Newsletter 2 February 2024

Welcome to the 2024 school year

A very warm welcome to our new students and families joining us this year and an equally warm welcome back to everyone else. We hope you all had a refreshing holiday break. The staff returned last week to prepare and plan for the students and are really excited for the year ahead. The start of a new school year is always a time filled with anticipation and excitement. It's a time for new beginnings, new friendships, and new opportunities for learning and growth. Whether your child is returning for another year or joining us for the first time, we are committed to providing them with a safe, nurturing, and enriching environment where they can thrive both academically and personally.

Our key focuses this year will be Literacy, Numeracy and Learner Agency. Literacy has the following challenge of practice:

Explicit teaching and assessing of writing as a priority will increase student achievement. Student goal setting, timely feedback and formative assessment will improve students’ capacity to independently apply language conventions across a range of genres.

Our Numeracy challenge of practice will be:

If all teachers use an evidence-based data driven approach, incorporating high impact teaching strategies, then we will increase student growth in mathematics particularly in the proficiency of problem solving.

Developing students’ sense of wellbeing through Learner Agency and goal setting will underpin both improvement areas.

This year will be starting with 10 classes across the school, with Japanese, PE/Health, music and performing arts as our specialist subjects.

Our staff profile for 2024

Room 3 - Michelle Williams (Rec)
Room 4 - Edie Woodger / Elisha Reid (Rec)
Room 5 – Dee Kelly (Yr 1)
Room 6 – Jade Tobar (Yr 1)
Room 7 – Karla Ebert (Yr 4 / 5)
Room 8 (Numeracy PLC lead) - Jake Burfitt (Yr 4 / 5)
Room 9 (Literacy PLC Lead) - Matilda Garrard (Yr 2 / 3)
Room 10 - Julie Howie / Leanne Herbert (Yr 2 / 3)
Room 11 – Marilla Bryce / Leanne Herbert (Yr 3 / 4)
Room 12 – Ainslie McGrath (Yr 6)
PE / Health – Shelley Byrne
Performing Arts (Dance, Drama) - Maya Miller (Term 4)
Music - Josie Whitehead
Japanese - Elin Gubbin / Kelly Gunn
Principal - Andrew Dowling
Deputy Principal (Teaching & Learning, Inclusion, Wellbeing support) – Kellie Bowden

SSO/Support Staff 

Heather Ellis (Business Manager), Rebecca Stevens (Front Office, Finance, After School Sports Coordinator), Jo McIntyre (Resource Centre, Volunteer Coordinator, MultiLit Coordinator), Perdita Hope (Inclusion support, WHS, Student Support, Playgroup), Pamela Hansen (Wellbeing), Melissa Nicholson (Student Support), Sarina Cumiskey (Student Support), Scarlett Archer (Student Support), Ryan Williams (Student Support), Erin Little (Student Support), Yolanda Pool (Admin support), Aasanna Adhikari (ICT),

Grounds Staff - Neil Gloyn
OSHC Director – Donna Lamberts

Acquaintance Night

You are invited to our Acquaintance Evening on Tuesday 13 February 2024.

This evening will provide an opportunity to:

• Meet your child's class teacher and hear about plans for this term and beyond
• Find out about how you can support learning in the classroom

This is not intended to be an opportunity for a formal meeting with class teachers. If you have any particular questions related to your child, which will require lengthier discussion please email their teacher directly to make an appointment. Parent teacher interviews will be held towards the end of Term 1.

Class Information Sessions:             

5.15pm                     Reception / including presentation by our DfE Behaviour Educator)
                                  (Michelle, Edie/Elisha)

5.30pm                     Year 1, Year 2/3
                                  (Dee, Jade, Matilda, Julie/Leanne)

6.00pm                     Year 3/4, Year 4/5, Year 6
                                  (Marilla/Leanne, Karla, Jake, Ainslie)

Please keep an eye out for communication from your child’s class teacher for any further information.

Bicycles on site

To support everyone’s safety we ask both students and parents to walk your bike when on school grounds. With the increased number of bikes being ridden in the yard we have had a number of close calls. We appreciate your cooperation.

We look forward to a fantastic term ahead.

Warm regards,
Andrew

NAPLAN 2024

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) takes place each year for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and has been part of the school calendar since 2008.

NAPLAN helps parents, carers and educators to see if children are meeting important numeracy and literacy standards.

Collection of personal information

Schools are required by law to collect personal information about you and your child, irrespective of whether your child participates in NAPLAN testing.

The purpose of this notice is to advise parents and carers of how your child’s personal information will be used for NAPLAN testing (both online and paper tests) in 2024 and, as part of NAPLAN Online, readiness activities scheduled at various times leading up to the test in March 2024.

For the complete NAPLAN privacy collection notice, please click the link below.

COVID-19 cases

COVID-19 is still active in SA. As per the Department for Education guidelines, if a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19, they must not attend for 5 days and then must not attend if still symptomatic.

Student Absences, SMS Messaging and Attendance Update

Parents are asked to notify the school by 9.00am via text on 0427 016 460 or the Schoolzine App if your child is going to be absent or arrive after 9.00am.

We continue to use the electronic roll marking system and if your child is marked as an unexplained absence you will automatically receive a text from us.  If your child is late or leaving early you must sign in or out in the Front Office before the student heads to class or you pick them up.

PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SEESAW PLATFORM TO NOTIFY OF ABSENCES

Student Medication

Please remember that any medication sent to school for children to take throughout the day, even on a short-term basis, must be accompanied by a medication form that is obtained from your doctor or from on our website under the parent information tab (see link below). Staff are not allowed to administer any medication without written instruction from the doctor.  Also, all medication should be taken to the Front Office at the beginning of the day for safe storage.

Duty of Care of Students before 8.30am and after 3.30pm

Families need to be aware that staff yard duty does not commence until 8.30am each morning and finishes at 3.30pm each afternoon. If your child needs to be at school outside these hours they must be accompanied by a guardian or attend Out of School Hours Care (OSHC). See OSHC staff for details and registration forms. Students that arrive, not accompanied by a guardian prior to 8:30am, or who are still at school after 3.30pm without a guardian will be sent to OSHC and families will incur fees.

School Times

Schoolzine

Our school uses Schoolzine to communicate with our school community. We have consolidated all aspects of communication with a new school website established and maintained by Schoolzine.

Schoolzine is mobile friendly, accessible on all devices and provides seamless integration with the Eden Hills Primary School newsletter. It accesses online forms including absentee lodgement and a dynamic calendar including events RSVP.

Please follow the instructions on the pdf below to install this App on your mobile devices.

Change of Details

It is really important that parents inform the office of any changes in contact or residential details. We want to ensure you are receiving all our communications for general school information and in case of emergencies. If you have changed your address the Department for Education require proof of residence. This can be a recent utilities bill, or a rental or sales agreement. 

Payment of Fees

Thank you to all the parents who have already paid their school fees.

QKr is the preferred form of payment for any fees and uniforms can also be ordered and paid for through this platform. 

The QKR App can be downloaded for free from Apple’s app store for iPhones (iPads should download the iPhone app) or from Google Play for Android phones and tablets. 

After downloading the app and registering, simply select Eden Hills Primary School from ‘Nearby Locations’ on Qkr or type EHPSA after tapping the magnifying glass in the top right of the home screen of Qkr. The app will then always recognise you as part of the school, making future payments even easier.

You can also pay by Bpoint or come into the office to pay by EFTPOS or cash.

School Card

School card applications are now open, please follow the link below for further information.

Please take the time to familiarise yourself with it. Our school will only be closed when the CFS declares a day of catastrophic risk in the Mount Lofty Ranges area. Families are reminded that they should discuss their own bushfire action plan with their children.

We also remind you to complete the Emergency Collection Authorisation form that was posted to all families.  After an Emergency event, students will only be released to previously named authorised adults unless a written note is sent to school, on the day, naming a different adult. A phone call will not be accepted as authorisation. It is vital that all contact information is up to date.

Lunch Orders

Lunch Orders will be available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Ordering Lunch is done via Qkr. Login to your Qkr app, select Canteen and follow the prompts.  You will find the menu and can make your selection. Make sure you update your child’s profile each new year, with the correct year level and classroom number. The daily cut off time for ordering is 9.00 am.

We need Parent Volunteers for the Lunch Order Service

Are you willing to help with this simple task?

The lunch order system can only go ahead if we have enough volunteers. Typically, helpers are rostered just once per term. Doing the lunch orders is an easy way to get to know others in the school community, especially if you and your children are new to the school.

What’s involved?

All orders are now generated on-line via Qkr which is easy to join so there is only a single trip to Blackwood High School. An empty set of bags need to be picked up from the Eden Hills School office by 9.00am (or later if you notify the Front Office). You then exchange these for the filled bags at 12.20pm at Blackwood and deliver to our Front Office. Full directions and a map are included with the roster.

This is such a convenient way to provide lunch for your children on these days and it is a big treat for the kids. If you can help, please email

Contact person: Sally O’Neil    email: sallyoneil78@gmail.com
With the following information
I can help on either day         
I can help Tuesday only       
I can help Wednesday only     
I can help in term             1              2              3              4      

Resource Centre

Welcome to another wonderful year of reading! It has been lovely to see so many of you borrowing books already.

We are open from Mon-Wed & Fri before school (from 8.30am), after school (until 3.30pm) and at lunchtimes.  In addition, each class has a ‘browsing and borrowing’ lesson every week.

Parents are very welcome to join as borrowers to access books for younger siblings. Pop down to the Resource Centre and we will sign you up! We also have an Adults’ Little Free Library on the outside wall.

Scholastic Book Club

This week your child will bring home the first Scholastic Book Club brochure for 2024. (There are 8 brochures each year - 2 per term). If you wish to order from this first one you need to do so by Tues 13 February.  You will notice that the brochure offers two ways of ordering and paying but we only use the on-line option.

It takes about 2 weeks from the time the orders close for the books to arrive at school. The books will usually be sent home with your child. However, if you are buying items as gifts, you can have your order kept in the office for you to collect. Just tick the Gift Order option when you are ordering. We will email you when your order is ready to collect.

Thank you for your ongoing support. The Resource Centre gets 15% of the value of your order which makes a huge difference to the number of new books and educational resources we can buy each year.

2023 School Sports Registration

Registrations are now open for ALL sports in 2024
Basketball, Cricket, Netball, Pedal Prix, Soccer and Volleyball
Come’N’Try Basketball and Come’N’Try Cricket
Age restrictions apply
To register:

or for more information about sport availability

All out of hours sport is run by volunteers so please ask your parents and family or friends if they can help.There are lots of different roles (coach, manager, assistant etc) and not all of them require sporting knowledge or expertise.
Without your help we cannot sustain this program for our children

Rebecca Stevens Sports Coordinator

School Photos

School Photo Day is:  Tuesday 20 February 2024

Have your child’s school memories captured forever

To order school photos please keep a look out for your email containing your child’s unique shoot key & remember these helpful tips:

• Keep a look out for an email from MSP Photography – Check you junk folder

• Use the unique shoot key provided in the email to place your order online before the close date. If you have more than 1 student at the school you will also receive a FAMILY shoot key. Use this to order Family photos.

• Your child is not required to hand anything in on photo day.

• If you do not have an email address please collect a spare envelope from the schools front office.

Should you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
email:  admin.adelaidesouth@msp.com.au    ph: 08 83913951

Breakfast Club

Eden Hills PS Breakfast Club commences in week 3 of term. Breakfast Club runs every Wednesday morning from 8:30 – 8:50 am and is very popular, with many students turning up for toast, fruit and Milo. Breakfast club is open to ALL our students and there is no charge. We remain grateful to Kickstart for Kids for their contributions, and for providing us with a volunteer helper each week.

We rely on, and are thankful for, any donations from our school community - gluten free bread, Milo, vegemite, jam and honey are welcome, as we often run out of these items. Donations can be left at the Front Office.

Breakfast Club is in Room 2 (The music room)

Thanks Perdita & Pamela

Playgroup

Eden Hills Primary School Playgroup commences in week 3, on Friday 16 February. Playgroup sessions are run on Fridays during term time from 9:00 - 10:30am, with entry from 8:50am. Playgroup is held in the Resource Centre and caters for children aged to 5 yrs.

Entry is a gold coin donation per family and instant tea and coffee are complimentary. Espresso coffee is available for $1. Please bring your own lidded keep-cup and a healthy snack for your little one/s to eat during shared story time.

Each week, Playgroup focuses on a different Theme, providing a range of activities that allow parents/grandparents and caregivers to interact and strengthen attachments with their young children, and to share the experience of learning through play. 

Open to everyone, the Eden Hills Primary School Playgroup is a great place to meet other families from the community in a welcoming, safe and friendly environment. We would love to see you there!

For further information contact our helpful Front Office staff on 8278 2243 or email Perdita Hope (Playgroup Coordinator) at perdita.hope720@schools.sa.edu.au.

Piano Tuition at Eden Hills Primary

Laura Tink has been providing private piano/keyboard lessons to the students of EHPS since 2019. If your child/ren are interested in learning how to tinkle the ivories contact her on 0459 590 496 or email lgtink@gmail.com for further details.

Community Notices