PRINCIPAL S REPORT Edition 33 1st November 2017 Animato Music Festival I had the pleasure of attending the Animato Music Festival last week to watch our Senior Choir and Taiko Group perform. The festival was held at St Bede s Catholic Church with students from Deepdene, Balwyn and St Bede s Primary Schools also performing. Though not a competition, an adjudicator was present to provide written feedback on each performance. The choir sang two songs titled, Wild Mountainside & Brotherhood and they did a magnificent job with them both. Their pitch and harmony were perfect and the audience appreciated the quality of the singing. The Taiko Group performed two pieces titled, Yume & Umi. They also did a magnificent job and thrilled the audience with their energetic and precise drumming and choreography. Congratulations to all of the students for their outstanding performances. Sincere thanks goes to Mrs Odou for preparing the students so well and giving them the opportunity to perform at such an event and represent Greythorn with pride and distinction. Thank you also to Ms Nitsos and Miss Wallace for attending to assist with the students. World Teachers Day With last Friday being World Teachers Day, it was a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and thank the teachers here at Greythorn. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated and hard working group of teachers at this school who all work tirelessly to ensure that every student receives an outstanding education. I thank and commend them all for their commitment to Greythorn Primary School and the professional manner in which they conduct themselves. The PFA and members of the community provided a magnificent morning tea of homemade treats to say thank you and show their appreciation to the teachers. This was certainly appreciated by the staff and I sincerely thank all who provided food, as well as those who decorated the staffroom and coordinated setting and packing up. Halloween Disco A total of 230 students attended last Saturday night s Halloween Disco. Once again, the PFA did a magnificent job in organising and coordinating this event. The Hall looked brilliant with the themed decorations and those who attended had a fantastic time dancing to the DJ s music mix, enjoying the food and drinks as well as the showbags that they received. Sincere thanks to all members of the PFA for the many, many hours they spent organising marketing, ticketing, food, drinks, Hall decorations and attending on the night to supervise and coordinate the event. Your hard work to create a wonderful experience for the students is appreciated by us all. Greythorn Primary School No. 4694 Reading Avenue, North Balwyn. 3104 Telephone: 9857 9762 Fax: 9857 8175 Website: http://www.greythornps.vic.edu.au Email: greythorn.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au OSHCLUB 0411 392 707 Principal: Andrew Searle
ICAS Mathematics Competition Congratulations and well done to all of the students who participated in this year s ICAS Mathematics Competition. Once again all participants achieved outstanding results with 49 gaining a Credit, 19 a Distinction and 6 students gaining a High Distinction. Those achieving a High Distinction are placed in the top 1% of participants which is a wonderful result for them. Those six students were: Year 4 Akira M, Kim Y & Alex Z Year 5 Akio W & Byron Z Year 6 Eric L Thank you again to Mrs Walling for coordinating and overseeing the administration of the ICAS competitions. Parent Requests The end of this week is the last opportunity for parents to submit requests about class placements for 2018. Please ensure that any requests are submitted to me in writing by this Friday, Nov 3. Information regarding your child s/children s academic, social, behavioural or physical needs should be included in any correspondence. It is not appropriate to request specific teachers, but this will be taken into consideration based on individual needs. Sport Success We have had many teams representing Greythorn in a wide range of events over the last few weeks. This has included Hooptime, cricket and softball competitions. They all continue to have great success and we will have a full wrap-up of their results and achievements in next week s newsletter. GPS Twilight Market The inaugural GPS Twilight Market is not far away. This is being held on Friday, December 1 from 4:30-9:00pm. This promises to be a fantastic event with a multitude of stalls, food, entertainment, raffles and more. Bring along your family and friends to complete some Christmas shopping and enjoy all that will be on offer. Regional Debating Day During Term 2, the Year 5 and 6 students learnt about the art of debating and subsequently participated in debating sessions with their classmates. I attended several of these sessions and was very impressed with the quality of the debating as well as how well they understood and followed debating protocols. With the interest shown by many students during the class debating sessions, a debating club was formed under the guidance of Miss Stewart-North. The club members have been meeting twice a week to hone their debating skills on a wide variety of topics. They are competing this Friday in the Brunswick East Regional Debating Day which will be their first opportunity to test their skills against students from other schools. We wish them well at this event and look forward to hearing about their experiences. Andrew Searle Principal
Wednesday 1 November Prep Transition # 4 2:15pm 3:15pm Chess Club #4 Thursday 2 November CPR and First Aid training for Staff Friday 3 November Debating Club Competition Tuesday 7 November Melbourne Cup Day Public Holiday Wednesday 8 November Prep Swimming 8/11 17/11 Chess Club #5 Thursday 9 November CPR and First Aid training for Staff Monday 13 November Yr 2 Maroondah Reservoir Tuesday 14 November Yr 1 Maroondah Reservoir Wednesday 15 November Chess Club #6 Thursday 16 November Year 6 transition day to Koonung Junior College Friday 17 November Twilight Working Bee PFA Bake Sale after school Tuesday 21 November Musica Viva Sousaphonics Wednesday 22 November Prep Transition # 5 2:15pm 3:15pm 7:00pm Oxfam Music Festival Senior Choir and Taiko Group EAL students CERES excursion Friday 24 November Student Free Day Wednesday 29 November Prep Transition # 6 2:15pm 3:15pm Friday 1 December Twilight Market PFA Fundraiser 4:30pm 7:00pm Yr 5 2018 Student Leader Speeches Monday 4 December Yr 5-6 Swimming 4/12 15/12 Tuesday 5 December Prep Transition 9:15am in the Hall Yr 5-6 Swimming Campion Book collection 12:00pm in the Hall Wednesday 6th December P-2 Two Theatre (Scrooge) Friday 8 December Prep Zoo Excursion Monday 11 December Parent Helpers Morning Tea Tuesday 12 December Yr 6 Transition Day to 2018 Secondary Schools Thursday 14 December Christmas Concert Friday 15 December LAST DAY OF CANTEEN Monday 18 December Yr 5 Student Leaders announced at assembly Yr 5 Palace Cinemas Wonder 12:30pm Tuesday 19 December Yr 6 Graduation Wednesday 20 December Yr 6 Yr 5 MSAC Excursion End of Year Lunch Friday 22 December LAST DAY OF TERM 4 2017 FINISHING AT 1:30PM
Canteen Bites Thanks to those who ordered the special Halloween lunch yesterday.hope you all enjoyed it. Help needed Monday mornings for an hour after drop off SUSHI PICK UP FRIDAYS If you are able to assist in picking up the sushi on a Friday from JOE's Sushi at 1145 and dropping to the canteen please contact me 0422588731. Thursday 2nd November Friday 3rd November Carolyn De Jong Stacey Mc Cabe Monday 6th November Tuesday 7th November Wednesday 8th November CANTEEN CLOSED Linda Muir Thursday 9th November Friday 10th November Monica Creedon Monday 13th November Tuesday 14th November Wednesday 15th November "Thanks for supporting the Mango Fund Raiser Thank you for supporting the inaugral Mango Fundraiser at Greythorn Primary. We have raised over $800 which will go towards school projects, such as redeveloping outdoor spaces in the school or replacing furniture. Delivery date is estimated to be last week in November - early December, this is dependent on the harvest period. You will be advised separately via email the pick up times." Regards, GPS PFA
Greythorn Primary School Parents who wish to enrol siblings of existing GPS students For Prep 2018 PLEASE DO SO NOW Please visit the office for an enrolment form Music News Coming Up! Year 3 will be performing at Assembly next Monday 6 th November Year 3 students will need to be in the Stadium by 8:45am on Monday Animato Music Festival - Taiko Group and Senior Choir On Thursday last week, the Senior Choir and Taiko Group performed at the Animato Music Festival. This festival involved performances from other local schools and it was wonderful and inspiring to hear all the items. It was very exciting to perform after all our hard work rehearsing, and it was clear that the work had paid off as the applause was very enthusiastic. The Choir sang with lots of expression and the Taiko performance was stunning. The audience was astounded as the powerful sound resonating through the building. This was not a competition but there was an adjudicator who gave excellent feedback on our performances. Thank you to everyone who participated, to the parents who attended, to Mrs Odou for teaching us and conducting and to Ms Nitsos and Ms Wallace for their assistance on the day. It was a wonderful experience performing at this event it helped us build teamwork, musical skills and personal confidence. It was heaps of fun! Nenah Jones and Charlie Reid-Pettett Music Leaders Oxfam Music Festival for Schools Following our very successful performance at the Animato Festival, the Senior Choir and Taiko Group will next perform at the 50 th Oxfam Music Festival for Schools on Wednesday 22nd November. This annual event features performances from local schools and is a fundraiser for Oxfam Projects both within Australia and overseas. This year the Festival will be held at Box Hill Town Hall and will start at 7:00pm. Tickets are available online through TRYBOOKING https://www.trybooking.com/qtbc- $15 per adult/$10 concession and children/students are FREE. When you click on the link you will see four dates listed, so you will need to select the night we are performing Wednesday 22 nd November. Looking forward to another fabulous performance! Joy Odou Music Teacher