Principal's Item 

Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

I hope the week has been progressing smoothly for you all. It was wonderful to have our Copper Strings perform at assembly on Monday and our first whole school practice of our concert finale song was excellent. 

Our Hopes

We live in a complex world and engaging with the daily news cycle can easily make anyone despondent. Amongst this complexity, as a school, we aim to provide as much hope and positivity as we can. We know there are always going to be ups and downs, but I think our unrelenting aims around respectful and kind interactions are important. I am grateful on a daily basis for the way that parents engage with the school - thank you. It is true that we don’t always get everything 100% right, as nobody or any organisation can, but our motives and intentions are always strong. 

More Than Music - Countdown

Our long awaited 2026 concert, ‘More Than Music’, is less than a week away. As a school we are very excited and are really looking forward to presenting our production. We are going through the final rehearsals. Please remember to make sure that regular routines and early bedtimes are factored in to avoid any frayed nerves in the run up to concert.

Community Connections - Friends of Woodridge Linear Reserve

This came in from one of our wonderful parents:

A big shout out to the following EEPS kids who gave up their Sunday morning on August 23rd to assist the Friends of Woodridge Linear Reserve and Nillumbik Council to infill plant local indigenous daisies and shrubs behind Peppermint Grove, with the aim of linking the current Eltham Copper Butterfly colony in Pauline Toner Reserve with the colony in the Eastern Eltham Copper butterfly reserve. Chloe from Year 6, Immy from Year 4, Grace from Year 2 and Velta from Year 1. The girls were all very knowledgeable about the life cycle of the Eltham Copper Butterfly and its connection with the Sweet Bursaria plant and the Notoncus ant. 

Stand Up!

Our trained Year 6 Stand Up Project leaders have done a really tremendous job over the last fortnight delivering lessons for our younger grades about how to be a strong “upstander” if any of their friends are experiencing friendship difficulties. We have received some very positive feedback on these lessons. A big thank you to Mrs Brabender for helping our Stand Up student leaders. Again, the theme of last week, ‘Small acts, big impact’.

EEPS OSHC

As the year has progressed, OSHC has a little more capacity on some of the key days of the week. Please inquire with Marrisa or Jess if you need extra spots.

2027 Prep Transition

We look forward to welcoming our 2027 preps to the first of our prep transition sessions this week. The Music and Movement sessions are generally a big hit, so hopefully this is the case again this year! It is hard to believe that some of our younger siblings are starting Prep already!

Traffic Safety Cameras

We were informed by the Council about the presence of the newly installed traffic safety camera in and around EEPS, especially in Luck Street. This is the message from the Council:

The Department of Transport and Planning is partnering with Nillumbik Shire Council to survey traffic and pedestrian movements at various locations across the Council area to identify any road safety issues. The survey technology detects objects and movement without capturing the identity of pedestrians and vehicles.

Reminders

Hats

Please remember that in September and with the weather warming up, all students are required to be wearing an EEPS SunSmart hat whilst playing outside during breaks and PE / Sport.

Parent Opinion Survey

Please also remember that the 2026 Parent and Carer opinion survey is still open we would welcome more parents taking the time to complete it. It is an important measure, and whilst I know we experience strong parent support it would be lovely if you could spend a few minutes to turn that into some great survey results!

In, and around concert, we still have lots of other things on the go, such as the Year 6 MAV maths day for selected students on Friday, Kids Teaching Kids Conference on Thursday and Division athletics on Monday and 3 Way Conferences.

I had the occasion to be reminded of the power and relevance of our motto, Learning and Growing Together, this week. It is very real, and I hope everyone has a good week doing just this.

Kind regards

Warren Lloyd

Principal