Dear Families,

We had a very successful Book Character Parade in Book Week with almost all members of the school community dressed up as their favourite book character. Judging the best and most originally dressed in each clas was a challenge. Congratulations to the students who were voted as best dressed for their class by their peers.

There is great excitement in anticipation for the Year 5/6 Production at the Clock Tower in Moonee Ponds, scheduled for Wednesday 11th September. Students from Foundation through to Year 4 will be attending the dress rehearsal at 1pm with the offical performance scheduled for 7:30pm that evening.

Thank you to families for your continued support with our fundraising efforts. As reported in the last newsletter, we had accumulated $55,000 for the replacement of the large piece of play equipment.

We still need a further $15,000 to cover the cost of replacing the much loved monkey bars. School Council met last week and were delighted to hear of the $4,000 raised at our recent Trivia Night. The next fund-raising event will be an open-air movie night, at school, 6 – 9:30pm on Friday 11th October, courtesy of Johnathon and Rebecca Horne. Save the date. The fundraising sub-committee is in the process of fine-tuning details. We have a list of movies which we will present to students to vote on so we will let families know as soon as one is chosen. We also have a Bunnings BBQ and Colour Run planned for later in term 4 so between the 3 events we should have no difficulty covering the cost of the Monkey Bars and may even be able to include some other additional playground items.

Our Friday Food Stalls have been significantly successful and will assist Learning Communities to add to their resources. Foundation raised $691 and the 1/2 Learning Community raised $1,344. These funds will go towards purchasing class sets of decodable readers to support our Foundation to Year 2 Initial Lit program. The Production Food Stall raised $793 which will go towards the cost of props and costumes. 3/4C and 3/4E raised $560. 3/4B and 3/4D will have their Food Stall in Term 4. The 3/4 Learning Community are looking at a new Spelling Program, Spellex, that leads on from the Initial Lit program and plan to use their raised funds to build these resources. Our next Friday Food Stall is 56B & 56C on Friday 6th September.

Thank you very much to the many families who have already booked their Semester 2 Student Progress Interviews which are scheduled to take place virtually, via Webex from 4pm -7pm on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th of September. Please ensure you trial WebEx prior to the meeting, as unfortunately we will be unable to reschedule your appointment as they will be booked back to back. If families haven't already, please remember to book before bookings close on Friday 13th September.

Term 3 is rapidly disappearing before our very eyes. One of our tasks is to begin thinking about and planning staff and student groups for the following year. Teachers are in the process of reviewing home groups for 2025. Due to the introduction of Levels 1 and 2 Initial Lit in the 1/2 Learning Community, Home Groups and Literacy classes will be organised in separate Year 1 and Year 2 classes. The 1/2 Learning Community may decide to move students around in flexible groups for other subject areas as the year progresses. The 3/4 and 5/6 Learning Communities will continue to be organised as composite groups. Thank you to the families who have already informed us of the non-year 6 students who will not be returning to Essendon Primary School in 2025 and those who have shared information to assist with the best class placement for your child. The formation of new Home Groups is based on a combination of individual needs and those of the class as a balanced group. Early next term teachers will be asking students to identify 4 of their buddies who they believe would be a positive influence on their learning. If you think we need to have any further information about your child regarding placement, please email me directly using the following email address christine.nash@education.vic.gov.au by Friday 11th October. To ensure that a child isn’t left without a learning buddy in their Literacy class, could families please let us know as soon as possible if your child is not returning to EPS in 2025. We will need to know all of this information before we run “Class Creator” to establish the 2025 Literacy classes.

Christine Nash

Principal

Essendon Cricket Club