Term One over and now into term two already!

Greenhithe School Village Fete

Thank you to all to everyone who donated goods and time as well as all those in the community who attended the Fete. We hope you will agree that it was a great community event for everyone and that it was also very successful in terms of raising funds for the school. Over $25,000 was raised and will go towards furnishing our hall and school, including sporting and academic equipment. So once again that you to the entire community for making this such a great event!

Staffing Update

We are pleased to announce that Peter Marshall has agreed to stay on as Relieving Principal for another term.  He will be ably supported by Jacki Harrison (Acting Deputy Principal) and Heather Walker (Acting Assistant Principal).   

Further to this we have received a letter from Janice Trafford, resigning from her role of Principal. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the achievements Janice has made for the school during her seven years as Principal.  With her leadership we have been able to raise the educational standards and levels of student achievement, as highlighted in our last ERO Report.  The quality of the teaching has improved with the establishment of solid ongoing professional development programmes and a reflective learning culture.  Increased classroom availability and a new hall have been added to the school, and with Janice’s careful oversight, the school remains in a sound financial position.

Janice has asked the Board to publish her letter to the community.
 

To the community of Greenhithe School

I have made a personal decision to resign from Greenhithe School , so that I can focus on completing my Masters degree in Education this year.  I intend to continue making a positive difference in education utilising my knowledge, experience and abilities.  What this may, in the future, entail is unclear but I look forward to finding out.  I personally have enjoyed the challenges of the principal’s role and the dedicated effort required to lead a school.  My satisfaction has come from seeing children happy and learning and the teachers gaining satisfaction and enjoyment from their work.

Thank you to all those who have supported me in making Greenhithe School the effective school it has become and to the very professional teachers who put huge effort into learning and raising student achievement (refer ERO Report, 2006).  Our high levels in literacy results are something to be very proud of.  The Management team has played a very big part in placing the school ‘at the cutting edge’ of learning developments and initiatives.

I wish to thank Ian McHardy and Juliet Hyatt-Brown, for their assistance in sourcing funding opportunities for the large number of property developments. These developments have positively improved both the learning and teaching environments at the school.

I also wish the staff, students, Board of Trustees and community of Greenhithe School all the best in their endeavours and I hope that the school will continue to grow and move forward positively.

With kind regards

Janice Trafford

Things to look forward to in Term Two

Challenge Day

The senior school have been working hard on their Inquiry unit based around co-operation and team games. The children are currently creating their own games with specific equipment and rules. These games are being trialled on buddy children from the middle syndicate. As part of this unit the senior children are also organising our first school challenge day for 2008. The games played on the day will be the games created by the senior school children. In order to give them plenty of time to be thoroughly organised our first challenge day for this year will be on Friday 16^th May (week 2, term 2). We will give you more information about this as the event approaches, I personally can’t wait to try out the children’s games.

Welcome to new parents

As always it is wonderful to welcome new families to our school and community. We have lots of new families in our new entrant area and as a result will be starting a new class in Room 1 next term. We also have a number of other new families across the school who we would also like to welcome. On Thursday 8th May at 2:15pm we will be hosting a new parent’s afternoon tea. We invite all new families to come along and enjoy some coffee and cake and a chance to get to know some of the staff and PTA members a bit better. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Key Dates

• Term Two commences Monday 5^th May
• Challenge Day Friday 16^th May
• New Parents afternoon tea Thursday 8^th May 2.15pm