Principal News 

Letter from Mr Foley

Hi Everyone,I write to thank parents, our PFA team, all staff and students for the gift package I received on Tuesday.  It was a surprise to receive a lovely booklet containing artwork from all the children in each class throughout the school.  There were lovely drawings and kind, and supportive messages included.  Brilliant!  As well I received lovely goodies to nibble and a special pot plant and gifts.  I was really touched by the community effort and appreciate the kind thoughts. 

My operation was successful and that was very pleasing to be told the good news. I have started a recovery treatment program and am learning that I need to be patient as recovery takes time!  I am certainly not familiar with the experience of hospitals and being very ill.  Feeling lethargic is frustrating but a long-term positive outcome is the goal.  I will not be at school in term three as the treatment program phase takes six months to complete.

I miss the teachers and children dearly, but I keep in touch with Tandy Johnson each week.  Being out of the loop, I enjoy reading the newsletter and I am hearing the school is travelling well. That is pleasing to hear, and I congratulate the staff on their tireless efforts and commitment to their classes.  There have been lots of student achievements and great experiences taking place each month.  Go Eltham North!

OSHC program bookings

As communicated earlier in the week The OSHC program is now at capacity for the Wednesday and Thursday after school program. We are currently unable to accept any casual bookings on Wednesday and Thursday.

If you do have a standard booking for these days and you do not require care or your child is not at school, we ask that you let us know in advance as we have many parents wishing to use the program and are unable to, due to the high demand.

Also, we request that parents wishing to use the program for a casual visit please advise us in with as much notice as possible to allow us to fill our staff/child ratio. We understand that sometimes life does not allow us time to facilitate this, and we will always try and accommodate you on these one-off occasions. We are frequently unable to accommodate late bookings whilst remaining compliant in our supervision ratios. We will always run a compliant program.

Facilities news

After many unsuccessful grant applications written seeking to upgrade the 50-year-old adult toilet blocks, I received a very welcomed phone call from Vicki Ward on Tuesday. She has supported us in securing the funding to upgrade our adult toilets. This is wonderful after having all the students’ toilets upgraded or refurbished in 2020 and 2024. At the completion of this project, we will have refurbished toilets across the whole school. Planning for this long-awaited upgrade will commence July 1.

We are currently seeking quotes to shade the assembly area to enable all year-round assemblies that will be able to go ahead on high UV days and not require us to be in the atrium or indoors. It will provide all round year shade in that playground area.This will become the focus of our fundraising goal to get the area shaded as soon as possible. We have been unable to proceed with this plan until the Shelter in Place building is formally relocated. This relocation is expected to take place soon with all pre works investigations now completed.

We continue to work with the department on the removal of the portable classrooms on the upper basketball court. We are asking for the department to restore level playing area for the students rather than a sloped area that will be unusable and will erode onto the current court. I will keep you updated on any progress on this.

In the next month, works to upgrade our two accessibility ramps will be carried out by the VSBA. This will make access to the Science room significantly improved. The ramp adjacent to the assembly court will be upgraded to meet all abilities access requirements. 

The year 5/ 6 students will soon commence works on the Rotary Eltham funded mural near their classrooms. The remnants of the old mural have been removed, and preparation works will start shortly. 

All the scheduled works will bring a sparkle to our school and increased comfort for everyone. We are excited to see the changes coming and appreciate your support of PFA fundraising that will go towards the shading of the court.

Athletics Carnival

A reminder that our Athletics carnival will be held for students in years 3-6 next Tuesday. Students in years P-2 will be involved in Coach Approach sessions whilst the 3-6 students will be hitting the field. Thank you to Miss V for organising both events that we know the students look forward to every year. 

The weeks feel like they are flying by! Again, I wish you a great weekend and hope that you get some time to ‘smell the roses’