Covid Update
Illness
Over the past 7 days we have had the largest number of Covid cases in a week at IEPS since the pandemic began. With a combination of Covid, Flu and Gastro circulating in the community it is essential that children showing any symptoms of illness are kept home until symptoms are fully resolved. Our best chance of keeping the school functioning as close to normal as possible, and protecting IEPS community members, is to keep illness out of the school.
RAT Tests
From Monday 23 May 2022, students will no longer be recommended to undertake twice-weekly RATs. RATs however will continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (5 negative tests over a 7-day period) or who have symptoms.
The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers will have them should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms.
If staff or students receive a positive test result at any time, they must report this through the Department of Health system (Rapid antigen tests | Coronavirus Victoria) or via the coronavirus hotline at 1800 675 398.
Students (or their parents) must also report a positive result to the school office, by written notification to the ivanhoe.east.ps@education.vic.gov.au and tom.boyle@education.vic.gov.au
This is so we can record that they will be absent while in 7-day isolation, provide support and learning materials as needed, and let the rest of the school community know there has been a positive case onsite and that they should monitor for symptoms.
Thank you again for your ongoing cooperation and support during this time.
Enrolments
We thank you for the families who have already submitted their enrolments. We are asking that all in zone or sibling claim enrolments are submitted to the office as soon as possible so we can follow through with the correct selection process. A reminder that the selection process is as follows:
1. Students for whom the school is the designated neighbourhood school
2. Students with a sibling at the same permanent address who are attending the school at the same time
3. All other students in order of closeness of their home to the school.
To follow this selection priority order, we need to know how many in zone and sibling families are enrolling before we can offer places to those residing outside our area.
Mother’s Day
A very big thank you to Helen McBain for co-ordinating the Mother’s Day Stall. Thanks also to all the wonderful helpers who helped out on the day. On behalf of all staff and students at IEPS we hope all mums had a very Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday 8th May. We hope you were all spoiled with lots of gifts, and more importantly, love, gratitude and appreciation for what you do.
NAPLAN
We acknowledge and congratulate our Year 3 and 5 students, families and staff for the manner in which they tackled the NAPLAN tests this fortnight - especially those who were absent on testing days and returned to make-up tests. The timetabling and creation of online test sessions has been credit to Mr Phillips and Ms Silvestro, with this the first time that NAPLAN was conducted online throughout the country. We noticed the positive manner in which our students applied themselves during these sessions and importantly note that our digital infrastructure stood up to enable test completion without any major issues. A NAPLAN report will be issued for each child later in the year, recognising that NAPLAN provides a snapshot of where students are performing at the time and on the day of the test. It is one aspect of our commitment to making informed judgments using multiple sources of data, summative and formative assessment to support every child.
Lunchtime Clubs
Our lunchtime clubs are in full swing and we have had a positive response from many students who have engaged with them so far. The timetable is as follows and we encourage students to attend if they are interested.
LOTE Club For Prep - Year 6 When: Monday Lunchtimes Where: LOTE Classroom Activities will include: Chinese art, calligraphy and Chinese movies Library Club For Prep - Year 6 When: Friday Lunchtimes Where: Library The library will be open for quiet reading.
Junior Tech Club
For Prep - Year 2
When: Wednesday Lunchtimes
Where: Miss Staubli’s Room (Prep S)
Activities will include: Scratch and code.org Senior Tech Club For Year 3 - 6 When: Tuesday Lunchtimes Where: Miss Gould’s Room (4G) Activities will include: Scratch and code.org
Junior Art Club
For Prep - Year 2
When: Wednesday Lunchtimes
Where: Art Room
Activities will include: Drawing and craft Senior Art Club For Year 3 - 6 When: Tuesday Lunchtimes Where: Art Room Activities will include: Drawing and craft
Lunchtime clubs are a great opportunity for students to engage in a particular area of interest as well as develop relationships with their peers who have a similar interest to them.
Open Afternoon
All families are invited to a school Open Afternoon next Tuesday the 24th of May, between 4:00 and 5:00pm. Parents and students will be able to tour the school and participate in some fun, interactive science experiments. There will also be a school-wide scavenger hunt! The Open Afternoon will also include a PTFA BBQ. Come join us to celebrate Education Week!
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 and the teaching & learning happening at IEPS. You can follow our movements by networking with us @ivanhoeeastprimaryschool on Instagram.
Regards,
Tom Boyle
Acting Principal