From the Principal

Welcome to IPS

On  Wednesday the 28th of April at 9.30am the State Labor Member for Ivanhoe, Anthony Carbines, Parliamentary Secretary for Health officially opened "The Beehive" our new Senior School Building.  

Joined by representatives of the Department of Education, the VSBA, McColl Smith builders and Maddison architects the proceedings were opened by a wonderful musical piece by our IPS Orchestra in front of students, staff, and parents. 

School Captains met with Mr Carbines and proudly toured him and our VIPs through the new building. The morning was a wonderful celebration of hard work, patience and commitment from the entire community.

Enrolments are open

As you are no doubt aware, our IPS School Values of Respect, Independence, Confidence, Resilience and Persistence are being applied and promoted in every classroom, specialist area as well as in the playground. Student voice and agency is such an importand part of school life and helps shape the individual and our unique culture. 

Throughout previous issues of "Inside Ivanhoe" we have showcased individual students talking about these values and what they mean to them. We have commisioned a four minute video that attempts to capture some of what makes IPS the great school that it is.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing is for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will be held on Tuesday 11th May, Wednesday 12th May and Thursday 13th May 2021. NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in Writng, Reading, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.  

If your child is in Year 3 or Year 5 you will have received a letter on COMPASS and in your child's school bag with more details. 

There are many things NAPLAN does not assess so I encourage you to read the open letter addressed to your child from our teachers that is also on a page of this newsletter.

Education Week

Now in its 77th year, Education Week aims to positively profile and celebrate the strengths and achievements of Victoria’s government education sector. This year Education Week runs from 23rd to the 29th May. 

The theme ‘Building Connections’ focuses on how the community can act as a support network, support students’ learning and development and enhance social inclusion. 

Education Week is an opportunity for all primary and secondary schools, higher education, and early childhood services to showcase how they are building connections with the community around them. 

Ivanhoe Primary School will be celebrating Education Week in  a variety of ways and we will be opening our doors to the community on Wednesday the 28th from 9.30am to 11.30am concluding the morning with a short musical concert at 11am in the stadium.

Stay tuned for more information closer to the date.

School Photos

There are still some group photos to be completed and these have been scheduled for tomorrow morning. If your child is part of a leadership group or choir these photos will be taken then. If you are unsure then please call the office.

Classroom Helper Program suspended for now

Previously parents had to undertake a school provided parent training program to help in the classroom. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and changes to some of the ways in which our teaching practices are structured this program will not run in 2021.

We believe that  parent assistance and shared expertise is very valuable so we are currently discussing how we might create and encourage these partnerships and have you involved in the school programs without risking health and safety.

Shortly an online / PowerPoint will replace the face to face training (for now) and will be made available once we have developed it.  Stay tuned for updates.

After familiarising yourself with the PowerPoint you can then approach your child's teacher to explore the ways you can support the class.

This is an exciting development that we look forward to putting into place as soon as possible!

Finally

As restrictions ease remember there are still some rules:

Only parents / grand parents of students receiving awards or special acknowledgement will be able to attend school assemblies in the hall on a Monday morning.

Please note children must not come to school before 8.45am as they will not be supervised (unless they are attending strings lessons with Liz Bonetti or choir with Mrs Morrow).

Parents can only enter classrooms with an appointment and must sign in at the office for Covid tracing purposes.

Only pedestrian gates will continue to be opened.

While we encourage students to enter and exit through their current gates we acknowledge that this has proved difficult for some families so entry and exit will be family choice. Rather than have a staff member on most gates  there will be 2 or 3 roving staff on duty from 8.45am. 

Students are supervised after school until 3.45pm at which time they will be enrolled in the OSHC program and a fee may be charged.

Thank you for your support.

Mark Kent

Principal