Principal's Message

What a fabulous fortnight at ENPS! There is always so much going on in Term Three and we have certainly hit the ground running. On a personal note I would like to sincerely thank our community for their support over the past few weeks. I am so grateful and am always so touched by the heart of our school community; we are truly like a big family. So thank you. It means the world to me. 

Principals' Day 

On behalf of our Assistant Principals; Alice, Alice and Connor, we sincerely thank everyone for making today such a special day for us celebrating and recognising Principals' Day today in lieu of Friday 1st August. We truly have the best jobs in the world and are so blessed to work alongside our fabulous ENPS students, staff and families. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. Assembly was so very special. It really means the world to us. 

Year Four Camp 

Congratulations to the Year Four campers (students and staff) for a fabulous few days on camp last week. It certainly sounds like the giant swing was once again the highlight (and from the screams heard watching the video of Mrs McKenzie swinging, it was most definitely not for the faint hearted!) A huge shout out to all of the staff who attended the camp, including those beyond the Year Four team; Ruby Ziogas, Rhys McIntosh, Andrew Whitby, Alice Stephens and Alice McKenzie. Your time, care and commitment above and beyond usual school hours is remarkable and very much appreciated. 

Year Five and Year Three Swimming

It’s been a big two weeks for our Year Threes, participating in their two week intensive swimming program. The swimming program is funded by the Victorian Government, supporting students with water safety and swimming skills. The swimming program is a two week intensive format, running every day for the two weeks. Year Fives will begin their program next week. 

State Netball Championships 

What a fantastic experience it was last week for our Year Five/Six mixed netball team competing for the first time at the State Netball Championships in Parkville. Check out their highlights in this newsletter. A huge shout out to Alice Stephens and Amy Wirth for coaching the team. 

Staffing

In some staff updates, this week we have farewelled Julie Schenk from the library for the remainder of the school year. Julie has headed back to the UK to spend the rest of the year with her parents and will return to ENPS at the start of the 2026 school year. While we haven’t formally replaced Julie, we have been very fortunate to have the support of two amazing ENPS grandparents; Sandra Magro (Ruby 2CU and Logan FAM) and Kerrie Dwyer (Heath 2MT and Savannah 1MV) offering their support throughout the week to keep the library operational. Classes will still visit the library each week and borrow for their class library and home reading with their home group teacher. If you see Kerrie or Sandra around, please show your appreciation for them or if someone you or someone you know would also like to lend a hand in the library, please let us know! 

This week we have also farewelled Ainslie McArthur from FAM for the remainder of the school year. Ainslie has taken leave for personal reasons and we are very fortunate to have Kirsty Johnson continue and increase her time fraction to take over from Ainslie this term in FAM. For the longer term position, we are required to undertake a merit based recruitment process and hope to have that finalised before the end of this term for the class. 

We are also very excited to have a new ENPS staff baby on the way. Congratulations to Lana Thomas and her husband Robin who are expecting their first baby in early 2026. We have two babies already on the way and due this year, with Andrew Whitby’s first baby arriving later this term and baby number two for Rhys McIntosh in November. We love an ENPS baby! 

Opinion Surveys

The Department of Education currently have two survey sets open for feedback which is highly valued by us in terms of continuous improvement and future strategic directions. Earlier this year, our Year Four to Six students completed the Attitudes to School Survey. Over the past two weeks, all staff have had their say in our Staff Opinion Survey, while from next Monday, all ENPS families (492 families!) will be contacted via email to participate in the 2025 Parent/Carer/Guardian Opinion Survey.

All surveys are confidential and anonymous, and provide us with incredible rich insights and perspectives which we value enormously. They are also available in multiple languages! 

We thank you all in advance for your feedback.

2026 Planning

It is hard to believe that it is also the time of the year that we begin planning for the next year ahead! We ask that if you and your family are planning on leaving ENPS at the end of 2025, please let the school office know as soon as you are in a position to do so. (This excludes Year Six students.) Our 2026 class structure will be determined by our student numbers so having a clear idea of our projected numbers for the January will be integral to our planning. 

As a school we are also currently reviewing our school Specialist Program, along with our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program. These reviews will impact our programs from 2026 in terms of the specialist subjects/classes we offer, and what and how our implementation of our digital technology curriculum looks like in our middle and senior year levels. (Please see more on our BYOD review in this newsletter.)

Thank you again to all for a wonderful couple of weeks at ENPS! It has been great to be back in my happy place and I can’t wait for the Book Week dress up next Friday! Have a tremendous weekend. 

Kate Barletta

Principal