Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

It is hard to believe that we are heading rapidly towards the end of Term 1! How time flies when we are having such fun. It was lovely to have some of our Year 3 and 4 students performing as part of our ‘EEPS has Talent’….it certainly does demonstrate a variety of talents and courage to perform.

Staff news

It is with mixed emotions that I inform our school community that Mr David Tyndall, has been provisionally appointed as the new, substantive Principal of Eltham Primary School. I am extremely proud of David, and know that he will make an important and significant contribution to his new school and I look forward to strengthening the relationships between the two schools. However, David had a unique skill set that will be greatly missed. I can’t thank him enough for his outstanding contribution to EEPS and for his personal support to me and friendship to me, as well as many relationships he built at EEPS.

I am proud of the role that Eltham East Primary School does play in the solid training and preparation of staff to take on senior leadership positions in the Network. In addition to David, many of our older families may remember Naomi Ivers, who was a previous Assistant Principal at EEPS but was recently appointed last year as the substantive Principal of Heidelberg Primary School.

Arrangements for David's replacement will be made in due course.

I would also like to let families know that Mrs Lisa Joseph will be on leave until the end of term. Please make contact with Mrs Naomi Brabender, Mental Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Leading Teacher, if you had something that you would have normally contacted Lisa about. I thank Naomi, and Melissa Egan, for their extra support with Lisa’s absence.

Harmony Day

This Thursday, 21st March is Harmony Day. The JSC has organised a special ‘Colours of Culture’ gold coin dress up day to help raise money for the Refugee Council of Australia. The teachers will also be discussing how important Harmony day is during the week in a variety of ways. I am very pleased that the cultural make-up in Eltham has been slowly changing over the last few years and this is reflected in our school enrolments. I am also extremely proud of how harmonious the overwhelming majority of our students are, and how inclusive and accepting of different cultures and customs.

Ramp update

The ramp construction project is still continuing. I am hopeful that the school community will see a great deal of work during the holidays!

2025 Prep Enrolment tours

I have been delighted to start the prep tours for 2025. Once again EEPS is receiving many inquiries for tours. Whilst time consuming, I am always energised by doing tours, sharing the approaches of our school, touring our great facilities and talking about the many wonderful opportunities that our children can enjoy. If you know of a friend who will be sending their child to school next year at EEPS then please remind them to contact the office to arrange a tour. Enrolments officially open at the start of next term.

School Council

It was wonderful to welcome new School Council members last night at the AGM and first meeting of the new School Council. Thank you for these parents who have put their hands up. The 2023 Annual Report was also present at School Council and will be publicly available once the Department has completed the Quality Assurance process.

Movie Night- this Friday!

The excitement is building for our annual movie night this Friday. It is going to be a wonderful occasion. Please remember to bring some spare money for raffle tickets and the sausage sizzle. A massive thank you to Caroline Melocco for coordinating the raffle once again- we are indebted to you Caroline. Please consider offering your time for half an hour or so to help with the night. The sign-up roster can be found HERE. Also, just a reminder that all students must be accompanied by a parent.

Variation to School Hours Day

The school is looking forward to the 3 Way Conferences next Monday, 25th March. I will see many of you around the school at this time.

However, before then, other opportunities for the community to get together are:-

Seeing many of our special friends for the Prep Grandparent’s Day this Friday
Greeting our active families for National Ride to School Day, and
Seeing our older students compete in the 2024 EEPS Cross Country.

I look forward to greeting many of you in this busy end of term.

Have a great week of Learning and Growing Together.

OSHC