Hi everyone and welcome to the first newsletter for Term 2,

I hope you have all enjoyed the recent school holidays and Easter break and managed to spend time relaxing and re-energising for the term ahead.

We are excited about the opportunities that lay ahead for Term 2. Students have settled well back into school routines and our Year 2 & 3 students have launched straight into their swimming program at Frankston PARC. Thank you to the parents who have supported this program, it has been great to see the students enjoying their lessons and developing their aquatic skills.

We are also very excited to look ahead to the Senior School Concert that will be held on Wednesday 17 June at the Frankston Arts Centre. The Year 3 to 6 students enjoyed their first session of dance tuition throughout this week.

There are a number of upcoming incursions/excursions planned and I remind all families to please check Compass for the details pertaining to your child’s learning program. We don’t want any students to miss their chance to participate. Parents are reminded to provide permissions and payments for appropriate activities within the time frames to avoid missing out.

ANZAC Day

This is a significant date on our calendars. ANZAC Day as we know it was first observed on 25 April 1916, as people came together to commemorate the landing of Australian and New Zealand forces at Gallipoli, Türkiye, on 25 April 1915.

This important tradition has now become an opportunity to stop and reflect on the sacrifice and dedication of all our veteran and service community, and the families who support them.

We recognise all past and present serving members, including First Nations people who served in conflicts. We acknowledge their service, sacrifice and ongoing impacts on their families.

I hope you and your families embrace the opportunity to engage in the many services that are offered across our community. I always take the time to embrace the dawn service and reflect on the sacrifice and comradery that is acknowledged on this day. We will have our student leaders participating in the Mt Eliza service at 2pm on Saturday, April 25. This will involve the reading of "For the Fallen' and laying a wreath in commemoration and acknowledgement. https://www.shrine.org.au/anzac-day-2026

As you know, ANZAC Day is a public holiday but falls on a Saturday this year. Those who wish to observe the day can join in commemorative activities at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.

These activities include the:

dawn service
commemoration march
laying of wreaths
commemoration service.

For more details, including about the dawn service and where to watch it online, refer to the RSL Victoria website.

RSL Victoria sub-branches also host ANZAC Day commemorative services for everyone in their local area to attend. For a local ANZAC Day service near you, refer to RSL Victoria’s Find an ANZAC Day service near you webpage.

Mother’s Day

As we look ahead to Mother's Day, please note that the school will celebrate this with an Afternoon Tea on Friday 8th May. From 3.15pm, families are welcomed to stay at school to enjoy some celebrations of the influential women whom impact on our lives each day.

Further details around this celebration will be sent home next week. We are holding a raffle and an afternoon tea. Moving away from the usual Mother’s Day stall this year, each student will come home with a small gift of acknowledgement that is provided by the school.

Newsletter

A reminder that our school newsletter is published each fortnight and will come home next week and every fortnight thereafter.

Welcome to new staff

We welcome some news staff to the team this term.

Mitchell Bates-Webb, Tiffany Bolton and Liz Cracknell have joined the staff team and as additional ES staff we are grateful to have their expertise to further support our students and school.

Additionally, we welcome Lisa Pegorin to the staff team. Lisa will be fulfilling the Business Managers role for the duration of the term on a Wednesday and Thursday each week in replace of Sharyn Wanstall who is on long service leave throughout Term 2.

Lunchtime Clubs

We are excited to share our lunchtime clubs for students to enjoy across Term 2. This provides an opportunity for students to engage with a range of lunchtime clubs across the week. Students can choose to engage with these clubs or they may choose to enjoy the normal playtime and social time outside. This provides the chance to follow a passion or try a new experience. Please see the offerings below.

Current Clubs Timetable

	Before School	Lunch	After School (Outsourced)
Monday		Cube Club Drawing/Craft Art	Coding
Tuesday	Run Club	Table Tennis Art Robotics Library club Senior/Middle school Sports Training Sessions Meditation	Soccer
Wednesday		Beading Chess Table Tennis Skipping Art
Thursday	Run Club	Drawing/Craft Dance	Soccer
Friday		Dance Party Skipping

Computer Xplorers Club

Computer Xplorers is returning to Mount Eliza Primary in Term 2!

This term, our young tech-explorers will be continuing to dive deep into 3D Game Design using Bloxels. The students will get the opportunity to become creators, rather than consumers of video games, whilst testing out their digital skills and creativity.

The Details:

When: (Starting April 27th - Week 2) Monday Afternoons - 3:30pm to 4:30pm

Where: School library, Mount Eliza Primary School

Who: Open to Year Levels 3-6

(Pro-tip: Just type “Mount Eliza " into the search bar to find our club!)

School Council

We welcome the new School Council for 2026 and appreciate their time in supporting the school in the role of governance.

Members: Az Stephenson (President), Gary Howells (Vice President), Esther Edney, Anthea Patching, Rebecca Mattison, Sabrina Males, Krista Lenders, Cara Pollard, Hayley McLachlan, Cassie Humphreys, Amy Wanless, Amy Hille and Darren Thresher.

PTA

With the recent dissolution of the PTA I would like to acknowledge and thank the team for their ongoing support of the school. Whilst the functions of the group will continue as per normal I share a letter from our School President.

Have a great weekend.

Lest We Forget

Michael

Respect, Resilience, Responsibility, Connectedness and Challenge

MEPS PTA