House Keeping
Annual Reminders
Coburg High School is fortunate to be located in close proximity to natural and built up environments that are great for extending our learning and applying it in a real world context. To make accessing these resources easier, as well as reduce the need for parents/carers to give consent for each of these local activities, a Local Excursion Consent agreement is signed upon enrolment and continues while the child remains a student at CHS. See below for key information about Local Excursion Consent.
Local excursion consent
Coburg High School may take students outside of school grounds to undertake educational activities in the local area.
Local excursions are excursions to locations within walking distance of the school and do not involve ‘adventure activities’. These can be on an impromptu, one-off, or recurring basis.
Example activities include walks along the Merri Creek (HPE) or to collect water samples (Science); or photographing the architecture of Pentridge (Visual Art). Both the Swimming Carnival at Coburg Olympic Pool and Athletics Carnival at Coburg Athletics Track are also local excursions.
Local excursion consent means CHS will not seek further consent from you before local excursions take place; however, we will provide advance notice of upcoming planned local excursions via Compass.
School staff will administer first aid or seek medical attention if it is considered reasonably necessary while on the local excursion. Any costs associated with student injury rest with parents/carers unless the Department of Education and Training is liable in negligence (liability is not automatic). The Department of Education and Training does not provide student accident insurance or ambulance cover. Parents may wish to obtain this cover, depending on their health insurance arrangements and any other personal considerations.
Families understand that:
they need to ensure the school has up-to-date health and contact information about the child, and that the school needs to be informed if this information changes
Local excursions and their details, like other excursions, are visible on Compass
Consent for a local excursion may be withdrawn prior to the day of the excursion by contacting the supervising staff member in writing.
Personal Property
Parents / guardians and students should be aware that personal property brought to school is not covered by the school or Department of Education and Training does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage. Personal property is often brought to school by students, staff and visitors. This can include mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. Students are discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.
Accident
The Department and school do not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents and guardians are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs. Student accident insurance / ambulance cover policies are available from some commercial insurers, and can be obtained by parents/guardians for individual students.
Privacy
Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.
Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website here. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:
* Amharic
* Arabic
* Dari
* Gujarati
* Mandarin
* Somali
* Sudanese
* Turkish
* Urdu
* Vietnamese.
Photo policy
Mobile Phones
A reminder that the Department of Education has in place a mobile phone ban that requires students who bring mobiles phones to school to have them switched off and securely put away during school hours.
The department is requiring all schools to ensure this ban is in place and enforced from the start of the 2024 school year.
The ban applies equally to all government schools right across the state.
This helps ensure that school is a learning environment free from unnecessary distractions and disruptions.
By ensuring mobile phones are kept away at recess and lunch times, students can interact with each other face-to-face, without the distractions and social pressures that mobile phones can cause.
We ask for the support of all our families, staff and students in continuing to support the implementation of this policy in our school.
Further information
Exceptions: For a small number of students with particular health needs, an exception to the policy may be granted.
Emergencies: In the event of an emergency or if you need to immediately contact your child, I ask that families contact the school office who will pass on a message as required.
Parent support: The Mobile phones in schools webpage provides links to resources for families to help them balance their children’s time using mobile phones.
Lesson Times
Students are expected to be at school by 8.45am each morning to go to their lockers and get their materials ready for Periods 1 and 2.
Supervision Times
Our hours of operation on a regular school day include before school yard supervision from 8.45-9am, and bus stop supervision until 3.25pm (Mon & Wed), 3.45pm (Tue, Thu, Fri). For any additional times outside these hours such as Breakfast Club and Homework Club, please refer to Compass for updates.
School Documentation
To view school documentation such as policies, handbooks and booklists simply click on the Community tab on Compass.
IT Support
IT support is available to students before school, at recess and lunch, and after school. If you need help with your MacBook please come and visit the team at the IT Office in the bottom of Building B during these times (not during class time) and they'll be happy to help you.
STOPIT service
STOPIT is a Victoria Police text notification service enabling commuters, including school students, to report any form of inappropriate behaviour that makes them feel uncomfortable, frightened or threatened on the public transport network.
How STOPIT works
The STOPIT service enables commuters to use their mobile phone to promptly, easily and discreetly report inappropriate behaviours. To use the service, commuters simply text ‘STOPIT’ to 0499 455 455. This triggers an automated response that includes a link to where the commuter can provide more details about what’s just happened. When people report these types of inappropriate behaviours, police can investigate and identify offenders to improve safety on public transport for everyone. Parents and carers are encouraged to consider discussing the new service with students who travel on public transport. Students who use mobile phones outside of school hours are encouraged to save the STOPIT number in their mobile phone. Please note, STOPIT is for reporting non-urgent incidents on public transport. Always phone 000 in an emergency. For more information, refer to sexual and anti-social behaviour on public transport on the Victoria Police website.
Attendance
Students need to ensure that they come to class on time, advise the teacher if they come in late and ensure that their name is called and they respond when the roll is marked.
Late Arrival
If a student will be late to school a note needs to be added to Compass. They are required to sign in with their Compass card at the front kiosk, this is located in Building A outside Reception.
It is essential that students sign in no matter what time they arrive so that we are aware of all students on campus in case of emergency. Students who are late to class will have this marked on the roll. Students who are late four or more times in a school week will have a consequence issued by the Student Support Team. Students who arrive late to school for Period One will also need a signed late pass.
VCE and VCE VM Students
If you are more than 10 mins late to any class you will be marked absent. This will affect attendance unless a medical or attendance certificate is received within three days. Note: leaving early also affects attendance unless a medical or attendance certificate is received.
We accept one Statutory Declaration OR Pharmacy Certificate per term ONLY. Certificates need to be submitted no more than 3 working days after a student returns to school
Early Departure
If a student needs to leave school early, this needs to be noted on Compass. Students are required to sign out with their Compass card at the kiosk before leaving school grounds.
It is essential that students sign out so that we are aware of all students on campus in case of emergency.
If a student is absent from school for more than three consecutive days or leaves school to attend a medical appointment we encourage parents to obtain a attendance/medical certificate. This can be emailed to attendance@coburg.vic.edu.au or given in person to Reception staff within 3 working days of returning to school.
If a student will be absent for a long duration of time due to illness/surgery we ask that you also notify the student leaders of that year level. School work can then be organised for the student to work on whilst recovering at home.
Study Periods
VCE students can only study at home during their study period if it falls in P1 or P5.
Medical certificates can be handed in person to the attendance officer, emailed to attendance@coburg.vic.edu.au or uploaded on Compass (however please note that an email to alert the Attendance Officer that a medical certificate has been uploaded is essential).
You can contact attendance by calling 9353 1700 and then by pressing extension 1 or via email: attendance@coburg.vic.edu.au
Helping Your Child Stay Organised: Locker Tips for Success
A well-organised locker can make a big difference in how a student goes about their day. It is particularly beneficial in terms of minimising stress at busy transition periods.
Here are some simple tips to help your child stay organised:
🔹 Use a magazine holder – These holders allow students to store their books vertically, and reduces them being crushed under bags and lunchboxes! They can cost as little as $6 at retail stores like Kmart or Officeworks.
🔹 Label books - Large print along the spine of exercise books make them quicker to locate. Some students may also like different coloured exercise books for different subjects. Some also get sorted for the day by putting them in order before school in terms of which books are needed for which period.
🔹 Pencil cases matter - Keeping pens, pencils, calculators etc together minimises the chance they get lost. Have your child label or engrave each item with their name.
🔹 Declutter regularly – Set a habit of cleaning out old papers, wrappers, and unnecessary items regularly to keep the locker tidy.
🔹 Print out of your schedule – Many students benefit from a colour coded print out of their schedule being sticky taped to the inside of their locker. This makes it quicker to see the day’s schedule compared to accessing Compass on digital devices.
🔹 Use or create a checklist – Year 7s and 8s have checklists inside their lockers or locker areas regarding which materials to take to which subject. Older students might find this beneficial too.
Requests Involving NDIS Therapists & Health Professionals
While the NDIS doesn’t fund therapies for educational purposes, it does fund therapies related to an individual’s functional whole-of-life support needs.
On occasion we receive requests from students’ therapists to come on site for one off meetings or observations, or ongoing therapy. The Department of Education has both a policy and series of guidelines for Victorian government schools related to requests for the delivery of funded therapy in schools. See below for a summary of Coburg High School’s approach to the most common requests.
Requests for an allied health professional to attend a Student Support Group meeting held at the school
- Coburg High School supports these requests providing parents/guardians also consent to this arrangement
- The parent/guardian, rather than CHS, will be responsible for communicating date/time/place to the health professional. They are also responsible for notifying the CHS staff member who will be chairing the meeting
- The health professional will need to sign in and out at the Compass kiosk and follow other expectations laid out in our Visitors in Schools policy
Requests for an allied health professional to observe a student in the classroom or school environment
- Coburg High School supports these requests providing parents/guardians also consent to this arrangement
- These requests need to be sent to info@coburg.vic.edu.au and addressed to our Disability Inclusion Coordinator (Natasha Seol)
- The school will email the health professional a set of terms they must commit to, which includes outlining the purpose of the observation, providing a valid Working with Children Check, signing in and out, only being on site for an agreed period of time, only taking written notes relevant to one child, protecting the privacy of other students, and following CHS policies
- Upon receiving a commitment by the health professional to our terms an observation is arranged and relevant teachers and the family are notified
Requests for a student to leave school grounds for offsite appointments (one off or regular) during the school day
- As much as possible, appointments should not be scheduled during the school day. Nevertheless Coburg High School supports these requests providing parents/guardians also consent to this arrangement
- The family should provide the Attendance team (attendance@coburg.vic.edu.au) with details so this can be recorded on Compass. A letter from the health professional is required for the appointment to count as an approved medical absence.
- The family should notify any relevant teachers if it will significantly impact the child’s learning program
- Careful consideration needs to occur with VCE given attendance and authentication requirements. Appointments are expected to be scheduled out of class time whenever possible. If an appointment during the school day is unavoidable, its timing should vary to prevent excessive disruption to any one subject. When students have study periods, scheduling appointments during those times is preferred
Requests for an allied health professional to deliver therapy onsite at CHS or virtually during or outside of school hours
- Coburg High School will consider these requests on a case by case basis as there are practical, legal and educational issues impacting these requests. In most occasions Coburg High School will be unable to make these commitments given the following consideration that have to be made
- the individual circumstances of the student, the student’s family and social circumstances. Any inherent convenience to therapists or parents/carers in having therapy delivered during school hours must be secondary to the student’s best interest. An example circumstance given by the department is when it is safer for the child to have therapy at school compared to home
- the relative benefits of the therapy when compared to any anticipated disruption to student learning or the needs of other students and other programs at the school
- the school’s ability to adequately fulfil its duty of care to all students and meet Child Safe Standards
- the school’s responsibilities under the Reportable Conduct Scheme
- the purpose of the request - for example, whether the proposed therapy is to provide benefits that would normally be accessed outside of school
- the flexibility of the student’s learning program
- our school’s specific circumstances. We have very little by way of spare rooms and are severely limited in our ability to provide additional staff members who can supervise the therapy to meet our duty of care requirements and Child Safe standards
- if the school council supports allowing an NDIS funded therapist on school grounds. A license agreement between School Council and the therapist would be required, as well as evidence of certificates of currency (public liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance) and information sharing deeds
Ultimately the decision rests with the Principal.
Melanie Buscema-Moore
Assistant Principal (Operations & Inclusion)