WHEELERS HILL PRIMARY SCHOOL

From our Business Manager

Larissa Clark

Student & Family Contact Information

It's important to keep the school informed of important contact and medical information throughout the school year.

 

We recently distributed via email (for parents of Years 1-5 students), the student enrolment information for checking.  Emails were sent from the school email account.

 

With camps and many excursions planned for the coming weeks, we ask that you check the document thoroughly.  If changes are required, please print the form noting changes and return it to School asap if you have not done so already.

 

Please check:

  • Phone Numbers: 
    • Parent/Carer contact numbers during working hours are correct (many parents now work from home and or home/office).
    • After-hours contact numbers are correct.
    • Emergency contact numbers are correct.
  • Address
    • Update of change of address details.
  • Emails
    • Compass uses family email to send messages and alerts. Please, check the address carefully.
  • Medical information
    • Most important that you check that medical information is up to date. We will contact you if further information is required.

Absences

It is vital that parents contact our office or enter an absence on Compass to let us know if their child is away. We can ensure our records are accurate and that we know where our students are at all times. Students arriving late to school must be signed in at the office by their parents.  Thank you for your support in this matter.

 

If you have any 'Attendance: Attendance Note Required' visible on your Compass Newsfeed, please click on them and explain any absences.  

 

Do you have a valid Health Care Card

CSEF (Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund)

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:

  • school camps or trips
  • swimming and school-organised sports programs
  • excursions and incursions.

Who can apply

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply. A Special Consideration category also exists. Schools can receive applications from families over terms one and two.

Families can list more than one student in one application form if they are attending the same school.

Eligible means tested cards

Means-tested concession cards must now be valid on either:

  • the first day of Term 1 (Monday 30 January 2023)
  • the first day of Term 2 (Tuesday 24 April 2023)

Below is a list of means-tested cards that are accepted:

  • ABSTUDY - Schooling Applicant (ABA)
  • ABSTUDY - Secondary/Tertiary (ABY)
  • Age Pension (AGE)
  • Austudy Payment (AUS)
  • Bereavement Allowance (BVA)
  • Disability Support Pension (DSP)
  • Health Care Card (HCC)
  • Job Seeker (JSP)
  • Newstart Allowance (NSA)
  • Non-Agency Payment (NAP)
  • Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP)
  • Parenting Payment (PP)
  • Partner Allowance (PTA)
  • Sickness Allowance (SKA)
  • Special Benefit (SPL)
  • Widow Allowance (WDA)
  • Widow B Pension (WID)
  • Wife Pension Age (WFA)
  • Wife Pension Disability (WFD)
  • Veterans Card (Gold)
  • Youth Allowance (YAL)

Eligibility Criteria

The applicant must be one of the following:

  1. a parent/carer (of the relevant student) who is:
    • on the first day of term one (30 January 2023) or the first day of term two (24 April 2023) an eligible beneficiary of either a Centrelink Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card; or
    • an eligible beneficiary of a Veterans Affairs Gold Card; or
  2. a temporary foster carer; or
  3. a student is 16 years or older and holds a valid concession card (such as a Youth Allowance Health Care Card or Disability Support Pension Card).

The parent/carer must apply to the school before the end of the term.

Parents/carers who receive a carer allowance on behalf of a student, or any other benefit or allowance not income tested by Centrelink, are not eligible for the CSEF payment unless they also meet the above eligibility criterion.

Where the parent/carer is seeking eligibility based on holding a Centrelink Health Care Card or a Pensioner Concession Card, eligibility will be determined when the relevant concession card successfully validates with Centrelink on either the first day of term one or term two.

If the eligible card is in the name of the student, the fund is only granted to that student, not their siblings.

Criteria 2

For CSEF, students may be eligible for assistance if they attend a registered Victorian school. Typically, these students are aged between five and 18 years.

School is compulsory for all Victorian children aged between six and 17 years of age.

Special consideration

A special consideration category exists for:

  • families on a bridging visa, or temporary protection visa, are in community detention or are asylum seeker families – a letter from the Australian Red Cross or similar welfare institution, visa grant notice or ImmiCards is required as evidence.
  • students in temporary out-of-home care arrangements, including statutory kinship care – a letter of support from the institution facilitating the arrangement (for example Mackillop Family Services) or the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing is required as evidence. Copies of court orders are not required.

If there's shared custody

The CSEF system only allows one application per student. Parents/carers in shared custody situations (who both hold a concession card) must decide beforehand who applies for the CSEF at the school on behalf of the relevant student.

The CSEF is for the benefit of the parent/carer who is in receipt of the CSEF.

Schools are not required to arbitrate this decision.

 

How to apply for the CSEF

How to submit an application

If you meet the eligibility above, please complete the form attached and submit it to the school office (along with a copy of your Card). The school will make an application on your behalf. Submissions must be received by the school office by 23 June 2023.

 

 

CSEF_application_form (1).pdf

 

For further details, please check Compass. Newsfeed

 

Special assistance for camp payments

We try to give families as much notice as possible when requesting payment for camps and excursions.  However, we recognise that some families may need extended time to pay, create a payment plan or access specialist funds to cover the cost. 

 

We welcome calls and ask that you contact us for a confidential discussion. Please either call or email the school.

  

 

Larissa Clark

Business Manager & School Office Admin