Hello and welcome to the first newsletter of 2021. Students and teachers have been very busy settling into their Term 1 routines and getting to know each other. Despite the Week 1 COVID lockdown and me coming in as new principal at the beginning of Week 3 it has been a smooth start to the term. I am delighted to have been appointed as your principal for the next 6 months and look forward to continue to settle in and get to know everyone. I would like to thank the students, staff and school community for such a warm welcome this week – I can see that the ‘welcoming all’ that forms part of the school motto is truly exemplified by everyone here at East Victoria Park.
I’d like to extend a very warm welcome to the new families to our school community. We have 45 new students attending school for the very first time in Kindergarten. I have spent some time down in the Kindy this week and it is so pleasing to see how well our new students have settled in to school – they are certainly a talkative bunch!! We welcome a further 28 new students across Pre-Primary to Year 6 and trust that students have settled in well to new classes and are beginning to form new friendships.
Finally, I would like to extend a warm welcome to three new staff members; Miss Ellie Frere-Harvey, teaching Pre-Primary in ECE3, Miss Rachel Yee teaching Year 3 in Room 6 and Mrs Melissa Darby, Education Assistant in Kindergarten. We trust that you will enjoy your time at East Victoria Park.
Farewell
It is with much sadness that we farewell our amazing gardener, Mr John Watkins. At 71 years of age, John has finally decided it is time to hang up his gardening gloves and go fishing. He is keen to get his camper trailer out and travel up the coast to Darwin and wherever the road takes him.
John came to us as relief at the end of 2011. He worked full time, then reduced his time to 4 days in 2017 so that he could play golf 1 day a week. John has taken some annual leave and long service leave owing to him and will officially retire in mid-July.
Staff held an informal morning tea for John to thank him for all that he has done for the school and to wish him well in his retirement on Wednesday this week. We will hold a more formal going away event at that time. In the meantime, we wish John well in everything he does as he enters this new phase in his life.
Welcome BBQ and Class Information Meetings
A reminder that our Welcome BBQ for the 2021 school year is this coming Monday evening, 22 February. Class meeting times for Pre-Primary to Year 6 are as follows:
| TIME | YEAR LEVEL | ROOM NUMBER |
| 5.30 – 6.00pm | Pre-Primary | ECE1 and ECE3 |
| Year 1 and Year 1/2 | 1, 2, 3 | |
| Year 3 | 6, 11 | |
| 6.00 – 6.30pm | Year 2 | 4, 5 |
| Year 3/4 and 4 | 12, 7 | |
| Year 5 and 6 | 8, 9, 10 |
The free BBQ will be on the verandah outside the undercover area and there will be an area where students can play whilst parents are in their class meetings, with other staff supervising. Please bring your own water bottles as we will not be providing drinks.
Kindy will have an alternative arrangement for their information session (information follows) but of course all Kindy families are encouraged to join us for the BBQ and to mingle with other families.
Kindy Information session
The Kindy Information session will be held on Wednesday 24 February on the Kindy verandah from 9.00am – 9.30am. We look forward to seeing you all there.
Year 4 Room 7 Assembly
Congratulations to Miss Oag and all of the students from Room 7 for their wonderful assembly item today. Their poise in speaking in front of the school to such a large audience is to be admired. I especially enjoyed learning a little more about Dr Seuss.
Merit Certificate Recipients
Congratulations to these very clever children who have made such an impressive start to the new school year
| ROOM | YEAR | STUDENT |
| ECE1 | Pre Primary | Nichika K |
| ECE3 | Pre Primary | Daniel C |
| Rm 1 | Yr 1 | Harley D |
| Rm 2 | Yr 1 | Baran Y |
| Rm 3 | Yr 1/2 | Tyler H |
| Rm 4 | Yr 2 | Milly M |
| Rm 5 | Yr 2 | Jing Chian O |
| Rm 6 | Yr 3 | Eden W |
| Rm 7 | Yr 4 | Jing Hong O |
| Rm 8 | Yr 5 | Alcie I |
| Rm 9 | Yr 5/6 | Benjamin C |
| Rm 10 | Yr 5/6 | Sarinah S |
| Rm 11 | Yr 3 | Eyad A |
| Rm 12 | Yr 3/4 | Charlie A |
| ESC | Room 14 | Owen E |
Positive Behaviour in Schools (PBS) Awards
Congratulations to William, Samuel, Jamtshen, Aleezah and Harriet for winning awards for exemplifying the school values of care, organise, care and respect.
P&C Annual General Meeting
The Parents and Citizens (P&C) Association will be holding their AGM at 7pm on Monday evening, 22 February in the School staffroom. We would encourage as many parents as possible to attend and get involved in this wonderful organisation. The meeting starts after the Welcome BBQ and we would love to see either mum or dad take the children home and the other parent stay for the meeting. I look forward to meeting all of the parents that can make it.
Kind regards
Kim Knowles
Principal