18 August

  • For this Week
  • Drop-off / Pick-up Protocols
  • LMS Support
  • School Priorities – Resources & Slides
  • ELSA Training 2025-26
  • OPRS - 2 September
  • Staff Calendar


Good morning, team!

Thank you for all the prep work last week. The classrooms look very welcoming. Please remind parents to download the app and complete all the consent forms to finish the onboarding process. The LMS team will continue to be available in the library for any tech support.

Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback. Have a wonderful week connecting with the children and our new families!



For This Week

  • Monday: All K2s return. K1s begin staggered start.

  • Tuesday: Teacher session on Toddle Modules (interested EAs are welcome).



Drop-off / Pick-up Protocols

Arrival:

  • K2s will use the walkers/bus entrances as usual.

  • New K1 families will be welcomed in the foyer by class teams.

Dismissal:

  • K2 walkers will use the walker stairs as usual.

  • K1s (based on last year’s system):

    • Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday: Parents leave with children via walker stairs and lift.

    • Thursday/Friday: Gradual dismissal from 10:35 / 2:50 - Frog > Panda > Monkey > Dolphin classes.

  • We will set up waiting/seating areas in the lobby and resource room for parents during dismissal.



LMS Support

We’re still working with the LMS team to iron out the systems. Please use spreadsheet to report any issues 🙏🏻

I’ve also started a “wonderings” list here for how-to questions and shortcut requests—please add anything you notice.



School Priorities – Resources & Slides

Thank you again for your efforts last week. I’m sharing the key resources and slides here for easy reference.

Based on your feedback, the biggest challenges are around self-regulation, attention, and social skills. This will be our focus for the term, through our school-wide initiative on Engagement and Self-Regulation.

Our approach fits well with the ESF Pyramid Planning model, supporting:

  • Children (through class practice)

  • Staff (with our Impact Walks)

  • Parents (via the ESF Hub)

It’s not more work—just a smarter way to organise what we’re already doing.



Key resources and slides:

  • Pyramid Planning: A holistic (3D) approach to personalised learning (link is to video & visual attached).
  • Hillside Self-Regulation Toolkit: A collection of your ideas and strategies to support our children with self-regulation. Thank you for all your contributions—we’ll keep building this together.
  • Safeguarding Slides: Please review these to ensure we’re all clear on our responsibilities and procedures.
  • Cybersecurity Slides: Important reminders from ESF to help us keep our information and community safe.
  • New LMS Resource Visual: A quick reference guide to help you understand our new LMS ecosystem.



ELSA Training 2025 - 2026

We are pleased to inform you that ESFC is once again offering the Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) training course for Educational Assistants this year. The comprehensive course will cover a range of topics, including developing emotional literacy, regulation of strong feelings, including anger and anxiety, grief, friendship skills, and active listening techniques.


 The ELSA training is scheduled to take place over six full days.  


Please see the attached ELSA Information for Schools Presentation to understand the role and commitment. 


If you are interested, please speak with Laura as soon as possible. 



OPRS - 2 September

Please note that the OPRS team will begin therapy on Tuesday, 2 September. The first two weeks of September will primarily focus on observations. The schedule will be adjusted based on the specific needs of the children. We will share timetables in due course.

Upcoming Dates
Please check our internal calendar below. We might forget to remind everyone of odd dates. We will continue to add events as soon as they're confirmed. Here's the full 2025/26 Calendar.

Thank you!