Acting Principal's Report

Hello DPW Community,

Change to opening of internal school gates

Deer Park West Primary is committed to providing an environment where students are safe and feel safe. 

We recently experienced an incident where an unknown adult accessed areas of the school between 3:00 and 3:15pm that are not intended for parents, carers, or other non‑staff visitors. To ensure the safety and security of all students, we are making a change to the opening time of the internal gates at the end of the day.

The internal gates will now open at 3:15pm. Families collecting their children are welcome to wait in the areas inside the main gates until the internal gates are opened.

Thank you for your understanding and support as we continue to prioritise the safety of our school community.

Child Safe Standards

Child safety and wellbeing at Deer Park West Primary: 

                                              information for families and the school community

Our child safety framework includes policies, codes and procedures that explain how we support and maintain the safety and wellbeing of our students and protect them from harm. These documents are available on our website.

We are also committed to continuous improvement of our child safety framework. We are currently reviewing some of our child safety policies and practices to ensure they are up-to-date and effective. We are currently reviewing our Bullying Prevention Policy. The reviewed policy will be sent to all our families via Compass early next week, for you to read and provide feedback.

Our students and families are important partners in this process. We welcome your feedback or ideas on ways we can improve our approach to child safety and wellbeing. 

Once you have received a copy of the policy and you have any suggestions or comments, please contact myself on 9363 3519 or at deer.park.west.ps@education.vic.gov.au 

Upcoming School Events

Please take a moment to readthe entire newsletter each week so you can stay up to date with important information and upcoming events at the school. 

Some key dates to note include:

• Parent Information Session (F – 2) – Wednesday, 18 February, 3:30-4:30pm
• Parent Information Session (3 - 6) – Thursday, 19 February, 3:30-4:30pm
• Family Picnic Afternoon – Friday, 27 February, 1:30–3:00pm

We look forward to seeing many of you at these events and strengthening our school community throughout the term.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ privacy policy and the Schools’ privacy collection notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy (in the policy section on our school website), describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn. We sent forms for 2026 home with your child this week and ask that they be signed and returned as soon as possible.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in eleven community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Chinese
• Dari
• Gujarati
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese

Kindest Regards,

Deanne Scott

Acting Principal