PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Meet the Teacher
Thank you to those families who were able attend our Meet the Teacher sessions. I would also like to thank the teaching staff for organising these sessions and spending their mornings reaching out to families. This home/school partnership is important so that students are known, valued and cared for. If you were unable to attend the Meet the Teacher sessions, you can visit the school website for your child/ren’s stage slide presentation (Learning at our school menu tab).
Bell Times
9:00am – 9:25 am Morning Duty
9:25am – 12:00pm Morning Session
12:00pm – 12:50pm Lunch
12:50pm – 2:00pm Middle Session
2:00pm – 2:25pm Recess
2:25pm – 3:30pm Afternoon Session
Morning Routines
It’s wonderful to see all our students arriving to school happy to start the day ahead with their friends and teachers. As we are heading into Week 7 of the school year, we would like to thank our parents for preparing their students for returning to school. It is tempting to stay around, hoping to see your child go into class happy and excited for the day ahead. However, the long-drawn-out goodbyes can increase anxiety in some of our students and can also be very disruptive to the morning routine for our teachers.
It would be appreciated if all parents/carers could move from the playground area as soon as dropping your child/ren. This will reduce the congestion in the playground and enable students to have access to increased play area. It will also enable students to reduce the anxiety they experience because of the separation.
Children should arrive at school in the mornings between 9:00am and the start of school at 9.25am, unless they are booked into music tutorials or PSSA training schedules. We ask that if your child/ren are attending music tutorials before school, that they are not unsupervised in the school grounds before 9am. Duty of care for students by school staff does not begin until 9am.
Aussie of the Month
The Aussie of the Month primary school civics and citizenship recognition program is delivered under the auspices of the Australia Day Council's National Network, which also delivers the Australian of the Year Awards. The successful recipient of the award will be recognised at the K-6 assembly each month as well as in the school newsletter. We hope to begin this initiative during Term 1.
Our focus, through this program is to encourage and recognise students for their contribution to community through a demonstration of Australian values as outlined in the Values for Australian Schooling and Curriculum framework. These are values outside of academic application, instead about active contribution to school, community and peer groups.
The values that are recognised with the Aussie of the Month program are:
Fair go – not just in how we apply ourselves but also providing opportunity for all
Mateship - generosity of spirit and compassion for those in need
Respect – of self, others, of our community and the environment
Inclusion – Celebrating difference, and the rights and freedoms we are all entitled to
Students are nominated, selected and recognised each month at school assemblies by the school. If your child is successful at achieving the Aussie of the Month recognition you will be invited to the recognition assembly.
February Aussie of the Month – Rostislav P (5/6P) for supporting a non-English speaking Kindergarten student in their transition to the school.
School Bytes- Parent Teacher Interviews
Parent-Teacher interviews will take place in Week 11 this term. This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to meet with teachers to ask specific questions about their child’s learning needs. The booking of Parent-Teacher interviews will be done using the School Bytes Parent Portal. Further information will be provided to you around accessing the School Bytes Parent Portal closer to the date.
Please remember that school staff are available to meet with you throughout the term so feel free to contact your child’s class teacher at any time to make an appointment. Appointments can be made by speaking with the teacher directly, via email or through the school office.
Third-party Online Consent
The department takes the privacy and security of student and parent information seriously. Third-party applications are those created by external software developers and not those developed in-house by the department. Online applications are those that store data information in the cloud.
All new families were provided with a third-party online parental consent note, at Meet the teacher, that will explain the following information about the third-party applications our school uses:
- The purpose of the application
- The student or parent information that you’ll be sharing
- In which country the application stores that information
- Who else can access that data and for what purpose.
On receiving this consent note, please read through carefully and return to your class teacher or the admin office by the end of this term. If you were unable to attend the Meet the teacher and have not received a third-party consent note, please come and collect a copy from the admin office or contact the school via email.
Coffee Catch-up
In 2023 I started an informal coffee catch-up with parents/carers and am looking forward to continuing this in 2025. This is an opportunity for me to meet parents/carers and discuss things about the school, how schools operate, work being done within the school, curriculum needs etc. It is not a time to discuss individual students, teachers or classes. I would like to have my first coffee catch-up this term on Thursday 13 March at 9:30am to 10:15am, which I will be addressing the EHPS school website. Please save the date and if you will be attending, I ask you to sign in at the front office and they will direct you to the teacher staffroom.
Attendance
Term 1 Year Group Attendance Summary:
Term 1 Weekly Year Group Attendance Summary:
If your child is absent from school, please let us know why as soon as possible, even if it’s just a few minutes at the start or end of the school day. Of course, there will be times when your child is unable to be at school, like when they are unwell. Medical appointments should take place outside school hours where possible, and family holidays should be taken in term breaks.
If your child is feeling anxious about coming to school and you need support, please reach out to your child’s teacher or to me directly. There are also helpful resources for parents and carers on the NSW Department of Education website.
Unexplained absences - In the event that your child has repeated or ongoing unexplained absences, we will continue to try to contact you about each absence to provide appropriate support for you and your family.
Consistently going to school has countless benefits – from learning, to creating social connections and improving wellbeing through access to support and quality education. I understand that regular attendance can present challenges, but please know that our school staff and I are here to support you and your family.
Healthy School Canteen
Congratulations to the P&C Canteen Committee, Nancy & Naomi on once again being acknowledged for their healthy canteen acknowledgement. We are very pleased to be able to offer students at EHPS with healthy food choices for their lunch and recess breaks.
Mrs Nicole Henderson
Principal