Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

Last Thursday morning, at the ANZAC Day Dawn service, it was fantastic to have many of our student leaders proudly represent the school by reading the names of the fallen local military personnel who lost their lives during World War 1. They all did an incredible job. Thank you to the parents who were able to bring them along, to Mrs Vescio and also to Jill and Anne from Rotary, who helped the children prepare. This year it was a slightly expanded role with the students reading the names for the first time, as well as placing flags at the base of the Cenotaph.

Last week we also welcomed many visitors to our ANZAC Service on Monday. This is a little piece from one of our students’ families…

‘The medals are a replica of her pa's war medals, he was conscripted to Vietnam war. She wears them when she marches with him on Anzac Day. Her nan and pa came along to the Anzac Day school assembly and said it was a really lovely service. She was so proud to be singing at the assembly in front of them.’

This is part of the email that Mrs Vescio received from Rotary;

‘It was a privilege to assist with the students and there were so many positive comments from people attending who were outside of Rotary and RSL committee members. When we came to the school, it was very evident that the students were excited to be participating in such an important part of the service although nervous. They were so well prepared by you and had obviously done lots of practice. This made our job very easy! You should also be commended for your efforts, especially as you had never attended an Eltham dawn service and had no idea what the task involved. They were so well behaved, polite and engaging. It was lovely to see their parents taking photos after the service and were so proud of their children.’

Thank you again to everyone involved.

Sport

I was delighted to receive a phone call from the Assistant Principal of St Thomas last Friday, praising our senior students on their positive attitudes and sporting behaviour during Interschool Sport. Principal’s do tend to get nervous when they receive phone calls after a sporting event but there was certainly no need for concern! It was also great that some of our Year 5s have been able to fill in places on the teams.

Camps

Today our Year 5s are off to Camp Woorabinda, with our Year 6s following shortly after. We were pleased to host a visit from Simon, a senior Camp Woorabinda camp staff member. Simon outlined some of the programs and facilities for our students. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the school staff who attend any of our school camps. School camps take a great deal of time to exercise and are a 24/7 experience for everyone involved. I know that parents appreciate the efforts to maintain our camping program, especially given the challenges in this landscape over the last couple of years. Thank you, to the parent helpers, for giving up their time with family and work commitments.

Science Talent Search

This year, once again, EEPS students will have the opportunity to participate in the Science Talent Search. Please see future copies of the newsletter for more information!

Curriculum Feedback to the VCAA

Attached to the Newsletter is a flyer for those families who would like to give feedback to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) on the changes to the Victorian Early Year Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF).

Art competition

Well done to our Visual Arts student leaders for organising a new art competition for students to enter - the theme for this first competition is ‘animals’.

School Review

Last week I was very pleased to host the first School Review meeting at EEPS with the reviewer, our SEIL and Leadership Team. For those of you who are not familiar with a school review let me outline the process. All Victorian government schools have a review every 4 years which then leads to a new School Strategic Plan. The four main parts are: a Pre-Review Self-Evaluation, a Validation Day, two Field work days and a final day. The Pre-Review Self-Evaluation is a lengthy reflective document that is completed before the Validation Day. On the Validation Day, the panel, which includes experienced principals from other schools, review the self-evaluation, including relevant data sets and then form the ‘Terms of Reference’, which are questions or focus areas to investigate further on the field work days. Our Validation Day is on Wednesday May 8th and I will provide updates along the way. I would like to thank Katie Cramp, our School Council President, for her commitment and ongoing support to EEPS and the review process.

Violence in the community

As you would be aware, unfortunately there has been a rise in violence in the community, especially against women. Although, not directly referencing this, I did speak to the students at Assembly on Monday morning about the importance of learning to solve problems in amicable and peaceful ways. I also revised the ‘wheel of choice’ problem solving poster with them, these are displayed around our playground. Education is so important on so many fronts as knowledge is power. Everyone at EEPS takes our position as positive role models very seriously and know that a world free of violence needs to start from a young age.

Music@EEPS

It was wonderful to see the Years 3-4 Stretto Strings ensemble perform at Assembly. The growth in our violinists over the last two years has been remarkable. It is not the first time I have heard ‘Chicken in the Kitchen’, but it is always a fun piece. Thank you to Clare for her kind and talented tuition. Thank you to Paul, who has started teaching cello from this term as well.

Heroes - Concert Auditions

This week there is a special Compass Newsfeed being sent out explaining the audition process for the speaking parts for concert. Please read this carefully and give your permission if your child is wanting to try out. Let me explain a little more. Every student will be involved in their year level dance / performance item. In addition, all students and staff sing the finale together on stage at the end. Members of the choir, percussion ensemble and some of our string’s players will also have additional involvement in the concert. In addition to this, there are two speaking roles per year level, Prep-Year 5, and around half a dozen speaking parts for Year 6. These roles are hotly contested and we encourage students to ‘have a go’ if they are interested. Please remember that there are a finite number of outcomes and a healthy level of resilience will be required for anyone auditioning! Please look at the Newsfeed for further information.

Well, if you have read to the end…thank you! There is a lot going on and many things that I wanted to share. I hope you share my deep pride in our wonderful school.

Thank you for your support as always.

OSHC