Principal's Report
Dear Parents and Carers,
What an amazing time we have had at Essex Heights over the past two weeks! The children have been filled with energy and challenges. Families have been engaged in many aspects of our school. I am so pleased that our community has felt so connected.
Dance Concert
Wow!!! The two nights of the dance concert last week were spectacular. The attendances were excellent with over 1000 tickets sold across both nights. This first dance concert since 2018, is an example of our Essex Heights community and for many families and children it is their first experience of this great event. This year’s dance concert was re-imagined and it has proven to be successful and rebranded the event for future growth.
The dance concert has now evolved in its choreography and the use of more contemporary music. The larger venue also allowed more families and friends to attend.
The feedback from staff, students and families has been so positive.
Dance concert was amazing!! Well done to Elisha & Jack on a great show!
I was such a proud parent last night watching my child, Jimmy (not real name), and all the other children perform with such enthusiasm and confidence.
Thank you for providing this experience for the children. I appreciate the huge effort you have all gone to in organising this event and supporting the children, and working so hard to bring it all together. It was an amazing effort all round!
We would like to thank you and the whole teaching and coordinator community for the show tonight.
It was amazing! The children and families all loved it. I can’t wait for the next show, what a great way to build a community and school pride.
I wanted to email to congratulate you all on a wonderful show last night. I know how much time and effort goes into these events and that sometimes these efforts are not seen or recognised. For such a short program I was very impressed with the quality of the show. The dances were uniformly excellent and the actors in the speaking parts were confident, funny and convincing in their roles.
A big thank you to Jack for his choreography, the staff for the extra rehearsals and for staying behind after hours and to the leadership team for supporting the program and making it happen.
My girls were full of nerves beforehand and were completely out of their comfort zones, but they were well supported throughout and made to feel safe.
I just wanted to write to say how AMAZING last night was. Johnny (not real name) was so nervous leading up to the concert, he even said he didn’t want to do it because what if he “made a mistake”?
We had so many great talks about how it was normal to feel both nervous AND excited at the same time.
When he got off the stage he said he had so much fun and he wanted to do it again!
So a huge thank you for building Johnny’s confidence and resilience. It shows the kids that they are valued and supported, and that hard work and practise really does pay off 😊
We were all so proud of the way the children prepared and performed. The children’s experience in overcoming their nerves and seeing the result of hard work has been a wonderful learning experience. This was a great example of our children building their resilience and self confidence.
Education Week
This year Education Week runs from Sunday 14 to Saturday 20 May. The theme Active Learners: Move, Make, Motivate celebrates the many ways students learn, through physical activity, hands on learning and student voice. Thank you to the families that took the opportunity to come into school during Education Week over the past five days. All year levels as well as our specialist teachers opened up their classes for families. It was a great opportunity to see what happens in your child’s class, as well as a chance to chat with other parents.
Mother's Day Treat & Stall
A huge thank you to the Parents and Friends Club for organising the Mother’s Day events last Thursday and Friday. The before school treat was very well attended and mums and special carers were able to get together and share breakfast with their loved ones. On Friday the children had a wonderful time selecting gifts from the Mother’s Day Stall. These events again show the Essex Heights spirit and our connectedness as a school community. Thanks you to all the PFC volunteers. Your work is truely appreciated.
Staff Changes
As I am sure you are all aware, staffing in schools across Victoria is becoming a very difficult process. Schools are finding it harder to cover staff absences due to illness as well as being able to replace staff that need to leave. At Essex Heights we are not immune from these difficulties. This year we have had to manage changes and replacements of staff. We have worked very hard to ensure continuity for the children and minimised disruption to the learning program. Compared to many other schools we have managed very well due to the flexibility of staff and the hard work of the staff covering absences and vacancies. In the main, we have NOT split classes or compromised learning programs, to cover absences and we have employed Casual Relief staff, when available to fill in, as required. Sadly though, this is becoming increasingly difficult but we will always do our best to provide the best learning environment for the children.
As I have communicated previously to the effected classes, Mrs Carolyn Easdale will be leaving EHPS and returning to Queensland due to her husband’s changed work arrangements. Ms Goretti Cheuk will replace Mrs Easdale as the 6E classroom teacher. Ms Grace Cordell and Ms Goretti Cheuk will become the joint Year 6 Coordinators.
Mrs Melanie Siddans is also leaving EHPS and returning to Perth due to family commitments. Victoria Gilbert and Courtnee Johnson (both experienced former EHPS staff) will share the classroom teaching role in Prep S.
Prep Music will now be taken by Blake Hansen, one of our instrumental music teachers, as he is replacing Grace Cordell, due to the additional responsibility she will have in her new role as Year 6 Coordinator.
On behalf of the whole Essex Heights community we thank both Mrs Easdale and Mrs Siddans for their contribution to our school and wish them the very best for their future endeavours.
Student Free Day
The fourth Student Free Day for this year will be held on Monday 6 November. On this day, the staff will focus on assessment and reporting. That means that children will not be required at school on that day. The OSHC program will run a full day program on that day.
Farewell
We have farewelled or will soon farewell the following students and their family from the EHPS community:
- Mingxi (Amy) L (PZ)
- Mila Z (PH)
- Felix H (PS)
- Sabin L (PL)
- Charlii C (1W)
- Niki R (3L)
- Ryan H (5R)
- Aisha P (5R)
- Francesca D (5R)
Welcome
We welcome the following student and their family to the EHPS community:
- Yuchen (Eric) F (4P)
I look forward to seeing you around the school.
Kindest regards,
George Perini
Principal