Days of Acknowledgement

March 1^st – Zero Discrimination Day

Celebrated and created by the United Nations, this day aims to promote equality throughout all member countries of the UN. At Ivanhoe East Primary School, we take zero-discrimination very seriously and aim to build a community where everyone feels welcome, safe, and capable at achieving their goals. This goes beyond just our students and stretches out to our staff, parents, carers and families. If you ever need assistance, IEPS is here for you.

March 1^st-7^th – Hearing Awareness Week

Over four million Australians are living with hearing loss. This day raises awareness of this disability and how to promote better hearing protection and health. We are very fortunate in this country to have great tools to assist those with hearing impairments including the Australian invention of the cochlear implant. IEPS ensures that for those who come to our school with hearing issues, our classrooms equitably adjust to ensure an inclusive environment where everyone thrives.

March 5^th – Clean Up Australia Day

Annually, on the first Sunday of March, Australia comes together to assist in making a safer, cleaner and more sustainable environment. This date was created over 30 years ago by an individual who wanted to improve his own backyard, it is Australia’s largest community-based environmental event. Over 20 million Australians have participated in this event, donating their time and resources to ensure a cleaner present and future. IEPS will be acknowledging this day through a whole-school clean up.

School Council 2024

We would like to announce that the School Council nomination and subsequent ballot process for 2024 is now completed and we would like to announce that our School Council for 2024 will be:

Community Members:

• Joshua Hunter, Emily Baxter, Michael Vosbergen, Ryan Murphy, Amy Crosthwaite, Peter Lynch and Kate Perryman

IEPS Staff

• Tom Boyle, Amanda Dwyer, Benjamin Phillips and Alexandra Silvestro

We would like to acknowledge and thank Fred Purcell, Bob Wooton, Helen McBain, Donna White and Kate O’Callaghan as their current tenure on School Council will expire at the March 2024 School Council AGM. We would like to thank these members of School Council for their services to our school.  They have been a great support and I appreciate their efforts. A special mention to Helen McBain who was our School Council president throughout the 2023 school year.

Canteen Closed March 8^th

On Friday March 8^th our Canteen will be closed due to our Canteen manager Kim taking LSL. We are currently exploring possible alternatives and will communicate with our community as soon as a final decision has been made.

Upcoming Parent Teacher Interviews - Discover Elastik: Personalised Learning for Every Child

We're thrilled to introduce Elastik, our cutting-edge data analysis platform designed to personalise learning for your child. With Elastik, we're providing insights tailored to each student's unique needs and learning journey.

Join us at the upcoming Parent/Teacher interviews, where we'll showcase Elastik and discuss your child's progress using the latest data available. Together, we'll start the conversation about where your child is currently at and how we can support their ongoing academic growth and development. Elastik empowers teachers with real-time insights, pinpointing areas for support and extension across subjects like English, Maths, and Science.

Additionally, it's important to highlight that our ‘Formative Assessment’ of your child's progress is not just based on standardised test scores. Our teachers observe and engage with students during in-class activities and conference groups, actively documenting their growth and understanding of the curriculum.  This comprehensive approach to all assessment areas ensures that we have a holistic understanding of your child's strengths and areas for development, allowing us to tailor our support effectively.

We can't wait to share this information with you and work together to promote learning growth for every student at IEPS.

Dear Parents,

Wellbeing is an integral part of learning, and happiness at school. At Ivanhoe East Primary School, we recognise the value of positive wellbeing and use a variety of strategies to support students’ wellbeing at school. PIVOT is a tool we use to gather feedback from our classes, as well as give the students another opportunity to communicate with their teacher. Not only does it provide us information about what they enjoy in the classroom, but how they are feeling, so the teachers are able to target this.

We look forward to further discussing your child’s reflection on the beginning of the year, and how we can best support them throughout this year.

Upparrel Article Written by William George (School Captain)

The 2nd Hand Uniform shop has a lot of stained, ripped and faded 2^nd hand uniforms.(**We kindly ask you not to donate any second hand uniforms in this condition). 

We are going to re-use these and send them to a company called Upparel. Upparel takes worn down and stained shirts, pants and shoes and either gives them to charities or grinds them down and turn them into filling for cushions and stuffed toys or makes it into their UPtex product, which can be made into road signs and packaging.

If you would like to find out more about Upparel, click this link here.

Reminder that the 2^nd Hand Uniform shop is open from 8:30 until 9:15 on Friday mornings.

2nd Hand Uniform Shop Update

2nd Hand Uniform has been in high demand so far this year. Your donations are greatly appreciated, so please keep them coming! Feedback about the uniform swap system has been overwhelmingly positive and is an initiative that that will keep going.

The donation to Upparel was organised due to a large volume of damaged uniform being donated to us and left at school. The alternative was landfill. 

Moving forward, we welcome only IEPS branded jumpers, jackets, hoodies and t-shirts, winter dresses, summer dresses (white trim only), shorts and skorts. Uniform must be free of rips, holes and stains and be in reasonable, overall condition- not too faded.

Any questions, please contact the office or visit any Friday morning from 8.30am.

Privacy Reminder for our School Community

Our school collects, uses, discloses, and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy. 

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy https://ivanhoeeastps.vic.edu.au/policies describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

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 9 am on Friday mornings. Please refer to the schedule below:

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

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