GHPS IS COMMITTED TO CHILD SAFETY

Learning Today. Leading Tomorrow.

There has been plenty happening across our school over the couple of few weeks, and we’re pleased to share some highlights and important updates with you.

In recent weeks, panels have been formed to select new staff for 2026 as well as to select the best ‘internal’ applicant for a newly created leadership position.

In terms of the former, I am pleased to announce and welcome to our school Grace Harrick, Mark Railakis, Desi Siderellis, and Chloe Kirby.

We have also appointed Melinda Oldham as our new ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader’. This role is to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

We will welcome back Ashleigh Smart who is returning from her years leave, while Yasmin Moran has decided to take a year’s absence from teaching to pursue other career options.

In next week’s newsletter, I will advise of all of our internal staffing appointments, allocations to classes etc for 2026.

Last Friday our grade 5 and 6 students competed at Gala Day.

They played Continuous Cricket, Kickball, Ultimate Ball, and Rounders and whilst they didn’t win our teachers were very proud of their sportsmanship and positivity.

UJEB Pop Up Chanukah Activity for Glen Huntly Primary School families.

Date: Monday 1 December 2025

Who: Glen Huntly Primary School families Sign up link: www.ujeb.org.au/popupglenhuntly/

Christmas Celebration Is Coming

We are excitedly looking forward to our Christmas Celebration on December 3! The evening will begin at 5:00 PM on the Junior Campus, but you can arrive from 4.30 for a good position.

While our students fill the air with beautiful Christmas songs, families are invited to bring a picnic rug or chairs, relax on the turf, and enjoy the entertainment.

You’re welcome to bring your own picnic or enjoy a delicious dinner from the food trucks on site. We’ll have a pizza truck as well as treats from Ormond Ice Creamery.

We can’t wait to celebrate with you! 🎄✨

BOOK PACK REMINDER

A friendly reminder that 2026 book packs should be ordered before the end of the school year to ensure delivery by the start of the next year.

Thank you to the families who have already done this.

VOLUNTEER MORNING TEA

We would like to invite parents and grandparents who have volunteered at our school this year to a thank you morning tea.

When – Tuesday December 16 at 11 am.

Where – School gymnasium

Treaty

On the 30th of October, Victoria signed a First Nations Treaty, the first of its kind in Australia.

The Treaty will help all Victorians build a shared connection with the Aboriginal history and living cultures of our state. It provides an opportunity to bring Victorian communities together and to share pride in Aboriginal heritage, history, and culture.

The Treaty is about ensuring that all Victorians have access to the same opportunities and about building a better future for everyone.

You can learn more by watching this excellent BTN video, which helps students understand the importance of the Treaty:

Victoria’s First Nations Treaty – BTN

Social Media Age Restrictions — What Families Need to Know

From 10 December 2025, online services that are classed as social media platforms will be required to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 years of age from creating or keeping an account. These changes reflect a significant shift toward giving those under 16 a little more time to grow, learn and engage online in safer, age-appropriate ways.

As a school community, we welcome this measure and invite all families to join us in supporting healthy and responsible online habits.

Why are these changes happening?

Social media platforms can expose young people to design features that encourage high screen time, combined with content that may affect health and wellbeing. eSafety Commissioner
The age-restrictions are part of a broader effort to give children an extra layer of protection in the digital environment. eSafety Commissioner
This is mot a ban. Rather, it’s a legal requirement for platforms to act. There are no penalties for under-16s using or accessing an account—but the platforms themselves can face serious fines if they do not comply. eSafety Commissioner+1

What counts as a “social media platform”?

A service is likely to be age-restricted if:

its sole purpose or a significant purpose is to enable online social interaction between two or more end-users; and
the service allows users to connect with or interact with other users; and
users can post material on the service. eSafety Commissioner Messaging apps without those features may not fall within the same rules, but many platforms that combine messaging + posting + linking may be included. eSafety Commissioner

How can families and schools respond?

Use this change as a conversation starter with your children: what social media means for them, what age is appropriate, and how to understand digital wellbeing.
Review and update your family online safety agreement: screen time, device use, what sites/apps are appropriate and when.
For children under 16 especially: encourage safe, positive online habits and talk openly about what they do online, who they connect with and how they feel about it.
Schools can support by embedding digital citizenship and online safety into lessons and by working collaboratively with families to set consistent expectations.

You will find more information later in this newsletter, thanks to Mrs Oldham.

Last week Mr White and I attended the Bayside Principals Forum, which provided valuable insights and updates across several key areas of school improvement and student wellbeing.

The first session offered a state-wide update for government schools, focusing on current priorities and strategic directions across Victoria.

This was followed by a deep dive into the Attitudes to School Survey, exploring how student perceptions of engagement, wellbeing, and connectedness can inform school planning.

The third session focused on Networks and VTLM 2.0, highlighting opportunities for schools to collaborate and strengthen teaching and learning practices through shared expertise.

The final session addressed the vital topic of Addressing Racism and Promoting Inclusive School Environments, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring that every student feels safe, valued, and respected.

The forum was an excellent opportunity for reflection, collaboration, and planning as we continue to build on best practice within our own school community.

Enjoy your weekend,

Nerida Burns Principal Cameron White Assistant Principal

***Congratulations* *to the following students who received a ‘Student of the Week’ award.***

Skanda 0A – Careful reading and sounding out when spelling “or” and “aw” sounds in phonics – both make the same sound!

Hashel 0B – For showing excellent persistence and pride during maths this week. Hashel demonstrated a strong understanding of 3D shapes, their properties, and how to build the tallest and most stable tower. Keep up the amazing work, Hashel!

Jacob 1B – For your creative and thoughtful answers when exploring different ways to make 18! You showed fantastic mathematical thinking by using lots of addition and subtraction strategies to find all the possibilities. Well done, Jacob, what an imaginative problem solver you are!

Asaha 2A – For planning your narrative this week about a fox named Icicle, I was so impressed with your creative ideas and the fantastic vocabulary you used like “hibernating”. Well done! You’re on your way to becoming an amazing author!

Kasper 2B – For creating a fantastic map based on a 3-D model of a swimming pool! You designed brilliant symbols for your legend and positioned each object with precision and flair. Keep it up, Location Legend!

Sharier 3A – For communicating and finding a strategy that works for you to achieve your best, We’ve loved watching you shine in all areas of your learning this week. We watched you beam with pride as you shared your achievements with teachers.

Reyansh 3A – Always working well and listening during our whole group sessions. Well done Reyansh!

Hannah 3B – For her vibrant, uplifting personability that makes everyone around her feel encouraged, her active involvement in all classroom discussions, which she loves, and for her hard work and goal setting in all activities. Congratulations superstar!

Eden 4C – For persevering with her Japanese test and giving her multiplication a good crack.

Java 4C – For being so caring and kind towards your peers and sharing your positive support. Proud of your growth this year!

Shivika 5C – For always showing the school value of respect and pride! It is great to see how polite you are to teachers and peers, as well as understanding the importance of how representing GHPS at events like Gala Day are vital to being a great leader!

James 6A – For doing a great job all year as our J.S.C representative. You have kept the class up to date with all the goings on in the school. A fantastic job throughout the year, James!

Avyaan 6B – Leading our wellbeing check-ins and always making our classroom a bright, positive and fun space to be!!

Ivy 6C – For being an amazing Year 6 leader this year. It has been spectacular to see how you care for others, stay committed to your work, and enjoy our class jokes every now and then as well!

Sport News

Hi, my name is Botir and on 14th of November grade 5s and 6s had gala day at Caulfield Park. There were 4 sports. Continuous cricket, kickball, Ultimate ball, and rounders. We as team A played kickball as our 3rd game. Miss Price was with us the whole time to keep the gala day going well. We played CJC who are Caulfield Junior College. I don’t remember the scores, none of us do actually, but we won by a lot. Now I’ll tell you a bit about kickball. In kickball you have to kick the ball that was rolled to you and run to 1st base and if you have more time you can run more bases. On the field you can get people out by tagging them with the ball in your hand or get the ball on the base before the player comes.

Botir 5/6C

Hi, my name is Mahati. I was in Mrs Yang’s group for our Gala day which occurred on the 14th of November. Ultimate ball is basically netball however if the ball bounces it is the opposing team’s ball. Our team did ultimate ball first and we went against Lloyd Street Primary School. The other team let us start off with the ball because we brought the ultimate ball. We started our game and were starting off strong. Everyone defended and communicated very well. After a lot of hard work, we won with the score 9 to 4.

Mahati 5/6A

How you play Continues cricket is basically cricket but you run sideways and you can continuously bowl the ball to get the batter out, but only the bowler can hit the wicket with the ball to get the batter out .The school we versed was called Caulfield Junior college. Both our school and Caufield Junior played really well, and the scores were very close but in the end our team won with the scores of 20 over 19! Our school displayed amazing sportsmanship throughout gala day, even though we didn’t win every game we played.

Shivika 5/6C

Hello, my name is Shenan and I was in Mr Pap’s group. Now I’ll tell you about rounders. We made it to the rounders field but the other team was late so we were playing dead fish, silent ball, and hot potato. Before I tell you about our game I’ll explain how to play the batting team is given a small bat each person given a turn to bat while the balling team had to under arm throw the ball while the batting team had to hit the ball with the bat you need to run unless it’s a foul or a strike. Now let’s get back to our game. Soon after the team arrived, we started, our team was batting first. In the end we won by 5/4 and in the end we all shook hands and said our goodbyes. Now we would like to thank Miss Price for organising this event and helping to make it successful.

Shenan 5/6C

Library News

As we all come to the end of the year, the last day for library borrowing will be November 28thas we do stocktake and gather all the books back again.

Please return ALL library books by end of term, and Ms Connor in the library will start sending out notices and reminders for any overdue books.

Returning books on time is an important part of making the library run smoothly for everyone, so please make sure to bring back any books that might be hiding behind shelves or in drawers!

Big thanks,

Billie Connor Librarian