Principal's Views

As we approach the end of Week 4, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the improvements we have been making to our whole school attendance. Last week’s whole school attendance surpassed the 95% mark at 95.46% which is a fantastic effort from everyone. The graphs below show the top classes over the last two weeks. Thank you to the parents and carers who provide reasons for their child’s absence before the day has begun. This helps us to streamline and save time following up unexplained absences. Keep up the great effort everyone.

Week 2

Week 3

Curriculum Day 12th May – Protective Intervention Training

On Monday 12th May all staff at EVPS attended the Protective Intervention Training session with TESSA (Therapeutic Engagement Support Services Association) as part of our Curriculum Day. This training equipped us with essential skills and strategies to support students and staff in maintaining safety, wellbeing, and emotional health. We deepened our understanding of how to identify potential risks, manage challenging situations, and how to intervene in a supportive, respectful, and effective manner. We are grateful to TESSA for their expertise and for helping us further our commitment to the wellbeing of our students.

Walk Safely to School Day

Today we participated in Walk Safely to School Day. Well done to the students and families who made an extra effort to walk (or walk a little further) to school today. This initiative raises awareness of the health, road safety, transport and environmental benefits of regular walking and active transport.

We encourage you to walk to school (or part of the way) every day.

Education Support Staff Appreciation Day

Today, May 16th is Education Support Staff Appreciation Day and yesterday afternoon we had a special afternoon tea to show our recognition and respect for all of our education support staff. Our school could not function if it weren’t for all the work they do.

They’re often quietly working behind the scenes and also right in the middle of the action … They keep everything running smoothly …from helping in classrooms and in the yard, supporting students one-on-one and in groups, managing resources, keeping the tech going, keeping the grounds clean and maintained and keeping our students, parents and staff informed and cared for …. And so much more!!

We see the care, patience and heart they bring to their roles, and we’re so grateful for everything they do to support our students, teachers, and school community. Their work makes a huge difference every single day. We really couldn’t do it without them!

Thanks to Oliver G from 6ZG who made a speech on behalf of all of the students at EVPS to thank the ES staff. Thanks also to Noor 6SJ and Yusef 6EK who took over the phones and front desk so that everyone could enjoy the afternoon tea.

Community Hub – Morning Tea

Today we launched a series of events designed to develop school, family and community partnerships to improve student learning and wellbeing outcomes. This is one of our whole school goals.

We invited 15 families from Arabic, Persian, and Kurdish language backgrounds, with translators available to support engagement and connection. Students and families read books in their home languages and English, enjoyed hot chocolates, and shared morning tea.

Rewshen from Whittlesea Community Connections helped to facilitate this session and it was great getting to know some of our families a little better.

In the coming weeks we have a number of exciting events to look forward to …

Next week is Education Week. Our student leaders have organised a number of great activities for us to celebrate the different cultures at EVPS. Even though we recently celebrated Harmony Day and had a cultural dress up, the students loved it so much that we are going to dress in our cultural dress once again next Tuesday 21st May. There is also an exciting poetry competition which we would love for everyone to join in for the chance to share their poem at assembly and win some prizes.

Prep Breakfast Friday 23rd May

National Reconciliation Week 27th May to 3rd June

EVPS Wear it Yellow Day 2nd June for Children’s Ground

Students are welcome to join the staff and wear yellow on Monday 2nd June - if you would like to support this fundraiser here is the link to donate.

Important dates to remember:

Curriculum Day Friday 6th June - pupil free day

King's Birthday Public Holiday Monday 9th June

Student Voice and Agency – By Steve Allen

Across the school, students continue to have opportunities to share their voice in their own classroom. This is happening regularly with the Morning meetings where students check in and share something with their peers - ranging from an emotion check-in, to the choice of a warm up activity (called a Positive Primer), to sharing something that they are looking forward to each week. In the senior years, our students are even running the Morning meeting.

Our Student Leaders have continued to share their ideas based on the voices of other students from across the school. The change to our rubbish bin locations and eating areas at recess and lunch breaks is a student-led initiative supported by our Sustainability Leaders, in response to the amount of rubbish in the yard directly linked to food and drink purchased from the canteen.

The House Captains, spurred on by the success of the Staff vs Students competition from 2024, are developing a House Cup competition to be run in Term 3. This will be open for students across the school, and will allow students to make some connections to the four school houses of Dunolly, Kubat, Lyndarum and Mansfield.

The four School Captains are building their public speaking and presenting skills, and are excited for the community to see their skills and confidence develop over the course of the year.

We invite you to stay tuned for exciting updates about the Buddy program as the year progresses…

Rachel Griffiths,

Acting Principal

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