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Dear Parents and Carers,
It’s hard to believe that it is almost the end of the school year, and what a year it has been!
I would like to thank all of our families for their continued support during 2023. It makes the day to day operations of our school so much easier.
As we head towards school holidays, can I suggest that you take some time to read our final newsletter of the year as it contains a lot of information that is pertinent to finishing up the year and what 2024 will look like for us here at PEPS.
2024 KINDERGARTEN ENROLMENTS
The enrolment process for children entering Kindergarten in 2024 remains open. If your child turns 5 before the 31st July, 2024, they are eligible to start Kindergarten in 2024. Parents who have children close to the cut-off date may be contacted by the school to discuss school readiness. Enrolment forms are available at the office and online. If you know of a family who has not yet enrolled their child can we ask you to encourage them to do so as soon as possible, preferably prior to this coming Friday when school holidays commence.
TRAFFIC AND PARKING
Traffic and parking continues to be an issue around our school. I will be asking Parramatta Police Area Command and Parramatta Council to increase their visibility around the school in 2024. It shouldn’t, but it never ceases to amaze me the risks that parents take with their children – calling them across the road, letting them exit the car in the middle of the road, letting them exit the car into the traffic side of the road. Not to mention the risks that parents/carers take by dropping off and picking up their children in illegal areas, doing 3 point turns over double white lines as well as parking in and across our neighbours driveways. We have had several near misses of students being hit by cars in the past year and I have advised Parramatta Police and Parramatta Council of the same. May I remind you that the fines and points loss are exorbitant.
ABSENCES
Just a reminder that if your child is absent from school, it is imperative that we receive a note explaining this absence within two days of your child returning.
If you wish for your child to take a leave of absence of more than 10 days, you need to make an appointment to discuss this with myself or Mrs Smith BEFORE the event. There is paperwork that must be completed prior to travel. Please do not purchase tickets or holidays without seeking approval from the school.
Any unexplained absences will be marked as unjustified.
KISS AND DROP
For those parents who do not currently use Kiss and Drop, can I suggest that you consider using this service. By 3.30pm our students are loaded into cars and heading off home without parents even having to get out of their cars.
For those parents interested in using this service, please ring or email the office to obtain a 3 digit number and instructions of where to attach it on your car.
Kiss and Drop Etiquette _pdf1.10 MB
SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL
The school day begins promptly at 9.15am and finishes promptly at 3.15pm. Playground supervision does not begin until 8.45am. Could I kindly ask that you do not drop your children off at school before this time. Similarly, we have a number of students who stand outside our school waiting for the school to open and parents to pick them up. This is actually very concerning for us. We often have students waiting to be picked up as late as 4pm. We are fortunate enough to have an OOSH onsite. If your work commitments do not allow for a prompt drop off and pick up, could I suggest that you investigate this option.
HOLDING PATTERN
As per previous years, we will be placing all students in a holding pattern until our numbers stabilise and we are able to form classes for the 2024 year. Students will be placed in a holding pattern with the teachers from the particular grade for 2024.
Please note – this may not necessarily be your child’s teacher for the entire year, but will potentially be a teacher from their 2024 grade. We anticipate having permanent classes formed and commenced by Monday, 12th February, 2024.
This is why it is imperative that we know if you are going to be late returning in 2024. If your plans have changed – please let us know.
TERM DATES 2024
Term 1 – Thursday, 1st February – Friday, 12th April, 2024
Term 2 – Tuesday, 30th April – Friday, 5th July, 2024
Term 3 – Tuesday, 23rd July – Friday, 27th September, 2024
Term 4 – Monday 14th October – Wednesday, 18th December, 2024
STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAYS 2024
Staff Development Days occur throughout the school year.
On these days there is no supervision provided for students at school. OSHClub will be open for your convenience.
- Tuesday, 30th January, 2024
- Wednesday, 31st January, 2024
- Monday, 29th April, 2024
- Monday, 22nd July, 2024
- Thursday, 19th December, 2024
- Friday, 20th December, 2024
RETURNING TO SCHOOL IN 2024
Students from Years 1 -6 return on Thursday, 1st February, 2024 from 8.45am. All students need to sit in their 2023 class lines underneath the large COLA outside of the hall.
Kindergarten 2024 students will commence on Tuesday, 6th February, 2024 @ 9.45am.
From the beginning of Term 1 until Friday, 1st March, 2024 Kindergarten parents may pick their students up any time from 2.45pm. Please be advised that should you wish to leave your child at school until 3.15pm, supervision will be in place.
From Monday, 4th March, 2024 Kindergarten students will attend the full day.
UNIFORM SHOP
Our Uniform Shop has been managed voluntarily for a few years now by Mrs Dijana Rajic and parent volunteers, Mrs Lisa Berrahal and Mrs Silvia Benitez. We cannot thank these ladies enough for the time that they have volunteered to the school. As of 2024 it will be managed by the school. From 2024 the Uniform Shop will be run by Mrs Giddy and Mrs Bohannon. Uniform Shop days will change to Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons. We will be encouraging our families to order online and orders will be packaged up and delivered to your child’s classroom. We will be updating payment methods and more information will be provided in due course.
Please be advised that the only colours that are to be worn are Navy Blue, Sky Blue and Gold. Black is not part of our school uniform and leggings are not part of our uniform. If you wish for your child’s legs to be covered, then this must be achieved with navy blue stockings OR the unisex navy blue trousers that are available.
P & C
I would like to express my gratitude to the current P & C Executive who have been outstanding to work alongside this year – Chris Clapoudis, Peta Zammit and Lili Ding. The vision we share for making Parramatta East better than ever, warms my heart. It has been wonderful to see the increase in the number of parent volunteers throughout the year for various events as well! Thank you!
Our first P & C Meeting for 2024 will be held on Monday, 19th February, 2024 at 7pm. This will be our AGM where we will be electing a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer.
Executive Roles Open for 2024
P & C Executive positions are declared vacant. Nominations for the positions are taken and voted on by all members present at the AGM. The positions are outlined below:
President: The P & C President provides leadership to the P & C Executive Team and oversees the work and business of the P & C. They do this by liaising with the rest of the executive team. They preside over all meetings, co-ordinates events throughout the year and liaises with the Principal on how the P & C can best support the school. They are the spokesperson for the parent community. This role would suit someone with a natural flair for public speaking and someone with an outgoing personality that is approachable and that can relate to all parents and community members.
1-2 Vice Presidents: The role of the Vice President is to support the President and other committee members, particularly sub-committees formed for the purpose of fundraising or other P & C work and activities. This role is ideally shared between two people and the responsibilities are divided between them. Ideally, one VP would co-ordinate all fundraising efforts and the other VP would oversee all other P & C activities such as P & C membership, Uniform Shop and the Music Program. The Vice Presidents updates the President in regards to the preparation and running of all P & C business and activities and raises issues of concern so that major problems are dealt with promptly. This is a busy and involved role and would suit someone with strong organisational skills, the ability to multi task and enjoys organising and coordinating events and fundraising activities. This is a hands on role where you will work with larger groups to bring to life events. Planning and financial acumen are also important in both these VP roles.
Treasurer: The Treasurer manages the substantial amount of money raised each year. They are responsible for the tracking, investment and management of these funds, ensuring that they comply with Australian accounting standards. This role may also involve counting and banking money from fundraising activities, preparing cheques for payment of invoices and expense reimbursements. They must ensure all bookkeeping activities are accurate and up to date and prepare monthly financial reports to be presented at P & C meetings. An understanding of accounting principles or a background in accounting would be an added bonus for anyone wishing to undertake this role. They also prepare and present all accounts for the auditors each year.
Secretary: The Secretary is a busy role that requires you to collate information from the executive team and present this back to the community in a clear manner. They compile and distribute the minutes and agenda for each meeting, write the P & C news for the school newsletter and assists in maintaining the Facebook page. They may also be asked to support the executive in other ways, such as writing and proofing notes distributed to the community.
The current executive are all working parents who volunteered for these roles as they felt it was one way they could give back to the school community and play an active role in supporting their children’s education. We encourage anyone that is inclined to step up and have a go! If you are elected to a position, you will be well supported as you transition into your role.
Further meetings throughout the year will be held on the following dates:
- Monday, 18th March, 2024
- Monday, 20th May, 2024
- Monday, 17th June, 2024
- Monday, 19th August, 2024
- Monday, 16th September, 2024
- Monday, 21st October, 2024
- Monday, 18th November, 2024
2024 REQUIREMENTS
There are a number of staff changes that I need to communicate.
This is always bittersweet for me as we have such a wonderful team here at Parramatta East. The ‘sweet’ part of it is that for many members of the team, it means that they are moving on due to a promotion or to utilise their expertise in another setting. For the lucky ones, it may even mean retirement after a career of service to students.
It also means that we have employed new members of our team who bring with them expertise from the context that they are coming from, which only stands to benefit our students and their colleagues.
I would like to thank all of our departing staff members (those leaving permanently and those leaving temporarily) for their service to our students and public education and wish them well in their future endeavours.
- Jill Cameron-Smith has retired from the Department of Education.
- Pam Pike is retiring from the Department of Education.
- Tailah Jones is moving interstate.
- Esen Biber is off to greener pastures.
The following teachers will be taking up classroom teacher positions that they have been successful in obtaining through the transfer system:
- Josephine Ibrahim
- Jessica Hambly
Dina El Hafez has been successful through merit selection for a one year relieving Assistant Principal position at a DoE school.
Victoria Brown has been successful through merit selection for a three year secondment as a Home School Liaison Officer.
Naomi Terrazolo has been successful through EOI for a 3 term position as a school counsellor/physchologist in an alternate setting.
Emilia Katris, Nadean Zraika and Helen Mostris continue to take leave from the DoE.
We welcome to our school for 2024:
- Kirrilly Dabinett
- Maryanne Abouchanab
- Dean Willis
- Taran Harvey
- Andrew Kim
- Shabana Hamidi
Our Executive Team for 2024 is:
- Justine Miller – Principal
- Julianne Smith – Deputy Principal
- Will Carr – Assistant Principal – Curriculum and Instruction
- Irena Kraljevic – Assistant Principal
- Simone Gronau - Assistant Principal
- Leah Andrews - Assistant Principal
- Matthew Teasdale - Assistant Principal
Our Teachers for 2024 are:
- Juolin Baird
- Kallie Smith
- Helen Moraitis
- Leah Adams
- Eleanor Lewis
- Erica So
- Kaitlin Di Marzo
- Samantha Palmer
- Mani Malik
- Alex Lai
- Jennifer Petersen
- Shalona Goundar
- Jillian Devine
- Johanna Urzua Monsalve
- Suzanne Humble
- Anjulie Allan
- Jayme Demeny
- Jennifer McCorquodale
- Jeremy Yeo
- Jo Tzanellis
Our School Psychologist for 2024 is:
- TBA
Our Administration Staff for 2024 are:
- Tracey Jacka – School Administrative Manager
- Rebecca Giddy – School Administrative Officer
- Kelly Crawley - School Administrative Officer
Our School Learning Support Officers for 2024 are:
- Narelle Giddy
- Leanne Bohannon
- Catherine Saddik
- Dalia Maroun
- Macy Leong
- Ashley Sekura
- Josie Connelly
- Alison Oliver
- Chantal Adams-Ayoub
Our General Assistant for 2024 is Greg Roy.
** Please note carefully that this staffing is subject to change**
FINAL DAY FOR STUDENTS
The final day for students is this coming Friday, 15th December, 2023. The office will remain open on Monday, 18th December and Tuesday, 19th December, 2023 between 9.15am – 3.15pm.
Any emails received during the school holidays will be dealt with in order of receipt during the first week back at school. Please be patient as there will be quite a number to get through.
I’d like to take this opportunity to offer my best wishes for a safe and relaxing festive season and school holidays ahead. We are very much looking forward to 2024 and seeing what the year brings.
Take care and stay safe.
Kind regards,
Justine Miller
Principal
Thank you so much to all those who donated to the Toys n' Tucker appeal. All of the goods have been collected and are on their way to make someone's Christmas brighter!