Highvale Secondary College Newsletter

General Reminders

General Office/Reception

Office Hours:          Mon-Fri  8:00am - 4:00pm       Telephone:              9803 5144

 

The General Office is always the first point of contact for parents/visitors/contractors when attending the school or making contact with staff or students during school hours.  

 

All visitors to the College must sign into and out of the College using the Compass touchscreen kiosk in the General Office. Appointments are recommended for teachers and can be made by compass parent portal email.

 

School Drop Off and Car Park

Please note that the school car park is for staff only. Parents and students (including learner drivers) are NOT permitted to drive onto school premises to drop off or pick up students. This increases the risk of an accident or a pedestrian being hit by a car. The school buses require clear access to enter and exit the carpark.

 

Where possible, please drop your child off a short walk distance from the school to help minimise the traffic around the school. 

 

Out of respect to our neighbours, please refrain from parking across driveways and adhere to all street parking signs. Your cooperation is much appreciated.  

 

Attendance Reminders

To report a student absence please phone 9803 5144 and press 1 before 9.00am.

 

Students are expected to be at school at 8.20am. Period 1 commences at 8.30am.  If you are aware your child will be late to school, parental approval should be submitted in the Compass portal, or by notifying the General Office.

 

Students arriving late must sign in at the Compass Kiosk in the General Office and take their late pass straight to their timetabled class where the classroom teacher will update the roll and mark them as late. Where a parent approval hasn’t been submitted on Compass prior, the absence will be shown as an unexplained absence until an approval is submitted. Should a written note from a parent be provided with the student when they arrive, it should be brought to the General Office at recess or lunchtime and it will be entered in Compass.

 

Throughout the school day, again, to maximise learning time and promote the importance of being punctual, students arriving late to any class will be recorded as late. Parents are asked to have a conversation with their child about the importance of being on time to class, and then acknowledge/clear the unexplained late arrivals in Compass by using the ‘Parent Choice’ reason, assuming no other reason is suitable.

 

Early Departure from School

If a student has an appointment and needs to leave early, parents should enter an approval in Compass and select the appropriate reason from the list of options stipulated by DET. The approval appears on the class roll to alert the classroom teacher, and the student will be excused from class when they ask to leave at the designated time. Students should then attend the General Office to sign out  at the Compass kiosk.

If a parent provides a written note on the day or a note in their students diary, this should be taken to the General Office before school or at recess, and it will be entered into Compass. Students will not be permitted to leave class without an approval entered in Compass.

 

If you need to collect your child unexpectedly, please contact the General Office.

 

School Crossing

Follow the safe road crossing procedure – STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and THINK.

  • STOP one step back from the kerb or shoulder of the road if there is no footpath. 
  • LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic. 
  • LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic. 
  • THINK about whether it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear or all traffic has stopped.
  • Please ensure Parents and Children cross the road at the crossing with our Supervisors – we are seeing a number of parents not adhering to this and this is causing some stress for our Supervisors as they are concerned for the children’s safety. A reminder for Parents and Children to watch and listen to our Supervisors when crossing a road as we are seeing some just running onto roads without looking for traffic or when our Supervisor are indicating for them to STOP. Please be respectful to our school Supervisors.

Lost Property

Please label all your school items.

All Found Property should be taken to the General Office.  If it is labelled, it will be returned to it's owner. 

Please search there for your uniform items, pencil cases, books etc in the lost property drawers at the Office. Valuables will be kept at the General Office, ie: phone, watch, etc... 

 

Canteen Online Ordering

Online ordering before 8.00am is available for both recess and lunch.

Please create an account here or download “Cashless” app on your phone or tablet. Payment only by cash or eftpos card, mobile phones/smart watches are notallowed for any payment.

 

Public Transport - Prepaid Buses

To support safer bus journeys and the rollout of all door boarding, cash transactions were permanently removed from myki-enabled buses from 13 July 2020.  Parents and students please ensure that you travel with a valid ticket by using the following:

  • Online at ptv.vic.gov.au/myki
  • New PTV app
  • Auto top up
  • Myki Retailers
  • Quick top up  machines
  • Myki machines
  • Ticket offices including train stations and PTV Hubs

Prepaid boarding will help reduce travel time for passengers as well as increase the reliability of services and Public Transport Victoria is continuing to make improvements to help passengers' transition to this new model. More information is available at ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki/buy-a-myki-and-top-up/ 

 

Library Hours

Monday to Friday:

8:00am to 4:00pm