EHPS Contact

Principal's Report

Dear EHPS Parents and Carers,

 

As we now get ready for the last two weeks of school, we can look back at a busy and exciting term. Children in all year levels have been actively engaged in many different learning activities e.g. Science Week, Year 6 Inter-School Sport, Year 5 Camp, and Year 3/4 Camps. There were also incursions like Year 1 Minibeasts, visits from the Police and Fire Brigade for Preps, or excursions like Year 2’s visit to Mont De Lancey. Our whole school Dance Concert was a highlight, as well as House Athletics and Inter-School Cross Country. These activities supported the children’s learning and engagement at school. Once again, the PFC were active in Term 2 with their marvellous Mother’s Day morning ‘Treat’ as well as the Mother’s Day Stall. All these special activities have created a real buzz with the children and has made their term enjoyable and very productive.

Music Concerts

This week and over the next two weeks, the Instrumental Music Program is conducting its mid-year concerts. The six different concerts are always very well attended, and the children display their learning and expertise, demonstrating their growth as performers over the first half of this year. On Tuesday, the two piano and keyboard concerts were held in the Hall. The children, ranging from beginners to advanced, played for their parents and demonstrated the progress they have made. A big thanks must go to all the Instrumental Music teachers for their tutoring and for preparing the children so well for their performance. Special thanks to Alyssa Kennedy for her impeccable organisation of all six concerts.

The final four concerts are as follows:

  • Tuesday 24 June – Wind and Brass 
  • Thursday 26 June – Strings and Harp
  • Tuesday 1 July – Percussion
  • Thursday 3 July – Guitar and Ukulele

All concerts start at 6.30pm in the Hall. If you can make the time, I look forward to seeing you there.

Inter-School Chess Tournament

Five of our students competed in the inter-school chess tournament at Brandon Park on 4 June. The players were Luca Z, Harry L, Ehan H, Prabhava R and Shiu K. Our small team did very well and finished second (out of 27 of the top schools in the state). Luca Z came first in the individual competition, and Harry L tied for second place. Congratulations to all concerned. Great effort!

Thank you to Ms Steward, our Chess tutors, and to all the students involved.

Sayembara Lisan – Indonesian Speaking Competition

Last weekend 12 students represented our school in the Final Round of the Sayembara Lisan Indonesian Speaking Competition held at Melbourne High School.

The results were announced yesterday. We had seven award winners which was a marvellous effort from all involved - Amelia D (1WB), Daniel J (1M), Abhee C (34M), Charles L (34D) placing first in their level, Mia F (34M) placed second, and Penelope C (2H) and Jacki C (5T) placed third. 

Congratulations to all our students and special thanks to Bu Gladys for all her work in preparing the students for the competition. The students will be presented with their awards at a ceremony in Term 3. 

In addition to this competition, some students are entering the National Indonesian Speaking Competition. Good Luck!!

Smart Watches

I would like to remind all families that smart watches are not to be brought to school. This is a State Government ruling and the Department of Education has reminded all schools that this policy is to be enforced. Any device such as a mobile phone or that has a similar functionality to a mobile phone cannot be brought to school. The EHPS Mobile Phone Policy clearly categorises a smart watch as such a mobile device.

If such a device is brought to school it must be handed to the classroom teacher and it will be kept safe until the end of the day when it will be returned. 

A simple analogue or digital watch may be worn to school to help children tell the time or to learn how to tell the time.

The EHPS Mobile Phone Policy can be found on the school website.

Student-Free Days & Public Holidays

The next student-free day is scheduled for Monday 30 June and therefore students are not required to attend school. The OSHC program will run a full day program on that day. All our staff will spend the day with Dr Ryan Dunn, a senior lecturer from the University of Melbourne. Dr Ryan has consulted around the world on student learning, pedagogy and primary mathematics. The staff are really looking forward to working with Dr Ryan on that day. 

REMINDER:  The following additional days in 2025, when students will not attend school, were approved by School Council at their meeting on 15 May:

  • Friday 31 October – Professional Practice Day for staff.
  • Monday 3 November – Student-Free Day (staff working on assessment).

Care from 7am to 6pm is available for students enrolled in our OSHC program; booking essential. 

 

In addition, the following public holiday occurs during school term this year and the school will be closed:

  • Tuesday 4 November – Melbourne Cup public holiday 

Please ensure you note these dates in your family calendar. 

Regular Attendance 

At Essex Heights, we are committed to supporting every child’s learning journey—and a key part of this success is consistent attendance.

Regular attendance at school is vital for academic progress, personal development, and for building strong social connections. When students are frequently absent—whether due to illness, family holidays, or other reasons, they often miss essential learning experiences that are difficult to fully recover. Even short absences can interrupt the flow of learning, cause gaps in knowledge, and impact confidence and participation in class.

 

With respect to illness, it is totally justifiable and recommended that sick children should not come to school. They should stay at home until they are well. Please note that where possible medical appointments should be made outside of school hours, however it is understandable that it is not always possible. Remember to enter an attendance note on Compass for absence due to illness (Medical/Illness category) or a medical appointment (Medical Appointment category). 

 

While we appreciate that family holidays can offer valuable life experiences and quality time together, we respectfully ask families to consider the timing of such breaks. Holidays taken during the school term can significantly affect children’s learning and social outcomes. Whenever possible, we strongly encourage families to plan holidays during designated school breaks to minimise disruption to students' education.

 

Where possible, minimise your child's absence from school during school terms. If you are taking a holiday during a school term, it is a requirement of the Department of Education student attendance guidelines that you request permission for your child to be absent. Please send an email to essex.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au for my attention with the details of your holiday. You will receive an email response with further steps.

How good are you at spelling?

Yesterday, Arav from Prep DB, came to show me the word he can spell. I was expecting a relatively small word from an excited student in Prep. To my surprise it was a huge and complicated scientific word. It had 44 letters and Arav could spell it and tell me about the meaning of the word.

The word is PNUEMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS!!! Wow!!  Top effort Arav!!

End of term reminder

Term 2 concludes on Friday 4 July. Families are reminded that students will be dismissed early on this day at 2.30pm. 

The basketball after school program will be conducted early on this day from 2.40pm to 3.40pm.

Hygiene and health advice

Over the past month the number of cases of colds, flu, RSV, etc have grown steadily. When children are sick we strongly advise that they should stay home until they are well and free from symptoms. Children that are not feeling well do not benefit from coming to school, they do not engage in activities because they feel very sick. In addition they can then pass on their illness to others. Please help us to keep our school community as healthy as possible so that we can get through the remainder of this term and next. 

Please follow the links to the health advice provided by Julie, our school First Aid Officer, on the Health Centre page in this newsletter.

Leaving EHPS 

It is essential for our planning and preparation for the new term and next school year that you advise me in writing as soon as possible if your child will not be returning to EHPS. Use the school email address – essex.heights.ps@education.vic.gov.au – to advise the following details: 

  • Child's name and 2025 class
  • Date of last day at EHPS 
  • Name of the school your child is enrolled at 
  • Commencement date at new school 
  • The reason for leaving EHPS  
  • New contact details, e.g. address, phone number, email

Congratulations!

We were delighted to receive the news of the safe arrival of Harrison, the first child of Ms Rowena Lin and her husband Kenny. Congratulations to them both. Our EHPS family continues to grow.

Farewell

We farewell the following students and their families, and we wish them all the best as they start at new schools:

  • Leena I (1H) - family moving overseas
  • William L (2BC) - family moving overseas

 

I look forward to seeing you around the school. 

Kindest regards,

George Perini

Principal