Community Support

At Essendon North Primary School, staying connected as a community and supporting one another in times of need is incredibly important to us. When a family connected to our school is facing a difficult journey, we believe in rallying together and offering support where we can.

Members of our school community may remember a former student, Hamish Howe, who attended ENPS from 2017 to 2022 and his older sister Anabelle who graduated from ENPS in 2021.

Hamish was very sadly diagnosed with a brain tumour (Stage 4 Medulloblastoma) on his 13th birthday in August 2024. Since then, the family has experienced an incredibly challenging and emotional journey. While there was very hopeful news in June 2025 when Hamish was classified as being in complete remission, this was heartbreakingly followed three months later by a relapse, with MRI scans revealing new brain lesions and metastatic disease in his spine.

At the moment, Hamish’s chemotherapy has been paused as his body is not well enough to continue treatment. With this devastating news, the focus has shifted to slowing the progression of the disease for as long as possible, most importantly, ensuring Hamish can spend as much time as possible with his family.

As a way of showing our support and rallying around the Howe family, ENPS will be holding a small fundraiser on Friday 20th February, in the form of a 'Crazy Hair Day'. All funds raised will be donated directly to the GoFundMe page that has been set up by the family. Details for the ‘Crazy Hair Day’ are attached in the flyer below.

As a community, there are a number of ways we can offer our support:

• Participating in the ‘Crazy Hair Day’ and bringing along a monetary donation.
• Donating directly to the GoFundMe page, if you are in a position to do so.

We also acknowledge that some families may not be able to contribute financially. Other meaningful ways we can support the family include:

• Sharing the GoFundMe page with others.
• Donating blood or plasma through Lifeblood (Australian RedCross).

Sadly, our community has been touched by brain cancer a few times now; Marcus Rosin (former student who passed away in 2014) Jon Dalinkiewicz (parent to Olive in FTW and Audrey in 2NV, who passed away in 2024), and now Hamish, who is showing extraordinary courage in the face of illness.

Alongside our fundraising efforts for our annual ‘A Day in May’, we hope that by supporting Hamish and his family, we can continue to support efforts towards a future with improved treatments and outcomes for those affected by brain cancer.

Alice Stephens

Assistant Principal