Principal's Item 

Dear parent, carers and friends of EEPS,

Welcome back to Term 3, with a particular welcome to the new students and families who have joined us this week. I hope everyone has a positive and rewarding term. It is certainly going to be a busy term with our concert as well as all the other, ‘normal’ things that go on!

Thank you to all the staff, both onsite and remotely, who put in a lot of work over the holiday break to prepare for this term. As always, we also took the opportunity of the break to complete a lot of maintenance tasks around the school.

Staff News

A very warm welcome back to Ms Rachel Schopf. Rachel is returning with 6 months of Sports Victoria learning to the Year 3 classroom and school. 

Ramp Project Update

Those of you who have been around the school this week will notice significant progress with the ramp project since the end of last term. The concrete pouring is complete and now we are waiting on the final balustrades and railings, again. The wet, inclement weather certainly hasn’t helped a project of this magnitude, but I appreciate the efforts of the contractors, who worked consistently long days, including the weekends, to get as much done as they could during the holidays. They have also cleaned-up and ‘made good’ as much as possible. During this term, in conjunction to having the railings and balustrades completed, we will be able to start the process of relandscaping and improving the surrounding areas. We will most probably schedule a Working Bee, or two, later in the year, in order to assist with this. Thank you to everyone for your patience whilst we have been working through the project. 

School Crossing

At the end of last term, Bill, our western Grove Street supervisor, finished up as he was wanting to move to a crossing closer to home. Thank you to Bill for his service. We welcome Frank as his replacement.  Frank joins Brooklyn on Grove Street, Derek on Beard Street and Connie on Luck Street. Please remember to show your appreciation to them and to follow their safety instructions when walking to and from school.

2025 Prep Enrolments

Enrolments are filling up quickly, so if you have a sibling enrolment for Prep for 2025, or have friends, who have yet to enrol for 2025, then please come in and talk to Julianne or Lesley in the school office. For all schools, the complex process of planning for the next year, always starts with the Prep enrolments.

School Improvement and Learning

As a school we are very excited this term to commence a whole school Professional Learning Community cycle of inquiry related to our work on inclusive practices. Specifically, we are focusing on barriers and enablers in the classroom environment for all children to experience success.

This term we will also finalise our new 2024-2028 School Strategic Plan, after the successful School Review process last term.

Healthy Kids (and Adults)

With the winter season well and truly on us, can I please remind everyone that home is always the best place to be for sick children. Teachers will continue to remind students around health hygiene protocols. Thank you.

How Important You Are!

I often talk about the importance of your role as parents and carers, in the school process. The importance of the partnership in the primary school years is continually reinforced, with news headlines that we have seen related to youth crime and violence. 

During last term, I was privileged to watch a very short clip around the importance of the first five years of life. Whilst I appreciate that this is super critical for a preschool audience, I highly recommend everyone viewing it. It can be accessed here.

As a school we are always on the lookout for workshops, seminars and any tips and ideas that can help the ‘parent journey’. We highly recommend a parent workshop on ‘Helping your child with anxiety’, conducted by Michelle Mitchell. Please see further information and links under the ‘Wellbeing’ section of the Newsletter.

Concert

Please keep a look out for Newsfeeds about concert, especially in relation to costumes and tickets. If you haven’t had a chance to approve the Compass event regarding travel by bus to the rehearsal at Robert Blackwood Hall, then please remember to do this.

Well, we have started the term off with a bang, and I look forward to the many exciting and wonderful opportunities for us to ‘Learn and Grow Together’.