Principal’s Report

There is a lot happening at the moment around EPS! Well done to all of our competitors on this past Monday at the EDEC Cross-Country – some students also made it into the next round (Divisionals)! Grade 6 Camp leaves for Woorabinda in Yallourn North next Monday – we hope you have an amazing time! This weekend we are looking forward to the Hills Ukelele Festival (HUF) – for all information on tickets and free sessions, please follow this link:  Hills Ukulele Festival

Next week we are participating in the National Simultaneous Storytime with the picture book called ”Truck Cat” – be sure to ask your child all about it!

ENROLMENT  PROCESS

Our school now uses an online system for new Prep (also called Foundation) enrolments to Victorian government schools, called VicStudents.

To get started:

Visit https://students.educationapps.vic.gov.au/s/ to create an account and complete the online application form by Friday 25 July 2025.  If you would prefer to submit a paper application form, please contact us. We will then review the information submitted and be in contact with you by Friday 8 August 2025.  You should accept one enrolment offer by Friday 22 August 2025. When accepting an offer, you will be required to provide additional personal and health information that will be shared with the school.

Is VicStudents secure?

VicStudents has been assessed by the Department of Education to a high degree of security in line with the Victorian Protective Data Security Standards and is compliant with ISO 27001, the leading international standard for information security.

More information

For more information about enrolling your child into a Victorian government primary school, visit Enrolling in Foundation (Prep).

Please contact us via email: emerald.ps@education.vic.gov.au, or phone 03 5968 4311.  We’re here to help and will get back to you quickly. We look forward to your application and hope you will be joining our school community soon.

PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO ANY FAMILIES YOU KNOW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED.

At Emerald Primary School, we prioritise regular school attendance. We will work with families to ensure students are in class with their peers and teachers and enjoying all the benefits that brings.  Attending school every day means experiencing what counts – the learning, friendship, fun and opportunities that can shape your child’s future. Last year, students at our school missed on average 25 days of school. This equates to 3.5 terms over the 7 years of primary schooling, almost 1 year.

We understand that there are times when your child will need to miss school but to ensure minimal disruption to their education, please consider scheduling family holidays or medical/dental appointments outside of school time. If your child is well enough to attend but is worried about friendships, schoolwork or exams, please encourage them to come to school. Avoiding school can make these feelings worse and can create a negative pattern of behaviour.  If your child is having difficulty attending school, talk to their teacher or Bianca Appleby or Carice D’Rozario about getting support.  We know that parents and carers can be juggling challenges daily to get your children to school. If your child must miss school, notify us as soon as possible via Compass so we can work together to support them.

Remember, Every Day Counts!

All families will note on Compass that the Voluntary Curriculum Contribution amounts are accessible there for payment. We understand that 2025 has started as a challenging year for families economically, and so encourage you to make a payment plan for the year, or pay outright when you can. For last year, we were grateful to have had 50% of families pay these contribution amounts, but would really appreciate it if more families could put some money toward these this year, so that we can continue to conduct a full, rich program of learning at EPS. Please contact myself or Fiona Hogben, our Business Manager, for a chat if you would like to discuss payment options further.

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
  • Friday 28th November – Professional Practice Day

For those families using the TheirCare childcare service , they are preparing to have students on the 3rd July, 21st July and 28th November dates: https://theircare.com.au/

  • May Events:
    • Friday 16th May – Assembly
    • Friday 16th May – Walk Safely to School Day
    • Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th May – Hills Ukulele Festival
    • Monday 19th – Friday 23rd May – Grade 6 Camp Woorabinda
    • Wednesday 21st May – National Simultaneous Storytime 2025
    • Thursday 22nd May – School Council @ 7.30pm
    • Monday 26th May – National Sorry Day
    • Friday 30th May – Assembly
  • June Events:
    • Tuesday 3rd June – Divisional Cross Country (Selected Students)
    • Monday 9th June – Kings Birthday Public Holiday
    • Wednesday 11th June – Grade 5 Market Day
    • Thursday 12th June – Regional Cross Country (Selected Students)
    • Friday 13th June – Assembly
    • Monday 16th – Friday 20th June – Swimming Program (Prep – Grade 3)
    • Thursday 19th – Lightning Premierships 2025 – Grade 6
    • Thursday 19th – School Council @ 7.30pm
    • Monday 23rd – Friday 27th June – Swimming Program (Grade 4 – Grade 6)
    • Friday 27th June – Values Awards Assembly

Emma Clark

Principal

This week …

Duolingo is an increasing popular language learning website and app which can be accessed for free to learn many different languages, including Japanese. It’s fun and motivating to learn with quirky Duolingo characters and points are earned for practising. We are encouraging students from Grade 3 – 6 to join the EPS Duolingo classroom and spend some time practising Japanese skills each week. An advantage of joining the EPS classroom is that students will have unlimited “hearts” so they can feel free to make mistakes without losing “hearts”.

While it is free to use, you will regularly see ads for their paid service. Rest assured; there’s no need to join the paid service.

And if students are already learning with Duolingo, they can join the EPS classroom and take their learning history with them – they don’t have to start from scratch.

In Grade 3 and 4, we have had a strong focus on learning the 46 hiragana characters and Duolingo can be a great support to learning to read hiragana.

To join the EPS class from a computer, follow the link below.

www.duolingo.com/classroom/jfbvww

If you currently have an account, you can use the code jfbvww to join the EPS class.

To join from a smartphone or tablet, see the attached information.

Looking forward to seeing lots of names on the leaderboard!

Sonia Sensei

Upcoming Events …

Konnichiwa families,

It seems that sooo many people are travelling to Japan recently. But if you can’t be in Japan and still want to experience some of the unique culture, you might be interested in Japan Festival, which will be held on Sunday 25 May at Box Hill Town Hall. There will be entertainment, food vans, stalls, demonstrations and more. It’s $3 for kids 11 years and under and $5 for 12 years and over. It’s a great day out for the whole family.

For more details: https://www.jcv-au.org/japanfestival/

EPS Families are invited to the Cardinia Shire Reconciliation Week event. This special occasion is dedicated to celebrating and strengthening the relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians.

Event Details:

Date: Tuesday, 27 May

Time: 1pm – 2:30pm

Location: Worrell Reserve, 402 Belgrave-Gembrook Road, Emerald (Wurundjeri Land)

Join us for an exciting event, featuring

Welcome to Country, smoking ceremony, and performance by Djirri Djirri Dancers

Exciting opening of an art exhibition

Family-friendly activities

Afternoon tea

Mrs Appleby will be taking our School Captains and Koorie Students to the event. If any other families would like to come along with their children, feel free to contact Mrs Appleby for more details.

If so please bring them to the Emerald SES to be recycled. Emerald Primary School is now a registered donation partner with the Victorian Container Deposit Scheme. So your rubbish can be recycled and each empty container earns 10c. Please donate the money you collect to our school, so we can fundraise for more drink taps on the school oval.

Community News

A draft masterplan has been prepared for Puffing Billy Place Reserve in Emerald and we’re seeking your feedback on the draft designs.

Park users of all ages are encouraged to share feedback on the types of park furniture and playground design they prefer.

How to get involved and have your say:

  • Attend a Pop up in the Park with Aligned Leisure 
  • Wednesday 9 April 2025, from 1-3pm
  • Puffing Billy Park and Playground, 13 Kilvington Dr, Emerald VIC 3782
  • Attend a Pop-up in the park with Council
  • Tuesday 6 May 2025, from 3-5pm
  • Puffing Billy Park and Playground, 13 Kilvington Dr, Emerald VIC 3782

Completing the  online survey at www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/haveyoursay by Sunday 18 May.

Have your say on the future of waste services in Cardinia Shire, including household bin frequency, the proposed glass only service, hard waste collection and green waste disposal.

Council is renewing their Waste Resource and Recovery Strategy. This strategy serves as a 10-year roadmap for the future direction of Council’s waste services, education and advocacy.

Community feedback will help create a draft strategy. In early 2026, the community will be invited to share their thoughts on the draft, before the strategy is finalised.

You can provide feedback until Wednesday 9 July by:

  • attending an in-person pop-up session

More info: Shape our future waste services webpage

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Canteen News!

Friday Meal Deal

Greek gyros box

with

Roasted chicken Gyros meat

Lettuce

Tomato

Tzatziki & Pita bread

$8.00

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