From the Office - ICAS returns

From knowing about different types of welfare funding and support, what is going on in the school, access to food, uniform and stationery items or being able to offer different payment methods, there are many ways the school office team can assist, link you in with other staff and offer support to you and your family.  Please contact Melissa, Jen or Annie for an informal, confidential chat on 9876 3289 or kalinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au.  

Alternatively you can discuss these matters with Shaun McClare, Lauren Hopkins, Kylie Drummond or Mel Jeffery.

CSEF 2026 - applications close at the end of Term 2

Applications for 2026 CSEF support will open from 27 January 2026.

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

• school camps or trips
• swimming extension activities and other school-organised sport programs
• outdoor education programs

• excursions and incursions

   

Those that are eligible to apply for the CSEF are:

• families holding a valid means-tested concession card
• a student over 16 years who is considered a mature minor and holds a valid concession card (such as a Youth Allowance Health Care Card or Disability Support Pension Card)

• a special consideration category also exists for refugee and asylum seeker families and students placed in out of home care.

   

Eligible means-tested cards

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

• the first day of Term 1
• the first day of Term 2

The full list of eligible concession and health care cards is available on the Services Australia website.

For Veterans' Affairs, gold cards are the only means tested cards for this type. This card must be sighted, and a photocopy taken by the school to confirm the expiry date and eligibility.

Cards that are not financially means tested are not accepted.

• Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund application form (DOCX, 97KB)

Spartan Uniform

Do you need an interpreter?

Details to save in your phone

Kalinda Primary School's main number is 9876 3289.

Kalinda Primary School's mobile is 0429 871 758 

(This number is only monitored in the event of a phone outage or excursions/camps).

You can also save the email address to ensure emails do not end up in your junk folder -

kalinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au

You can email teachers directly through Compass, under your child's profile.

Payment plans and different payment options

Do you ever find that Compass doesn’t cater for the payment option that would suit your family?  If this is the case, please get in touch with us and let us know via a confidential email to kalinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au.  

There are lots of different payment options available, but Compass limits us to offering one option to all families.  If paying for an event over several weeks, or in smaller payments, suits your circumstances better, we are happy to make this available to you. 

For further information, please feel free to contact the office on 9876 3289, or by email to kalinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au, asking to speak to Jen or Melissa in Finance. All finance and administration matters are strictly confidential, and we are happy to help in any way we can.

Authority for another person to pick up your child

Occasionally, families will have the need for someone else to pick up their child. For the safety of your child, please complete the attached letter, and contact the office so we can let staff be aware.  The form used is a template from the Department of Education and will remain in the school archives.

Primary school children are unable to leave the grounds before 3.30 pm by themselves.

https://www.kalinda.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/1691544719permission_for_another_person_to_pick_up.pdf

ICAS 2026

This year, we are again giving students the opportunity to showcase and celebrate their talents in the world-renowned ICAS competition.

What is ICAS?  

ICAS is an online academic competition that gives students the opportunity to challenge their higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in different curriculum areas.

ICAS results are in-depth and meaningful, and ICAS evaluates student performance against other competition entrants across the state and nation. The data reveals student strengths and weaknesses and can help you recognise and support your child's academic journey.    

Learn more about ICAS here: (icasassessments.com/products-icas/).

ICAS results and certificateEvery student who participates is celebrated and recognised with a printed certificate in each subject area, and an online results report to track development each year. Top performers are eligible for one of the highly coveted ICAS medals.

Your child’s ICAS certificates will show their results and the login details, “TAP ID and Pin”. - Use these to enter the Results Portal (https://orti.icasassessments.com/ortiStudent).

How to participate in ICAS  

If you wish for your child to participate in ICAS this year, please go to the Parent Portal to register for your chosen subjects.

You can do this in one of two ways:

1. Direct login link – faster!

Use this link to log directly into the shop and start registering:

https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/parent-payment/KBB068 

2. Log in using the PPS code

Visit our shop and use our PPS code to log in:

Shop link: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

PPS code: KBB068

Registration for all subject areas closes on Monday 27 July at 11:59pm.

This year, our students can elect to sit the following assessments:

Please note, we cannot facilitate refunds or make alterations as all money is paid directly to ICAS Assessments.

Read the terms and conditions here: (https://www.icasassessments.com/icasa-terms-and-conditions/#icas-parents). 

Privacy collection statement  : The following information is a privacy notification about how your child’s data is kept private and secure.ICAS Assessment is owned by Janison Solutions Pty Ltd (We, Us, Our).To deliver assessment products, Janison will require your child’s School to obtain your consent to provide Janison with certain personal information of students. Janison will collect, store, use, disclose and otherwise deal with such personal information in accordance with its privacy policy (below). We are aware of our responsibility to protect personal information related to children and students from being disclosed when we deliver an ICAS Assessments product. Unless you, as the child’s legal guardian consents, we will not:

·       collect any personal information or data of children other than the information we need for the successful completion of an assessment, test, or exam.

·       transfer any personal information we obtain from a child in the delivery of assessments and tests to any jurisdiction outside of Australia.

·       share any personal information relating to children with any third parties (except for those third parties necessary for us to carry out our Services or provide our Products e.g., medal engraving).

·       use any personal information or data relating to children for marketing purposes.

You can view our full privacy policy at https://www.janison.com/privacy-policy/.

We may retain personal information and data relevant to a child for their future purposes or for research purposes by Janison for the duration of the school life cycle of the child. However, if you or your child at any time wish to have their personal information or data removed from our systems, they or you may opt out by simply contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@janison.com or by contacting icasassessments@janison.com.

Please do not hesitate to contact the teachers listed below, via Compass or email, if you have any questions.  

Kind regards,

Aiden Matthews - aiden.matthews@education.vic.gov.au

Karina Gallace - karina.gallace@education.vic.gov.au

2026 ICAS Coordinators