*All unclaimed lost property will be donated to the swap shop at the end of the year*

Welcome to Ivanhoe Primary School

Dear graduating Year 6 students,

It has been a rewarding experience watching you reach the end of your primary schooling. In 2024 you will commence the next educational chapter of your lives, one which will be challenging but very rewarding. Learn to know yourself and your capabilities. Nothing is impossible if you direct your thoughts and actions in the right direction. Focus on being your best self. Stay kind, be smart, work hard and enjoy life.

Thank you for what you have done for your school. Always remember you were a student at Ivanhoe Primary School. It will always be your Primary School.

All the staff of IPS wish you every success.

2024 Meet the teacher update

This week your child spent some time in their new class for 2024 with their classmates and (in most cases) their teacher.

When they came home on Wednesday, they should have had a slip of paper informing you of this.

Sometimes a student seems a little unsure about their new placement; change is always tricky and more so for some than others. Please encourage them to be positive, as this is a good opportunity to develop their resilience. Social skills are so important, and getting to know others is a great way of achieving and extending these skills.

Some students will just need time to adjust to students whom they have not spent time with before as well as to a new teacher. Given a few weeks at the beginning of the new year, I'm sure things will have settled down well.

The holiday period is a great time of "looking forward" to the changes in 2024.

2024 Diary Dates

Please pay particular attention to which dates your child(ren) begin school.

Term Dates

Term 1: 29th January (Year 1- 6 students start 31st January) – 28th March (2:30pm finish)

7th February Foundation students commence.

11th March Labour Day Public Holiday

29th March Good Friday

Term 2: 15th April – 28th June (2:30pm finish)

25th April ANZAC Day

10th June Monarch’s Official Birthday

Term 3: 15th July - 20th September (2:30pm finish)

Term 4: 7th October - 20th December (1:30pm finish)

5th November Melbourne Cup

2024 Curriculum Days

Friday 29th January - Curriculum Day (teachers and staff only)

Monday 30th January - Curriculum Day (teachers and staff only)

Friday 26th April - Curriculum Day (teachers and staff only)

Monday 4th November - Curriculum Day (teachers and staff only)

Teacher Common Professional Practice Day – to be advised.

2024 Camp Program dates

Grade 4 - Alexandra Adventure Resort 30/10/24 - 01/11/2024

Grade 5 – Sovereign Hill 09/09 - 11/09/2024

Grade 6 - Canberra Tour 07/10 - 11/10/2024

2024 Working Bee dates. (3pm – 5pm)

Term 1

24th February

Term 2

18th May

Term 3

17th August

Term 4

9th November

REQUEST FOR VOLUNTEERS IN 2024

The Parents and Friends' Association (PFA) is a volunteer group of school community members and IPS staff. Our aim is to create opportunities for our school community to come together and connect in enjoyable ways, and all profits made from our events are utilised by the school for the benefit of students.

The PFA and volunteers will run the following events next year:

EVENTS IN 2024

~Welcome Picnic (save the date - 9th February 5.30pm)

~Barefoot Bowls (March - TBC)

~Mother's Day Stall (8th May)

~Mother's Day Breakfast (9th May)

~School Disco (July - TBC)

~Father's Day Stall (28th August)

~Father's Day Breakfast (29th August)

~Trivia Night (Term 4 - TBC)

PLEASE pop your name on the Volunteer Whatsapp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/FJRBHBoeeSY30qM8WfcPTc - we promise not to bombard you with messages!

If you are interested in joining the PFA (we meet once a term) or assist with coordinating an event, please contact the PFA by emailing the School Office (ivanhoe.ps@education.vic.gov.au).

Remember, nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something!

Last Day of Term

The last day of Term is Wednesday the 20th and the students will be dismissed at 1.30pm.

The final Year 6 assembly, preceding dismissal, will be held on the oval at 1.10pm.

Weather permitting.

"Silly string" will have to wait until the graduating Year 6 students have sung their song. Parents may join us on the Oval for the final "hurrah".

Finally

Here is Year 2B sending out some Christmas Cheer. Enjoy.

Thank you for your support.

2024 Classes

The following are the classes, teachers and support teachers for 2024.

2024 Classes (25 grades)	Teachers
Foundation
FH	Kareema Hachem (Team Leader)
FM	Mollie McCormick
FS	Sue Kelly (Learning Specialist)
FD	Rosemarie De Francesco
Year 1
1L	Vicki Lamont / Luisa Di Giovine (Team Leaders)
1R	Megan Richardson
1G	Georgia Groves
1H	Jordan Hayns
Year 2
2M	Sarah Murphy (Team Leader)
2N	Maria Nedelkovski
2S	Daniel Sutton
Year 3
3O	Steven O’Callaghan (Team Leader) Penelope Blanas
3J	Jo Kittler / Jo Harford
3M	Fiona Millar
3H	Kaye Herd / Penelope Blanas
Year 4
4T	Jeremy Tottenham (Team Leader)
4K	Liz Kennedy (Team Leader)
4F	Kirstie Fray
4C	Chrissy Temple (Learning Specialist)
Year 5
5S	Miranda Stott (Team Leader) Steve McKay
5L	Leigh Morrison
5M	Kieran McKissack
Year 6
6H	Rhonda Harvey (Team Leader) Matt O'Brien
6R	Rhianna Critchley
6P	Leighton Pearce
Specialists
Music	Marie Morrow (Team Leader)
Music	Matt O'Brien / Anne Boyd
Art	Cendrine Rodriguez
Art	Tanya Roberts
PE	James Bull
PE	Sarah Emerson
Italian	Anne Boyd
Italian	Steve McKay
EAL / Support	Vicki Lamont
Support	Luisa Di Giovine
Support	Jo Harford
Disability Inclusion	Jo Kittler
Tutor	Clare Makoni

Planned Maintenance

In the Christmas break, new bitumen will be installed near the rear of the Waterdale Rd building, where the Year Fours currently exit, and the popular rubber mounds will be replaced.

Celebrations and Sharing Food

For reasons relating to food allergies, health and safety, as well as the significant financial impost, families are respectfully requested that under NO circumstances are you to supply birthday cakes, cupcakes, sweets, gifts and toys etc. on school grounds – including at the OSHC program.

I apologise in advance if this seems harsh, but the wellbeing of every student must be our primary concern. Consider celebrating birthdays and other events at a local park or in your own home. Be mindful that many of our students are anaphylactic and food allergens pose a very real threat. Thank you for your support.

2024 School Council Election

Don't forget elections for School Council are held in February each year with the Council of this school comprised of 10 members elected by parents of the school and 4 members of staff. The Principal is a member by right of office.

We have been fortunate over the years to have maintained a strong and engaged School Council. Every year, half the School Council is renewed creating room for new community members to join. Likewise, Sub Committees of School Council open their doors to new members. Our Sub Committees of School Council include: Finance, Education, Facilities, Out of School Hours Care and in odd years, the Fair.

The School Council is responsible for assisting the Principal and staff in supporting the school, in particular it is responsible for offering advice on the school’s educational programs, administration and expenditure of school funds as set out in the annual budget.

The overseeing of the long-term development of the school and the current maintenance of facilities is a task that rests primarily with the Principal and School Council.

Elections for School Council are held in February each year with the Council of our school comprising of 10 members elected by the parents of the school and 4 members of staff. The Principal is a member by right of office.

Please consider nominating, or agreeing to be nominated, for school council. We meet on Wednesdays and the proposed dates are on the Some Dates For The Fridge page in this edition of Inside Ivanhoe.

Thank you to those parents who have completed their 2 years or final term of office on School Council. Stuart Cross, Nina Bosco, Belinda Hill, Gabrielle Elliot and teachers Luisa Di Giovine and Sue Kelly.

Flexible Work for Principals initiative

Recently the Department of Education introduced the “flexible work for school leaders” initiative offering a pilot program of 200 funded positions that could be applied for by principals to enable them to reduce their time fraction and backfill the remaining days with an acting principal to share the leadership role.

“This initiative aims to reduce administrative burden on school leaders by providing additional leadership support and promoting work-life balance…This is a pilot initiative that supports leaders to trial part-time and job-share arrangements for 12 months.”

I am really pleased to inform you that Mrs. Pam Wright was the successful applicant for the Principal position and she and I will be co-leading Ivanhoe Primary School in 2024.

We have advertised an assistant principal position for this period to add to our already well-established leadership team. This will be filled in due course.

Pam and I have worked closely together for five years leading the school through many changes, continuing to build and maintain a well-deserved reputation for educational excellence and wellbeing support.

We very much look forward to co-leading the school in 2024.

Finally

Each year there are staff changes and while we welcome new people to our team, from time to time we sadly say farewell.

This year we farewell : Sonya McCarthy, Veronica Knowles, Caroline Long, Kathy Ugrai, Christine Hemsley, Jo Anderson, Sabina Harrington, Jennette Green and Stefanie Blake.

On behalf of the staff and community I thank these wonderful teachers for their amazing contributions to Ivanhoe Primary School.

Thank you to all oour outgoing student leaders who have served the school and done so much to make IPS a great school. We will miss you all.

Thank you for your support.

Mark Kent

Principal

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