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.”

Acknowledgement

I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we are gathered, the Bunurong People and pay our respects to the elders past, present and emerging of the Kulin nation and extend that respect to other indigenous Australians present.

Enrolments for 2023

2023 enrolments are open.  Enrolment forms can be collected at the Office or found on our website.  If you have a child turning 5 by April 30, 2023, please complete an enrolment form and bring in a copy of your child’s birth certificate and immunisation record and we will process the enrolment.  It helps us enormously with planning, if we have a clear indication of enrolments as early as possible.

2023 Foundation Students Transistion Program

Foundation 2023 Transition Program 'Explore the World of Music' happened yesterday.  The smile on the children's faces said it all. They had a fantastic time and can't wait to come back again in August for their next transition.

Please note that the 3rd session for our Foundation Transition Program will only be for enrolled 2023 Foundation Students.

Early Dismissal Reminder

The school term will end on Friday June 24th with a final assembly on the back stage area (weather permitting) at 2.10pm followed by a 2.30pm finish. Please make sure your children are picked up on time at 2.30pm. Term 3 starts back on Monday July 11th.

Aussie of the Term

Our Aussie of the term will be presented at our last assembly at 2.15pm this Friday. Thankyou to our wonderful teachers for organising the presentation.

Zone Cross Country

Maddy D was tremendous in competing at the Zone Cross Country on Wednesday.  Top 12 would continue on to State and Maddy D came in at a triumphant 13th.  You should be very proud of yourself Maddy, because we are very proud of you!  Keep Aiming High!

Reflect & Reset Your Goals

Our teachers and I speak to the children constantly about resetting their goals each term. People overestimate what they can do in A SINGLE day and underestimate what they can do in their WHOLE lives. In reality, FEW people become successful overnight.  Mostly, success is 10, 20 or 30 years in the making.  Successful leaders try a lot harder than most people. 

No one was paying attention to them when they were down and out.  They did not get to be where they are without lots of practice, tenacity and grit!  Everyone likes the idea of overnight success but few real-life stories happen that way. You may be inclined to want to skip the problem by deciding against setting timelines. 

Well, setting goals has its merits.  Setting goals to accomplish within a certain time frame is meant to help you keep on track. On the other hand, failing to reach your goals is not for beating yourself up.  Goal-setting is to help you prioritise, organize and schedule the more important tasks.  Hence, resetting your goals with more realistic timelines and in a way that is aligned with your dreams is the key.

Curriculum Day/Parent Teacher Interviews

Next Wednesday is a pupil free day for our school.  We will be conducting our Student/Parent and Teacher Conferences for Years F to 6 Wednesday 22nd June. These meetings are to communicate student achievement and discuss any individual learning needs. School is not open for lessons, however students are welcome to attend their conference with their parents/carers. 

The interviews will be 10 mins in duration.  Please note - staff make every effort to stick to designated times and therefore they may need to finish the interview when the ten minutes is lapsed or other parents are waiting.  All bookings this year will be made online via the Sentral Parent Portal.  Please contact the office if you are having any issues booking.

Bookings have opened this week. Bookings can be made any time until 5.00pm the day before the interviews.  

• Go to the URL: http://sentral.cheltenhameast.vic.edu.au/portal or the SENTRAL APP on your mobile device. 
• Log into the Student & Parent Portal. 
• Click on the Interview Icon 
• The screen will display the current interviews available to the parent for your child/ren. 
• Click on Timeslots 
• Available timeslots are noted in black and unavailable are greyed out. Click on the available timeslot and a message will appear confirming the booking 
• Click on Save Bookings for confirmation. 
• A list of your Interviews and timeslots will now display. 

Classroom ventilation in winter

Our school now has air purifiers for every classroom.  Air purifiers set on high will maximise the amount of clean air circulating in the classroom.

Improving indoor air flow in schools can reduce the risk of transmission of airborne particles, including COVID-19 and flu and helps keep our schools safe.

Given we’re heading into the cooler months, you might be concerned about how best to use your air purifier. Air purifiers do not cool (or heat) the air; as with any fan, when air is pushed out, it may feel cooler near the device. While it’s preferred to have windows open, we will close them if it’s too cold for the children – this does not affect the effectiveness of the air purifier.

Vaccinations for students

Vaccination remains the best way to protect students and staff in school settings. Your ongoing support in encouraging children aged 5 to 11 to get vaccinated, and staff and students aged 16 and 17 to get their third dose, remains critical.

A communications pack is available to help schools share information about the importance of COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. Refer to Primary care vaccinations in schools grants.

The webpage includes a template letter from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Victoria Faculty Council Chair, encouraging parents and carers to vaccinate children ahead of winter. Translated versions of the RACGP letter are also available.

Road Safety Around our School 

I ask that parents engage in the utmost of care when dropping off and picking up their children.  Children can be unpredictable and every precaution must be made when parking, reversing and driving around the school.  The crossings on Coolac Street and Silver Street will be manned however the Herald Street crossing will only be manned in the last week of school due to a shortage of staff.  Please do not call students across the road to parked vehicles.  Everyone’s support in this matter is appreciated. Do not park across someone’s driveway as you may be booked by a parking officer for illegally parking.

School Uniform Reminder

We appreciate that there are times when students are out of uniform for legitimate reasons and these will be accepted via a note from home.  However, a prompt response to this reason should see students return to full school uniform as soon as possible.  As we end Term 2, there is ample opportunity for students and parents to refocus on the school’s uniform guidelines and as such, it expected that all students are in full school uniform to start Term 3.   

Click the link for all CEPS uniform - Making your school look great Cheltenham East Primary School - Schools (psw.com.au)

Maintenance Crew

My Year 6 maintenance crew will be re-painting the yellow highlighted areas around the school to assist all of our children when they move around the school or are playing in the playground. They will also be doing some tidying up in garden areas in the coming weeks.

Cut down on Litter 

We actively encourage our students to avoid bringing packets and plastic wrappers to school. It cuts down on litter and is much better for the environment. A named container is perfect. 

Cyber Safety

As a school we are very pro-active with ensuring technology is being used in the right way so the following are some tips for parents to follow to ensure their children are following expectations:

• If your child comes to you for assistance on an online encounter they’ve had, try not to be judgmental; regard it as a learning experience
• Be sure to set a good example yourself, and ensure that older siblings or other adult influences in your child’s life promote appropriate use of the internet
• Take the time to teach your child effective conflict management skills, and what actions they can take if someone confronts or antagonises them
• Be an ongoing resource in helping your child to consider the potential consequences of their online actions, not just for themselves but for others (remember, children don’t have fully developed frontal lobes – which is the part of the brain responsible for consequence anticipation – so this can be challenging for them to do on their own)
• Educate your child on the importance of privacy, and keeping their personal information secure
• Explain red-flag behaviours in a way that young kids can understand; you might tell them that chatting to other players about the game publicly within the game is okay, but to tell you if anyone ever messages them privately or asks for offline contact
• Check privacy and location settings, use parental controls, configure your home computer’s browser search settings, and familiarise yourself with how to make complaints about offensive content
• While it might be tempting to use spyware or surveillance apps, it’s best to try and nurture mutual trust between you and your child so that they don’t go to extra effort to hide things from you

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.

Thought For the Week

Principal

Wayne Bach