Principal's Report

Dear EHPS Parents and Carers,

Welcome back for Term 3

The children have settled back into school very well after the holidays. This is a very busy term with so many wonderful activities. 

This week at Assembly we held the Essex Heights Olympics Opening Ceremony. Olympic themes and activities will continue throughout August until the end of the Parlympics. Next week our Prep students celebrate their 100 days of school and Year 5 and 6 begin their swimming programs. During the rest of the term we celebrate Science Week, Book Week, Indonesian Day, Father's Day and Footy Colours Day. Add to that the many incursions and excursions that are planned and you can see that the children will have a very enjoyable learning experience throughout Term 3.

Works around the school

During the vacation we were able to complete several projects around the school to continue our efforts to provide the best possible environment for our students and staff:

• Synthetic grass was installed around The Heights and flagpoles. This reduces mud and water issues and gives the children an excellent play surface.
• In the Stadium we completed the installation of 18 new LED lights and six large fans. The new lighting will provide excellent vision even on the dullest day, and the new state of the art fans will provide much needed airflow on those very hot summer days. 

The fans were paid for by the amazing fundraising of the PFC and we thank all parents for their many contributions at different events throughout the year that made this possible.

The actual cost was $32,042 plus installation of $7,000.

• Continued the revegetation of the front of the school and the car park.
• Refurbishment of boy's toilets in Eucalyptus and Violet.

Future works

In conjunction with the PFC, the school is planning to install a new shade sail at the basketball court end of The Heights. This will create a shaded area on the slope that will act as an amphitheatre or viewing spot for children. This shaded area will also be an outdoor learning area.

Estimated cost $34,300.

Again this new addition is due to the great fundraising of the PFC and all families. We sincerely thank you all for your support in making the school a better place for our children.

Staff Changes

As previously advised, Ina Kuehlich retired at the end of Term 2. Natalie Zaibak and Felicity O'Flynn are now in the Assistant Principal role, on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday to Friday, respectively.  

We also welcome the following new staff to EHPS:

• Aashnoor (Noor) Dhir will be in 34N and 34T 
• Rahni Hubery in 1WG 
• Hannah Zagarn in 1P
• Evelyn Li in Year 1 support

Reports & Parent Teacher Discussions

All families were notified last week that Semester 1 reports had been published and accessible on Compass. It was pleasing that most families booked an interview with their child’s teacher and/or specialist teachers to discuss their achievements and progress this week. If you weren’t able to make a booking for the scheduled Parent Teacher Discussions this week, you are enouraged to please email your child’s teacher to arrange a mutually agreed time to meet; use the link to email teachers from your Compass homepage. 

NAPLAN

Students in Years 3 and 5 completed National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Term 1. NAPLAN reports were sent home to parents last week, and we hope you’ve had the opportunity to review your child’s results. 

Please ensure that you store your child’s report in a safe location as they are often required in the future, e.g. secondary school enrolment. From this year, NAPLAN reports/results will be accessible electronically. We will inform you when this function is available. 

Road Safety and our children

Disappointingly, incidents of non-compliance for the road rules and safety have again been reported to me recently. Parents are reminded that Essex Road at the front of our school is extremely busy at the start and end of the school day. For the safety of all, patience, courtesy and observance of all road rules are essential. Please remember:

• the Kiss & Go zone operates for the periods designated at the times posted on the sign for you to pull in for not more than two minutes to drop off/pick up your child only; you’re reminded that you cannot leave your vehicle while the Kiss & Go is in operation. 
• A U-turn is not permitted across the solid white centre line in Essex Road at the front of the school. 
• You model the correct behaviour for your children, including practising patience and courtesy, observing road rules, exiting vehicle on the footpath side only, parking in designated spaces only, crossing Essex Road at the supervised crossing only. 

To help keep your children safe around roads, teach them how to follow the safe road crossing procedure – STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and THINK:

• STOP one step back from the kerb, or shoulder of the road if there is no footpath.
• LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic.
• LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic.
• THINK about whether it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear or all traffic has stopped. When crossing, walk straight across the road. Keep LOOKING and LISTENING for traffic while crossing.

I urge all families to please spend some time discussing road safety with your children this weekend.

For further resources please follow the link below to the VicRoads web site:  Vic Roads Safety 

Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Survey

WE WANT OUR PARENTS / CAREGIVERS / GUARDIANS TO TELL US WHAT THEY THINK! 

Our school is conducting the annual Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey offered by the Department of Education and is seeking your feedback. The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behavior, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage and appreciate your participation.

Our school will use the survey results to assist in identifying areas for improvement and professional development needs in the school, to target school planning and improvement strategies. 

The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be open online from Monday 5 August to Friday 30 August 2024.

A random sample of parents/caregivers/guardians have been selected to participate in this year’s survey.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. 

The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese. Resources are also available in additional languages to assist parents/caregivers/guardians who speak a language other than English at home. Please reach out to your child’s teacher, or the school directly for survey guides in your language.

The survey results will be communicated to parents/caregivers/guardians through our EHPS Annual Report.

Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.

Well done Tilly, Olivia, Mia & Elisa!

I'd like to recognise the recent extraordinary achievements of several students. 

Tilly C (Year 6) was selected as a finalist (from over 4000 entries) in the Young Archie (Young Archibald) Prize for portraiture. Tilly's beautiful portrait of her grandfather is below.  She will be flying to Sydney to see her artwork exhibited and to meet the other finalists on 27 July. We wish her all the best and are very proud of her incredible artistic achievement. 

Olivia L (Year 6) participated in the SRIMF international violin solo competition, hosted by Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore, in July, and won a Bronze award.

Mia L (Year 4) achieved first place in a piano competition held in June for her fantastic performance. She will represent Australia in the final round to be held in Singapore in August. All the best Mia!

Elisa W (Year 6) who competed in the Australian Gymnastics Championships, achieving terrific result. Well done Elisa! Read Elisa's reflection on the Health & P.E. page in this newsletter. 

Congratulations to Tilly, Olivia, Mia and Elisa on your outstanding performances and achievements! 

Student-Free Day this term

Families are reminded that our rescheduled student-free day is on Monday 12 August. 

Care from 7am to 6pm will be provided by our OSHC program. Booking essential; children must be enrolled in the OSHC program to book in for care using the Xplor Home app. Contact OSHC Coordinator, Paul Davis regarding OSHC enrolment. 

As previously advised, the School Council have also confirmed the following additional days in 2024 when students will not attend school:

• Friday 1 November - Student-Free Day
• Monday 4 November - Professional Practice Day for staff.

Please ensure you note these dates in your family calendar when your children do not attend school.

Congratulations!

We were delighted to receive the wonderful news of the safe arrival of Oscar, the first child of Goretti Cheuk and her husband Nathan.  

Welcome

We welcome the following students and their families to the EHPS community:

• Aadya D (PZ)
• Sia W (1EP)
• Kyla N (2H)
• Aiden C (34T) 
• Zecheng (Austin) Z (34R)
• Benjamin R (5P) 
• Charmayne W (6C)
• Meagan W (6B)

I look forward to seeing you around school.

Kindest regards,

George Perini

Principal