School News
Help us fight hay fever: please medicate before school
Spring brings beautiful weather, but it also brings high pollen counts that can trigger severe hay fever and asthma symptoms in our students.
To help your child stay comfortable, focused, and happy in class, we highly recommend giving them their allergy medication at home in the morning before arriving at school. Taking medication preemptively prevents symptoms from escalating during outdoor recess and lunch breaks.
Important Reminders:
School Supply: the school office does not supply general antihistamines or allergy medications to students.
Medication at School: if your child needs a backup dose or daytime medication kept on-site, you must hand-deliver it to the front office in its original packaging. A signed Medication Authority Form must also be filled out before we can assist.
Action Plans: If your child’s hay fever triggers asthma, please ensure theirAsthma Action Planis fully up-to-date and that they carry a reliever puffer with them at all times.
Thank you for partnering with us to keep our students healthy and thriving.
Working with Children Check (WWCC) system
We would like to share some important updates about upcoming changes to the Working with Children Check (WWCC) system, which will help strengthen safeguards for children.
Details
From 19 October 2026, schools must notify the Social Services Regulator (SSR) of the details of all the workers or volunteers that they engage to do child-related work through a new online system called WWC Connect. This system will help the Social Services Regulator to see where people with WWC Clearances are working and volunteering. It will also let them act faster if someone’s WWC Clearance stops being valid.
The SSR will also require all WWCC cardholders to complete a mandatory online child safety training module when their WWCC is next due for renewal (once every 5 years). It takes about 30 minutes and is separate (and different) to the school’s child safety training for staff and volunteers.
What this means for you
At Parkdale Primary, we require all volunteers to have a valid WWCC under our Volunteers Policy. We are very grateful to the many volunteer parents and carers who help us with many student activities – for example in the classroom, on excursions, camps and sports days.
If you help at our school in a volunteer role with direct contact with children we will enter your details into the new WWC Connect system. We will do this when you start and finish volunteering, and at any time your details change. Only the school can enter this information. You cannot do it yourself.
What we need from you
On 20th October we issued a message on Compass with the following request:
If you have provided Parkdale Primary with your WWCC details in the past we will automatically enter your details into the new WWC Connect system (for valid WWCC only).
If you do not wish to volunteer in the future and/or do not wish your details to be entered into the new WWC Connect system, please email or phone the school office to inform us of this decision by Friday 30th October 2026.
Privacy notice: The department is collecting your personal information to meet requirements under the Worker Screening Act 2020. We will share this information with the Social Services Regulator, and with others where the law allows it. You can ask to see or correct your personal information by contacting the school office. To learn more, please read the privacy policy at vic.gov.au/schools-privacy-policy.
If you are a volunteer in a role that does not work directly with children or are exempt from holding a Working with Children Clearance, we may ask you to complete the Consent Form – Connecting your Working with Children Clearance to our school to collect your WWC Clearance details and obtain your consent to notify the Social Services Regulator through WWC Connect.
Thank you for your help with these changes to support our culture of child safety, and for all the support you give our school as a volunteer.
If you have any questions about the changes, visit Working with Children (WWC) Connect | vic.gov.au or contact us on parkdale.ps@education.vic.gov.au
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