Happy Friday parents and carers, this is Jodie Elliott here coming to you from the ENPS newsletter. I’m a parent School Council member and lucky enough to be the first one to kick-start the School Council newsletter entries off.

It’s a new year and we’re already at the end of Week Four of school. Time is flying past, so let’s not delay any further and get straight into this…

Welcome Foundation Families

It’s wonderful to be sharing this experience with you all! Both my son and our School Council President’s son have started Foundation this year and we are both blown away by the attentive details, information and care provided by the stunning Foundation teaching team at ENPS.

It’s been wonderful meeting new parents at the school and hearing all the positive feedback flowing through, especially from the first-time families. It's been a great start to the year for our littlest learners and they have all adjusted to a new routine so incredibly well… and so have the parents!

Hopefully your child was just as excited as mine to start school four weeks ago, with the excitement bursting right out of his skin!

ENPS Start of Year Community Picnic

It’s on today, this afternoon - don’t miss this one! Join us for a family picnic afternoon at Woodlands Park in Essendon, it’ll be great to see you there. Pack a picnic and come on down or simply drop past for a quick play in the playground area. The kids will have a ball burning off their energy and you’ll get to meet a few friendly faces too. Parents of the school will be there, School Council members will be there, plus a few teachers to welcome you in.

When: Friday 21st February

Time: From 3.30pm onwards

Where: Woodlands Park, Essendon (141A Woodland St, Essendon)

Apple Tree Walkway

What an absolute blast this project has been! School Council parent members worked so hard on preparing and painting the wall over the summer school holidays for the return of school in January. Then the amazing teachers at school have been working closely with each individual student to get their handprint up on the wall.

This mural represents the values of the school with Safe, Kind and Respectful boldly displayed across a huge part of the school. The hands of our students proudly displayed around these words are a true reflection of the morals and continuing achievements of this wonderful community.

We hope to create many more projects like this around the school in 2025!

Joining School Council in 2025

Have you considered joining the ENPS School Council in 2025? Your chance to do so is now here.

Being a part of School Council is a wonderful way of getting to know the school better. What goes on behind the scenes, what goes into organising this great school and how decisions are made. You will learn more about the roles of each staff member and how the school maintains its high level of education – and what’s even better, is that you get to be a part of that and be a part of making a difference.

School Council is now calling for nominations for positions vacant.

These positions have become vacant due to the expiry of term of office, or resignation, of particular council members.

These positions include:

Two parent electorate representatives (Two year tenure position)
Three DET Employee electorate representatives (One year tenure period)

Nomination forms for the parent electorate positions are below and also are available from the school office. You may like to nominate yourself or another ENPS parent.

ENPS Staff have received the DET staff electorate nomination forms by email.

Nominations are due by Tuesday 25th February, in person to the school office. On submission, the nomination will be provided with a nomination form receipt.

The forms below include:

ENPS School Council Information and 2025 Call for Nominations
Self-nomination form for parent member category
Nomination form for parent member category

Current School Council members will be at the ENPS Start of Year Picnic day at Woodlands Park from 3.30pm onwards. Come on down and say hello and feel free to ask as many questions as you like.

2025 Curriculum/Student Free Days

Curriculum/Student Free Days have now been scheduled for Terms Two and Four, and the dates are listed below for your information:

Term Two

Monday 26th May: Student Free Day (Professional Practice Day - Moderation and Reporting)

Term Four

Friday 21st November: Curriculum Day (Moderation and Report Writing)
Friday 12th December: Curriculum Day (2026 Planning)

Next School Council Meeting

The ENPS School Council Annual Public Meeting is scheduled for Monday 17th March 2025 at 6pm till 6:30pm. This is an online meeting and is open to all that wish to attend. If you would like to join us please contact the school office on 9379 3979 or email essendon.north.ps@education.vic.gov.au and you will be provided with more information.

Our next School Council meeting is also scheduled for Monday 17th March 2025 from 6:30pm.

As a council we would like to remind our community that we are here for any questions or concerns you may have, and that we will continue to represent the community and parents to the best of our abilities. We look forward to staying connected and keeping you all updated.

We’re looking forward to a great year ahead.

ENPS School Council

Become a Foster Carer

The Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA)