Days of Acknowledgement

February 21^st – International Mother Language Day

This worldwide acknowledgment promotes an awareness of our cultural and linguistic diversities. This day of observance is part of a broader initiative to ‘promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world’. The idea to celebrate this date was through the initiative of Bangladesh as it is the anniversary of the Bengali people fighting for recognition for their language. At IEPS, we are very proud to have a multilingual community. It brings greater perspectives, cultures and understanding into our school. Having just changed our language to French, we would like to give our thanks to our teachers; Robyn Gilmore and Michaella Bryce for teaching our students this language.

Upcoming Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews are scheduled across the following dates:

Tuesday 5th March - PW, 1K, 6A/6S Only

Wednesday 6th March - All classes (*except PW & 1K)

Thursday 7th March - All classes

Parent Teacher Interviews will go live on Compass within the next 24 hours. Once they are live and open for booking you will receive a Compass notification.

You will receive further updates in next week's bulletin.

School Council 2024

The oldest or only child of each family should have brought home in their school bag an A4 letter with ballot papers and candidate statements. Our nominees for School 2024 are:

Ryan Murphy, Michael Vosbergen, Amy Crosthwaite, Chris Bick, Peter Lynch, Kate Perryman, Belinda Ford, and Bob Wooton.

The elected 5 members will join Emily Baxter, Josh Hunter, Benjamin Phillips, Amanda Dwyer, Alex Silvestro, and myself to form the 2024 School Council.

Please note that there is to be no campaign literature in support of candidates or groups of candidates that will be distributed or posted in the school. No school resources, whether human or material, will be used to support candidates or groups of candidates.

We ask that you read through the candidate statements and then make your decision by completing the ballot paper as described. Please note that if the ballot paper is not completed correctly then your vote is voided. You must mark next to the candidates you wish to cast your vote for. Your vote will be invalid if you vote for more candidates than the number of vacancies to be filled. We ask that you therefore mark next to 5 of the 10 names when casting your vote.

To cast a vote, the voter must:

Deliver, or arrange delivery of, the completed ballot paper to the school between the hours of 8.00am and 4.00pm on any school day up to and including the day fixed for the closure of the ballot, and place the completed ballot paper in the ballot box provided at the front office of the school

OR

Post the vote by:

placing the completed ballot paper in an envelope; the voter’s name and address printed on the back of this envelope; and posting the envelope to the principal so as to reach the principal by 4.00pm on the day of the closure of the ballot.

• Ballot papers will be distributed to all parents/guardians by 16^th of February
• Close of Ballot 23^rd February at 4.00pm
• Count Votes 26^th February
• Declare ballot to the Community 28^th February
• First School Council Meeting7^thMarch

NAPLAN 2024

National Assessment Program - Literacy And Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.

NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in writing, reading, language conventions and numeracy. Even though this test provides you with a written report of your child’s results, this does not directly determine their individual school report and it is not the only resource used for our reporting purposes, however it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress. The data collected from NAPLAN also gives schools an opportunity to identify their strengths and areas for improvement on a school based level.

Please find attached below my piece the parent and carers information sheet for those wanting more information. 

The NAPLAN testing window for 2024 is between March 13th and Monday 25th March. Please find below the schedule that shows which tests will be conducted on which days.

If you have any questions, please contact your child’s classroom teacher or Alex Silvestro or Ben Phillips.

Canteen Menu Update

We are now selling smoothies at the canteen!

You can choose from the following flavours: strawberry, banana, mango, mixed berry and blueberry.

Smoothies are $5.00 and are available from Monday to Thursday only.

Please order through My School Connect.

Reminders from Last Weeks Bulletin

School Calendar & Whole School Communication

We have received feedback regarding a platform for where IEPS events are published and can be accessed by our wider community. We have updated the calendar on our website, which is available via our website and this link https://ivanhoeeps.schoolzineplus.com/calendar (we encourage you to bookmark this). This website will be updated termly and if any events come up throughout the term, however we are trying to limit this. The benefit of this calendar is that when you click on the event you can choose the option to sync it to your calendar.

Our LMS system Compass also has a calendar with all the events that require new parental permission and/or payment. These events will be uploaded at least two weeks prior to the event’s start date should the event require new parental permission and/or payment. Please note you will receive notification through Compass when an event is created.

If you believe there are any events missing from our calendars, please don’t hesitate to contact Toni who is part of our administration team via email toni.kearney@education.vic.gov.au.

Furthermore please find attached below a graphic which outlines the current communication channels that we use at IEPS. This graphic highlights the type of communication and its frequency and intended purpose and target audience.

Extreme Heat & IEPS Approach

We recently experienced some hot weather and student safety is always the priority at our school.
To support this the following guidelines are in place to support the health and safety of both students and staff.
- No Hat, No Play policy, students who do not have a hat MUST sit in the shade
- Students are reminded to drink plenty of water throughout the day, and before heading outside
- Students are reminded that they need to monitor themselves and to sit out in the shade if they get too hot
- Students are provided with ample time to apply sunscreen before heading outside to play

If the temperature reaches 36.5 degrees Celsius outdoor school events including, but not limited to, PE classes, recess and lunch time play, concerts and sporting events will be cancelled or postponed. At 36.5 degrees or above the students will spend  recess and lunch times inside their classrooms. These will be called 'Hot Day' timetables. PE classes will take place inside the gymnasium.
The temperature will be determined by the Bureau of Meteorology website
Australia's official weather forecasts & weather radar - Bureau of Meteorology (bom.gov.au)

Anaphylaxis and Allergies

In our continuous effort to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all students, especially those with anaphylaxis and allergies, we have recently updated our protocols. As part of our risk minimization strategy, we are no longer able to accept or share homemade baked goods with classes. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with these changes. Below are the guidelines and practices relevant to our parent community to support risk minimization:

Food Sharing and Canteen Purchases

- No Food Sharing: To prevent exposure to allergens, students must not share food.

- Canteen Purchases: Students are not allowed to buy food items from the canteen for others.

Celebrations and Birthdays

To celebrate student birthdays and milestones while ensuring the safety of those with allergies, we have set specific guidelines:

- Permissible Items: Only individually pre-packaged foods or small, inexpensive non-food party favours (e.g., fidget toys) are allowed.

- Distribution: Items for sharing must be given to the class teacher at the start of the day and will be distributed at the end, ensuring controlled exposure.

- Allergy-Safe Alternatives: Students with allergies will select treats from their provided treat box during celebrations. This allows them to participate safely and ensures parental oversight.

By following these guidelines, we can create a safer and more inclusive environment for all our students. Thank you for your cooperation and support in these efforts.

Sports calendar

Please see the calendar link below for upcoming sporting events this term. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YuITFKGpY31iumsmso9OoR9bcJ2d5uA_WAK28unqmDI/edit

Assembly Update

In 2024, we will continue to alternate between onsite and online assemblies on a fortnightly basis, however there will be some changes to our onsite assembly process. Moving forward, each year level will host an onsite assembly, share their learning, and present the Student of the Fortnight Awards. 

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

IEPS Lunchtime Clubs Timetable - 2024

The PAG representatives surveyed Foundation to Year 5's students at the end of the 2023 calendar year and have collated the data to select the top 4 lunchtime clubs voted upon by students. Please find attached below the timetable for Lunchtime Clubs starting Week 3 of Term 1.

Procedure for Collecting Students During School Hours