Principal's Item 

Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

For those of you able to attend Assembly on Monday, you would have heard the Year 3 Strings Ensemble perform Beethoven’s, ‘Ode to Joy’. They really did do a terrific job and have all come so far since taking up the violin at the start of Year 2. 

Art show- this Thursday

We are eagerly looking forward to the Art Show this Thursday from 6.00-8.00 pm. The night will start with an official opening at 6.00pm in the BER. Hundreds of pieces of student art work will be on display around the school. There will also be some short musical performances on the nights, family art activities and a CFA provided sausage sizzle.

Father’s Day and Special Person’s Day

As a school we hope that all the EEPS dads and father figures had a great day on Sunday.

 However, we also understand, respect and value that our community is made up of a variety of family structures, and we hope that all of our families had a loving and joy filled day on Sunday. We hope that the presents were also well received. 

‘Bullying’ and communication with the school

We are very proud that ‘bullying’ is very rare at Eltham East. We value our weekly CORE lessons highly and capitalise on the fact that the overwhelming majority of our students come from families who recognise the importance of our school values- Enjoyment, Resilience, Teamwork, Learning and Respect. Bullying is defined as deliberate, repeated and targeted behaviour from one student towards another, usually involving an imbalance in power. From time to time there are incidences at school, which is a perfectly normal part of school life. When such incidences occur then we often do get communication from parents. This we always welcome however, please be cautious in labelling the behaviour as ‘bullying’. Please let us investigate any problems and work with you and your children to come up with positive solutions. Words are important and labelling incidences that happen from time to time as ‘bullying’, is not always accurate or helpful in solving the problem. Thank you for your support and understanding.

National Threatened Species Day

This Thursday, 7th September is National Threatened Species Day. We are very extremely lucky to have both a butterfly sanctuary and bushland reserve at EEPS that is confirmed as a breeding ground for the Eltham Copper Butterfly. Over the last fortnight some of our Year 6s have planted some additional plants in the sanctuary and we are working with both Nillumbik Bio and the Nillumbik Shire Council on a future management plan for this special habitat. Threatened species day is a chance to learn and reflect on the importance of protecting our locally threatened species. There is much that we can all do locally that contributes to making a difference globally.

New Recycling initiative 

We are very pleased to have finally been able to join the Nillumbik Council’s regular recycling service. They have delivered us several recycling bins which we will put into action very shortly. This will be very useful for things like the milk containers from OSHC but we are still encouraging all our students to have their reusable water bottles at school every day and to continue with our great focus on ‘nude food’ and reducing waste.

School uniform- hats and jumpers

As we have reached September we now require all students to have their school hats for recess, lunch play and other outside sessions. Both the gold wide-brimmed and purple bucket hats are available from the uniform shop either online or in person on a Monday or Wednesday morning, or from the school office. Please take advantage of the upcoming holidays to help your child locate their hat around the house as from Term 4 children without school hats will not be able to participate in outdoor activities and will need to be play under cover during break times. Thank you to the small number of families who have been able to also help locate missing jumpers. If your child doesn’t have a school jumper then please have a look in lost property (red cabinets outside the art room) or alternatively purchase a replacement from the uniform shop or second-hand uniform stand. Wearing the school uniform is one important aspect of building school pride and developing a community of connected learners. 

Year 6 maths opportunities

This Friday we have two teams of Year 6 students competing in the Maths Association of Victoria ‘Mathematics Games Day’ at Genazzano, in Kew. This annual Maths Games Day is an opportunity for students to develop their mathematical talents and thinking skills in a setting where maths is regarded as fun and worthwhile with like-minded students from a diverse range of schools. It is an ideal way for students to participate in additional mathematical activities and is a very effective vehicle for getting young people - particularly in the middle years of schooling - excited about maths. We are very pleased to offer this opportunity for the first time in 2023.

Finally, a very warm welcome to Julianne Roberts, who has started at EEPS in the office this week and we wish all our EEPS athletes the best as they head off to Division tomorrow, Thursday.

Have a great week of ‘Learning and Growing Together’

Warren Lloyd  

 Principal