Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

Last Friday was a fantastic celebration for our bi-annual, Japanese Day. Our start of the day assembly woke everyone up with the Japanese drumming show followed by the kendo demonstration. As the day unfolded every class had one cultural incursion, along with craft activities. A huge thank you to Miss Sakamoto for organising the day.

Staff News

I would like to welcome Nina Seidel to the EEPS staff as an Education Support staff member. Nina, is actually an ex-EEPS student who is studying to be a teacher.

New Opportunity

For those of you who may have missed the Compass Newsfeed; the school is pleased to offer the opportunity to 2025 Year 5 and 6 students to attend ‘Somers School Camp’. Please look out for the separate Newsfeed for further information. Thank you to those families who have already expressed interest.

Exciting JSC Whole-School Activity

I am very excited to write about the new ‘R-Mazing Race’ which has originated from the drive and ideas of the active Junior School Council members. To celebrate and launch EEPS new values of Responsibility, Respect, and Resilience, we will hold an R-Mazing Race. This event on Thursday 14th November, will engage students in fun, team-based challenges around the school, identifying the values being demonstrated in various stories and situations. Please see the Compass event for full details. It is going to be a very exciting and engaging experience for us all.

Oval Play

Towards the end of last term and the beginning of this term, year levels have worked together to come up with fair rules and processes for different games on the oval and basketball courts. Thank you to the teachers who have supported the children in formulating and agreeing on the rules. As educators we know that one of the common causes of frustration or disagreements in the playground is uncertainty around rules. If you could continue to remind your children about the importance of quickly clarifying rules, especially if different students are playing, or if it is a new game, that would be very helpful.

World Teacher’s Day

This Friday, 25th October is World Teacher’s Day. As Principal, I would like to express my enormous gratitude to the amazing EEPS teachers. They are an incredibly dedicated, passionate, caring and capable group of individuals. If you get a moment, I know that the teachers, including our specialist and support teachers, always appreciate being acknowledged. As a staff we hold a morning tea and teachers will receive a small gift as a token of our appreciation. More broadly, it is disappointing that the narrative around teachers isn’t more positive in the media and in some circles of society. However, all we can do is to play our own part in celebrating and acknowledging the value of teachers and teaching.

2025 Class Planning Process - Repeat of Newsfeed on Tuesday

On Tuesday we sent home the ‘learning friends’ page for 2025 for all Prep-Year 5 students. There was also a direct Compass Newsfeed outlining the process. It is repeated here for those who may have missed it.

Dear parents and carers,

At this time of the year, we start to focus some of our combined energy into the classes for 2025. Previously I have communicated the process through the newsletter, however today I am taking the step of communicating directly to you through this Newsfeed. It is my hope, that by doing this and providing further insight into the process along with some continued refinements, that any anxiety around the process may be reduced.

The class placement process places at its core the best learning outcomes for EEPS students, not just academic but social and emotional growth.

Teachers will soon be commencing the task of allocating students to classes, each class being an important community of learners.

Prior to allocating students to classes, they are given an opportunity to record four students from their year level who they would believe they would learn well with and like to be with next year, or could learn well with. Teachers encourage students to think beyond their own class and to name students with whom they work well, rather than just their close friends. It is not a priority listing, so it does not matter which name is written on the form first. Class teachers explain to students at least one of those named will be in their class for the following year. This form is going home today with all Prep-Year 5. We ask that you help your child return their hand to their classroom teacher by Monday 28th October.

Previously we have asked for five learning friends on a ‘hand’. This year we are trialling asking for four learning friends. We have completed some modelling on selecting three or four learning friends and believe that 4 should provide enough flexibility whilst at the same time help narrow the focus for the student. Previously, there have been several occasions when the school has had concerns raised by parents around classes with a child getting one of the five but with the comment that that person isn’t really a friend, they just had to ‘fill up the hand’. Hence, the rationale for trailing four learning friends.

The key words here are ‘learning friends’. This has never been designed as a list of your child’s best friends as it is often the case, that many friendships are often strengthened and more positive when the two students are not necessarily in the same class.

Teachers follow a process and consider the following when allocating students. These include:

- There is a fair distribution of personalities and abilities.

- There is a fair distribution of genders.

- Students placed with at least one of their four named learning friends from their year level.

- There is a fair distribution of students with specific needs.

- There are separations when required

In the coming weeks, teachers and leadership will collectively spend over 100 hours (approx. 2.5 weeks’ worth of work) carefully arranging classes for 2025. We use a specific software program, that considers the children’s preferences to ensure that they are in a class with at least one of their selected learning friends from their list. From there, staff analyse the groupings and consider a multitude of factors such as academic abilities, social dynamics, and the diverse learning styles of each child. This process is very complex and time consuming. Teachers use their knowledge and judgement to make the best decisions for the children that they can.

Please trust us; we know your children and their learning styles. There is no such thing as the ‘perfect’ grade, and that learning to work with different students in a supported community of learners is a very normal, natural, and indeed positive and necessary part of child development. Please also remember that it is important, for children to learn to interact with children who maybe different to themselves.

The school never intentionally prioritises one student over another. It is absolutely normal that some children will end up with a higher number of close ‘learning friends’ than others due to all the factors that are considered.

Over the next two weeks please let your child’s classroom teacher know if there is anything pertinent about your child’s friendships or relationships, that you think they may not know. (No later than Friday 8th November). We do not accept requests regarding teachers.

If you are moving schools next year, please let the school office know and they can help with the necessary arrangements. Knowing this also helps our planning and ability to offer places to other students, if available.

Whilst we are starting this process, and asking the students, for their learning friends, our main focus for now is to continue our lens around the current school year as we have many weeks still to go!

As always, thank you for both your support and understanding.

Good luck to our Year 5 and 6 students as they embark on the intensive swimming program this week and to our Year 4’s as they prepare for their camp next week.

Mental Health and Wellbeing