I would like to welcome everyone in our school community for 2024. Special welcome to all new families joining us for the first time, we hope that you and your child have a smooth transition into their first couple of days here at IEPS.

A big welcome to our new teachers, Ms Alessandra Loudovaris (4L), Ms Candice Koranias (4K), Ms Michaella Bryce (French) and our newest education support staff, Mrs Laura Barnes and Ms Amy Gersh. We are thrilled to have these exceptional staff join our IEPS community.

Our students have made a terrific start to this school year, and as I walked around the school on Tuesday and today, it has been great to see so many smiling faces and students eager to get back into learning. The classrooms have been extremely settled and I thank the classroom and specialist teachers for all their work in preparing their environments. There is a real sense of calm as well as enthusiasm for learning all across the school.

Days of Acknowledgement

January 24 – International Day of Education

This dedicated UNESCO date acknowledges the crucial role teachers and schools have in building empathy and understanding of the world. This date specifically focusses on the countering of hate speech. With social media, constant worldwide updates and an ease to be unkind through technology, it has become a more prevalent component as we negotiate this 21^st century world. At IEPS Primary we take this focus incredibly seriously. Our school-wide approach of positive behaviour expectations and reflection times encourage student to build their empathy and understanding of the impact their words and actions have on others. We take this aspect of our IEPS community very seriously and are always here if you need any assistance.

January 30 – Students first day of school

Welcome back to a new year of school! As a community, IEPS hopes that you and your child left this first day feeling happy and excited for what 2024 will hold. It was a very smooth day and we say thank you to all parents, teachers, aids, office staff and principal staff to ensure each individual felt comfortable and happy in their new environment. It’s going to be a great year! 

February 4 – World Cancer Day

This global initiative raises awareness of cancer and encourages its prevention, detection and treatment. In Australia, it is estimated one in two individuals will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. A diagnosis of cancer is not a rare occurrence nor something that any of us are unfamiliar with, but these facts will never make it any easier. The theme for this year’s acknowledgement is ‘Close the Gap’ as half the world lacks access to these great essential health services. For example, in New Zealand, Māori individuals are twice as likely to die from cancer as non-Māori. On this day, we acknowledge how far research has come in fighting the disease and think of those we love who we have lost or have struggled from this disease.

February 5-11 – Healthy Lunchbox Week

As we return to school routines, the big question of what to put into lunchboxes pops back up. What students consume plays a crucial role in their social, emotional and academic resilience. Implemented by Nutrition Australia, they have compiled a list of easy-to-make, healthy and delicious recipe ideas for your child’s lunchbox; https://www.healthylunchboxweek.org.au/recipes. If you are still struggling for healthy and easy alternatives for your child’s lunch, Kim and our canteen have a wide variety of options.

Organisational Model 2024

During the back end of last year and over the January period we had been working on a new Organisational Model for this year. This model revamped the structure that was in place to create fluid throughlines across all aspects of teaching and learning. Furthermore this model will support our continuous improvement cycle through collective efficacy and responsibility of our Annual Implementation Plan and School Strategic actions and outcomes to achieve our targets/goals. Throughout this process we have promoted 2x Learning Specialists, as well as created clusters to work across certain areas of the school. Please find below the 2024 Organisational Model with an outline of the portfolios that each member of leadership has, this will not only create fluid throughlines and teams around certain areas of the school it will also create further clarity of who our key contacts are for our wider community.

IEPS Lunchtime Clubs Timetable - 2024

The PAG representatives surveyed Foundation to Year 5 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.

Class Representative 2024

Thank you to those of you who have volunteered to become a parent representative for their child’s class in 2024. We are still looking for class parent representatives for Prep L, 1P, 3W, 4G, and 5P. If you are a parent of one of these grades and are interested in being the class rep, I ask you to fill out your details via the below form at your earliest convenience. (Please copy the link into a new tab)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rCtawk7jiikZF1RZ8VlSHPKplIpQHa0tgVcpdkkT_T8/edit#gid=0

The role of the parent class representative in 2024 will involve creating a WhatsApp group which will be an integral communication tool for each class and the wider Ivanhoe East Community. At the start of next week, we will be emailing each class through Compass and introducing their class rep along with a Google form for families to fill out their contact details to be connected to the WhatsApp group. We envisage that our 2024 Class Representative WhatsApp groups will be up and running by the end of next week.

Parent Payment Contributions - 2024

We use contributions from families to support us in providing better quality materials, equipment, resources, enhanced programs, and opportunities beyond the standard Victorian curriculum. To date, we have been most fortunate that our school community values the high standard of resourcing that payment of these contributions provides and has willingly contributed and we hope this will continue to be reflected in 2024.

The ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. 

We are aiming to start finalising our resourcing for 2024 at the start of week 2 and we ask that all contributions are completed by the end of Week 1 so we can do this efficiently. 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. (Please copy the link in a new tab)

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

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 (8.00 am – 4.30 pm), 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.

School Council Elections

Information regarding the 2024 School Council election process will be circulated via Compass on Monday of next week and will also feature in our next newsletter.

School Council is an extremely vital part of the school, and it is from council that we take our direction. Council approves external contracts, provides advice and consent on a range of areas and oversees school finance. Please look out for this if you think you may be interested in nominating or being nominated. Information will include a timeline and summary of the role of the School Council.

Year Level Term Newsletters, SeeSaw & Homework

On Friday afternoon your child will be bringing home a hard copy of the Term Newsletter, a soft copy will also be emailed. The newsletter will have important information relevant to your child’s year level and the key dates for the first term, as well as the expectations for homework in Term 1.

Please note that this term we will be updating our Homework Policy which will be sent out to our community once it is completed, a tentative timeline is for this to be completed towards the end of Term 1.

In addition to this, your child will bring home a Seesaw home learning QR code. Please use this code to sign up to your child’s Seesaw journal so you can stay in touch with all of the learning taking place at school. Please note that the code is unique to your child and can be used to sign up more than one family member.

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.

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 9 am on Friday mornings. Please refer to the schedule below:

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you next Friday for our first onsite Assembly.

Procedure for Collecting Students During School Hours