From the Principal

 Welcome to IPS

This week Ivanhoe Primary School began it's celebration of National Reconciliation Week (NRW) – 27 May to 3 June. 

Reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for the benefit of all Australians. 

Significance of Reconciliation Week Dates 

May 27th marks the anniversary of the 1967 referendum when Australians voted to remove clauses in the Australian Constitution that discriminated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

Mabo Day is marked annually on 3rd June. It commemorates Mer Islander man Eddie Koiki Mabo and his successful efforts to overturn the legal fiction of terra nullius, or ‘land belonging to no-one’.

Sorry Day

The day before National Reconciliation Week, 26 May, is National Sorry Day, which was first held in Sydney in 1998 and is now commemorated nationally to remember and honour the Stolen Generations. 

What is reconciliation in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? 

At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Australia’s colonial history is characterised by devastating land dispossession, violence, and racism. Over the last half century, however, many significant steps towards reconciliation have been taken. Reconciliation is an ongoing journey that reminds us that while generations of Australians have fought hard for meaningful change, future gains are likely to take just as much, if not more, effort.  

Reconciliation Australia

What have we been doing at IPS to mark Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week?

To mark Sorry Day, each class created a purple hibiscus poster. Come and walk through the main school entrance to see it adorned with purple hibiscus created by our students. See more on the Student Voice Page.

National Simultaneous Story Time 

At 12pm on Wednesday many of our classes connected online to join the National Simultaneous Story Time where they listened to the author, Aura Parker tell the Bowerbird Blues story. They thoroughly enjoyed the story and continued the theme with a number of follow-up activities connected to the story.  Have a look on the Student Voice page to see more.

You can also:

• View on YouTube 
• Download the PDF version of the book 
• Watch a Bowerbird decorate his nest

Working Bee

Last Saturday we had another very successful working bee with lots of families coming along to help. Mulch was spread under playgrounds to keep children safe when using play equipment, concrete was moved, leaves were blown, storage areas tidied, chairs cleaned and gardens weeded!

We really can't keep our grounds tidy without the help of our families who volunteer their time. Please consider giving a little of your time to our next Working Bee. As you can see from the photos, it is quite a social event and you even get a sausage at the end as well as heaps of house points!

School Crossing Safety

As promised, the council have completed their additional safety works on the school crossing. Today the final step of paining the traffic signal poles with red and white strips was finished off.

2023 Annual School Report 

The 2023 Annual School Report has been endorsed by school council and approved by the Department of Education.

You can read through it here.

Battle of the Bands

Another exciting school event is coming up!  Students in years 5 and 6 are already putting in the hard yards with lots of practice.  The much anticipated, Battle of the Bands 2024 will be presented on 20th June!  Families are welcome to come along to watch along with the student audience.  It's set to be another exhibition of how talented our students are!

Attitudes to School Survey for Students.

The AtoSS is a voluntary annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools and the department to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. 

We value student voice as a means to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and will be asking your child about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

Participation in this survey is voluntary. If you do not wish for your child to do the survey, please opt out via email to your school: ivanhoe.ps@education.vic.gov.au before the survey commences on the 27th of May.

This year, the survey will be conducted at your school from 27th May until 14th June.

There are more details on the Student Attitudes to School Survey page of this newsletter.

Finally

At IPS we highly value and acknowledge student voice. This was evident at our latest Junior School Council where students have a say on what is important to them. Some items from the latest JSC meeting that we are working on are; a new sign for the buddy bench, new play equipment and improvements to the student toilets. Junior school councillors also provided feedback on the school bell and music system which we have implemented this week.   

New school bell sytem

We now have a short bell, followed by music and then the school bell.    

Have a great week!

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.