Principal's News
Our School Vision
"Cheltenham East students are empowered learners who are flexible thinkers with the skills and knowledge to respond critically and creatively to their world.”
Year 4 Camp
We welcomed back the Year 4’s from camp on Wednesday. The Year 4 children had a great time at the Lady Northcote Camp this week attempting a variety of activities including the high rope swing, canoeing, archery, yabbying and much more. Thank you to the following staff for giving up their personal family time to take the children on camp: Mrs Apostolopoulos, Mrs Beaton, Mrs Shea, Mr Crebbin, Mrs Kerr, Ms Savva, Miss Crawford. It was great to hear of so many of the children stepping outside their comfort zone and attempting activities that were extremely challenging and demanding for them.
School Parking
Please do not park illegally around the school during drop off and pick up. Under no circumstances are you to park across a driveway as there are local residents trying to get in and out of their driveways. You are not allowed to park within 10 metres of a street corner unless sign posted. This limits drivers’, bike riders’ and pedestrians’ vision of the roads consequently presenting a very dangerous situation.
Please also observe all 2min Drop Zones and move on. Parking officers will be patrolling schools in the district on a regular basis checking parking so please adhere to the signs around the school to maintain a safe environment for our children and community.
Electric Motorised Scooters
Electric scooter laws in Victoria state that electric scooters cannot be legally used on a road or any road related areas, including footpaths, shared paths or public areas. They can only legally be ridden on private property. The fine for riding an illegal device in a public area is $909. Other penalties may also apply.
We have had concern from surrounding neighbours that motorised scooters are being used as a means to drop off and pick students up from school. This is extremely dangerous and illegal. The police are aware and are doing driving by around school start and finish times.
Please take care, we want all our students to arrive safely to and from school.
School Council Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday evening in the school staff room where we presented the Annual Report on the school achievements in 2021. This will be placed on our school website for all of our community to read. New office bearers have been elected for the coming year.
Thankyou to the following parents who have come onto council this year:
Siddhart Sanyal, Adam Walsh, Josh Bourke, Leisel Ward,
NAPLAN Practice Readiness
Our Year 3 and 5 students have completed a NAPLAN practice test on Thursday as part of the preparation for the online testing coming up in May. The computer system seemed to cope well with the technology load. All testing this year will be conducted on computers except the Year 3 writing test, which will be completed on paper.
Congratulations Maddeleine Harvey
Congratulations goes to Maddie Harvey for winning the Girls Under 12 Backstroke in the Division finals. Maddie goes onto compete in the Regional finals at MSAC on Monday against some other very good swimmers. We are really proud of Maddie as it is extremely hard to get to this stage of the competition. Well done Maddie!
Evacuation Drill
We held an evacuation drill for the school on Tuesday. The staff and children ensured it was a smooth process during the morning. The school ended up on the oval as a safety point and rolls were taken to check everybody off. This is an important part of the safety process as it gives us the chance to see what works and what needs improving. We will also be holding a lockdown drill in Term 2 as part of the process.
National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence
Last Friday March 18th saw Cheltenham East Primary School along with 2300 other schools commit to take a stand in reducing the incidence of bullying, whether inside the school gate or online. Last week, teachers across every level in our school have delivered dedicated learning sessions using the resources from bullyingnoway.gov.au.
Fundraiser - Bunnings BBQ
The Parents Committee have arranged a Bunnings BBQ fundraiser which is being held on April 9th at Bunnings Moorabbin. To be successful in this event we need volunteers for the day. Please click on the button below or scan the code with your smartphone to sign up for CEPS Bunnings BBQ!
Annual Implementation Plan
The Annual Implementation Plan is basically the school’s goals and targets to be achieved this year. Below are the two major goals we are focusing on. Each of our Professional Learning Teams are made up of all staff in Numeracy/ICT, Literacy and Wellbeing/Humanities. Each group have developed an Action Plan to complete by the end of the year. Key Improvement Strategies will be a big driving force for our staff this year. These are built around the Frameworks for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO). Some of our students have thrived in the remote learning environment, others have maintained their learning progress, and some need extra learning and wellbeing support despite the best efforts of their teachers and families. In 2022 we are continuing to focus on student learning - with an increased focus on numeracy - and student wellbeing through the 2022 Priorities Goal, a Learning Key Improvement Strategy and a Wellbeing Key Improvement Strategy.
Goal 1 - Maximise the learning growth of students in literacy and numeracy.
Goal 2 - Increase student connectedness to learning through student voice, agency and leadership.
Covid Updates
The Rapid Antigen Testing program will continue in schools until the end of Term 1 2022, although this will continue to be monitored and may end early if recommended by health advice.
All students and staff in mainstream schools are recommended to test twice a week, while students and staff in specialist schools are recommended to test each school day.
COVID updates are being sent of any positive cases in the school and we will try to get this information to the CEPS community as soon as possible. We continue to follow the Health Departments’ guidelines to keep everyone safe. Please continue to make sure you notify the school if there is a positive case so we can support the family and protect our community at the same time. Keep up the good work.
Overall, we have had a successful start to the academic year. Mask wearing has been consistent, the additional masks that you are providing for your children are ensuring that they are protected. Teachers have windows and doors open to maximise ventilation and the air purifiers have been delivered to the classrooms and are all in use. Additionally, we are ensuring that we are limiting the mixing of classes and encouraging the use of outdoor spaces to align with the COVID operations guide.
These actions have led to barely any new cases in our school, everyone is to be congratulated for the joint effort.
For more information on symptoms visit: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/symptoms-and-risks.
For more information on how to get tested visit: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/taking-test-covid-19.
School Values
The children will continue working closely together through the coming winter months. This is a great time to reinforce our school values of RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, COURTESY and CO-OPERATION with all children. Filling someone’s bucket of kindness should be a priority for all children and adults. Helping others is to be encouraged by everyone and can be done in a variety of ways. It is great to see our Year 6 children looking after the younger children out in the yard.
Children Arriving Early
Parents are reminded that children should not be arriving at school before 8.30 am in the morning. The students are not supervised at this time of the morning as teachers are preparing their classrooms for the day. Before and After Care facilities are available for parents who have to go to work early. Students should not be inside the buildings before the first bell unless supervised by a teacher.
2023 Foundation Enrolments
Enrolments are now OPEN for 2023.
Group Tours can be booked via the office on 9583 5746.
Tuesday 29th March - BOOKED OUT
Thursday 5th May - ** NEW DATE **
Tuesday 10th May - ** 1 SPOT LEFT **
Saturday 14th May - ** FILLING FAST **
Monday 23rd May - AVAILABLE
Places are filling fast so spread the word. Enrolments are open and we ask that siblings coming to Cheltenham East Primary in 2023 please enrol now.
Lost Property
We have multiple jackets, drink bottles, lunch boxes, containers, hats etc. in lost property. Many that have names on them. Please make the time to check and collect. If items are not collected by the end of Term 1 they will be disposed of. Unclaimed uniform items will be donated to our second hand uniform shop.
Contact Details
Have your contact details changed? We have already tried to phone parents and emergency contacts only to find that the phone number is no longer valid. It is absolutely vital that we can contact parents/carers at all times.
Thought For the Week
Principal
Wayne Bach