Infectious Disease

Unfortunately we have had to move our Infectious Disease update to the top of our bulletin. Over the past week we have had 8 Covid Positive cases who have been deemed infectious while on site. There is currently no requirement from the DET that we communicate cases with the community. However out of precaution, we have decided to inform you.

If your child does test positive for COVID-19 and/or any other infectious disease we ask you contact the school via email Ivanhoe.east.ps@education.vic.gov.au and, it is recommended that they isolate for a minimum of 5 days and not attend school until their symptoms have resolved. We ask that you continue to be diligent around symptoms of any infectious disease and keep your child home if they are unwell. 

In relation to Covid-19 it is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) are used by students and staff:

• If you have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
• If you are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
• If you are a social contact of someone who has COVID-19.

Rapid Antigen Tests are also available from the front office, please don’t hesitate to come in and collect as needed.

May 14^th - Mother’s Day/Special People’s Day

On Sunday the 14^th of May we spend the day thinking of and honoring those who have cared for us and kept us safe as we grow up. Typically a day that allows us to show the appreciation we have of our mothers, however some of us may also spend this day with others that we love who have helped raise us – whether this be a grandparent, a singular parent, a friend, or extended family member. A reminder that tomorrow we have our Mother’s day & Special persons stall, where students can purchase an item for that special person.

From IEPS we say thank you for everything you do mums and special people. We could not be the tremendous individuals we are without you.

May 17^th – International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination (IDAHOBIT) Day

On this date in 1990 homosexuality was removed as a disease from the World Health Organisation. IDAHOBIT day acknowledges this history of discrimination. This day is acknowledged in over 130 countries and aims to minimize the ongoing discrimination that unfortunately still occurs.

Education Week (Next Week)

This year’s theme is ‘Active Learners: Move, Make, Motivate’, which celebrates physical activity, hands-on learning and student voice in education. We have a range of activities happening through the week which are outlined below. These activities are linked to this year’s theme and we hope all stakeholders are able to further engage in being Active Learners.

AFL Positive Start Program

We have engaged with AFL Victoria’s School programming which is a program that is curriculum linked and industry designed for primary aged students. Delivered by trained AFL Victoria coaches, our programs offer students of all ages, genders, and abilities the opportunity to be active in a safe and inclusive environment with the aim to build a life-long connection to iconic Australian Game of AFL.

Monday 14^th May

Wellbeing Sessions: Buddy classes will work together to make a game and play together. Grade 2,3,4 will be designing posters to showcase what they like about learning. This was a Principal Advisory Group initiative.

AFL Positive Start Program: Year 1,2 & 4.

Tuesday 16^th May

Grade 3 and 4 Athletics (in PE sessions)

AFL Positive Start Program: Foundation, Year 3,5 &6

Thursday 18^th May

IDSSA- Cross Country

Friday 19^th May

2024 Pre-Prep Open Transition Morning

Walk and Ride to School Day (more information in our bulletin)

Saturday 20^th May

Fairfield Bunnings Sausage Sizzle – Volunteers required (please sign up if available) https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdr8I3Am_BQr3DmpWqxjEjqAgsXSaWV6FJ3y0iyJG7aXTyKrA/viewform?usp=sf_link

2024 Prep Enrolments

The Department of Education has released a new Prep enrolment form for 2024, which is now available on our website. https://ivanhoeeastps.vic.edu.au/enrolment-enquiries

The state-wide timeline for Prep 2024 is as follows:

1. Enrolment applications open for Prep 2024 government primary schools on Monday 24 April 2023 (First day of Term 2).
2. Submit an enrolment application for Prep by Friday 28 July 2023.
3. You will be notified of the outcome of your application by Friday 11 August 2023. If you receive an offer of placement, you should accept the offer by Friday 25 August 2023.

We have and will continue to offer tours each Tuesday and Thursday for the entirety of Term 2.

Please note that all siblings claim enrolments and in zone enrolments need to be submitted by Friday 28^th of July.

As featured below we are also offering Pre-Prep sessions for all prospective 2024 Foundation students at IEPS. If you are interested in your child participating, please fill out the below form. You will also notice there is a prospective 2024 Prep Information night that we would encourage you to attend. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxfDlJ3I-8zplUfDAtKq81tupMAE2R29K_Wfp_-D3iG0Cycg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Bunnings Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser

On Saturday May 20^th we will be hosting the Bunnings BBQ at Fairfield Bunnings. Thank you to the 10 community members who have volunteered their time. We are aware that some sporting fixtures will not be released until next week, however we require a total of 36 volunteers throughout the day.
Below is a volunteer registration form. We ask our wider community to volunteer an hour of their day to help run this event. All money raised throughout the day will go to the school directly for further initiatives/projects.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdr8I3Am_BQr3DmpWqxjEjqAgsXSaWV6FJ3y0iyJG7aXTyKrA/viewform?usp=sf_link

IEPS Cross Country 

On Monday the 8^thof May, the Year 3,4,5 and 6’s walked to Chelsworth Park to run for Cross Country. Even though it was a wet and muddy track everybody still had fun and tried their hardest. It was so great to see students attempting the course and trying to get into the top 10. Children wore clothes and hair accessories in their house colour to bring up the house spirit. Seeing parents that came to watch and support their child was amazing. Also, a big thank you to all the teachers and parents that helped run and organise the event. Congratulations to everyone that got into Districts. Good Luck! 

By: Sibina & Joanna 6S 

IEPS Art Show Fundraising Event – Colour Day on Friday 5^th May

We thank everyone who dressed up last Friday for Colour Day. Not only was this an opportunity to raise funds for our Art Show (and we raised $370 dollars), but it was also an opportunity for everyone to express themselves using colour. There were some great and creative outfit choices on show, and it was fantastic to see such a buzz around the school.

Call-Out for Art Show Volunteers

Ivanhoe Grammar have kindly offered for us to use their large display boards for our Art Show later this term, and we are hoping that some families might be willing and able to help us transport them to and from. If you have access to a van or trailer and would be available to pick up some display boards from Ivanhoe Grammar in Week 5 or 6 of this term and/or return them to Ivanhoe Grammar after our Art Show, please email Lauren Turner or Jennie Alagiozidis (our Art Teachers) using Compass, to volunteer your time and services. Please reference your name, phone number and availabilities.

In addition, if you are available on Friday June 16^th, to help take down the artworks and sort them into piles, please also email Lauren or Jennie, as we are very much willing to have some helpers then too.

One of the teachers will then be in contact with you to coordinate dates and times. We really appreciate any help you might be able to offer!

Thanks again,

Lauren, Jennie and the Art Captains.

Cyber Safety and Social Media

We are all living in extraordinary and rapidly changing times. Children today have access to more technology and functions than ever before, and keeping up with this as parents, carers and teachers can be challenging.

It has been brought to our attention that students are using online platforms, such as TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Roblox, Fortnite, and Minecraft.

The usage of these apps occurs outside of school hours, at night, and over the weekend and sometimes things that are posted and/or sent can negatively impact students' academic, social, and emotional well-being. We appreciate that our students feel comfortable coming forward to talk to their classroom teacher and members of leadership, however we have been informed that many students are hiding their digital footprint from their parents. 

We have a proactive approach to support our students with their learning and this includes their ability to navigate the digital world.  We strongly encourage you to have a conversation with your child about their digital footprint. Please note that many of these platforms are 13+, however, if your student is accessing these applications we implore you to sit with them and have a conversation about how to use these apps safely. Make sure all privacy settings are turned on and they know that they can speak to a trusted adult if they are unsure about anything. 

We are currently doing the following to educate our school community to ensure a safe online environment for all our students:  

• As per the DET Policy on Mobile Phones, we are proactively collecting devices from students in the morning before the start of school and returning them at the end of the day. This is to ensure no transmitting devices are accessible throughout the school day.
• We have partnered with the Cyber Safety Project. They ran student sessions last term as well as a parent session. There are 3 more parent webinars on offer, all of this is available through our school bulletin. We also have access, and classes are using curriculum-aligned lessons for students using online tools safely.
• Senior School students will also be working on receiving a digital license to become eSmart students throughout the next term.

Further resources

1. We encourage you to familiarise yourself with the Cyber Safety Project and subscribe to their newsletter via https://cybersafetyproject.com.au/
2. On top of this, the following website https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents is free to access and has great resources to support parents in all the big issues around the use of digital technologies and we urge you to read through this information
3. We also ask that you familiarise yourself with the following information, which outlines how to protect information and report any harmful content based on each specific application https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide.  
4. There is a great app called Beacon which is available via the App Store. This is a cyber safety educational app designed to keep parents and carers up-to-date with trusted, tailored information, to help keep their kids safe online

We thank you for your ongoing support and awareness of this issue. 

Reminders from Previous Newsletters

Introduction of IEPS House System  

The house captains have had a very busy start to the 2023 year. They have been working closely with a company called House Spirit to plan, create and implement house activities. Their first activity was introducing the Foundation students to their house colour. They explained what it meant to be a part of that house and assisted them in creating little key chains for their school bags. Following this activity, the house captains introduced and ran a game for the Foundation students to get to know the other students in their house. It was a very successful event, and the Foundation students were very excited to be introduced to their house colour.  

This term, the house captains have had another engaging session with House Spirit where they discussed the top four house names, which were voted on by the students. They were able to discuss the characteristics of each animal, its habitat and were able to create an identity with the animals that could be associated with each of the house colours. The house captains came up with persuasive arguments as to why their house colour should be associated with certain animals. Green and Blue house captains had persuasive arguments and it was a unanimous decision for their names. Yellow and Red house both wanted the same animal, which led to them presenting their ideas to the Green and Blue house captains as well as Mr. Boyle, Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Dwyer. It was a tough decision, but in the end all the house captains were happy with the decisions.

I am pleased to announce the names: 

• Yellow house will be known as Wimbi (Wallaby) 
• Red house will be known as Marram (Kangaroo) 
• Blue house will be known as Wadjil (Pelican) 
• Green house will be known as Tharra (White Hawk) 

The house captains also discussed, planned and created activities for a House Spirit Day. (A date will be confirmed in the following weeks). This will be the unveiling of the official house names and provides an opportunity for the whole school to be a part of an array of activities with their house.   

Finally, we have introduced a house point system. Students can earn points for their house by displaying our school values of Respect, Resilience, Friendship and Curiosity within the classroom, specialists or on excursions. Students who earn themselves a green ticket will also earn 50 house points for their house. They were able to have a discussion with their classroom teacher about the school values and some examples of how you could earn these points. The students have been very receptive to the introduction of the house points. There will be a weekly winner announced, and an overall total of points will be announced at assemblies each week.  

IEPS Lunchtime Clubs Timetable - 2023

For Your Diaries

Please refer to IEPS Important Dates below for Term 2 important dates.

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.

Regards,

Dear Parents/Guardians,

They say it takes a village to raise a child–parents, carers, teachers, support staff, to name a few– who all work together to support the children in their lives. 

Thanks to the generous support of the Barr Family Foundation, Smiling Mind is extending an exclusive invitation to parents and carers of students at IEPS and our Victorian partner schools to join us in a webinar next month to help support children’s mental fitness and social and emotional learning at home.

Promoting mental fitness in your child (webinar)

Time/Date: Wednesday 24th May 2023 at 12:00pm AEST

We invite parents and carers to join a free webinar next month, where a Smiling Mind psychologist will discuss common issues children face with their mental fitness including navigating friendships, emotional regulation and learning how to confidently take on more responsibility, with research and evidence to support parents and carers to confidently respond.

Register:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cTbtO-zCTI6m-sTfunBPiA

IEPS Second Hand Uniforms is located upstairs in the gym!!

The Second Hand Uniform shop will be open each Friday morning from 8.30am - 9.15am (45 minutes) for you to purchase any items you might need.

Items are $5 each and payment is strictly card only.

2^nd Hand Uniform Donations

All clothing donations should be in clean and good condition (no stains, animal hair, rips tears or holes etc) ***We are not currently accepting school dresses, bomber jackets or rugby jumpers as there is an excess of these items.

We are looking for School Bags and will welcome these.

Please use the stairs next to the entrance to the Hall/Gym.