and the fun provided a great program, and we are so happy the students could attend. A very big thankyou to Ms Shannan Fox together with the wonderful team of staff who attended: Mr Cameron White, Ms Ivana Novakovic, Ms Marie Kasambalis, Ms Zoe Heath and Ms Juz de Bruyn. All champions!!

2022 Pupil and Staff Organisation

Based on this projection of student numbers, there will be thirteen classes in 2022. Planning classes for approximately 300 students is underway taking into account that so far, we have been notified from some families that they will be leaving. If there are any families who have not notified us that they will be moving from our school at the end of the year, it please advise us as soon as possible. Future changes to staffing will be announced very soon and communicated on Compass.

Student Placement Policy 2022

The GHPS Student Placement Policy will be an item for General Business when School Council meets next Monday 22 November. The purpose of the policy is to explain to our school community how we manage requests for class placements, for the following school year and the process that Glen Huntly Primary School works through to plan for each student. The policy will be shared with the community when it is ratified.

Monday 13 December Grade 6 Graduation

We are delighted that the 2021 Graduation ceremony for Grade 6 students will be able to proceed. A compass notification was pushed out yesterday advising Grade 6 parents what will be required of those who will be attending. Please read this carefully. We are feeling very grateful that restrictions have eased sufficiently to make this permissible. It is always a highlight of the year where we can celebrate and acknowledge all the efforts of all students.

School Council Parent Payment Policy

The 2022 Parent Payment Policy has been approved at the Finance Sub Committee of School Council.

The information has been sent out as a news link on Compass with each year level. Please contact the office if you require further information. (Payment is not required until 2022).

Changes to how COVID-19 cases are managed in schools as of 19/11/21

Based on advice from the Victorian Chief Health Officer, some significant changes have been made to how cases of COVID-19 and contacts of cases are managed in schools as we reach the 90% double dose milestone for eligible people in the coming days.

Schools will continue the process of identifying contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 at schools; contacts will no longer be contacted by the Department of Health with quarantine requirements. If your child is identified as a contact the school will contact, you directly. Contacts will be required to complete a standard (PCR) test within 24 hours from when they are identified by the school as a contact.

If the PCR test returns a negative result, the student can immediately return to school, with evidence of the negative result provided to the school. It is strongly recommended that contacts complete five days of rapid antigen tests in the morning before they attend school.

You will be able to obtain these testing kits from testing centres from Monday 22 November if your child is required to complete a standard PCR test. Where students are currently in quarantine due to an existing school exposure, they will be able to provide evidence of a negative standard PCR test and return to school following the instructions above.

In exceptional circumstances the Department of Health may determine that contacts in significant school outbreaks are still required to quarantine for seven days. In this scenario, students will be notified directly of any additional quarantine arrangements.

Face masks will now only be required by staff, visitors, and Grades 3 to 6 students in an indoor space within a primary school (or schools which have primary students such as P-12 school).

The wearing of masks remains recommended elsewhere where physically distancing cannot be maintained. As we head into the final few weeks of the school year, please continue to care for yourself and those around you.

Thank you

Libby Alessi Principal

Change of School House Names

We are extremely pleased to announce that after strategic research, extensive collaboration and a school wide voting process, that we will be officially changing our school House names to Boon Wurrung flora names.

During last year as a staff, we began to discuss the notion of our School House names needing to signify, acknowledge and offer respect to the traditional First Nations custodians of the land on which Glen Huntly Primary School is situated. Further motivation and traction of continuing with these culturally significant and important initiatives was gained, when we participated in Cultural Understanding Safety Training (CUST) during Term I of 2021, where we were able to acquire more knowledge of the importance of the Indigenous Australians, who for thousands of years have been living in our local area.

In relation to student learning, we also agreed that changing our school House names would be the next important step in our First Nations First People learning and understanding that GHPS has been focusing on during this year and has undertaken respectfully each year during the years before 2021, as detailed in the current Victorian Curriculum.

The intended House name changes would add real and more resounding meaning and integrity to our Acknowledgement of Country: I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land we are meeting on, and pay my respects to their Elders- past, present and emerging.

Essential aspects of this learning are that we need to recognise and say sorry for and restoratively try to right the wrongs of the past, where our First Nation First People were not treated respectfully and were dispossessed of many their sacred customs, rituals, rites and their vital connections to country and their ancient Dreamtime past. Following on from this, in the future we all must know how to forge, foster and encourage genuine and enduring reconciliation with our First Nations people.

So inspired with all of this impetus, at the start of this year, I began working together with the Boon Wurrung Foundation, also known as the Boonwurrung Land and Sea Council, as the Boon Wurrung people are the First People of the Bays (Port Phillip and Westernport) and South East Victoria, encompassing part of what is now the city and suburbs of Melbourne from Werribee River to Wilson’s Promontory, including the land on which Glen Huntly Primary School located. Our primary intention here was to obtain the official permission of the Boon Wurrung Foundation to choose four Boon Wurrung local flora names from a possible ten then seven, for us to be able to rename our four school houses.

These seven names were presented to our Publicity and Marketing sub-committee, staff, all students in all classes and our Student Council to consider and vote upon, so that collectively from all of these voting sources, we could democratically determine the most favoured four flora house names.

The results of this voting process were:

Blue/Indigo House Garrawang – to replace Batman. English flora name: Apple Berry.

Red House Bael – to replace the Flinders. English flora name: River Red Gum.

Yellow House Pike – to replace the Hume. English flora name: Bulbine Lily.

Green House Kurwan – to replace the Mitchell. English flora name: Sweet Bursaria.

We intend to officially provide a soft launch of our new school House names at the last assembly of 2021, when our 2022 House captains are announced. These students will become the inaugural House captains of the new Houses. Early in 2022 we are hoping to hold a launch and an appropriate ceremony of the new school House names, involving First Nation Boon Wurrung people.
David Jenkins
Curriculum Coordinator