Welcome to IPS Picnic.

It is with great pleasure that I can confirm tomorrow evening's picnic on the oval will go ahead. There have been some questions regarding safety and organisation so I would like to reassure you that we have taken the the correct steps to stay safe and are following government guidelines.

Bring a mask and wear it until you have found a place to put down your blanket or chairs on the oval. You are free to move about and socialise without a mask so long as you can social distance.

Marking out areas go against what the PFA are trying to achieve which is for people to meet and feel welcome. Foundation families and Year 1 families will receive a coloured sticker on arrival from our gate marshals to help them recognise other new families and make friends.

There will be an entry gate and an exit gate both on Ailsa Grove. There will be COVID QR codes for registering your attendance via smart phone. The hall toilets and the Beehive toilets will be open. BYO drinks (and food if you like) but please take as much of your rubbish home with you as possible.

A reminder to all that teachers and staff who attend are there to socialise with you and are not expected to be on duty or supervise children. Please keep an eye on your own children.

There will be food trucks and our wonderful canteen will be open should you choose not to cater for yourselves. The entertainment is brought to you by the wonderfully talented parent band. (They are looking for new members too).

We've not really had an opportunity to get together as a community for a long time so please come along, welcome our new families, relax and have a chat.

Gates open from 5pm to 8pm.

Welcome to IPS.

Retirement!

After 29 years as coordinator of the IPS OSHC program Edwina Coates is retiring. Officially her last day will be the 26th of June 2021.

Edwina has been the driver of this amazing program that has been held up as a model of best practice across the sector.

Early in Term Two school council will be involved in advertising and selecting her successor. In the meantime Edwina will work with Sarah Emerson to ensure the continuity of excellent programming and high standards are maintained.

Meet the Teacher.

Meet the teacher will be held next week on Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th of March for parents of students in Grades 1-6 and bookings can still be made through COMPASS.

Bookings on Wednesday will begin at 1.40pm.

Bookings on Thursday will be after school.

This is an opportunity for each individual family to meet with the class teacher to help them to better understand your child. This is also the time to convey any additional information to the teacher that may assist in helping your child settle in and maximise their learning opportunities.

Parent Reps - we are still a few short.

The role of the Parent Representative is to maintain good communication links with our community and to provide support for the classroom teacher. Ideally there is a representative linked with each class. Can you help? Check out the Parent Rep page.

Working Bee - Foundation parents and friends.

We are constantly looking to improve our school. The additional voluntary contribution goes partway in to keeping our school in good shape and being able to provide some improvements. Similarly, grants from the Department help pay for some further maintenance and cleaning. Fundraising in the past has also helped to purchase extra items to enhance our program.

The school runs one Working Bee a term and we target different participants each term.

The Working Bees are coordinated by Mr. Bull (Year 5) and Mr. McKay (PE).

The Working Bee begins at 9am and finishes at 12pm. Students are welcome to come and help (and can earn house points). You meet at the old canteen under the flags where there is a sign in sheet and a list of jobs. Tasks include a general tidying of the grounds and removing rubbish etc., cleaning drinking fountains, minor repairs etc.

This Working Bee is for Foundation parents and volunteers from other year levels are welcome. The timetable of Working Bees for the year is below and worth diarising or sticking on your fridge.

Sub Committees of School Council need you!

There are lots of ways in which to support the school and one of those is serving on a sub committee of school council. The sub committees generally meet before a school council meeting. In the coming issues of Inside Ivanhoe there will be more information about each of them and what their function is. Below is a timetable of proposed meeting dates.

Thornbury HS Open night

A diary date for parents of Year 6 student. There is more information on the Community News page. When we receive notification of secondary events we will publish them for a short period here in the newsletter.

Please diarise those that interest you.

Finally

A few weeks ago was Chinese New Year and Ross and Charlie from Year 2D came to share a story with me and their very complex picture of some New year festivities.

They confidently shared their story at assembly last Monday. You will find it on the Student Voice page.

See you at the Welcome to IPS Picnic.

Mark Kent

Principal

2021 is IPS Fair year!

It takes a lot of volunteers to make our biggest fundraiser of the year work.