Principal's Message

Issue Highlights

Please find below a summary of this weeks issue:

• Transition "Move Up" Day - Tuesday 7th December
• Jackson School staff undertake Cultural Understanding and Safety Training as part of DET's Marrung Education Plan
• Changes to COVID Testing & Face Masks
• New Jackson School COVID-19 Hotline (0419 529 340) and email (covid@jacksons.vic.edu.au) - please text/email your results here to return to school
• Students aged between 12 and 15 who are not fully vaccinated will be able to attend camps, excursions, graduations and other school activities held at open premises that are also used by other schools or patrons from Tuesday 23 November.
• Jackson School will NOT charge school fees (Voluntary Contribution) for book packs/resources and excursions again in 2022
• Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary. 
• Allied Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child.
• Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare.

Dear Families,

School Events

On Tuesday it was lovely to welcome some of our new students and their families onsite at school for their first visit to the school. Next Tuesday we will welcome our new Prep students and their families for their first transition day. Following our whole school transition "move up" day on Tuesday 7th December. This will be an opportunity for your child to meet with their new class mates, their teacher and education support staff. We are currently finalising our workforce planning and class lists for 2022, but we will inform you which class and teacher your child will be placed with for next year after the 7th December. 

Last week our Year 7/8 students took part in a Science Incursion aligned to their Inquiry topic of Energy. They thoroughly enjoyed being scientists for the day! Some of our Year 11/12 students also took part in an intensive coffee making job camp. It was wonderful to have a sense of normality again onsite and see our students thoroughly enjoy themselves. Our Year 9 students have also undertaken a career assessment which assesses aptitudes, interests, personality and learning styles to make the most accurate career and course suggestions. The Morrisby team have today conducted careers counselling interviews with students about their future career pathway.

Over the last two Tuesdays, staff have taken part in after school professional learning on Cultural Understanding and Safety for our diverse community. Jackson School has 9 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their families in our community. We were extremely privileged to be joined by Uncle Keith and the DET Koorie Education Support Officers to take us through the training.

Next week staff will spend a day out of class for their planning day. Teachers teams will work with leadership staff on their curriculum planning and assessments in readiness for 2022. Teachers are also currently completing their end of year assessments before student reports are completed over the next two weeks.

COVID Exemptions for Age 12-15 Students

The Department of Health has advised the Department of Education and Training that students aged between 12 and 15 who are not fully vaccinated will be able to attend camps, excursions, graduations and other school activities held at open premises that are also used by other schools or patrons from Tuesday 23 November. This exception to the current Directions will apply only to school-organised activities when at least one teacher is present.

COVID Testing & Mask Changes

Schools will continue the process of identifying contacts of a confirmed case of COVID-19 at schools; contacts will no longer be contacted by the Department of Health with quarantine requirements. If your child is identified as a contact the school will contact you directly. 

Contacts will be required to complete a standard (PCR) test within 24 hours from when they are identified by the school as a contact. 

If the PCR test returns a negative result, the student can immediately return to school, with evidence of the negative result provided to the school. Please text or email your test results to our new Jackson COVID-19 Hotline on telephone: 0419 529 340 / email: covid@jacksons.vic.edu.au. 

For positive cases please let the school know via this mobile number as soon as possible. There is a message bank on the phone for when the phone is unmanned by our rostered COVID Officer. Please note we will only be able to respond to messages and calls within office hours. Families are able to message the mobile number and/or email address 24 hours a day.

It is strongly recommended that contacts complete five days of rapid antigen tests in the morning before they attend school. 

You will be able to obtain these testing kits from testing centres from Monday 22 November if your child is required to complete a standard PCR test. 

In exceptional circumstances the Department of Health may determine that contacts in significant school outbreaks are still required to quarantine for seven days. In this scenario, students will be notified directly of any additional quarantine arrangements.

Face masks will now only be required by staff and visitors indoors and will continue to be recommended for all students in an indoor space, unless a lawful exemption applies due to the natural of their disability. 

No School Fees for 2022

As announced last week, due to the hardship many of our families have faced again during 2021, School Council have decided to once again waive school fees (voluntary financial contributions) for student resources and excursions next year. Your child will receive the same book pack and excursion activities but these will be paid for by the school in 2022. We hope that this gesture supports your family in making up for any missed opportunities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents/carers are required to still contribute to school camps as normal. CSEF funding support is available to families. 

For further information on CSEF please visit: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/csef.aspx 

For more information on DET's Parent Payment Policy, please visit: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/parents/going-to-school/Pages/school-costs.aspx 

16 Days of Activism

16 Days of Activism starts on Thursday 25th November (International Day for the elimination of violence against women 2021) and ends on 10th December (Human Rights Day 2021).  The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is a global initiative designed to galvanise individuals, communities, and organisations to address gender inequalities, gender-based violence and take action to prevent violence before it starts.

For more information, please click here.

External services and resources which can support staff, students and families include:

• Safe Steps (1800 015 188) Victoria’s 24-hour state-wide family violence support service
• 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) provides 24-hour sexual assault and family violence information, counselling and support
• Kids Helpline (1800 551 800) 24-hour counselling for young people aged 5 to 25 years
• Orange Door supports families who are experiencing or have experienced family violence and families who need extra support with the care of children
• The Lookout for resources on family violence and related services in Victoria
• What’s ok at home? a website for children and young people aged 10 to 17 years old.

End of Term Dates

The last full day for students this year is Wednesday 15th December. In the morning we will have our Annual Achievement Assembly and Year 6 Graduation. We are hoping fully vaccinated family members will be able to attend. As normal, we have our Curriculum Day booked for Thursday 16th December where teachers will meet to share information about your child to ensure there is a smooth transition between our teacher teams. Staff will also receive professional learning in preparation for 2022. Because we will not have our Concert in the Courtyard this year, school will be open for students on Friday 17th December before we finish for the January holidays. However, this will be a half day finishing at 1pm. School buses will operate to and from school. We appreciate this is an unusual end to another unusual school year. Thank you for your understanding in advance. 

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Take care and stay safe,

Anthony