Principal, Ms Alex Montgomery

As we head into the final week of Term 3, it’s a wonderful time to celebrate the rich learning and progress our students have made. Alongside their classroom achievements, they have enjoyed so many memorable experiences, from the Glendale Education Alliance Excellence Assembly and Year 5’s Great Aussie Bush Camp, to Book Week celebrations and Open Classrooms, Year 4’s STEM Day, Inclusive Education Ten Pin Bowling, our P&C Father’s Day Stall, and the much-loved DUGS Day Breakfast.

Thank you for your continued support throughout the term. We are so proud of the growth our students have shown and look forward to building on this momentum in Term 4.

Playground Trial Update

This term we have continued to monitor our lunch trial, and we thank everyone for their patience and feedback as we work towards what is best for student wellbeing, learning and safety. We are pleased to share that throughout the trial we have seen a 34% reduction in serious behaviour concerns on the playground.

As part of this process, we collected student voice. When asked “Would you be happy to play first and eat after?” 56% of students said Yes and 44% said No. We also discussed the trial at our Week 8 P&C meeting, where families provided some thoughtful suggestions that will help us refine our approach. Based on this combined feedback, and supported by Department of Education, School Infrastructure case studies on Play First, Eat Second, we will trial this approach next term.

From Week 1, Term 4:

Lunch will move to first break, 11:10–11:40am (20 minutes play, 10 minutes eating).
Afternoon tea will be 1:40–2:10pm.
With lunch moving to 11.10am the canteen's Spriggy online orders will cut off at 8.30am each morning.
The canteen will continue to serve food during lunch (including ice blocks), with the Student Representative Council (SRC) helping to refine how lunch orders are collected for the 11:30 eating time.
Students who are still finishing their lunch at the end of break will be able to take it with them to class.
Crunch and Sip will continue to be held in the first two hours of learning, with the timing teacher-directed depending on the class and age of students.

To support this change, next week students will participate in lessons through our Edgy Expects focus, preparing and transitioning them for the new routine in Term 4.

Our SRC are also developing exciting proposals to make our playground more engaging and student-focused. Next term, Stage 3 students will begin a Project-Based Learning task, taking on roles and managing budgets to design inclusive and accessible play equipment areas, which will be shared with the school community.

We are excited about these next steps and proud of the way our students and families are working together to help shape a safe, positive, and inclusive school environment.

We will continue to update the P&C throughout the term and provide a community update at the end of Term 4 with the results and impact of this new approach.

Student Safety Reminder

The safety and wellbeing of our students is always our highest priority. Recently, it has been brought to our attention that some students have attempted to leave the school grounds in the morning after they have been dropped off by parents, between 8:40am drop-off and the 9:10am bell, to walk to the nearby 7-Eleven and Coles.

This behaviour is extremely unsafe. Students who leave the grounds without permission place themselves at significant risk, including traffic dangers and the fact that staff and families may not know their whereabouts.

We remind all parents and carers to speak with their children about the importance of remaining inside the school grounds once they have been dropped off or walk to school.

Staff on duty will continue to monitor this closely, and we ask for your support in reinforcing this message at home. Together, we can ensure that all students are safe and ready for learning each day.

Out and About at EPS