Principal's Item 

Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

I hope that both the week, and the term, are progressing smoothly for everyone. Last Friday it was a fantastic experience to visit the EEPS swimming team competing at the district carnival. Every year is different, and whilst we didn’t achieve as many individual places as we have in previous years, the positive attitude, support and resilience was absolutely evident by the entire team. This is always the number one goal. Well done to the team and a big thank you to all the incredibly enthusiastic parent helpers and cheer squad.

Teddy Bears Picnic

The Prep Teddy Bears picnic on Friday is always a highlight in the school calendar.  This year was no exception, when our 2025 preps had the opportunity to have a lot of fun in the Grove Street reserve. I am told that they were even lucky enough to have a visit from a giant Teddy bear. Thank you to the prep team for organising this day and preparing the students during the week.  

Peer Support Team

On Monday, our Peer Support Leaders, Ollie and Adele, announced the Year 6 Peer Support Team. These students, in the coming weeks, will be walking around in the playground with bright red vests on. They are able to help younger students sort out small problems in the yard and help to connect them with their friends. They are all very friendly so please encourage your child/ren, especially if they are younger, to go up to them and say ‘hello’.

Being Ready for Learning

At whole school Assembly this week, we workshopped a list of points together, answering the question, ‘What do we need to do, both at home and school, to be ready for learning?’ The students came up with a great list and it is included here:

• Have all your stationery and supplies eg. glue stick, grey leads, pencils and books you need. Be organised! 
• Be on time! When you hear the music go to classroom ready to start.
• Go to the bathroom before you walk to school or at recess and lunch.
• Have a good night’s sleep!! 
• Pack your bag – drink bottle, hat, lunch box.
• Eat the right type of food – sweets and lollies drain your energy very quickly. Healthy food is very important in your lunch box. 
• Unplug from devices – clear your mind before learning.
• Have the right type of breakfast.

• Talk to someone if something is on your mind or worrying you. 

   

It is a really important point to remember, there are a lot of things that need to go into helping a child to be ‘ready for their learning’ and by association, a lot of things that can impact upon this. 

Smile Squad

The government’s free dental check-up service is coming to EEPS later in the term. This is provided by the Smile Squad organisation on behalf of the Department. This is a completely optional service. Please look out for further information and Newsfeeds around this new initiative. It is likely that this service would visit EEPS every 18 months- 2 years. 

Annual Implementation Plan (AIP)

I have written previously this year about the 2025 school goals. School Council last week endorsed the school’s 2025 Annual Implementation Plan. I would like to thank Mrs Egan, Assistant Principal, for outlining the process and highlighting the key aspects of the plan. It is now available on our new school website under the heading: ‘Our School’, ‘About EEPS’.

Professional Learning

Connected to our AIP goals is reporting to the new Maths curriculum. We had another incredibly effective professional learning session this week around this. All government schools in Victoria are required to come up with their own, unique reporting weighting scale for the new curriculum. As a well-regarded local school, EEPS is very much at the fore front in developing and implementing an effective model. Thank you to the incredibly professional and dedicated teaching staff.

School Uniform

Families connected to EEPS for some time will know that we are very passionate about our school colours of ‘purple and gold’. Every year School Council has the opportunity to revise our school uniform policy. Whilst there is no intention to change our school colours, School Council has endorsed a revised draft policy. One of the changes we are looking at is around the uniform options for shorts and the requirements around this. We will provide further updates to the school community as they develop and there will be an opportunity for feedback through broad consultation.

School Photos

School photo day is coming up on Thursday 27th March. This is one of those very traditional yearly school events that helps teacher’s count how many years they have been teaching for! On a more serious note, it is always a valuable keepsake to remember your child’s primary school years. Closer to the date photos can be ordered through Compass, however this is always optional. In the meantime, if you do not wish your child to have their official school photo taken, please email the school, eltham.east.ps@education.vic.gov.au .

Nude Food Friday

Whilst we have an updated bin system this year, we are still very keen to collectively minimise the amount of rubbish that we produce. The Sustainability Leaders are passionately leading the charge to promote both Nude Food in general and Nude Food Friday, more specifically. ‘Nude food’ simply means food that doesn’t come in a plastic wrapper of any sort. We are actively encouraging all students to try and minimise the number of plastic wrappers that are in lunch boxes. Small, re-usable containers are fantastic for this. The Sustainability Leaders are going to include simple recipes in the Newsletter to help families. I know that we already have a large number of families who try really hard on this front, and we couldn’t be more grateful. I know together we can make a big impact. 

Good luck to our Year 5 campers next week and I am looking forward to our Year 6 Aspire Student Leadership day this Thursday.

Have a great week of ‘Learning and Growing Together’ 

Kind regards

Warren Lloyd

Principal