Principal News - Term 4 Week 1

Hi everyone,

It has been a great startup week for the children and staff. The cool weather has been perfect, but I’m sure your children are still tired after adjusting to the return to school. Our Preps have been wonderful and so ready for ‘big school’. We are so proud of how they have settled in to our classrooms. Staff have been very busy establishing routines and facilitating calm and orderly classrooms, which is our goal. Our Preps have a special picnic next Tuesday so that is rather exciting.

We will be upgrading the basketball/netball rings on the 1/2 court. Works will start on Monday next week and will conclude on Friday. We are excited to have the court upgraded.

We have some important events coming up in week 2 and 3 that involve parent attendance at school. These are explained below.

Week 2: Parent Information Nights: Year 1 – 6

Next week we have arranged teachers to be available to lead an information session for parents starting at 7.00 pm in the staffroom. It is valuable for parents to attend to hear about how the year level teams have set up the year. The level team will speak about curriculum areas, programs and arrangements and have a question and answer session. Times as follows.

Tuesday 4 February = Year 5 + 6 teamWednesday 5 February = Year 3 + 4 teamThursday 6 February = Year 1 + 2 team

We are looking forward to a parent representing each family at the information session.

Week 3: Parent Student Teacher Conferences: Thursday 13 FebruaryIn week 3 we will be holding our 'Start of the Year PST Conferences’ for year 1 – 6 students. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to share information with your child’s teacher to help them better cater for their education across the year. The day is called a Variation to School Hours Day. It is not a normal school day. The interviews take place between 12.00pm and 7.00pm in your child’s classroom. Your child only attends school for the PST conference with you.

Bookings will be open on Compass - Thursday @ 9.00 am for you to secure a time. A Compass event will be posted and instructions included on how to book your timeslot.In preparation for your interviews, please arrive at least 5 minutes before your scheduled interview

School Uniform: A reminder that our school uniform is expected to be worn at all times. Part of our school uniform is plain single colour socks. Ideally black, navy or white socks are best but we understand that sometimes there may be another plain colour worn. Bright coloured socks such as the Mad Mia brand that have significant embellishments and patterned socks are not part of the student uniform and shouldn’t be worn.

Students are permitted to wear plain green, gold or black bottoms as part of our school uniform. These need to be logo free ( eg no 2XU or large logos displayed).

Students are also permitted to wear the ENPS 100 Year birthday t-shirt.

We also require earrings to be studs or sleeper varieties. Long dangling earrings are a safety concern and not permitted.

Students are not permitted to wear make-up to school.

In term 1 and 4 students must be wearing the wide brimmed sunhat to remain sun safe. Caps are not permitted. Students without protective hats will be directed to shaded areas during recesses and will not be playing in the playground.

Throughout the year we run several free dress days that provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their fashion talents! These are always great days!

As announced early last year, in 2025 we will be designing our new uniform and will be seeking parent contribution to colours and designs when we commence the design phase.

We will continue to run second hand uniform sales throughout the year as well as new uniform being available through our supplier, Spartan.( details on our website). You are welcome to purchase iron on logos from the office if you choose to purchase uniform from Target, Kmart etc.

PFA in 2025

We encourage all parents to become involved in our school life. You don't need any particular skills, just a desire to help connect the school community. We need people who have ideas, some time or simply the desire to contribute to the school and looking for a way to become involved. Meetings are a mix of face to face and online as we know that times have changed and that making it onsite for meetings is not so easy at times. We have two planned dates for term one already.

If you are new to our school, this is a great way to meet other members of our community and to build connections. If you think you might like to be involved in a small (or significant) way, please email Tandy Johnson (tandreya.johnson@education.vic.gov.au) or call the school to chat about how you may be involved. Looking forward to hearing from you

School Council Elections – Information for Parents:

We have 3 vacancies for parents to join our School Council this year.

To stand for election, you will need to arrange for someone to nominate and second you as a candidate in the parent category. Once the nomination form is completed (available from the Principal), return it to Tandy Johnson by the close of nominations on Monday 10 February by 4.00 p.m. Along with a nomination, we ask each candidate to furnish a brief background statement. This can be used to introduce new councillors to the community, or to enable an informed decision to be made should an election be necessary.

Ask at the office for help if you would like to stand for election and are not sure what to do. A nomination form for parents is available at the office.

The School Council meet two times per term on a Thursday evening starting at 7.00 pm. Sometimes we have a ZOOM video meeting if attendance is low due to illness and absences. So there are eight meetings throughout the year.

Notice of Election: Monday 3 February Nominations Close: Monday 10 February

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally formed bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within centrally provided guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students.

Who is on the school council?

There are three possible categories of membership:

A mandated elected Parent category. More than one third of the total members must be from this category. Department of Education and Training (DoE) employees can be Parent members at their child’s school as long as they are not employed at the school.

A mandated elected DET employee category. Members of this category may make up no more than one third of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.

An optional Community member category. Its members are appointed by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences. DoE employees are not eligible to be Community members.

The term of office for members is two years. Half the members must retire each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.

Why is Parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school.

Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

How can you become involved?

The most obvious way is to vote in the elections, which are held in February each year. However, ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant.

In view of this, you might seriously consider standing for election as a member of the school council or encouraging another person to stand for election.

Do I need special experience to be on school council?

No. What you do need is an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help shape the school’s future.

Ask at the school for help if you would like to stand for election and are not sure what to do. Go to the school web site and the section on School Council for additional information. https://www.elthamnorthps.vic.edu.au/our-school/school-council

Consider standing for election to council this year.
Be sure to vote in the elections.

To move forward you can ask the office to email you a nomination form or pick one up from the office.

If you want to know more then contact David Foley and Tandy Johnson for further information.

Assembly: We have our first assembly for the year at 3.00pm and the highlight will be to give our newly appointed School Captains their special badge. Over the coming weeks we will be celebrating various leadership groups and handing out badges.

Cheers David Foley and Tandy Johnson

Newsletter

'Our school empowers all students to embrace learning, achieve their personal best and build their emotional, social and physical well-being'.

Term 1 - Week 1 · 31 Jan 2025

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