Principal's Item 

Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

I hope that everyone is having a rewarding week. I would like to congratulate the Copper Strings ensemble for their wonderful performance at the Australian Strings Association concert at Eltham High on Sunday afternoon. The ensemble played ‘Boil Em Cabbage’ and then ‘Dark Matter’ as part of the combined festival strings group. I had the pleasure of listening to the group perform. Well done!

Annual Parliamentary Prize Competition

For those students in Year 5 and 6, the annual Parliamentary Prize competition is on again. From Vicki Ward, our local MP; “This is a competition for Victorian students from Grade 5 to Year 12, which asks students to consider the issues that are important in their own communities, and record a 90-second video of a statement they would make to parliament if they were an MP. Students can win cash prizes for themselves and their schools, with three entry categories: Grades 5‑6, Years 7-9 and Years 10-12. Last year the Parliament Prize received 1126 entries from students from over 200 schools across Victoria, with more than 450 unique topics raised. Examples included the cost of living, anti-discrimination, health and mental health, artificial intelligence and education. For resources for both students and teachers, competition rules, and to submit your entries, visit the competition website at https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/teach-and-learn/parliament-prize/. Submissions will be accepted until 5:00pm on Friday 13th June 2025.”

Simultaneous Story Time

Today is Simultaneous Storytime around Australia. Each year, a book is selected for students to enjoy reading together across all schools. This year the book is, ‘The Truck Cat’, and we have recorded a special edition voiced by lots of different staff members. This will be shared today at 12.00 right across Australia. To accommodate this, we are moving our lunch-eating time to 12.00 for the day. It is sure to be a great activity to do together. Thank you to Mrs Casale and Mrs Egan for putting our special, voiced edition together.

Preps in Action

We are looking forward to our Preps in Action afternoon, today for new and prospective families to visit the school and see the school in action. 

Colour Run

We are very excited about the EEPS Colour Run this Thursday afternoon. As I wrote last week the combined aims are for this event to focus on fun, fitness, fundraising and community building. Last week, we sent an additional Compass Newsfeed with a FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions page. I know that this was appreciated and well received by parents. Attached to the Newsletter today is the MSDS, Material Safety Data Sheet, for the coloured powders that are to be used. Like all school events, and life events involving children, parents are always encouraged to seek additional medical advice if their child/ren have any specific medical needs.  Whilst the school is always open to constructive feedback, there have been a few parents who have voiced their concerns about the event. This is obviously cause for reflection; however, I know that we have really strong support for this student led initiative that is going to be a great deal of fun.

I return to our motto, Learning and Growing Together. The origins of colour run events are varied, whilst not initially communicated, they connect really nicely with our strong work around inclusion and the increasing cultural diversity in the EEPS community. The colour run concept draws its original inspiration from the Hindu festival of Holi. This wasn’t something that we were completely aware of in the early planning stages.

Vacation Care - Team Kids Information Night - Webinar

A reminder that, Team Kids, our new vacation care provider is hosting an online information session on Tuesday 27th May at 7.00pm. Please look out for the link further on in this newsletter. 

Education Week

This week is State Education Week, 19-23 May. The theme for this year is ‘Celebration of Cultures’, aiming to highlight the diversity of our communities and the importance of every child feeling safe and welcome at school. It is great that we have the Colour Run this week also, to help celebrate all cultures and inclusion. Education Week always has a different theme and we acknowledge it in different ways from year to year, but it is always a great way acknowledge the great work that schools do in their local communities. 

Request

At assembly I spoke to the students about the way to communicate to your friend or adult when something happens at school. I asked the students to consider breaking it into two parts: part one - tell the adult what you actually saw or heard, the part you know for sure. Then, part two - is to tell the adult the part that think ‘may’ have happened, or someone else may have told you, the part that is not so clear.

My request to parents and carers is that when your child comes home after something has happened, please adopt the same approach and follow this guide:

1. Allow a little time to space, rather than immediately contacting the school
2. If possible, wait until both parents (where applicable) can be present
3. Listen for your child to tell you the part one - what they actually heard, saw, experienced or witnessed
4. Be curious…seek to understand what was leading up to the event and exactly what their role in it was
5. Listen for the part two - what they are uncertain about
6. Think and reflect upon this information yourself
7. Respectfully seek further clarification from the teacher, as your child only ever has one perspective and mostly, there are generally different perspectives, with a more comprehensive view of events. Please resist doing your own detective work by asking or inquiring for more information from other parents. 

Following this stepped process will produce the best outcomes for your child.

When I do offer advice or make requests from time to time, it comes from my combined knowledge and experience working with thousands of children and families over many years.

Future Schooling

Part of my job, as Principal, is to be aware of future education trends, whilst working on the present short-term goals and operational requirements. Last week, I was able to attend two important future focussed educational seminars. One was an insightful presentation by the McCrindle Research Group, titled ‘Imagining school in 2035’, and the other was the Dean’s lecture at the University of Melbourne by visiting educational scholar, Guy Claxon. This was a thought provoking lecture on the collective, global research around the ‘sciences of learning’. Research into the science of learning has informed the new Victorian Teaching and Learning Model, which connects to our school goals. It is important that school leaders are exposed to a comprehensive range of research and not just that which is filtered from the Department.

I look forward with enthusiasm to the inaugural EEPS Colour run this Thursday afternoon.

Kind regards

Warren Lloyd

Principal