EHPS Contact

Principal's Report

This is the third edition of our Contact school newsletter for this year delivered as an iNewsletter. As previously advised, we are approaching our newsletter in a fresh way this year, and I continue to receive comments and feedback from our community that you really like it, especially the ability to navigate to information quickly and easily. Thanks for taking the time to let us know. One of our innovations with Contact this year is having our student leaders curate every second issue with a particular focus on our student’s point of view. I am looking forward over the next fortnight to working with our student leaders to curate the next issue.

School Council 2022

I am pleased to advise that at the close of the recent nomination period for School Council in 2022 last Monday, that we have received four nominations to fill all four parent member positions and two nominations to fill the two available school employee positions. Consequently, there is no requirement to conduct a ballot.

 

Congratulations to Jen Bittner, Oudom Chhit, Angela Millan and Carolyn Mott who will take up the parent positions, and to Paul Davis and Kristi Lloyd who will be the school employee representatives. I look forward to working with our new School Council members over the next two years. The new School Council will meet on Thursday 24 March.

Rapid Antigen Test Pack Distribution

The third distribution of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) for our students occurred this week. Thank you to Betty Ciorciari, our PFC President, for coordinating a team of parent helpers to assist with the distribution to our parent community. Thank you to all that helped, your support was so valuable for our school community.

 

If you did not collect your child’s Rapid Antigen Test pack this week, you can still collect their RAT pack by coming to the School Office during office hours to pick it up. 

 

As you would be aware from the messages sent on Compass, we have had a few students test positive for COVID this week. We wish them and their families well and hope that they recover quickly and get back to school with their friends.

 

Please continue to Rapid Antigen Test the children twice a week. We have found that this has been a very effective way of identifying positive cases. Previously we have recommended testing on Monday and Wednesday evenings so that a routine is established. 

Students that are unwell

Families are again reminded that if your child is unwell, they are not to be sent to school. Please do not give them medication in the morning. Children with COVID like symptoms, that do not have any documented medical plan, will be sent home. Please do not get annoyed if you are asked to pick up your child. The school is only implementing Government policy, Department of Education & Training protocols, and looking after the wellbeing of all children. All families have been advised of this COVIDSafe protocol on numerous occasions. 

Student Leaders Badge Presentation

We were pleased to welcome Mr Matt Fregon MP, State Member for Mount Waverley, to our first assembly on Monday. Matt presented our student leaders with their badges and a special certificate. We were also delighted to be able to invite the parents of our student leaders to share in this special occasion. To meet COVID protocols the assembly was only attended in person by Years 5 and 6 students. Our IT staff worked hard to enable participation of the whole school by arranging an online event for the whole school in their classrooms. It was also very pleasing that about 50 other members of the community joined the assembly online. We hope to be able to run a few more assemblies using this format.

Parent Payments

The school community was recently informed of the School Council endorsed Student Curriculum and voluntary parent payments for the 2022 school year (refer to the summary on the Parent Payments page in this newsletter).  We greatly appreciate those families who have made contributions for their child and family already. Your contributions go towards supporting the effective operation of our school and meeting some of the costs of your child’s education. 

 

We are proud that the educational provision at EHPS is second to none. While we have clearly advised that parent payments are voluntary, please be aware that School Council have set the amounts of the parent payments this year on the assumption that a vast majority of our school community participate to meet our budget commitments. 

 

At EHPS the student contribution (curriculum consumables) parent payments include all the books and stationery that your child uses throughout the school year. We do not provide you with a booklist and require you to add the time and expense of buying the items needed for school to your Summer holiday activities before school commences. Several families have advised how much they appreciate not having to do this! 

 

Also, we provide laptops and iPads/tablets for every student to participate in their class activities where these are required for a variety of curriculum activities at school. Many schools have a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program requiring parents/guardians to also source and purchase an iPad/tablet/laptop for their child’s use at school. 

We do not want to have to introduce a booklist that may include provision of a BYOD, but a consequence of not receiving sufficient parent payment contributions may inevitably lead to this being introduced. 

 

I request your considered attention to the parent payments contributions this year. If you are experiencing financial difficulties, as always, you are invited to have a confidential conversation with our Business Manager, Barbara McCann, about payment options. Barb is available at the Office from Tuesday to Friday each week until 3pm. 

Prep 2023 & School Tours

Our school tours for prospective families commenced this week, and I've enjoyed conducting two fully booked tours of parents interested in EHPS for their child's enrolment. Most parents visiting our school have a child starting in Prep next year. If you have a child born on or before 30 April 2018, they are eligible for entry to Prep in 2023; if they have an older sibling who will also be a student at EHPS next year, then your younger child has a guaranteed place. 

 

Enrolment instructions and forms are now available from our School Office. I encourage you to collect forms now and complete and return them promptly. If you have family, friends or neighbours who have a child eligible for Prep next year and are interested in enrolling at EHPS, please encourage them to book a tour or collect and lodge enrolment documents as soon as practicable. Prep 2023 enrolment documentation is due by Thursday 26 May 2022. 

Vale Maggie McPherson 

Maggie was a dearly loved member of the EHPS community. For so many years she volunteered her time to work with children in the Eucalyptus building. Maggie was a committed and dedicated contributor to our school. We all have many special memories of her working with the children and being that special helper in Prep. In previous years she was always present helping her small group or individual student, as I conducted a school tour on Friday mornings. We will be the poorer without her. I was pleased that a few retired members of staff were able to attend her private funeral. 

Our EHPS Community sends our sincerest condolences to Maggie’s family.

Car Parking & Safety 

Following a complaint from a neighbour, I seek your assistance with a few concerns that have been brought to my attention. It is always timely to talk about traffic safety and issues that may impact upon everyone’s safety. Of course, our main focus is the children’s safety and these matters are raised to ensure we are doing our best to provide a safe and secure environment for the children as they travel to and from school.

  • The Administration car park at the front of the school is for Staff and allocated Permit Holders only. 
  • The ‘Kiss and Go' drop off zone at the front of the school is not a car park and parents are not able to leave their car there and walk away. Council By-Laws Officers will patrol this area frequently and parents not complying risk a fine. 
  • As there is a solid white line in front of the school, it is not legal for parents to conduct a ‘U-Turn’ across this line. I ask parents to continue travelling in the same direction and go around the block. Again, the Council By-Laws Officers will patrol this area. 
  • Please do not park across neighbours' driveways when you are getting children to school.
  • Also, please ensure that all children cross Essex Road at the supervised crossing in the front of the school. This morning I noticed some parents with their children crossing Essex Road at places other than the signed and staffed school crossing. I believe that this is a very dangerous practice because Essex Road is busy at 8.45am and 3.30pm, and it is a poor example for the children. We should teach our children to cross safely at the appropriate places, even if it means walking a few extra metres so that when they are unaccompanied they know exactly where to cross the road safely.

I seek the support of all parents to follow these guidelines so that all children can be safe whilst traveling to and from school

Compass Update

Compass have recently advised that parents/guardians now have the new category of Medical Appointment as one of the options to choose when adding an attendance note on Compass to explain your child’s absence from school. Parents/guardians are reminded that you have the responsibility to explain any absence of your child from school. At Essex Heights you do this on our parent portal on Compass. 

 

From the Compass home screen: 

  • select Add Attendance Note from the menu on the left side, and 
  • complete the details in the window that opens:
    • select the category
    • give a brief description
    • set the start date and time (don't change if your child is absent from the start of the school day)
    • set the finish date and time (don't change if your child is absent until the end of the school day)
    • Save. 

Please note, that if you are using the Compass app on a smart device you will:

  • first need to tap the three horizontal bars in the top left of the home screen,
  • then select Open in Browser to open the home screen.

Congratulations

Our congratulations to our Music Teacher, Jessica Wynne, and her husband Glenn on their recent marriage. They were married on a very memorable date - 22022022. We wish them both a long and joyous life together. 

 

 

 

 

 

I look forward to working with our student leaders to bring you the next issue of Contact. 

 

 

George Perini

Principal