Archie’s Embrace

Archie's Embrace is holding a fun family night out at East Ivanhoe Bowls Club, to raise funds for research into rare genetic disease. Little Archie attends our school and it would be great to support the night and have plenty of fun doing so. Expect fun, games, face painting and a BBQ.

Tickets can be purchased at:

https://drct-archiesembrace.prod.supporterhub.net/events/anotg

Communication Audit

We are taking the opportunity to gather feedback from our community on the topic of school communication. We ask that you complete this survey in its entirety as this will guide any further changes/amendments that we may make as required. We would ask that this is completed before the end of term. The feedback survey will close at 2.30pm on Thursday 28^th of March. I ask that you refer to the image below the link as a refresher for all of the communication tools currently in place to support your answers.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwtGXRy1Iv05imQYb-F-wWBmaFIGOeJPWYRlrH8H-vlnNT9A/viewform?usp=sf_link

I thank you in advance for your time and appreciate your feedback. The results and any further changes/amendments will be communicated with our community prior to these changes occurring.

Days of Acknowledgement

Cultural Diversity Week 18^th – 24^th March

Multiculturalism is a core part of the Victorian identity, our character and way of life. Our state is home to people who speak 290 languages and have 314 different ancestries. It's also a place where anyone can contribute and belong. Cultural Diversity Week is a time to celebrate the power, influence, and stories of Victoria's rich multicultural communities, and all Victorians are invited to participate through a variety of in-person events and activities.

The 2024 Cultural Diversity Week theme invites us to weave a tapestry of vibrant experiences with "Our Shared Stories - Celebrating Together." This powerful theme goes beyond individual narratives, encouraging us to recognise and celebrate the beautiful intersections that enrich our culturally diverse state.

I attended the Department of Education's first Anti-racism workshop on Tuesday which was held at Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. This workshop covered the following:

• Culturally Sustaining Schools - This workshop supports school staff to develop a shared vision of teaching and learning that builds on student strengths, fosters positive identities, and sustains the diversity of cultures within the school.
• Schools Standing Up to Racism - Staff will be introduced to a range of concepts and tools that support implementation of this resource in their school context.

I look forward to implementing the above two concepts into our strategic planning and creating shared understanding amongst all stakeholders of inclusive classrooms, anti-racism policies and a shared vision of teaching and learning through a cultural sustaining approach.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week 18^th – 24^th March

Neurodiversity Celebration Week is a worldwide initiative that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. It aims to transform how neurodivergent individuals are perceived and supported by providing schools, universities, and organisations with the opportunity to recognise the many talents and advantages of being neurodivergent, while creating more inclusive and equitable cultures that celebrate differences and empower every individual. At IEPS we have conducted Professional Learning with all staff regarding Neurodiversity, specifically with regards to ADHD and ASD. Furthermore we will be having an Inclusive Education PL on the curriculum day in Term 2 (1^st day of Term 2.)

Please see further information by our School Psychologist Zoe Bloore, which is outlined below this segment.

Acknowledgment of Past Students

We would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of prior students. At the end of 2023, Charlie Humphries was awarded DUX of Business Studies at Ivanhoe Grammar and Tom Starkey was awarded the overall year level DUX. Such wonderful achievements by both individuals and it is always a pleasure to celebrate the achievements of current and also past IEPS students.

School Council 2024

On Thursday March 7^th the 2023 School Council concluded with the AGM. I want to thank Donna White, Fred Purcell, Bob Wooton, Kate O’Callaghan and Helen McBain for their contributions throughout 2023. A further mention of appreciation to Fred Purcell, Bob Wooton and Kate O’Callaghan (School Council Vice-President), who were also part of School Council in 2022. A special mention to Helen McBain who was our School Council president in 2023. Helen was an exceptional president and I appreciate her collegiately with the strategic plan and direction as well as overseeing our financial accounts. A big part of our success in 2023 is because of our School Council president.

As we transition into 2024 with a new School Council, I am pleased to announce the following elected office bearers for 2024. 

As part of our 2024 School Council our Subcommittees are advisory bodies to the school council. They assist council with performing their duties and functions, and are established to support school council in specific areas.

Subcommittee membership is open to non-school-council members as we provide the opportunity for the school community to be involved in school council matters.

Our Subcommittees for 2024 are as follows:

• Policy: Currently have 5 members, will usually be conducted through email correspondence with occasionally virtual meetings as required. This committee is overseen by Amanda Dwyer.
• Finance: Currently have 4 members, will meet virtually in the days/weeks before every School Council meeting. This committee is overseen by Josh Hunter.
• Community Engagement: Currently have 3 members, will meet either virtually or face to face in the days/weeks before every School Council meeting. This committee is overseen by Tom Boyle.

Please note that the School Council:-

-decides the purpose and terms of reference of a subcommittee

-has the final responsibility for decisions

We welcome our committee members to be active members of our sub-committees.

If you are interested in joining any of the School Council Subcommittees please inform me before the end of term via email by 2.30pm Thursday 28^th of March 2024.

2024 Fair Committee

The Fair date is Saturday November 30^th. We have 2x staff representatives already in place and we will be engaging with an event manager for the School Fair who will run all the behind-the-scenes work. The 2024 Fair Committee will run very differently and will not require the heavy lifting of past committees. Instead the Fair Committee  will work out the theme, the rides, the food, and in summary, what we want the day to look like and feature. We will also be looking to engage with our IEPS community as we have many experts, skill sets, and local businesses to support. This will be another role of the committee.

In the past, the role of Class Reps has been tasked with organising the year level stall. Our event manager will be doing all the main organising in the background and the class rep will be required to put together the rosters for the stall for the day.

If you are interested in joining the Fair Committee, please email me directly before the end of term via email by 2.30pm Thursday 28^th of March 2024.

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 Weeks Bulletin

Ivanhoe District Girls Football Day

On Thursday, March 7, Ivanhoe East Primary School (IEPS) took part in the Ivanhoe District Girls Football Day at Chelsworth Park. The day began with a strong start for IEPS, who won their first game against Ivanhoe Girls Grammar by five goals and then went on to secure another five-goal win against St. Bernadette's. The preliminary final was closely contested, with IEPS narrowly beating Ivanhoe Primary by just one point, which took them through to the grand final. In a close grand final, St. Anthony’s managed to win by just over a goal. The IEPS girls displayed great teamwork and competitive spirit throughout the day, finishing as runners-up in the tournament. Well done to the IEPS girls for their efforts and to everyone who contributed to making the day a success.

Wellbeing Zone in our Bulletin

You may've noticed that in our Week 1 bulletin we shared our Organisational Model for 2024. This is our workforce structure and how we have aligned our strategic direction with our workforce to promote collective efficacy to improve student outcomes.

As part of this we have an Engagement & Wellbeing Team and Professional Learning Community. Our Engagement and Wellbeing Team consists of;

• Amanda Dwyer - Head of Wellbeing, Joanna King – Head of Inclusive Practices, Zoe Bloore – School Psychologist and Georgia Lay – Head of Engagement.

This team oversees, and Georgia Lay leads the Engagement and Wellbeing Professional Learning Community where a staff member from each teaching team is part of. This team has worked on resources for our community which will feature in our bulletin.

This first article in our Week 6 bulletin featured Zones of Regulation, and last week’s article featured the PIVOT platform. I encourage you to read through these articles weekly as they will provide further insight into our School Wide Positive Behaviour Framework here at IEPS. Each article will feature shortly after my piece as a PDF.

Upcoming 2025 Foundation Enrolment Sessions

As you may be aware we are gearing up for our 2025 Pre-Foundation sessions and subsequent Open mornings and evenings. Since starting this approach two years ago we have received extremely positive feedback from the wider community, and we are asking any members of our community that can spread the word to get in touch. We have ample flyers to collect from our front office, or alternatively you can print and distribute the attached image.

We want to make sure that all members of our wider community have an opportunity to engage with us during the decision making process for which school is the best fit for their child. We hope these flyers being spread across our community will help families engage with us and other schools throughout this process.

If you are interested and able to help distribute these flyers, please come in to the front office for hard copies. Alternatively, feel free to share the flyer digitally to the wider community.

Morning Arrival of Students at IEPS

As a parent of two young children I acknowledge how busy the morning routine can be and sometimes it feels like a rush. Our school psychologist has placed some great tips and ideas for the morning routine in previous bulletins (Week 3), especially for some students who have found this difficult and I have even adopted some of these strategies for my own children.

Even though the morning can be a challenging time for some, I would still like to elaborate on the message from last week’s bulletin regarding the importance of attendance, especially relating to the arrival at school before learning commences. This is currently not only a focus for our network but it is a system wide Department of Education focus.

If a student regularly arrives even 5 minutes late to school this equates to 3.3 days of school missed per year. If a student regularly arrives 10 minutes late that extends out to 6.6 days a year of school missed.

As mentioned in last week’s bulletin and reiterated in this week’s reminders, 5 minutes late every day for the entire schooling equates to 43 days of school missed, that is equivalent to the entirety of this term.

Therefore we stress the importance of students arriving through the school gate by ideally 8.55am so they can line up with their classmates and follow their class into their room to start learning at 9.00am sharp. Please note all staff are required to make their way out to the line up area at 8.50am and be present with their class by 8.55am.

However, I do want to acknowledge and reiterate that sometimes students are unwell and that it is not always possible for them to attend. I ask that even though we stress the importance of attendance, if a child is unwell, especially if they are symptomatic they should stay home until they fully recover. Furthermore we acknowledge there are specific cases where there are plans in place to support individual student needs.

We appreciate all parties involved in supporting each of our students at IEPS.

Please note the process for late arrivals at IEPS.

• Any students that arrive through the gate between 9.00am – 9.04am will be sent to straight to their classrooms.
• All rolls will be marked by classroom teachers at 9.05am each morning.
• All students arriving after 9.05am will be sent to the office to be signed in. (This means you will not be required to mark them on your Compass app)
• The parents of any students that are not marked on a roll will be sent an automatic Compass notification stating that their child is absent and unexplained. If the roll is not marked properly then parents will receive an automatic notification of their child being absent when they aren’t. (This has been due largely to students who have not been signed in at the office after 9.05am).

As mentioned above, we acknowledge the morning routine can be a challenging time and for anyone that this relates to we encourage you to read through our school psychologist tips and ideas for the morning routine (week 3).

Furthermore we also acknowledge that our families that have siblings at East Ivanhoe Kindergarten, are finding their morning run longer than last year (due to the kindergarten relocation). If there are any families needing assistance with the morning routine please don’t hesitate to contact us.

I would also like to remind families that before school care is available through OSHClub should you need to drop your child off unsupervised on-site before 8.45am.