National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence

Today March 18th is when 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. This week, teachers across every level in our school have delivered dedicated learning sessions using the resources from bullyingnoway.gov.au.

By Friday’s national movement, our students aim to all confidently be able to imagine a world free from bullying. This is a most important understanding all our young people need to know and show.

Thank you for your support in extending this teaching at home. The children will be wearing blue and purple with a gold coin donation and tying ribbons to the fence as a sign of support.

Junior School Council presents QLD Flood Victim Support

It was fantastic to see all the gold coin donations being handed in this morning. Amazing effort CEPS community! It was a sea of purple and blue around the corridors and playground today. The money raised will be donated to the Red Cross in support of the flood victims appeal. Thank you to the Junior School Council for organising.

Special mention goes to Ella A from 1C who baked cupcakes with her Grandmother and then sold them to raise an amazing amount of $60. Fantastic effort Ella.

School Council Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting will be held next Wednesday evening March 23, from 7pm to 7.30pm in the school staff room where we will present 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 will also be elected for the coming year. The first School Council meeting will be held straight after the Annual General meeting.

Division Swimming Team

Congratulations to Maddie Harvey who will represent our school at the Division Swimming carnival on Wednesday. She has done a fantastic job just to reach this stage. Well done to all of the children who represented our school at the District swimming sports. They gave their best efforts and were extremely well behaved.

Year 4 Camp

Next Monday the 21st March, the Year 4 students will leave on their 3 day camp to Lady Northcote in Bacchus Marsh. We extend our thanks to the teaching team who are attending. This is a big commitment as they give up their own family time to look after our students every hour of the day and night whilst on camp. Be sure to show your gratitude for this generous offer of personal time, all for the students’ enjoyment.

The Year 3 students will continue their normal program back at school.

NAPLAN Practice Readiness

Our Year 3 and 5 students will complete a NAPLAN practice test next Thursday March 24th as part of the preparation for the online testing coming up in May. This is to test the computer system across the school with the extra technology load. All testing this year will be conducted on computers except the Year 3 writing test which will be completed on paper.

e-safety in the Digital World

We encourage parents to co-view, co-play, ask questions about the games and apps our children are using, and let them know you are there to support them if they are upset or uncomfortable about anything they see online.

Five top tips to help limit your child’s exposure to harmful content online:

1. Engage in your child’s online activities – ask what apps, sites and games they are using and make sure they are age-appropriate

2. Use parental controls on devices to help limit what your child is exposed to

3. Let them know not everything they see online is real or true.

4. Help them report and block upsetting content they see on social media sites or apps.

5. Let them know they can come to you about anything upsetting they see online, and contact Kids Helpline if they need further support.

CyberSafety is a vital part of our ICT curriculum here at school and is always at the forefront of our thinking when our students are accessing ICTs at school. See also https://www.esafety.gov.au

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 if 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.

2023 Foundation Enrolments

Enrolments are now OPEN for 2023.

Group Tours can be booked via the office on 9583 5746.

Thursday 24th March - BOOKED OUT

Tuesday 29th March - BOOKED OUT

Tuesday 10th May - ** FILLING FAST**

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.

Group Tours

Wednesday saw a number of prospective parents come to the school and go on a group tour with Mr Bach and Mrs Ward. They looked at the types of programs we run and observed the children working in their classrooms to get a feel for the school and its culture. It’s a big decision on where to send your children for their first year of schooling and this is the first step in the process for parents with young children heading into Foundation in 2023. We hope they enjoyed the experience.

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.

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

Birthdays

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF WHO HAVE A BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK!