Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

Here we are at the end of term! We certainly have had a busy term of learning and growing, in the classroom, in the playgrounds and with our different extracurricular activities. There is a long list of extra, enriching activities across the school, ranging from our 60th anniversary, to the Preps’ 100 days of school, the Boite choir, Year 5 camp and the assembly performances.

Art show

Despite the rain the 2023 EEPS Art show was incredibly successful. As well as hundreds of pieces of art we had collaborative art activities, solo musical performances and the CFA sausage sizzle. Community and creativity, is a strong alliance, so thank you to students and staff for making it happen and for families for your support. One of the Prep students asked me on Thursday morning where my artwork was. As I didn’t have a piece on display I enjoyed making one with a Year 4 class in the morning so it was on display by the evening! I wonder if anyone noticed it?

Staffing update

I would like to wish Mrs Stubberfield all the best as she resumes family leave ahead of the arrival of her second child. We look forward to welcoming you back for a visit later in the year! Speaking of pregnancies, I am also thrilled to announce that Miss Harriman is also pregnant with her first child, due early next year. Congratulations, Alex! I would also like to welcome Mrs Kathryn Sparkes to the shared OSHC Coordinator role at EEPS. Kathryn has had a similar role at EEPS several years ago but has since been working and travelling in North America. Welcome back, Kathryn!

Student achievements

Last Friday we had 8 Year 6 students participate in the Maths Association of Victoria’s Maths Day. EEPS finished second out of 50 schools, and only missed the top spot by one point. This is a really strong performance that we should all celebrate. Special congratulations to Chester P for his recent additional achievement in Mathematics, winning the 2023 AMC (Australia Mathematics Competition): Prize and Peter O’Halloran Award for a Perfect Score (Upper Primary Division). Whilst these achievements are significant in themselves, Chester’s sense of humility with his success, is admirable.

R U OK? Day

This Thursday is R U OK? Day. The message of this day is pivotal- it is important to ‘check-in’ with our friends, families and colleagues as we all have ups and downs, and good and bad days. The four easy recommended steps are; 1) Ask R U OK?, 2) Listen, 3) Encourage action and 4)Check-in. I did speak about this at assembly on Monday, which connected to our strong message this term around looking out for each other. You may like to watch the short video clip that we played or to read the resource page as part of the Newsletter this week. Most importantly, please always remember to reach out to your friends, family and colleagues.

Premiers’ Reading Challenge

Last week the Premiers’ Reading Challenge concluded. This year we had 390 students complete the challenge. 18,104 books were logged across the school compared to last year when we logged 14, 341. The books logged the greatest number of times were: ‘There's no such book’ by Jessica Detmann, ‘Come Together’ by Isaiah Firebrace and ‘Our Dreaming’ by Kirli Saunders, which were all CBCA nominated books and each logged 306 times.

There will be a special 'Premiers' Reading Challenge Champion' pin awarded to the student in each year level that read the greatest number of books, which will be announced at an assembly early next term. Thank you to Miss Lapadula for her smooth organisation of the PRC this year.

Working Bee

Please save the date- we are planning to hold a Spring into Spring EEPS Working Bee on Sunday 8th October. Please see more details later in the newsletter.

As we head into the term break we eagerly await the opening of the new Grove Street playground!

Don’t forget that this Friday, 15th September we have a 2.30pm finish for the last day of term.

Thank you for your support in so many things this term and enjoy a break with your family.

Have a great week.

Warren Lloyd

Principal