Dear SEPS Families,

Welcome back to Term 3. Everyone has settled back into school with ease and the holidays now seem like a distant memory. Term 3 is one of my favourite terms as learning picks up the pace, lots of new concepts are embedded and we see students thriving as they start Semester 2 with an air of confidence in their learning space. Our senior school had a great day for the Athletics Carnival this week. It was lovely to see so many parents either assisting with events or cheering on our athletes. Thank you to everyone who could attend and a big thank you to Ms Foster for organising a wonderful day. Term 3 is also jam packed with community events such as Book Week, Father’s Day events, Grandparents & Special Friends afternoon, the Book Fair, Footy Day and this year we can top it off with the Olympic Games as well! The term is going to fly. Please keep an eye open for all events at the beginning of this newsletter and via Connect.

Donations

Earlier this year our Dad’s Cricket match took place on February 7. Our dads played against Sandringham PS. As a result of the match, they donated $280.50 to our school. A big thank you to our dads for their support!

I had the pleasure of attending the Lions Club annual dinner. The Lions Club do a lot to support some of our families here at SEPS and are always straight on our doorstep when we reach out for food hampers or other support that is sometimes required. They very generously donated another $1000 for us to put towards our wellbeing at our school. If you ever see the Lions out in the local community selling sausages or fruit cakes, please be sure to say hi from SEPS and show your support. It would be great to give back to them in some small way.

Homework

We will be hosting a parent education forum later this term on the topic of homework. We are reviewing our current homework practices and policy to ensure that homework is an opportunity to supports learning in a meaningful way. We will be sharing research-based evidence on the impact of homework and will be seeking to understand what our parent community believes to be key features that should be considered in our homework program. We do not want to stop homework, but we definitely need to review it to ensure it is meeting the needs of our learners. Please remember to read Connect to find out about the home learning opportunities that are recommended for your child’s year level. Ten minutes reading and discussing a text with your child is the minimum expectation.

SEPS Social

It was great to see a few new faces at the SEPS Social gathering on Tuesday. The Railway Wine Bar was a nice way to finish the day so thank you to Katie for organising it. The SEPS social team have several great initiatives that they want to get off the ground, with a lot of fun to be had by our community. A school disco and colour run are at the top of the list and we are hoping to have some parent events planned as well. Please click on the SEPS Social tab in this newsletter for more information and remember that none of these events can be offered without the support of our parent community. Please don’t hesitate to join the team at anytime if you wish to offer support or have some input. You do not have to commit to every meeting or every event.

Battle of the Bands

I happened to mention last week that I would love to get a parent band together and compete in a Bayside event called Parents Battle of the Bands (PBOB). As it happens, we apparently have a parent band already competing … who knew? As it also happens, one of the band members is a colleague of mine and is an ex-SEPS dad. PBOB is on 2 August, 8pm at Lucky 13 Garage, Moorabbin. If you are looking for a night out and would like to support the SEPS team - One Night Band you can purchase tickets via @lucky13garagemoorabbin. If you think being a member of a SEPS parent band is something that might be your thing, please reach out. It might be time to get a second band up and running! Best of luck to One Night Band on the night. Bring it home for SEPS (no pressure!!).

Bikes & Scooters

I have been advised that there has been a longheld rule at SEPS around the bike and scooter entry and exit that appears to have slipped. All bikes and scooters should enter and exit the school via the laneway on Miller Street ONLY. They should not be ridden across the oval or through the front office. Please ensure that you speak to your children about the following:

Please walk your bike/scooter down the laneway
Pop your helmet on and have a safe trip
NO bikes or scooter on the oval or asphalt at any point please

Building Works

The paint removal on the old windows successfully took place over the break and we are back on schedule. Our handover date for the admin building has now been set for the end of the term. The new classroom building is now taking shape and the landscaping has started on the front garden area. It is going to look amazing.

Our student toilets continue to be a source of frustration as toilet roll holders are broken off the walls, soap dispensers are broken and emptied, and wet toilet paper is thrown on the ceiling. The senior boy’s toilet is particularly unpleasant. I spoke to the students at assembly this week about having to spend some significant money on having the toilets commercially cleaned and repaired and how I would prefer to be using the money on something fun for the classrooms. We know that some children hold on because they dislike using the bathrooms in the state that they are in. We are extremely lucky to have relatively new facilities in comparison to other schools and it is a shame that they have been damaged to such an extent by our students. Please speak to your children about caring and respecting their facilities. We are currently seeking quotes and sourcing the best commercial solution to combat the bathroom issues.

On that note, have a great fortnight ahead.

Jane Briffa

PS. I will be taking some Long Service Leave in a couple of weeks to spend some time with my family so will be leaving you in the very capable hands of our Assistant Principals, Sean Daley and Trudy Gau. I will be returning on August 20, hopefully looking refreshed and ready for a very busy Week 6 and 7 ahead.

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