Principal's Item 

Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

Last Friday the Prep enrolments closed for 2025. It is sometimes hard to believe where the time goes but here we are again starting to prepare for the following year. I am very pleased to let everyone know that we have really solid enrolment numbers and will, again, have 4 Prep classes in 2025. We have been able to accommodate most of the students on our waitlist. Thank you to our current families who brought in their sibling enrolment forms earlier in the year.

Visit from our Local MP and CEO of Wildcats

A week ago, I had another meeting with Vicki Ward, our local Member of Parliament and the CEO of the Eltham Wildcats, Connor Matthews, to further discuss the EEPS Master Plan and the wish for a full-sized stadium. Connor is an Ex-EEPS student, so that added another nice connection to the process. As I have written before, we will need to be patient and take small steps in working with the Government around what amounts to a significant amount of funding.

District Athletics

Well done to our EEPS district athletics team, who competed on Tuesday with a great attitude and excellent results. Whilst we didn’t bring home the trophy this year, all our team should be incredibly proud of their achievements. Thank you to the teachers and parents who supported the children.

Professional Learning

It has been a genuinely invigorating week for professional learning at EEPS. On Monday, Lisa Joseph, Nigel Dunne and myself attended the Victorian Government Schools Principal Conference at the Exhibition Centre. There were some excellent, thought-provoking presentations, ideas from which we will be taking and implementing at EEPS. It was also useful to further unpack the new state-wide Teaching and Learning Model, which sits beside our own Instructional Model. On Tuesday, I was shadowed by a young leader from a local school who is participating in a beginning leaders professional development course. Whilst she was shadowing me there was still excellent learning and reflection to be had from both sides. Yesterday evening, Melissa Egan, Learning Specialist, presented a stimulating professional development session for staff about ‘Maths Anxiety’ in students, complete with some excellent strategies for teachers to use. Thank to Naomi Brabender, our Mental Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Leading Teacher, for her knowledgeable input into this session. 

Supports and ‘Myth Busting’

This Friday, every school in Australia needs to submit data as part of the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data. As a part of this process we sit with teachers, every year explain the categories and levels of adjustments. We then ask teachers to identify on a class list specific children, and what type and level of adjustments they require to support their learning. There are no surprises here to anyone, parents included, but it is always an annual reflection of the range of students that we have in every class. Occasionally I hear the myth that ‘EEPS doesn’t have any neurodiverse children’. This is absolutely not true, and we work really hard as a school to support, include and celebrate our large and increasingly growing student cohort who could be broadly classified as ‘neurodiverse’.

Working Together

I often talk about the necessity of the strong home-school partnership to make learning happen. At EEPS, we are incredibly lucky, that universally across the school, there are very strong connections between home and school. One thing that we have noticed recently is the increase of unsettled emotions and general tiredness on a Monday. We are completely understanding as educators, and parents, that the weekend is an important opportunity to recharge and to enjoy doing lots of different things. May I still ask, that you are mindful of still regulating things like screentime, bedtime and activity time, as we want all children enjoying their weekends but not to the extent that they are exhausted on Monday and we lose a valuable day of learning!

Mobile Phone Reminder

A reminder that all student mobile phones, and mobile devices (including smart watches) need to be in school mode and locked during the day. This is a state-wide policy for all students. Thank you.

Student Free Days

Lastly, we will have a Curriculum Day on Wednesday 4th September (the day after concert) and Monday 16th September is a variation to school hours day for 3 Way Conferences. Remember this means that your child/ren only attend school, with you, for the 3 way conference times. From our perspective, it was a very successful model in Term 1, being the first time we have conducted 3 Way Conferences in this way.

Prep Milestone

I look forward to seeing all our Preps dressed up on Friday for the 100 days of school!