Principal's Message 

Welcome back to Term Two!

It has been a big two weeks returning from the school holidays and it has been lovely to see all of the faces back to school. I hope everyone had a lovely break and a very happy Easter. 

Vale Gordon Bell

It was a very sad start to last week and return to the school term with the news of Gordon Bell’s passing. The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming and I sincerely thank everyone for their condolences. For the past weeks, I have been in close contact with Gordon’s family while he was unwell in hospital, and over the last week. His family are likewise overwhelmed by the love from our school community and it is a true testament to just how special Gordon was to us all. 

Gordon’s funeral will be held on Monday 12th May. We will have a number of staff attending the funeral service on the day and we thank our community in advance for their understanding as we have arrangements in place to cover classes as required. Please take a moment to read more about just how special Gordon was to us all at ENPS, further in the newsletter. I also encourage community members to add their messages of condolence and tributes to Gordon via our special link. These messages will then be shared with Gordon’s family. 

ANZAC Day Dawn Service 

Last Friday morning, the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Keilor East RSL was really special. While our first without Gordon to lead the way, we stood strong together as a group with more than twenty families joining Carole Upton, Imogen Westcott and myself as school representatives. Sam (6MP) and Matthew (2CU) did a wonderful job joining me to lay the wreath. I am always so proud that we do the Dawn Service together as a school, and it is such a significant moment as we stand in uniform as a group to remember. Thank you to all that joined in.

Staffing

This term we have welcomed Angelina Cetin to our ENPS staff team. Angelina has taken over as the 5EG classroom teacher from Emma Gallagher and Serena Walker. Emma has headed off on Family Leave for the remainder of the year as she and Connor Smith prepare for the arrival of their baby girl in the coming weeks. Connor Smith will also be taking some extended leave very soon, as he joins Emma on his Family Leave too. We are so excited for Emma, Connor and big brother Charlie and look forward to the birth announcement soon!

Meanwhile Serena Walker reverts to her full time role as our school’s Mental Health in Primary School, and Disability Inclusion leader. 

2025/26 Open Day

What a big two days it has been yesterday and again today with our 2025/26 ENPS Open Day for prospective parents for 2026 Foundation enrolment. We had five booked out sessions over the two days, with over 100 visitors, hosted by our incredible three School Captains; Engy, Sam and Astin. 73 students from Year Five and Six joined the School Captains as our school tour leaders, some even volunteering to come back to school for the 5pm session! What a remarkable effort from them all. Our tour leaders nominated themselves for the role and have undertaken training in preparation for the Open Day. We are so incredibly proud of our student leaders and just love watching them take groups of parents around our school. 

Apple Tree Walkway

I hope you have had a chance to see the marvellous Apple Tree Walkway which was completed over the school holiday break. This project, led by our School Council Learning Environments Sub-committee and funded from the 2024 Walkathon, looks absolutely amazing. Together with the Safe, Kind and Respectful Values Mural running alongside the walkway, it has had a huge impact on our school grounds and accessibility to the oval for our students. A huge thank you to Jodie Elliot (ENPS parent and our School Council Vice President) for leading the project with her passion and commitment, and to Michael (ENPS parent) and his team from Greenspace Landscaping for making it happen. 

For those who may not know, before our school was built in 1920, the land of ENPS was an apple orchard. To commemorate our school’s centenary in 2020 (amidst the global Covid pandemic) our staff planted the row of apple trees along McCulloch Street to connect with our school’s rich history. You can also see our other ‘apple trees’ at the Gillies Street entrance, which was a fundraiser to improve our school grounds in 2020/2021. 

Community Engagement

We can’t wait for our annual Walkathon and Splash of Colour next Friday 9th May! We are thrilled to this year coincide the event with our recognition of Mother’s Day, celebrating all of our ENPS mums, grandmothers, mother figures and VIPs who are invited to join in with the start of our Walkathon event in the morning. We are also, for the first time, giving parents and carers the opportunity to join in the colour fun at the end of the day too! Make sure you get all of the details from the Walkathon page in the newsletter. 

This month, on Thursday 22nd May, we will also hold our annual Day in May. This event is incredibly special to us at ENPS as we remember past student, Marcus Rosin, who passed away from childhood cancer in 2014. Marcus was in Year Three. 2025 marks eleven years since we lost Marcus and ‘A Day in May’ will always be a time we remember Marcus and take the opportunity to raise awareness for cancer research.  Find out more on the Day in May page in this newsletter. 

Have a fantastic weekend everyone and stay safe and well. 

Kate Barletta

Principal