Newsletter - Term 1 - Week 2 - 5 February 2025

Principal's Report

A Fantastic Start to 2025 at IEPS!
We are thrilled to see our students off to such a great start this year! The energy and enthusiasm in our classrooms and playground have been wonderful to see. A special congratulations to our Foundation students, who have settled in beautifully during their first week of school. They have embraced new routines, made new friends, and shown incredible resilience and excitement for learning. We have had some fantastic feedback in the first week of our new morning routine. 

A reminder for parents, the new system for students starting their school day is:

• 8:50am – First bell rings

• 8:52am - 8:55am - followed by three minutes of music. This is a signal for students to move to their classroom areas, put belongings in lockers, and prepare for the day. Your child’s teacher will have a morning routine for the students to do.

• 9:00am – Second bell rings, marking the official start of the first lesson.

If your child arrives at school from 8:52am onwards, please send them straight to their classroom or specialist learning space to ensure they are ready for learning by 9:00am. Classroom rolls will be marked by 9:05am, so if your child arrives after this time they will need to be signed in at the front office before heading to their classroom or specialist learning space. Thank you for your support in helping our students start their day smoothly and punctually.

Ben Phillips,
Acting Principal

School Council 2025

We are now calling for nominations for 2025/26 School Council Membership. Our School Council has representatives from the parent body, staff, and wider community. School Council meets twice each term (date and time TBC) to discuss and make decisions regarding many issues relevant to school life. These include finances, buildings, promotion of the school, policies, uniforms, grounds, and parent network to name a few. 

Our first School Council meeting will be on Wednesday March 19th. 
Proposed meeting dates for the remainder of the year will be arranged at this first School Council meeting of 2025 members. This year, we have two parent member vacancies for a 2-year term. If more than two parents nominate, we will need to engage in an election process. An election is only required if the number of nominations is greater than the number of vacancies.

Nominations:
If you wish to nominate for School Council, please contact the office for a Self- nomination Form for the Parent Member Category. All nomination forms must be returned to the school office no later than 4pm on Tuesday 11th February 2025.

PTFA

Our first meeting for PTFA is on Friday 7th of February at 9.00 am. Our PTFA leads our fundraising and social events to promote opportunities for all members of our community to engage with the wider community. If you are interested in being a member of our PTFA please contact Joanna King via email Joanna.king@education.vic.gov.au .

School Saving Bonus

How to Use Your SSB Funds:

Log in to the SSB Portal: https://www.schoolsavingbonus.vic.gov.au/s/

• You should have received an email last year with login instructions.

Allocate Funds to School Activities:

• The system requires school staff to manually allocate funds, so step 1 is critical.

Send an Email to Confirm Your Allocation:

If you would like to use all or part of your $400 bonus for a specific school event, please email us at 4386-SSB@schools.vic.edu.au with the following details:

• Student’s Full Name

• Event Name (e.g., Excursion, Camp, Sports Program)

• Dollar Amount to be Allocated

📌 Important: Each event requires a separate email to confirm allocation. A general request will not be accepted.

Additional Information:

• Initially, we expected Compass to introduce a payment feature for this initiative. However, as this is a one-time government initiative, Compass has chosen not to update its platform for this purpose.

• Please ensure you submit your request well in advance of the event to allow us enough time to process the allocation.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out. Thank you for your cooperation and support!

Second Hand Uniforms has moved!

A reminder that the Second Hand Uniform shop has now moved next to the front office. It will reopen on Friday 7th February 2025.
To find out more information about our Second Hand Uniform shop please head across to our website or click here.
If we have any parents who are interested in supporting the Second Hand uniform shop please get in touch with the front office.

Year 6 Lorne Surf Camp 2025

Year 6 Lorne Surf Camp will be from Tuesday 25th to Friday 28th February.

During this time, our Year 6 students will embark on an exciting outdoor adventure at the Lorne Surf Camp! This highly anticipated camp is packed with activities designed to build self-confidence, encourage teamwork, and promote a healthy, active lifestyle.  

A highlight of the camp is the Surf Gurus’ program at the Lorne Surf Lifesaving Club, where students will develop both self-confidence and ‘surf knowledge’ while learning essential beach safety skills. The camp is also a fantastic extension of the Year 6 Term 1 unit of inquiry into leadership, providing students with opportunities to strengthen friendships and develop leadership skills that will benefit them throughout the year.  

Camp Activities 

Students will experience a range of exciting and educational activities, including:  

🏄‍♂️ Introductory body surfing and boogie boarding 

🏄‍♀️ Learn to surf program  

🌊 Pier walk & beach games  

🌳 Scenic rainforest and local walks (Teddy’s Lookout) 

🚑 Beach safety presentation  

🏝️ Surf awareness and lifesaving  

🐚 Ecological ‘Rock-pool Ramble’ 

🌲 Tree-top walking and zip lining at Livewire Treetop Adventure Park  

🎨 Beach art and sand sculpture  

We can’t wait to see our Year 6 students challenge themselves, have fun, and make unforgettable memories at Lorne Surf Camp! Stay tuned for updates and photos from this incredible experience.  

Assembly Update

In 2025, we will continue to alternate between onsite and online assemblies, however given the amount of work that is required to create a YouTube episode, these will only be showcased twice per term in weeks 4 and 8. 

Each year level will host at least one onsite assembly, share their learning and present the Student of the Fortnight and green card awards and announce house points. 

Assemblies will be held onsite in the school gym at 9am on Friday mornings. Please refer to the schedule below:

Follow Us

A reminder that we now have a community Instagram account, this account is used to connect with our wider community, promote school events, and give an insight into our facilities, incursions, excursions, and all of the wonderful teaching & learning that is happening at IEPS. You can follow our movements by networking with us @ivanhoeeastprimaryschool on Instagram.