Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

Last week was not the week we were expecting! Whilst we did have a great start, with lots of connected learning occurring around the school we had some complications with our facilities. The heavy rain on Tuesday caused a leak under the Hall with a subsequent potential electrical hazard. We were very grateful for the emergency ‘make safe’ crew from the Department who responded immediately and had the facility reopened the next morning. Thank you to everyone for your flexibility when we needed to move OSHC, but I know everyone is clear that safety will always be our combined number one priority.

We thought this might have been enough but then on Thursday the truck delivering the referendum material for the Hall completely destroyed the boom gate and some fencing when it discovered that our carpark is not designed for large trucks to turn around in. We will need to liaise with the insurance companies for to ensure we have repairs made, but it is a little frustrating.

Let’s hope that don’t have as many challenges on the facilities front as the term unfolds!

KidsHope

This term we have been able to add an additional KidsHope mentor to the support program throughout the school. Welcome to Heather, and thank you to Mrs Joseph for supporting this initiative throughout the school. Now, in its second year at EEPS, the KidsHope mentors and mentees have formed really positive and mutually rewarding relationships.

Staff Update

We welcome Mrs Lizz Yacoub as an additional Education Support staff member this term. Liz will join our dedicated and caring support staff to provide supports in different ways across the school. We hope that your time with us is rewarding and fulfilling. I am also pleased to inform the EEPS community that Mrs Naomi Brabender, starts this term as a Leading Teacher, after a state-wide recruitment process last term. Naomi will continue in her Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader role but also further support the school goals around inclusive practices and help lead the Department Disability Inclusion reforms over the next couple of years. Congratulations Naomi.

Hats and uniforms

Thank you for the strong level of support for the school’s renewed focus on the wearing of school hats and the support of our student dress code. At assembly on Monday I did talk to the children about UV radiation and the fact that any reading above 3 can be damaging to young healthy skin and that UV is strong at this time of the year even on an overcast day. Whilst we, as adults, know this, I don’t believe that this reason for the importance of hat wearing, has been communicated recently to the students. Knowledge is power, as they say.

Premiers’ Reading Challenge

Also at Assembly, Miss Lapadula was delighted to read out the names of the 2023

Champion pin recipients. The students who logged the most books in their year levels were: Prep- Jasper G 83 books, Year 1- Angus S 134 books, Year 2- Sebastian P 168 books, Year 3 Celine O 77 books, Year 4 Kitty M 124 books, Year 5 Ari T 113 books, Year 6 Chester P 249 books. A couple of readers were away, however they all were congratulated. This is a great achievement and we are fortunate to have such a great school Library, and engaging classes taken by a specialist teachers this year.

Local neighbourhood

On Tuesday our Preps made a surprise visit to the Grove Street Reserve to try out the new playground equipment. Their main motivation for going was to get some ideas for a creative writing piece about an adventure….it certainly helped that they could have an adventure of their own! On top of this the Preps also started their annual Term 4 swimming program, which has started off smoothly.

Sports

Talking about sport, it was a privilege to visit our Year 6 girl and boy basketball teams at the Division competition on Tuesday at Darebin. Both teams were very competitive, consistently demonstrated our school values and narrowly missed out on going through to the next level. It is always a great opportunity for our students to play together with their school friends at new state-of-the-art stadiums. Good luck to all our Athletics team today as they head off to the Regional competition.

Global events

Whilst we all have challenges of life it does put them into perspective when see tragic global events unfold, such as the fighting in the Middle East. We know that we are jointly preparing the students to be global citizens but isn’t always easy as the world can be very challenging and confronting place as well as one of true beauty. Our thoughts are extended to any of our EEPS families who have connections in the Middle East. Please always remember the supports available for all;

headspace: 1800 650 890
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636.

Student fundraising

I mentioned before that, from time to time, different groups of students, are motivated to raise money for different charities. This time a group of Year 4 girls, inspired by a friend who has a kidney disease, have banded together to make products and come up with a raffle. They will be promoting this all next week at recess and lunch for those students, and families, who may like to support them. The students did speak about this at assembly this week.

OSHC update

A reminder to all our existing families to get your 2024 enrolment forms in this week. I am pleased to report, that with Kathryn joining Jess as our Co-ordinators, and with our new additional staff, we have been able to offer more places, especially in the afternoons. In addition to this we have gained approval for a slight additional increase in afternoon numbers for the main peak days when we have extra demand. Over the next week our OSHC service is also completing its regular ACEQA accreditation assessment. So, OSHC is a busy place, as always!

Referendum Sausage Sizzle

Please also remember that a really supportive group of parents are hosting a Referendum Sausage Sizzle at EEPS on Saturday. We hope to see many of you there, out and about. All profits are going towards a significant update to our Prep and Year 1 literacy resources.

Speaking of the Referendum. Regardless of the outcome on Saturday Eltham East will continue its commitment to ensure that all Indigenous Australians in our school community are respected, and that we continue to ensure that all our students are aware of and have an understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditions, values and perspectives.

Have a great week of Learning and Growing Together.

Warren Lloyd

Principal