Welcome to IPS

Welcome to our second edition of Inside Ivanhoe for 2026. Our students have had a wonderful start to the year, consolidating friendships, building independence and resilience, forming respect for each other and forging new relationships with peers and teachers through our Start Up program. As the term progresses you'll see how students will grow in confidence and are able persist with challenging tasks.

Families and students can sometimes feel a bit anxious about returning to school but often once here, those anxious thoughts get pushed further away when enjoying time with friends. I snapped a few students who are clearly delighted to be back at school.

Happy students learn best and this is clear when students come to confidently show me or Mr Kent their work. Each week on the Student Voice page, Mr Kent and I regularly share the joy of seeing the pride our students have when they showcase their work with you. Keep checking the newsletter as you'll be amazed how capable our students are! Here's a sneak peek at some year 2 students who came this week to explain to me their work on digital safety.

Foundation Students Start School

Today, we welcomed our new Foundation students for their first day of school. They are settling in and learning the school routines. These curious learners will be spending the next few weeks developing friendships and social skills and learning what it means to be part of the IPS school community. They have had a fantastic morning (they even had Edith, one of our year 3 students welcome them with handmade first day crowns) and a smooth start to school today.

Take a look at more photos of their first day at Ivanhoe Primary School on the Foundation First Day of School page

Being part of the IPS community means sharing, belonging and looking out for each other and this is embodied in our school values of:

Confidence, Respect, Persistence,Resilience and Independence.

Each Foundation student will be allocated an older buddy student who will support them to learn our school values. Our older students role model and mentor younger students and support them to be inclusive and develop that strong IPS identity through living the school values.

The IPS community encompasses families too and has a shared purpose of the education of our children. We have a friendly, inclusive, compassionate, articulate and talented community. We work best when we work together and forge strong home/school partnerships.

Being part of the community also includes demonstrating kindness, and helping others. As family members we need to keep this in mind when driving around the school streets, making sure that all members are safe, looking out especially for children (not just our own). Don't forget to hold your child's hand when crossing the roads and role model road safety!

We loved having the new Foundation parents for biscuits, tea and tissues in the collaboration space once they'd dropped off their children but the tissues weren't needed!

We look forward to welcoming families at the picnic on Friday!

Welcome to IPS Picnic-6th February. 5.30pm - 8pm

Each year, our PFA (Parents & Friends Association) puts on a Welcome Picnic in the first few weeks of the school term to welcome both new and returning families to Ivanhoe Primary School. We hope to see you next Friday night.

It can be quite sunny on the oval so you are welcome to bring your own shade umbrella or gazebo.

Please feel free to bring a picnic, rug, drinks, chairs etc but do please take your rubbish home so it's not still there for the following Monday's school day. The birds love making a mess of our grounds.

The IPS school canteen will be open and selling a selection of hot food, snacks and drinks such as:

Hamburgers
Nachos
Hot Dogs
Sushi
Fruit Salad
Apple Cups
Soft Drinks

Traffic Safety - The Kiss & Go zone

Traffic is a big issue for our school particularly at drop off and pick up.

The widened area of Ailsa Grove at the bottom of the hill is for turning your cars in. It is not a parking spot. Please be patient and wait your turn to use the circle and resist the temptation to use neighbouring driveways. Please leave yourself enough time so you don’t have to rush.

Reversing has an inherent risk and increases the chance of an accident occurring.

The Kiss & Go zone is a short term stopping area where drivers are allowed to stop and park the vehicle for a short time – no longer than two minutes – while the student exits or enters the vehicle from the kerbside doors.

The zone operates during peak periods allowing parents to park their vehicles for up to two minutes outside the school gates. The driver should not leave their vehicle.

Did you know?

This area is not a parking space and fines and demerit points apply if the driver leaves the vehicle unattended longer than 2 minutes. Bylaws officers frequently patrol during these times.

Avoid leaving engines running as there are lungs at work.

The "Kiss 'n' Go" drop off zones aids traffic movement.

Please remember that being part of the IPS community means that we need to also respect our neighbours. We have a good relationship with residents in our adjoining streets.

During drop off and Pick up times, these streets are quite congested. It is best to park a little further away and walk into school.

Please model respectful behaviour when driving your children to and from school by being patient and polite to other road users and pedestrians. Keep in mind that there are lots of young children around who do not yet have peripheral vision, nor a full understanding of road safety so please do not drive into or reverse into our neighbours driveways, instead please use the turning circle in Aisla grove. Please avoid Lowe Street where possible. It is a dead end and just isn't wide enough for card to safely turn.

Finally, please respect our neighbours by not parking across their driveways and blocking their access.

Celebrations and sharing food

For reasons specific to food allergies and safety, as well as the significant financial impost brought to bear, families are respectfully requested that under NO circumstances are you to supply birthday cakes, cupcakes, sweets, gifts and toys etc on school grounds – including at the OSHC program. The teachers have lots of strategies to acknowledge these special days.

I apologise in advance if this seems harsh, but the wellbeing of every student must be our primary concern. Consider celebrating birthdays and other events at a local park or in your own home.

Many of our students are anaphylactic and food allergens pose a very real threat.

SunSmart - BRING YOUR HAT TO SCHOOL

We are a registered SunSmart school and children must wear wide brimmed hats in Term One and Term Four. Children without hats will be directed to the shade cloth areas at the top of the school near the Waterdale Rd building. Hats are required for Physical Education classes and Sport.

(Click this sunsmart link)

2026 Term 1 Working Bee 28th February 3pm-5pm

Please come along to our next Working Bee. Prior to the date a job sheet will be put up online and you will be able to see what needs to be done and where you can sign on. Children who help can earn house points and we often put on a sausage sizzle.

PFA Events & Community Building Opportunities

Please regularly refer to the PFA page in future editions of "Inside Ivanhoe".

Some dates are yet to be confirmed. We would love you to join the Parents & Friends Association (PFA) and be an active member of our community. If you are interested please let the school office know, or speak directly to Ms Kelly (1K) or Mr Kent.

Last year we met at school in the staffroom on a Tuesday evening at 7pm and online. A schedule of meetings is yet to be developed.

Check the PFA News page for upcoming events!

Please consider joining School Council

The notice of election is in this newsletter on the "Join IPS School Council" page which is dedicated to providing information and nomination materials. There is a fact sheet link on that page. If you require further information please feel free to call me on 9499 1880.

Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Join School Council Page of this news letter or from reception. Please get your nomination in by 4pm on Friday 6th of February.

Be Proud Of YOUR School

Remember our school values are: Respect, Persistence, Independence, Resilience and Confidence.

Talk about these and model them for your child. It will help bring these concepts to life and make them more meaningful.

It is incumbent on all of us to bring these values to life and present them in ways that make sense to children. Here are some examples.

Persistence - Not giving up when things become challenging.

Persistence is not giving up, having more than one go at something, trying again when you get something wrong or just practicing to do your best.

Resilience - Being able to recover quickly from setbacks.

Resilient people often feel good about themselves. There is a difference between people who bounce back easily and those who get frustrated. If you can learn to bounce back you’ll do better at everything in life.

Confidence - Believing in yourself and what you can achieve.

Self-confidence is the belief in yourself and in your abilities. That you can do it. When you experience success, you feel good inside and you want to do better.

Independence – Being able to achieve things on your own.

Our aim is to ensure that every student is able to develop into an adult capable of looking after themselves, to thrive on the challenges that life throws at us, to experiment sensibly with risks and develop your own ways of doing things successfully.

Respect - Showing consideration for others.

Respect is thinking and acting in a way that shows others you care about their feelings and their well-being.

Rest assured that behaviours that disrupt learning and teaching will not be tolerated.

Finally

Our official school communication channel is via COMPASS. It is recommended that you download the mobile COMPASS app so that you get alerts and don't miss important messages.

Look out for communications in COMPASS from your child's teacher about the upcoming year level Information Nights which begin next week. Each year level will host an online meeting to welcome parents and provide them with information that is relevant for children and parents of that year level.

Our Meet the Teacher sessions (Wednesday 18th February) for families of students in years 1 to 6 (only) will be open for families to book a session on COMPASS on Thursday 12th February. COMPASS bookings will on close on Monday 16th February at 4pm.

Please contact us if you're having difficulties with using COMPASS. We always happy to help.

Thank you for your continued support.

Pam Wright

Co Principal

http://www.ivanhoeps.vic.edu.au/

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Victoria and pay respect to the ongoing living cultures of First Peoples.

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