Principal's Item 

Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

The word from Year 6s camp is that they are having a fabulous time at Camp Woorabinda and also yesterday, reports from the Museum were that the preps enjoyed their first excursion! Thank you to the teachers for making these wonderful experiences happen and for the parents who help out, time and time again.

Mother’s Day

It is my sincere hope that everyone had a lovely day on Sunday for Mother’s Day. As I said in assembly, at EEPS, we acknowledge family structures are different, and that regardless of your family structure, we hope that everyone had a day of love, warmth and support on Sunday. The school received some lovely feedback from parents regarding the Mother’s Day and special person’s day artwork gifts. Thank you to Mr Coates and Miss Harris for their hard work in making this special activity happen once again at EEPS.

Maths Challenge

Speaking of opportunities - we will be introducing a new opportunity for some of our Year 4 students by entering a team in the Australian Maths Trust Maths Challenge. This involves working through challenging maths problem-solving activities. Thank you to one of our teacher parents, who provided initial information about the Australian based challenge. Just as we value students coming up with ideas, we equally value input from parents. Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, they can’t always be put into practise, but all opportunities are considered.

Concert - ‘Heroes’

Parents and carers, have you had a chance to read the concert Newsfeed posted earlier this week?  It is an exciting concert this year, especially the new feature, Pre-show entertainment. Through an audition process, we will add to the polished production some pre-show musical performances from our student body.

Vigilance on the school grounds

The school is always grateful to families letting us know if they see any members of the community disrespecting the school facilities or not using them safely out of hours. Please continue to do that and together we can continue to ensure that our facilities are kept safe and functioning for the students.

Walking to and from school via Luck Street

Recently the school received a telephone call from a local resident in Luck Street, regarding students throwing rocks, knocking on the door and then running away. We have similar complaints from neighbours on Grove Street from time to time. I will remind the students in assembly next week about being considerate community members; but it would be useful to have a discussion at home around manners, respect and safety when walking to and from school.

Preps in Action - Open afternoon

This afternoon we have our annual ‘Preps in Action’ afternoon for prospective, new prep students and families for 2025. Thank you to Miss Claridge for organising this day. I hope, especially if you hear from families who visited, that everyone had a fun afternoon.

State Budget

Families will be pleased to hear that in 2025 the Government has allocated an additional $400 per student to assist with the payment of camps and Excursions and Activities. We are still waiting to hear the details around this; however, it certainly sounds like a positive initiative to assist families.

School Masterplan

Last week the School Council endorsed the completed EEPS Master Plan. Whilst only conceptual, it will be a useful and cohesive plan to now lobby the Government to see what might be possible over the next few years. We may have to play the ‘long game’ with this project, in light of the current State Government fiscal challenges, but it is a very sound and comprehensive starting point. If you would like to view the Master Plan then please call into the school office.

Thank you for your support of everything ‘purple and gold’!