Thank you, Ivanhoe East community, for a great first full week back at school.
A special welcome to those families that are new to IEPS, whether they are starting in Prep or in other year levels throughout the school.
We welcomed the return of our students to school last week and it was very exciting to see them reconnect with their friends and start to build their classroom learning communities. Our teachers are to be congratulated on their preparation for a successful start to the year. It has been wonderful to see the Level 6s working with their prep buddies and supporting them in some outdoor activities and in the yard.
A special welcome to our fantastic new prep students who had their first day of school last Tuesday. I was thrilled to see them arrive at school, most excited and some a bit nervous, with their very proud parents there to reassure them. Thank you to parents, staff and especially the Prep team, for making sure our new Prep students were able to settle in so well on their first day of school. It is always such an exciting day, and we are grateful to the prep teachers for providing a smooth transition into IEPS.
Leadership structure reminder
2022 Leadership structure
Principal – Tom Boyle
Assistant Principal – Adrienne Dudley
Leading Teacher – Amanda Dwyer
Leading Teacher – Ben Phillips
Learning Specialist – Sophie Herbert
However due to approved leave from the DET there are some adjustments that will occur in Term 1, predominantly over the next few weeks.
- Amanda Dwyer will be the Acting Assistant Principal for the entirety of Term 1 due to Adrienne Dudley being on Long Service.
- Tom Boyle – will be taking paternity leave for 3 weeks from Friday 4th February – 24th February
(Please note I will be still contactable via email & Compass and will be liaising regularly with the leadership team via WebEx meetings and where possible be coming in.)
- Ben Phillips will be in an Acting Assistant Principal role for a period during Term 1, during his leave Sophie Herbert will be taking on further responsibilities.
As mentioned above please feel free to continue to get in contact with me via Compass or email at Tom.boyle@education.vic.gov.au during the next few weeks, as I will still be active during my paternity leave. For minor day-to-day matters that you believe can be actioned on site please contact Amanda Dwyer at Amanda.dwyer@education.vic.gov.au and/or Benjamin Phillips at Benjamin.phillips@education.vic.gov.au.
Due to Adrienne Dudley being on long service leave and myself on paternity leave, this technically leaves no principal class members on staff, therefore the DET will be allocating a liaison principal class member by the name of Lynne Kemp to support Amanda and Ben during my paternity leave. However, please note that Amanda and Ben will still be the first point of call at IEPS. During 2021 and continuing into 2022, Amanda, Ben and I have been working closely together, I have full confidence that they are more than prepared and capable for their enhanced roles. Amanda and Ben will continue to lead the school in a cohesive and collaborative approach with the liaison principal class member. As mentioned above I will still be working with the wider leadership team consisting of Lynne, Amanda & Ben/Sophie throughout my leave.
Congratulations Tom Boyle
A massive congratulations to Tom Boyle and his family on the arrival of their new baby boy Fraser who arrived on Friday morning. Both Mum and bub are doing well. Great news Tom.
Covid 19 Update
I want to thank everybody for your flexibility and understanding in collecting the rapid antigen test kits (RATS) supplied by the Department of Education last week and testing your children prior to attending school.
Whilst I know it isn't the most pleasant experience to be undergoing, the testing uncovered children who were positive, and the parents did not know. Please be vigilant in watching for symptoms and not sending your child to school if they are unwell. If your child exhibits symptoms, please understand that we will contact you immediately and ask that your child be collected as soon as possible.
If your child returns a positive result, your child has COVID-19. You must:
contact the school by email at Ivanhoe.east.ps@education.vic.gov.au, and CC the principal into that email at Tom.boyle@education.vic.gov.au, and you are encouraged to also use the RA Test Portal; this is so the school can support your child and record that they will be absent while in 7-day isolation. Your child must stay home until their symptoms have resolved and they are well. Please note everyone in your household will be deemed as a close contact and will be required to isolate for 7 days.
Students will be provided with a week’s worth of optional learning for their 7-day isolation period. The learning has been created with the intent that it can be done as independently as possible by the child. Learning materials are available at;
Remote Learning 2022https://sites.google.com/education.vic.gov.au/ieps-learning-from-home-2022/home
You must also report your child’s positive test to the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398
COVID-19 RAT Test self-reporting formCOVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form
Communication around Covid Exposure
As part of our ongoing IEPS Covid safety management plan, when we receive notification of a positive case we will continue to communicate via Compass, as timely as possible, with the individual classes that are exposed. We will also send out a daily Covid update to the whole school community with information of positive cases who were on our school site while infectious. If your child has been exposed to Covid 19 you are required to follow the following steps:
- If your child is not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they can continue to attend school, but you should monitor for symptoms
- Students who show symptoms of COVID-19 cannot attend school and should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Household Contact
Where a student is a household contact of a positive case (that is, they have spent more than four hours with someone who has COVID-19 inside a house, accommodation, or care facility) they must inform the school and isolate for seven days and not attend school during that period.
Face masks
School staff will be required to always wear masks indoors when not actively teaching or communicating with students. Masks are not compulsory for teachers and staff outdoors.
- Students in Grade 3 and above must wear a face mask indoors at school and at Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) programs, unless a lawful exception applies. Students must wear face masks even if vaccinated. Students are not required to wear masks outside
- Visitors to schools aged 8 and above must wear a face mask in all indoor spaces, unless a lawful exception applies
- Students in Prep to Grade 2 are strongly recommended to wear a face mask indoors at school or an OSHC program.
A face mask must cover the nose and mouth. Face shields, scarves or bandanas do not meet these requirements.
There are lawful reasons for not wearing a face mask, including for staff and students who are unable to wear a face mask due to the nature of their disability, medical or a mental health condition. Parent/carers of a student/s who meet the criteria for an exception should provide their approval in writing for their child/ren to not wear a mask to their child’s classroom teacher. There is no requirement for a letter for a medical exception for not wearing a face mask from a medical practitioner.
Information sessions on WebEx tonight
A reminder that Wednesday 9th February each Sub School will be presenting an information session about the upcoming year and your child’s learning program.
Junior school - Prep and Year 1
Time: 6.00pm-6:45pm
Location: https://eduvic.webex.com/meet/lamers.larissa.j
Middle School - Years 2 & 3
Time: 6.45pm-7.30pm
Location: https://eduvic.webex.com/meet/silvestro.alexandra.a
Senior School - Years 4, 5 & 6
Time: 7:30pm-8.15pm
Location: https://eduvic.webex.com/meet/herbert.sophie.e
School Council Elections
Information regarding the 2022 School Council election process will be sent to families via Compass today. I would encourage any interested parent to read through the documentation sent and get in contact with any questions you may have. School Council is an extremely vital part of the school. Please look out for this if you think you may be interested in nominating or being nominated for 2022. Information will include a timeline and summary of the role of School Council.
2022 Parent Payments Reminder
Parent payments help the school to operate effectively. IEPS provides a significant range of programs that cannot be delivered without the optional support of families. We would like to thank the parents that have already made these payments.
Parent Teacher Meetings
These valuable meetings will be held on Tuesday 1st March – Thursday 3rd March. They will be held via your classroom teachers WebEx. These meetings provide you with the opportunity to share valuable information about your child and to develop personal goals with the teacher. The booking process (via Compass)will be shared with you over the coming weeks.
Life Education – Parent Seminar - Register your interest!
The Life Education program and Healthy Harold will be visiting the school in Term 2. The program offers a free Parent & Guardian Information session to complement the student program. If you are interested, please register your interest here.
Zones of Regulation
IEPS is launching the Zones of Regulation as a new addition to our whole school approach to Wellbeing. The Zones of Regulation is an internationally renowned intervention which helps children to manage difficult emotions, known as ‘self-regulation’. Self-regulation can go by many names such as ‘self-control’, ‘impulse management’ and ‘self-management’. Self-regulation is best described as the best state of alertness for a situation. For example, when your child takes part in a sports game, they would need to have a higher state of alertness than when, for example, they were working in a library.
From time to time, all of us (including adults) find it hard to manage strong feelings such as worry, anger, restlessness, fear or tiredness, and this stops us from getting on with our day effectively. Children who feel these emotions often find it hard to learn and concentrate in school. The Zones of Regulation aims to teach children strategies to help them cope with these feelings so they can get back to feeling calm and ready to learn. These coping strategies are called ‘self-regulation’.
We want to teach all of our children good coping and regulation strategies so they can help themselves when they experience anxiety and stress. In the classroom, sometimes children panic when faced with a tricky learning problem or challenge. By teaching them how to cope with these feelings might make them better at tackling learning challenges and build better resilience so they don’t give up so easily when faced with difficulty. We aim to help children to:
- Recognise when they are in the different Zones and learn how to change or stay in the Zone they are in.
- Increase their emotional vocabulary so they can explain how they are feeling.
- Recognise when other people are in different Zones, thus developing better empathy.
- Develop an insight into what might make them move into the different Zones.
- Understand that emotions, sensory experiences such as lack of sleep or hunger and their environment might influence which Zone they are in.
- Develop problem-solving skills and resilience.
- Identify a range of calming and alerting strategies that support them (known as their personal ‘toolkit’.
Teachers will be introducing the Zones of Regulations to parents during our Information Sessions next week and I will be sharing resources you can use at home via the Bulletin over the term. This is a framework that provides tools and consistent language our whole community can use, to support your children at home and in the classroom to self-regulate with success.
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.
If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.
Payment amounts this year are $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.
If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office on 9499 2171 and ask for an application form.
You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page.
Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.
Regards
Tom Boyle
Acting Principal