Principal's Item

Message from the Principal

Dear parents, carers and friends of EEPS,

It was wonderful to see so many parents and carers at Assembly on Monday. Not only did we have the first performance of the ‘Fiddlesticks’ strings ensemble for 2026 we were also able to present certificates for the Science Talent Search and the Maths Olympiad. Congratulations to all of those students who performed or who were awarded certificates.

Engaging with Our Community

At EEPS we are always looking to foster meaningful engagement with our local community members and resources. It was lovely to welcome the local, Eltham Fires Rescue Victoria crew to EEPS last week to talk to some of our junior grades. We also had an incursion from Yarra Valley Water for our Year 3 and 4 students, to tie into their Sustainability and Biodiversity Term 4 topic of learning. In addition to this, on Tuesday this week we had the portable planetarium, Discovery Dome, visit for our Year 3 and 4 students, which was a lot of fun. Thank you to the EEPS teachers for regularly looking for these great connections.

RAP - Reconciliation Action Plan

On Monday we had our last RAP meeting for 2026. Whilst a slow process we have been pleased with our continued work in the space of improving our combined knowledge of both First Nations history and culture. We also discussed some continued options for next year. Thank you to the Group members and to Mrs James for taking over the RAP Lead role for the second half of the year.

Emergency Management and Safety

Last week we conducted a practice emergency evacuation drill to the school oval, to simulate if there was a safety risk in one or more buildings and to know where our safe evacuation place was if we then needed to move offsite. We did the drill in record time, and it is a credit to everyone and the role we place on safety at EEPS. We have also been visited by several Department contractors who have been regularly auditing all aspects of our essential services measures, such as emergency lighting. Thank you to Garry for co-ordinating these multiple visits.

Learning and Growing Together

I regularly write about our commitment to professional development and learning for all our staff. In addition to our targeted weekly professional learning sessions connected to our school goals we are also sending several of our staff for further training around our new spelling approach this year, PhOrMes, for Year 2-6. This training is around orthographic (related to the conventional spelling system of a language) spelling rules, morphology (the internal structure of words) and etymology (origins) of words. This also forms a part of our preparations for 2026, which are in full swing.

Team Kids Vacation Care Program – 2026 Preps

Just repeating the EEPS Team Kids summer vacation care will operate from Monday 5th January to Friday 23rd January. Additionally, I am happy to announce that our new preps enrolled for 2026 are eligible to register and book with Team Kids for the summer program. Details are available in this newsletter, and we will communicate directly to our new families.

Reminder about some key dates coming up

Next week - Bike Ed for the Year 4s

Monday 24th November - ICAS awards at Assembly and Percussion Ensemble performing

Tuesday 25th November and 2nd December - Strings Soiree

Thursday 27th November - Year 1 Activity Night

Monday 1st December - 2026 Inclusion and Attendance Awards at Assembly

Tuesday 2nd and Thursday 4th December - Market Days

Wednesday 3rd December - Family picnic

Wednesday 3rd December - Year 2 Activity Day

Friday 5th December - Curriculum Day

Monday 8th December - Presentation to 2025 Student Leaders and Announcement of 2026 Leaders

Tuesday 9th December - Transition Day