Out and about with Mr Walsh

It has been so pleasing to see the return of our students following the Christmas break. We hope that all of our families have managed to have a restful holiday break and spend some quality time together with family and friends. It has been fantastic to see the students return settled and being supported in the classroom through our starting right program which is scaffolded by our school values of:

• Respect
• Honesty
• Teamwork 
• Achievement

Our starting right program enables our students and staff to set the scene together for the year ahead around their learning, classroom and yard expectations and build skills and strategies within these environments through our School Wide Positive Behaviour Support, Zones of Regualtion, Respectful Relationships and Social Emotional Learning programs. Check out our Enagagement and Wellbeing page over the coming weeks for more information regarding these programs and how you can compliment these approaches at home. 

We would like to welcome our new families to Surfside and we hope that you have all settled in well: McKenzie family, Vampre Franco family, Novak family, Michalopoulos family, Henderson family, Langley family, Ramsey family, Roberts family, Galeazzo family, Graham family, Rautenbach family, Ainley family, Sutherland family, Murray family, Hemmink family

It was exciting to see our new Foundation students coming through the gates on day 1 and our Foundation team has been thrilled with how well settled they have settled into the school routines. A big thank you to our Foundation families for your support throughout the first week: 

There has been plenty of information for all families regarding the COVIDSafe return to school plan. It has been very pleasing to see our Surfside community continuing to show respect and kindness at all times. The current guidelines in place are fluid and we will communicate as soon as any changes occur. If you require further clarification please read the below attachments or contact the administration office for further support on 5256 1411.

YOUR COVID CHECKLIST - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

School Captains 2022

We were very excited to present our 2022 School Captains with their badges on Friday afternoon and Stella, Mieke, Lexi and James look forward to working with our school community. A big thank you to Tom from Prep who was our special guest and presented them with their badges in front of our year 6 cohort.

Student Attendance

Regular attendance at school is very important for your child's learning and social development. Very good attendance for a child is 95% and above.

Of course, at the moment we are navigating our way through a pandemic and this is going to cause a challenge for student on-site attendance and sometimes children are sick and need to stay home to get well  - and that's OK! But other than that, children need to be at school as much as possible to ensure the BEST opportunity for learning. Following the last 2 years we need to utilise every available minute to ensure student growth academically, socially and emotionally, in and out of the classroom. Student attendance is not highly impacted by Remote Learning and continual opportunities were available to support student growth and achievement.

If early collection for a shopping trip or to beat the traffic  happens on a regular basis this can take away from valuable learning time throughout their schooling. Please take the time to read the pictures below and to understand the long term affect this can have on child development. Please remember this isn't regarding illness and the unfortunate need for remote learning over the past 2 years. If your child is going to be absent you are required by legislation to notify the school by:

• Logging onto Compass 
• Enter the absence for the day (or time if part day required)

School Council 2022

Our first school council meeting meeting for 2022 will take place on Tuesday 15th February. This will be our final full meeting with our current school council. We look forward to welcoming our new school council following our upcoming annual general meeting and returning members for 2022. Nominations will be communicated in the coming weeks and elections will take place if required.

Keeping our community COVIDSafe

The Victorian Government, Department of Health Services and The Department of Education continue to have specific measures in place to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our local community. We can all do our part in the following ways:

We have the following in place at Surfside PS to ensure the health and safety of our school community as advised by the Department of Education. We will continue to update recommendations for 2022 as they become available.

• All adults, staff and visitors to the school are required to wear a face mask when indoors. Anyone who is required to enter the school via a building is required to enter via the administration office and sign in. Anyone who is required to participate in school activities as a volunteer will be required to be double vaccinated.
• All adults who enter a school building are required to wear a mask unless an exemption applies and it is recommended for students in years 3-6 to also wear a mask when indoors.
• Students and staff are recommended to undertake ongoing Rapid Antigen Surveillance Testing twice per week and if testing positive needs to refer to Department of Health Covid Checklist.
• Continue good health and hygiene practice by washing hands regularly, coughing or sneezing into your elbow and using hand sanitiser regularly.
• When unwell it is essential that you remain home, seek medical advice and be tested if required.
• Ensure 1.5m physical distancing when required.
• Please sign in to the school using the Services Victoria QR code when in attendance - more information below
• Get vaccinated if you are eligible

For further support please visit the DHS Coronavirus webpage

Continue to stay safe and healthy throughout 2022.

QR Code Check In - Services Victoria

When attending Surfside Primary School as a visitor it is essential that you sign in via the Services Victoria QR code. All visitors need to report to the administration office prior to entering the school grounds. This is required when entering buildings or classrooms. This will require everyone to download the Services Victoria App on their device.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR SUPPORT ON HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE APP

School and Student Privacy Collection

During the ordinary course of your child’s attendance at our school, school staff will collect your child’s personal and health information when necessary to educate your child, or to support your child’s social and emotional wellbeing or health in the school context. Such information will also be collected when required to fulfil a legal obligation, including duty of care, anti-discrimination law and occupational health and safety law. If that information is not collected, the school may be unable to provide optimal education or support to your child, or fulfil those legal obligations.

For example, health information may be collected through the school nurse, primary welfare officer or wellbeing staff member. If your child is referred to a specific health service at school, such as a Student Support Services officer, the required consent will be obtained. Our school also collects information provided by parents and carers through the School Entrance Health Questionnaire (SEHQ) and the Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) Transition Form.

Our school may use online tools, such as apps and other software, to effectively collect and manage information about your child for teaching and learning purposes, parent communication and engagement; student administration; and school management purposes. When our school uses these online tools, we take steps to ensure that your child’s information is secure. If you have any concerns about the use of these online tools, please contact us.

School staff will only share your child’s personal or health information with other staff who need to know to enable the school to educate or support your child, or fulfil a legal obligation.

When our students transfer to another Victorian government school, personal and health information about that student will be transferred to that next school. Transferring this information is in the best interests of our students and assists that next school to provide optimal education and support to students.

In some limited circumstances, information may be disclosed outside of the school (and outside of the Department of Education and Training). The school will seek your consent for such disclosures unless the disclosure is allowed or mandated by law.

Our school values the privacy of every person. When collecting and managing personal and health information, all school staff must comply with Victorian privacy law. For more information about privacy including about how to access personal and health information held by the school about you or your child, see our school’s privacy policy: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx 

Throughout this notice, ‘staff’ includes principals, teachers, Student Support Service officers, youth workers, social workers, nurses and any other allied health practitioners and all other staff at our school. This includes employees, agents and service providers (contractors) of the Department, whether paid or unpaid.