Another fortnight at ENPS, and another two big weeks for our school!

A shout out this week to the 36 students who represented ENPS this week at the District Cross Country! What a fabulous effort by all! Congratulations to Nathan L and Mia H who both won their events, and to Jay S who will join Nathan and Mia at the next level of competition next week!

Congratulations also to our 3x3 girl's basketball team who competed this week in the State Competition! A fantastic effort from Elle, Willow, Rye and Milly and a huge shout out to parent, Stacey Trcek for taking the girls to and from the event as ENPS representatives!

And another personal big shout out to Astin, Mariana, Oliver and Mia from Year Five who have been our stand in assembly hosts in the absence of our School Captains while at interschool sport. Today it was Fliss and Yash. I really love that we have so many students wanting to take on leadership opportunities across the school.

Another thing happening in the ENPS office is that from next week our School and House Captains will begin a leadership intern by assisting in the office over the recess breaks. You might catch them answering the phones or welcoming you to the office over the coming weeks. It has certainly been a highlight for us all, not just the captains!

Education Support (ES) Day

It was also great last week to recognise and celebrate our amazing Education Support staff at ENPS. Often the unsung heroes of a school, our ES staff comprise of our office, library, grounds, newsletter and integration aide teams. Like glue, our ES hold us all together and give their heart and soul to their roles. A huge shout out and thank you to our ES team!

A Day in May

Thank you so sincerely to everyone who made our Day in May such a special day. To Marisa, Fabian and Mia Rosin, you will always have a place in our ENPS community, and Marcus will always have a place in our hearts. Marcus’ legacy lives on and while many may not have now known Marcus personally, we all benefit from the connection with our Day in May. From our wonderful day on Tuesday, all proceeds, totalling $1753.20 will go to the Marcus Rosin Foundation.

For those new to our school community, you may not know the significance of a Day in May to us at ENPS. On 15th May 2014, our school lost a true treasure and inspiration. It has now been ten years since the passing of Marcus Rosin. Marcus was in Year Three and at age eight, finally succumbed to brain cancer. A battle he had fought for most of his time at ENPS. Marcus loved super heroes. He loved the Carlton Football Club, Disneyland and playing the drums. He showed everyone he came in contact with how special life was and warmed every heart with his cheeky grin. Our Performing Arts Hall is named in his honour. Our Day in May is an annual tribute to the memory of Marcus Rosin, raising money for children’s cancer research each year. A number of us will also be attending the Splash of Yellow Gala Ball in June, as another fundraiser held by the Rosin family, in Marcus' memory.

Melbourne University Excellence in Education Awards

On Thursday 16th May, our ENPS Executive Team had a special evening at Melbourne University, Faculty of Education (FoE) to accept an award to our school as a part of the 2024 FoE Excellence Awards. ENPS was awarded the FoE Partner Primary School Excellence Award. This award recognises and celebrates outstanding commitment and collaboration of an FoE Partner (School or Early Childhood Education Facility) in the delivery of professional experience and/or experiential learning opportunities.

The FoE 2024 Excellence Awards Selection Committee agreed that Essendon North Primary School significantly enriched our placement partnership in 2023. They hosted 11 Master of Teaching Teacher Candidates and took part in our Work Integrated Learning program. Their consistent support, valuable feedback, and willingness to go above and beyond have greatly contributed to the success of our collaborative efforts.

We are so proud of our partnership with Melbourne University and know a lot of hours and support goes in from many of our ENPS teachers as mentors to our pre-service teachers. This award would not be going to us if it wasn’t for the mentor teachers! Thank you to our amazing staff for giving so much to support the next generation of educators.

Western Melbourne Principal Forum

Yesterday, I attended the DET Western Melbourne Principal's Forum at Moonee Valley Race Course and had the very proud pleasure to watch our Assistant Principals, Alice McKenzie and Alice Stephens present to the hundreds of Principals, Assistant Principals and leadership teams from primary and secondary schools across Western Melbourne. Our school was asked to share our school's journey in the teaching of Mathematics as an exemplar in instructional practice. Alice and Alice, along with Melissa Paola as Mathematics Learning Specialist, have been instrumental at leading our teaching teams as they reflect on and enhance our teaching of mathematics across the school. Well done to Alice and Alice on a fabulous presentation. Make sure you read up on Mathematics at ENPS later in the newsletter!

Essendon North Rotary Club

Last Wednesday night I also had the privilege to attend the Essendon North Rotary Club on behalf of the school. The club completely supported and funded our Nature Play Space that was built by the Strathmore Men’s Shed. The connection with the Rotary Club began pre-covid and they have been tremendous in making that project happen, which completely turned around that area of the oval that was previously just a barren dirt patch!

Student Toilet Building Works Update

We are getting closer to completion now and in the coming two weeks we should have the relocatable toilets moved offsite and officially open up our brand new student toilets! We can’t wait! We are crossing everything for hand over next week!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone and stay safe and well. We still have a number of COVID cases popping up across the school community along with a number of colds, flus and upset tummies! Winter is a time to stay healthy and warm. We sincerely thank families for keeping children home when they are sick. It seems our immune systems aren’t what they used to be and we have had lots of students and staff unwell recently.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kate Barletta

Principal

Congratulations!