Days of Acknowledgement

February 7^th – Safer Internet Day

This global initiative aims to raise awareness of the online safety issues. With students having such a strong online presence these days and an ease for looking at different information, it is incredibly important that we assist in making the internet as safe as possible. This will look different in every family but the most important component will be an open conversation so that your child knows they can come to you if they ever see or read something that makes them feel uneasy. IEPS is in partnership with the Cyber Safety Project to help students gain a greater understanding of their digital footprint. 

February 10^th – Lunar New Year

The celebration for Lunar New Year begins on the 10^th of February and continues until the 16^th. This coming lunar calendar year is the year of the dragon! We are very proud to have a diverse culture within our IEPS community and we wish the very best to all those who will be beginning their celebrations on the 10^th. Happy New Year!

February 11^th – International Day of Women and Girls in Science

Created by the United Nations, this date is a reminder of the crucial role women and girls play in the science field while simultaneously being a reflection on the facts that there are some gender inequalities within this career path. Education and a love of learning should not be gender biased and IEPS ensures that we encourage all individuals to follow their interests and passions when exploring our Inquiry focusses. We know that we have educated incredibly curious and creative individuals and we look forward to see what they achieve as they leave our school community and continue on their learning journeys.

School Council 2024

We are now calling for nominations for 2024/25 School Council Membership. Our School Council has representatives from the parent body, staff, and wider community. School Council meets twice each term (Thursdays at 7.30 pm) 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 Thursday March 7^th. As you will see from the timeline attached, it is a short timeframe. Proposed meeting dates for the remainder of the year will be arranged at this first School Council meeting of 2024 members. This year, we have 5 parent member vacancies for a 2-year term.  If more than 5 parents nominate, we will need to engage an election process.  An election is only required if the number of nominations is greater than the number of vacancies.

Further information was provided in the word document that was sent out on Monday afternoon.
 
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 Monday 12^th February 2024.

IEPS – 3-6  District Swimming Try Outs 

The IEPS District Swimming try outs will take place on Friday the 16^th February at Yarra Leisure Centre from 12pm to 2:15pm. This is for Year 3-6 students only and unlike athletic and cross country this is for students that nominate to attend only.

In order for students to attend, they must be able to confidently swim 50m in a reasonable time in any given stroke. Communications have gone out to those students that have nominated so far. If you have not received a note and would like your child to try out for the District Swim team, please email Justin on justin.bartlett@education.vic.gov.au.

In addition, parent help is always appreciated. If you are attending there will be a request for parent help at the pool. We only require 3-4 helpers. If you would like to commit to helping prior to the event, please email Justin. Please see the calendar link below for upcoming sporting events this term. 

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

Stand Tall ‘Slam Dunk’ Challenge – Year 3s & 4s

As part of the STAND TALL program, the ‘Slam Dunk’ Challenge will feature across the four sessions and encourage students to reflect and practice the values in their everyday life.

The Lead Facilitator will introduce the ‘Slam Dunk’ Challenge to the class at the end of the first session, an activity for the class to participate in during the week before the next session begins. Students are encouraged to ask their teacher for a card and nominate a classmate who has shown excellence, selfless, inclusive and community behaviours in classroom or out in the playground. An opportunity for students to see these values in other people, whilst practicing the values themselves.

At Melbourne United, we are committed to enriching the lives of young people and supporting school communities to create happy, healthy, resilient kids through the power of basketball. We understand that equipping students with the skills and strategies they need to tackle current and future challenges is vital. That’s why we developed our wellbeing program - STAND TALL.

Student Achievements Outside of School

Lachie Morris

Over the holidays, Lachie won the Boys U10 Victorian State Pentathlon Championship. The event had 5 events - 100m, long jump, 60m hurdles, Discus and 800m. There were around 70 competitors just in his age group and Lachie came out with the win, congratulation Lachie!

Heidi Mitchell & Taj Walker

Heidi and Taj have been selected to be a member of the Team Vic 11-19 Years Aquathlon / Triathlon team for 2024. This is a fantastic achievement for both and they should be extremely proud.

Kids Unlimited Extra Curricular Activities

The meeting spots for enrolled students will be in the assigned rooms that the after school activity will be in.

Therefore students who are enrolled will be expected to make their way to these areas and meet the person running it.

Session days and time will be (3:30pm – 4:30pm)

Tuesday – Chess in LOTE room

Tuesday – Dance – middle school gym

Thursday – Robotics – middle school shared space

Thursday – Drama – middle school gym

Class Representatives & Class WhatsApp Groups 2024

The role of the parent class representative in 2024 has been updated and improved from conversations with our 2023 reps and both Amanda Lynch and Donna White who headed up PTFA and Class Rep’s in 2023. This year the WhatsApp group will be an integral communication tool for each class and the wider Ivanhoe East Community in connection with the school itself to minimize the chances of messages and information not reaching their intended targets.  This representative body will also be part of our community engagement outreach and will meet once a term.

Today you would have received via Compass a message introducing your class rep along with a Google form for you to fill out your contact details to be connected to the WhatsApp group. I ask that if you haven’t already done so that you complete that google form at your earliest convenience so the WhatsApp groups can be set up as soon as possible.

Parent Payment Contributions – 2024

The ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students and we appreciate everyone who has contributed so far. We are currently going through the process of finalising our resourcing for 2024 and ask that where possible all contributions are completed by the end of this week.

I want to thank you for your continued support and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me directly.

Please see the video below outlining in further detail how our parent contributions have allowed us to continue to provide an excellent education and continue our improvement cycle in relation to student academic, social and emotional learning all while improving the physical environment and opportunities that IEPS students have on offer.

https://www.canva.com/design/DAF7aFkD9ak/roEp9asI8H4g8akIKtIuvg/watch?utm_content=DAF7aFkD9ak&utm_campaign=share_your_design&utm_medium=link&utm_source=shareyourdesignpanel

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:

Reminders from Last School Bulletin

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.

Upcoming Dates of Importance for Student–Teacher–Parent Partnerships

• Student Support Group meeting for required students will be on Tuesday 13^th and Wednesday 14^th of February (8.00am – 4.30pm), parents of students will be notified by the end of this week via email from Amanda Dwyer.

• Parent Teacher Interviews Wednesday 6^th and Thursday 7^th of March. This is offered to all students, and we ask that each family attend these interviews.

Times for PTI’s as below, this will be released on Compass with further communication in Week 4 -

• 8.00 am - 8.40 am and 3.40 pm – 6.00 pm both days. *Year 6’s will have Tuesday morning available to them as well.

Department Mobile Phone Policy (Including Smartwatches)

A mobile phone is a telephone with access to a cellular (telecommunication) system, with or without a physical connection to a network. For this policy, “mobile phone” refers to mobile phones and any device that may connect to or have similar functionality to a mobile phone such as smartwatches.

IMPLEMENTATION

Ivanhoe East Primary School understands that students may bring a personal mobile phone to school, particularly if they are travelling independently to and from school.

At Ivanhoe East Primary School:

• Students who choose to bring mobile phones to school must have them switched off and securely stored during school hours

• When emergencies occur, parents or carers should reach their child by calling the school’s office.

At Ivanhoe East Primary School inappropriate use of mobile phones is any use during school hours and particularly use of a mobile phone:

• that in any way disrupts the learning of others

• to send inappropriate, harassing or threatening messages or phone calls

• to engage in inappropriate social media use including cyber bullying

• to capture video or images of people, including students, teachers and members of the school community without their permission

• to capture video or images in the school toilets, changing rooms, swimming pools and gyms

• during exams and assessments

We thank you for your assistance in support this policy and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.

Procedure for Collecting Students During School Hours