From the Principal

 Welcome to Ivanhoe Primary School

The enthusiasm and creativity displayed by all the students (and staff) during Book Week were truly remarkable. It was a joy to see so many students dressed up as their favourite book characters, bringing stories to life in such a vibrant and fun way. 

The effort put into each costume was incredible, and it was clear that the students had a fantastic time celebrating their love of reading. From classic characters to modern heroes, the variety and imagination were simply marvellous.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to all the parents and carers for your incredible support in making Book Week such a special event. Whether you assisted in creating costumes, encouraged your child's enthusiasm, or simply joined in the excitement, your involvement was essential to the success of this celebration.

We look forward to many more celebrations of reading and learning in the future!

Below are just a few photos from the IPS Bookweek Parade. 

Staff Year 3 Team - The Witches voted the best dressed staff team!

Community Support for book week parade - so many parents came to cheer on the students!

Book Week Winners Awards

2024 CBCA Winners and Honours Announced

We are excited to share that the Children’s Book Council of Australia has announced the winning books for 2024. Below are the results of this year's awards:

Walk-a-thon is nearly here!

This year’s major fundraising event for IPS will be the House Walkathon on Thursday the 5th of September 2024.  Following the morning in the classroom the students will enjoy an early lunch with fellow house members with the walkathon commencing at 1pm and concluding at 2.30pm.

Students are asked to wear house colours rather than school uniform on this day. Students are encouraged to carry a water bottle throughout the event, apply sunscreen and, if necessary, wear a hat.

Three courses will be marked out in the immediate school vicinity and supervised by teachers and parents on the day of the Walkathon. A shorter lap for the Foundation/2- approximately 250m, Grade 2/3 approximately 350m, Grade 4 – 6 approximately 900m. This year we are using electronic lap counting; this will give parents and carers more opportunity to walk with students.

The Walkathon is both a fundraiser and the promotion of an active lifestyle through walking. It also complements our active ride and walk to school programs. 

Within each grade points will be awarded based on the amount raised by each House. Gold medals will be awarded for ‘Most laps’ in each grade level, and prizes awarded for ‘Most funds raised’.

School council agreed that funds raised (along with a donation from the PFA) will purchase:

• Playground equipment
• Play activities at the top of the school and near to the Foundation and Year 1 areas. The activities would further enhance the educational programs, provide engaging opportunities for game play and brighten up an otherwise dreary asphalt area.

The play activities incorporate some colorful playground designs which can help improve students' literacy, numeracy, motor skills and physical activity.  Our school playground will be decorated with long lasting, vibrant Edumarkings using a unique thermoplastic material that lasts for years.

The students have taken their lap sponsorship forms home. 

Please help them find sponsors. It should be a great day and a lot of fun. 

Please let Mr McKay know if you can help on the day.

Chess Tournament

Last Thursday, IPS hosted the Northern Star Chess Tournament.  76 Students from 14 primary schools competed in the tournament and IPS was very well represented with 27 students from IPS participating.

Congratuations to William Lee who played exceptionally well, receiving a gold medal for the school Year 3-4 age group and coming out first overall and to Harvey Wood who got a bronze medal for the school Year 5-6 age group. 

Well done to all the IPS participants who were just pipped at the post and took second place.  

Right to disconnect

On Monday 26 August 2024, an amendment to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023 came into effect. The new provisions will be adopted alongside the department’s existing industrial and employment obligations, including occupational health and safety commitments.

The legislation makes explicit that all employees have the right to refuse contact from their employer or a third party (such as a student or a parent) outside of their normal working hours, unless that refusal is unreasonable. This means an employee can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact that occurs outside their normal working hours.

Where principals, or regional and central department staff contact school employees outside normal working hours, staff have the right to refuse contact outside their normal working hours unless this is unreasonable.

Several factors must be considered when determining whether an employee’s choice not to respond is unreasonable. 

This includes:

• the reason for the contact
• whether the employee is compensated or paid extra for:
• being available to be contacted to perform work within a specific period, or
• working additional hours outside their ordinary hours of work
• the nature of the employee’s role and level of responsibility
• the employee’s personal circumstances, including family or caring responsibilities.

Friday 30th August

Students and staff can choose to wear a splash of Purple on Friday 30th August for Wear it Purple Day.

Australia’s biggest online safety lesson

On September 3rd IPS will be taking part in Australia’s biggest online safety lesson run by the Daniel Morcombe Foundation.

The award-winning Australia’s Biggest Child Safety Lesson (ABCSL) is back to deliver important safety messages to children, for its eighth consecutive year. The 2024 livestreamed lesson will teach early primary years – aged 4 to 7 – enthusiastic consent, and upper primary years – aged 8 to 12 – affirmative consent.

This event is linked directly to the Australian Health and PE curriculum and aims to teach children about issues relating to consent including asking for permission, being fair and listening to the wishes of others. It will also focus on the importance of children setting personal boundaries and maintaining open communication with the trusted adults in their lives.

This event aims to educate students about consent and the importance of understanding how to seek, give and deny consent respectfully. We want to emphasise that the content of ABCSL has been carefully curated to be age-appropriate and presented in a sensitive and responsible manner.

Finally....

At Ivanhoe PS we are committed to equity, excellence and care.  We promote a school culture that values diversity and fosters respectful relationships. From time-to-time issues arise that we endeavour to approach in a sensitive and caring manner.

This means we demonstrate respect to our peers, our teachers and our parent community. 

It is important to remember that children do not have to be friends, but they do have to be polite. Often students have a strong sense of social justice. While they do not always recognise their role in relational conflict (primarily because they are young) they invariably understand logical consequences for anti-social behaviour and expect them to be applied fairly.

As teachers we actively model and teach appropriate behaviours, using evidence informed, strengths-based approaches, to support students to succeed and be happy at school. We expect students to be active participants in their own learning and behaviour choices.

​ When playground or peer issues arise, teachers and staff use a positive behaviour approach and to try to affect the best outcome for all students.  These processes are proven to be beneficial for students in helping them  to developing problem solving strategies and resilience.

There is no acceptable excuse for being unkind, teasing or undertaking any bullying behaviour. We seek your cooperation, and request that you regularly speak with your child about the importance of getting along and the need in our society for tolerance, kindness and self-control. 

Thank you for your continued support. 

Have  a great week.

Mark Kent

Principal

http://www.ivanhoeps.vic.edu.au/ 

We respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Victoria and pay respect to the ongoing living cultures of First Peoples.