Principal’s Report
On behalf of the students and staff at Emerald Primary School, I am proud to announce that our School Captains for 2025 are:
- Lachlan A
- Mia D
- Reece B
- Elleny S
We have 4 Captains at EPS, rather than 2 Captains and 2 Vice Captains, so that the workload and responsibility can be shared. Well done and thank you to all applicants and short-listed candidates – the speeches were very outstanding and it was wonderful to hear from the students about how passionate they are about EPS, their hopes and dreams. Well done to this team of four students whom students and staff voted in. The Captains first event (apart from hosting Assembly!), will be speaking at the ANZAC Day dawn and mid-morning services and laying wreathes. Mrs. D’Rozario and I are looking forward to working with the Student Leadership Team this year.
We will be having a “Clean-Up Australia” event this Friday afternoon to make sure our schoolgrounds are lovely and clean and tidy! Grades will be allocated an area of the school and surrounds to tidy. We have registered our “Clean-Up” with Council, so they will be collecting the extra rubbish at the end of Friday. Thanks to Bianca Appleby for her organisation of this day.
The School Council plays an important role in policy decisions and setting improvement directions for the school. Our School Council team is very dynamic, vibrant and active at EPS!!
We are calling for nominations for Parent positions and Department of Education employee positions currently and I hope you might consider nominating yourself or another parent in our school community. Nomination forms are available at the office or can be sent home or emailed (call on 5968 4311 or email emerald.ps@education.vic.gov.au).
Nominations open today (Monday 24th February) and close on Monday 3rd March at 4pm. From there we can advise if an election is required. If a ballot is required, it will open on Wednesday 5th March and close on Monday 17th March.
Positions on School Council are elected on a 2 year basis in 2025. If a 2 year position cannot be completed then the election process has a one year vacancy for that position.
This year we have:
6 Parent Category positions (2 years)
1 Department of Education Category positions (2 years)
Nomination can be through a person seconding your nomination or by self-nomination.
Please see below some frequently asked questions and answers about what is involved in being a School Councillor.
What role does the School Council play at our school?
A School Council’s objectives are to:
Assist in the efficient governance and policy making of the school.
Ensure that the decisions affecting the students of our school are made having the best interests of all students in mind.
Enhance the educational opportunities of the students of the school.
Ensure the school and the council comply with any EDEC (Emerald District Education Community) requirements.
Have a say in how Fundraising monies are spent.
Who is involved in a School Council?
Our school council is made up of a range of people from our school community, including the Principal, the Assistant Principal, Teachers, Parents and Community members.
Do I need special experience to be on School Council?
No! What you need is an interest in your child’s education, interest in our school as a whole and the ability to work co- operatively with others to help shape the future of our school.
Why is parent membership so important?
Parents on School Councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help shape the direction of the school. Parents who become active on a School Council find their involvement satisfying in itself and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.
What commitment will I need to make?
School Council must meet at least 8 times during the school year. The term is usually 2 years. The meetings begin at 7.30pm on the third Thursday of the month, and are generally finished at around 8.45pm. Each member of the School Council is to take an active role on one of the following committees:
- Publicity
- Grounds and Facilities
- Finance
- Fundraising
How can I become involved?
The most obvious way to become involved is to nominate yourself in the elections that are held this year.
We look forward to some new parents and carers joining our School Council team!
If you have any queries regarding what is involved in the role and the time commitment, please contact myself at the school, or have a chat to any of our current School Councillors:
- Olivia McLeod
- Fundraising Committee – Peta Woodyard
- Publicity & Communications Committee – Karen Giles
- Buildings & Grounds Committee – Patric Soussan
- Narelle Oberin
- Bianca Appleby
- Carice D’Rozario
- Inge Terkildsen
- Julia Weir
- Shannon Bird
Thank you very much to the following School Councillors who are ending their tenure this year – Vyvyan Cornell, Cherry Hynam, Julie Bowyer.
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy tests (NAPLAN) for Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students are held in March each year. In 2025, the NAPLAN Online test window will commence on Wednesday 12th March and conclude on Monday 24th March. NAPLAN tests assess student knowledge and skills in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar, and punctuation) and numeracy. The results of the tests provide information for students, parents, teachers, and principals and can be used, alongside of our regular assessments administered, to improve student achievement.
We encourage our students to participate in the NAPLAN Online tests and wish to reassure our families that just want our students to have a go and do their best on the day. Catch up tests will be available for individual students who are absent on test days up to and including Monday 25th March.
Support can be arranged for students with additional needs if the student regularly uses similar support for normal classroom assessment tasks.
Exemptions and adjustments may be granted. If you think your child is eligible for support or exemption, please discuss this with the classroom teacher prior to the tests. Parental consent is required before any support due to disability or exemption is administered.
Students may be withdrawn from NAPLAN by their parent or carer. This is a matter for consideration by parents and carers in consultation with the classroom teacher or Assistant Principal. If, after consultation, you decide to withdraw your child, please sign the relevant forms available at the front office.
The final date for withdrawals from the NAPLAN assessments is Monday 3rd March.
Later in the year you will receive your child’s personal NAPLAN report. The report will describe their skills and will also show how your child performed in relation to national standards.
We are looking forward to the exciting Grade 5 Camp to Phillip Island in mid-March this year – coming up soon! Information regarding the camp payments, permissions and medical information will be sent via Compass later this week.
In the last couple of years, NAPLAN has also been conducted during dates close to our camp dates. Due to a slight change towards the end of 2024, the first day of camp clashes with the sitting of the Writing test for NAPLAN for Grade 5 students this year.
Unfortunately, there was no option to move the camp to any other suitable dates this year, and the NAPLAN administrators were not able to permit us to move the Writing test, as it needs to be completed at the same time as all Grade 5 students around the state.
Thank you to Jason Dangerfield and the team, the departure time for the camp has been able to be delayed by an hour or so, to enable students to take the Writing tests before they leave for camp on Wednesday 12th March.
So, the arrangements will be:
- Students arrive at school by 8.45am
- Luggage left near front office.
- NAPLAN Writing session starts at 9.00am
- Volunteers to help load luggage onto bus.
- Writing session complete by 10.00am
- Students head to bus for departure at 10.15am
• Parents and Carers will be welcome to return at approximately 10.00am to farewell their children and wave to the bus!
Please be advised of the following student free days, when our staff will be completing professional learning activities or parent teacher interviews:
- Thursday 3rd July – Parent-Teacher Interviews.
- Monday 21st July – Curriculum Day: New Victorian Learning and Teaching Model 2.0.
For those families using the TheirCare childcare service , they are preparing to have students on the 21st February, 3rd July and 21st July dates: https://theircare.com.au/
One further day may be announced for Term 4, I will be in touch about that as soon as I can.
A number of students have been wearing Crocs (shoes) to school at the moment. Whilst we appreciate how fun these can be – please ensure students are wearing fully enclosed shoes for safety reasons around the school (eg. school shoes, runners). Please contact us at the school if you have any queries.
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February Events:
- Wednesday 26th February – No Preps at School
- Thursday 27th February – EDEC Swimming
March Events:
- Sunday 2nd March – Clean Up Australia Day
- Wednesday 5th March – No Preps at School
- Thursday 6th March – House Sports
- Friday 7th March – Leadership Assembly
- Monday 10th March – Labour Day Public Holiday
- Wednesday 12th March – Preps Attend Full Time
- Wednesday 12th March – Monday 24th March – NAPLAN
- Wednesday 12th – Friday 14th March – Grade 5 School Camp
- Wednesday 12th March – Divisional Swimming
- Friday 21st March – Assembly
- Friday 21st March – Regional Swimming
- Wednesday 26th March – World Maths Day
- Thursday 27th March – EDEC Athletics
April Events:
- Wednesday 2nd April – School Photo Day
- Thursday 3rd April – Colour Fun Run
- Friday 4th April – Values Awards Assembly
- Friday 4th April – Last Day of Term 1
Emma Clark
Principal
This week …
If you hold a current Concession Card, please come into the Emerald Primary School Office to collect and submit your form with a copy of your Concession Card.
Could families please log into the SSB system to reallocate their SSB to School Activities if they want to use it for camps/excursions or sports events. Could you also please complete the form which was sent home and return it to our lovely office staff.
Link to School Saving Bonus website below:
Upcoming Events …
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