While we are on holidays recuperating and spending time with those we love, IEPS would still like to acknowledge and celebrate some important dates.

Autism Awareness Month

The month of April acknowledges and brings awareness to those diagnosed with Autism. As we return in late April, this will be a focus of our school community within the first week or two as we continue to teach and bring understanding of this diagnosis amongst our students and families. It is estimated that one in one hundred students are diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum, and it is a diagnosis that can evolve and change over time. As Autism is on such a large spectrum, it presents itself differently dependent on the individual, but students can have difficulty with communication or social interactions and they may have sensory comforts or issues including food textures, fabrics, classroom stimulus or noises. Autism is not a diagnosis to feel embarrassed or afraid of, it is not uncommon and does not necessarily mean an adjustment on what your child can achieve. It is simply an understanding that this individual will sometimes require adjustments to make them feel more comfortable in their environment. Neurodiversity is becoming more common as society delves more into this exploration and understanding. IEPS celebrates that we all see the world in a different light and encourages these different perspectives to shine. 

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

Celebrating its 8^th year, this day both acknowledges the gender inequality within science and celebrates those women who are successful within this male dominated field. With this year's theme of sustainable development, it will align with our Term 2 whole-school inquiry of chemical and biological science. A love of learning begins in school and we are excited to explore this focus within our classrooms as we encourage all students to question and analyse what they know about the world around them.

April 25^th – ANZAC day

On ANZAC day we take a minute of silence to commemorate and pay our respects to those who have fought and died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping missions. This day marks the anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand Army Troops landing in Gallipoli in 1915. IEPS will be acknowledging this date when we return in Term Two.

Easter Bunny Visit

Today we welcomed the Easter Bunny to IEPS. The Easter Bunny visited all the classrooms to hand out chocolate as well as wish people a happy holiday over the Easter break. You will also notice from the photos below that the Easter bunny was very animated and was well and truly in the spirit of having fun.

We would like to thank Miles Real Estate for sponsoring our Easter bunny visit.

Holiday Reading

As always, I strongly encourage all students to continue to read over the school holidays. I often refer to the statistic that 67 minutes of reading a day will help a child to achieve, on average, in the 98^th percentile for their age. This means reading over the holidays as well. Perhaps it’s 30 minutes before going to bed, or 15 minutes of downtime in the sunshine. It could be reading to a younger sibling or trying a new and more challenging book. The important thing is to be reading for enjoyment and building a strong vocabulary in the process.

I particularly hope that our senior students from Years 3-6 take the time to read independently over the holidays, as this is the time when we often start to see a plateau start to occur in student achievement. This is reflected across the country and the best way to set ourselves apart is to enjoy a good book.

2024 Prep Enrolments

The Department of Education has introduced a new Prep enrolment timeline for 2024. Within this process, Victorian government primary schools are unable to receive enrolment applications for Prep 2024 until Term 2.  

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. 

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

Infectious Disease

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. As communicated earlier this week via Compass we have had an increase in Gastro across the school. We believe that this has passed, however 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.

IEPS Daily Routine

Attached to this week’s bulletin is a resource to support families having meaningful conversations at home. Many students come home at the end of a day and answer ‘what did you do at school today?’ with a monotoned ‘nothing’. The IEPS Daily Routine resource provides questions to help you start the day with a conversation and then unpack your day.

IEPS Parent Environment Committee Working Bee

A big thank you to our Parent Environment Committee and all attendees that came out on Sunday for our first working bee of the year.

For more information and pictures, please refer below to the IEPS Environment Club Working Bee article.

Enjoy the Holidays

Finally, have a safe and happy holiday period. Remember that the school will be accessible over the holidays for family visits, although families should be sure to keep clear of the OSHClub holiday program. If you are in need of supervision over the break, bookings for the holiday program can be made online via the OSHClub website. Please note that various works will be taking place over the break, so please be careful around any workers. Further information on this is outlined below in the Assistant Principals section. Enjoy the break and we look forward to seeing you all well rested for the start of Term 2, which will be Wednesday 26^th of April.

Reminders From Previous Bulletins

Lunchtime Clubs to Start in Term 2

The PAG representatives surveyed Foundation to Year 6s and then collated the data to select the top 4 lunchtime clubs voted upon by students. A mock timetable was created and shown to our PAG representatives in last week's meeting. The PAG representatives discussed the timetable and came to an agreement on the lunchtime clubs they wanted. Please note, Tech club will be run by Ms. Gould and will involve the use of proper tech skills being taught. Please find attached below the timetable for Lunchtime Clubs starting Week 2 of Term 2.

For Your Diaries

Please refer to IEPS Important Dates below for Term 1 and 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,

Facilities Update

A massive thank you to Carly Simmance and Michael Vosbergen and the working bee crew who on Sunday the 2^nd of April worked through the yard and made a massive difference to the overall look and feel of Ivanhoe East Primary School.

Throughout Term 1 we have had many different projects underway in the yard. Some of which have been completed and the students are already enjoying.

The new Gaga Pit has been installed and the students have been competing in gaga ball games every recess and lunch times. Thanks to the house captains for helping our students understand this new game and for maintaining the pit.

We have new basketball and netball rings that our students are thrilled with. Our outdoor stage area has had a brand new shade sail installed this week, and over the holidays on Wednesday the 12^th, we will be levelling out the bottom asphalt on the basketball court. Also a new sensory playground will be installed in the junior playground on the 13^th and 14^th of April.

After the holidays, on the 18^th of April we will have new line marking happening on the lower asphalt and more marking, including new games and courts to come throughout Term 2.

We kindly ask that on these days the grounds are not used by families as we will have trucks and utes driving through the grounds and workmen in the area.

Assistant Principal

Ben Phillips

Lost Property

The lost property cupboard was overflowing and the students from level 6 and Miss O’Neil have sorted through it and delivered labelled uniforms to classes. There was also a large amount of unnamed clothes, which have been put into large tubs which will be sorted through the coming weeks. Please ensure that your child’s uniform is clearly labelled so that it can be returned to them in the event that they misplace it.

On Sunday the 2^nd of April, a group of 15 adults and 30 kids spent the sunny afternoon working hard at the school to help improve the environment around the school buildings.

Jobs included: removing “The Banks” trees guards, pruning existing trees, weeding/mulching “The Little Corner”, collecting old soil and leaves from around the stairs and the gutters of the asphalt areas, blowing and raking leaves, feeding the worm farms, and turning the compost bins and green waste bays and preparing the veggie beds.

Kids of all ages enjoyed playing with their friends, and meeting new ones, and the parents also made some new social connections. There was a lot of chatting and laughs whilst partaking in a BBQ sausage and an icy-pole.

With the Grade 6 Environment Leader’s “Clean Up Australia Day” coming up this week, the school will be rubbish free, and cleaner than ever!

We hope to have another IEPS Environment Club working bee next term. Get involved if you missed this one.

With thanks, Michael and Carly

Three weeks ago, the House Captains and Vice Captains were invited to a House spirit meeting to help them build their confidence and motivation to speak in public. They were given shirts to represent the colour of their house and also planned fun activities to help the Preps understand the meaning of their house.  

Two weeks later the captains executed the plan with the Preps, and to start the day the house leaders made their way down to the junior building to meet the Preps. When the captains first entered the rooms, the Preps were a little nervous but after introducing themselves the Preps understood who the Year 6’s and 5’s were and why they were there. Soon after the Preps were ready for the first activity, which was making beaded keychains in their house colors. The keychains had 'house' written on them to help the Preps understand that they were in a school house. 

For the second activity, each house had made a different game for the Preps to enjoy, these activities ranged from Duck Duck Goose to an Obstacle Course! We interviewed some of the House Captains to share their opinions on how it went. 

Lachlan, one of the Green House Captains: The Preps from green house had a fun time while playing duck duck goose and they definitely understand that they are in Green House now. 

Orlo, one of the Red House Captains: The Red House Preps loved playing silent ball and they were amazed by their new awesome keychains. 

Overall, the Preps had a great time and the house leaders have now gained experience and knowledge for bigger activities later in the year. 

Hello everyone,

I am Kathy Elston and am the Instrumental Music teacher at Ivanhoe East Primary School.  I would like to teach flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, trombone and drums at this school to form a concert band.

Lessons will be $40 for a private lesson and $26 for 2 people to share a lesson. To share a lesson they need to be learning the same instrument. These lessons will be available during school time.

If you are interested in this opportunity you can pick up an instrumental music application form from the school office. 

Kathy Elston.

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.

We can also accept any clothing donations at this time - our only ask is that donated uniform items are clean and in good condition (i.e. no tears, holes, animal hair etc!).

As we have been inundated, we are not accepting school bags at the moment.

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