Principal's Message 

Well what an incredible night it was on Friday night!!! The annual ENPS Movie Night and ENPS Talent Show was a huge success. The weather was perfect, the music was rocking and the vibe was high. Thank you to everyone who supported the event and a massive shout out to Tanya Ward our Community Engagement Coordinator, the Community Engagement Committee and our wonderful, hardworking staff. So much fun and so many highlights. Our staff band, Yard Duty, reforming for another year was an absolute blast too! Thank you to everyone who also helped with the packing up at the end of the evening! 

It is hard to believe that this will be the second last newsletter for the year! 

The past two weeks have been yet another celebration of amazing learning at ENPS. The highlights continue to mount and I just love being able to see the learning and growth across all of our classrooms. I can’t wait for you to see it too at the Student Led Conferences this week!

Last week we also had another visit from our kinder friends at Journey Essendon. They got to have a story with Miss Julie and do some drawings in the Visual Arts room. Seeing their little faces come to ‘big school’ is pure happiness! While this week our Year Sixes spend two days at Buckley Park College, learning with our teachers, as a part of our getting ready for secondary school program. 

Over the past weeks we have also began the process to decide on our School Captains for 2025, with well over half of the current Year Five students submitting an Expression of Interest in the first phase of the process. Following short listing, our School Captain candidates will undertake a very comprehensive range of tasks over the coming weeks, including an oral presentation to their peers and Year Four students, a Q&A forum with our current School Captains, Saanvi and Harry, and Executive Team, an interview with a selection panel, and a group task. Congratulations to the students short listed and a massive congratulations to all who expressed interest; you are already magnificent leaders within our school! The 2025 School Captains will be announced on our final Friday school assembly for the year on Friday 20th December.

Staffing News

As we head towards the end of the school year, and the beginning of a new one ahead, we have a number of staffing changes, familiar faces bidding ENPS farewell and new faces joining our staff team in 2025. 

At the end of 2024 we will be very sad to say farewell to Jemma Strbac Low, James Reid, Lisa Do, Sylvia Zanati, Samantha Hanks and Emma Wasson. Jemma Strbac Low and Samantha Hanks are taking a year off from teaching, James Reid is returning to his previous school, Glen Katherine PS. Emma Wasson has secured a new position at Kingsville PS, while Lisa Do has picked up a position at Caulfield Grammar School and Sylvia Zanti has picked up a position at Coburg North PS for 2025. 

A huge congratulations to Kellie Oxlade, Molly Todd, Imogen Westcott, Ruby Ziogas, Lachlan Anderson, Morgan King, Rhys McIntosh and Pamela Pan who have all been successful in continuing their contracts at ENPS for 2025. We are thrilled to have them all continue with us. 

In 2025 we are excited to have a number of new faces join our staff team; Andrew Whitby will join us from Deer Park North PS as our PE teacher,  Hannah Morris from Sunbury PS, Matilda Hewett from Mallacoota PS, Zarah Draper from Parkville College, Anastasia Ioannou from Newington College in NSW and Laveena Kumanesan as a new teacher in Australia, yet coming with international experience in Malaysia and China. Jonathan McFarlane will also be joining us from Penders Grove PS. 

It is always a bittersweet time of the year when we farewell and congratulate existing staff on new opportunities and positions,  while welcoming new faces to the team. 

With the completion of the 2025 Foundation Orientation, we can confirm that our 2025 Foundation teaching team will be: Lana Thomas (getting married in January and changing her surname), Ainslie McArthur, Hannah Morris and Tanya Ward. 

We can also confirm that in 2024 our Specialist classes will again be Chinese Mandarin, Physical Education, The Arts (Visual and Performing Arts) and Health and Wellbeing. In 2025 our Chinese Mandarin and Health and Wellbeing classes will continue as roving specialists, working out of the home group classrooms. 

On Friday 13th December, we will have our final curriculum day for the year. This will be a planning day for 2025 teams. In our final newsletter, I will announce the Year One - Six Teaching and Specialist Teams for 2025. 

All Foundation to Year Five students will find out their new classes and teachers on our Step Up Day on Tuesday 17th December. 

In 2025 all year levels will continue to operate in the same classrooms as this year. 

2025 Start of School Year and Curriculum Days

The Department of Education (DET) mandates that all schools use the first day of the school year as a curriculum day for teacher planning and preparation. The first curriculum day for 2025 is therefore on Tuesday 28th January. All Year One to Six students will have their first day of school on Wednesday 29th January. Our Foundation students will have their first day on Thursday 30th January with assigned staggered start times. Foundation students will have each the Wednesday for the first four weeks off school as a rest day and for their scheduled 1:1 assessments. 

As referred to above, our final Friday whole school assembly will be held on Friday 20th December at 8:50am. At this assembly we will have all our final announcements and celebrations for the year, including our school band. The last week will be a big one at ENPS, with Step Up Morning on Tuesday 17th, Year Six Graduation on Wednesday 18th, Year Six Celebration Day at Melton Waves on Thursday 19th and our final day for the year on Friday 20th December, with an early finish of 12:30pm. 

Thank you all for your ongoing support.

Have a wonderful week! 

Kate Barletta

Principal