Dear wonderful EBPS community,

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier

As we head into the final weeks of Term 4, I want to pause and say how proud I am of our community. It’s been a long term—but also a vibrant one, filled with joy, colour, music, growth, and a whole lot of heart. Whether you’re a student pushing through to finish the year strong, a teacher balancing reports, events and planning, or a parent juggling it all—thank you. Every small act of support, every kind word, every effort you’ve made has added up to something wonderful.

There is still so much to look forward to: graduations, celebrations, classroom milestones, and end-of-year reflections. Let’s continue to lift one another up and finish the year with the same warmth and teamwork that has made 2025 so special.

Colour Run Fun!

What a sensational day our Colour Run was! The sun was shining, the music was pumping, and the laughter and colour flying through the air was a perfect symbol of the joy we share as a community. These events bring us together—not just students, but staff, parents and siblings too—and they’re the kinds of memories that last a lifetime. A huge thank you to our incredible PCFA, especially Rachel and Lisa, for organising such a smooth, exciting and vibrant day. Thank you also to our local MP, Nick Staikos, for donating funds that made the foam run possible! Lastly to Michelle and Mia who did a fabulous job of MCing. And no, I didn’t get my hair coloured this year… my trusty shower cap saved me after last year’s slime-fest!

Perseverance — One of Our Core Values

At this point in the term, we’re all feeling it—students, staff, and families alike. But it’s also the perfect time to model perseverance. Whether it’s students completing final projects, or teachers planning for the year ahead, it’s the continued effort that matters most. Let’s encourage our children to keep showing up, giving their best, and finishing strong.

Thank You for Supporting 2026 Planning

We appreciate your flexibility and support as we finalise our plans for 2026. Staff movement and enrolment changes are normal at this time of year, and sometimes adjustments need to be made. Please know we are always thinking carefully about what will best support your children to thrive. Thank you for working with us.

Playground Refurbishment Begins Soon

We’re thrilled to share that work on our playground refurbishment will begin shortly. The bulk of the work will happen over the summer holidays to minimise disruption, and we can’t wait to unveil a refreshed, exciting space for our students next year. Thank you again for your patience as we worked through funding and approvals.

Awards Assembly — Next Friday 12th December!

Next Friday marks our annual Awards Assembly, and I couldn’t be more proud. This event recognises students not just for achievement, but for their growth, persistence, kindness, and teamwork. These are the qualities that build strong communities and good people. Congratulations to all our award recipients—you are stars!

Student Leadership for 2026 — Speeches Complete!

Our Grade 5 students have now delivered their leadership speeches for 2026. Watching them was such a proud moment—each student brought their own voice, courage, and love for our school to the stage. I was so impressed by their confidence and heart. I’ll be announcing the 2026 leaders at our next assembly. Best of luck to everyone involved!

Thank You for Supporting Room Moves

We’re in the midst of moving some classrooms to prepare for 2026, and I want to sincerely thank everyone—students, families and staff—for your understanding. We’re doing this to ensure that our spaces are set up for success, and to make the best possible use of our facilities. I’m hoping for minimal movement next year, and your patience has meant so much.

Reminder: Drop-Off Time is 8:45am

A quick reminder that students should not be dropped off at school before 8:45am, unless they are attending Breakfast Club. Staff supervision begins at 8:45am, and ensuring students are not here too early helps keep everyone safe. Thanks for your support with this.

PLEASE NOTE THE CALENDAR FUNCTION IN COMPASS ALSO HAS ALL THE FOLLOWING KEYS DATES


Please note - you can ALSO view the latest School Calendar at any time on Compass - you can choose to view it by day, week, month or term and also choose what you want to include by clicking on the layers you want to view, ie: School Events, Public Holidays etc.

Warm regards,
Sarah Spence
Principal, East Bentleigh Primary School

 

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Wow - another great Colour Run event last week! We were so lucky with the weather (I was stressed watching the forecasts during the week!). It was wonderful to see amazing energy, enthusiasm and happy faces once again from students, staff, volunteers and everyone that attended. I think our new addition of the foam machine and inflatable run-through was a hit, a big thank you to the Hon. Nick Staikos for his generous donation which allowed us to hire it and what a great sport he was to show up and get involved!

All our amazing online efforts have raised $22,117.25, which was a fantastic effort and commitment from so many people. There were some extraordinary efforts to be pointed out with 2 individuals raising over $1,200 each (Maisie in 6T our top individual fundraiser & Grace C-D in 4L), 4L was top fundraising class with $3,271, 2ER, 6T and Prep A raising over $2,000 each and all 4 classes getting to enjoy pizza parties sponsored by RGV Collectables. Another 7 classes raised over $1,000, a great achievement for our school.

The addition of our parents, carers and students run this year was exciting, thanks to those that purchased tickets before the cut-off time, we raised $440. Given it was the first time we did it, we do think perhaps our ticket sale and check-in process can do with some improvement which we’ll work on for the next one. If you did end up running with your child/ren without having pre-purchased a ticket we would love it if you could see Ann in the office and contribute $20 to the fundraising efforts.

All prizes have been ordered, and should arrive at school soon, we’ll be in touch with collection instructions once everything arrives.

Of course, with such a big event there are some volunteers that need to be recognised.

• Rach Jeffreys, Steph McIlroy, Claire & Hannah Eden, thanks once again for your willingness to always put your hands up when it comes to ideas and organising events.
• Those that helped set up the course and stayed to get involved in the powder throwing, water spraying etc. Rach, Krissy, Shanda, Natalia, Laura D (& Harry), Taylah & Eric, the warm day made set-up a bit of a slog so having all of you involved really helped.
• Our other course volunteers that threw powder, sprayed water and checked parents in, Chris, Julia W, Jo D, Steph, hopefully it was some fun too.
• Megan, our wonderful photographer, has given all the photos to Sarah & Michelle so if you know you had a photo taken that you would love to get a copy of please ask Sarah or Michelle.
• Thanks to all those above that stayed and help pack-up and others that jumped in and helped out.
• A big thank you to Michelle Mather for all her support with the event, organising staff, twisting arms for volunteers to be slimed, handing out prizes and getting on the microphone. We are truly fortunate to have you!
• To our sliming participants Tanja, Mr. McCallum, Mia and two-time sliming victim our principal Sarah, thank you all, the kids certainly love that part of the day!

As I write this report, I know that our mangoes have been delivered to school this morning, I’d like to give a big thanks to Georgie Lye for taking the lead on this fundraiser. It was clearly a popular choice as we sold an incredible 144 trays, raising $864 we can contribute meaningfully to the school.

Cheers,
Lisa - PCFA President

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This is a chance to make a lasting contribution to the school as we look to finish the outdoor learning classroom, create some landscaping, and help fence the prep play space.

Please see details in the flyer below and visit the Try Booking page here to participate.

 

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**Disclaimer: We thank the many organisations/businesses that support the publication of our newsletter by paying for their advertising. Whilst the Editor checks for appropriate content, E.B.P.S. does not endorse the conduct or service and encourages parents to investigate the product or service as they would for any purchase they are contemplating.  Sarah Spence Principal**

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