From The Principal's Desk

Dear Parents and Carers,

Another term is quickly coming to an end and we are approaching the final term for the year.  In the past few weeks post concert we have settled back into normal class routines, with a number of events embedded along the way.   

One of the highlights last week was the Literacy and Numeracy celebration day, last Wednesday. The more senior students really thrived in becoming classroom buddies and enjoying supporting the younger students with activities in the junior classrooms. 

Father’s/Special person’s Day

It was wonderful to see all students attending and leaving the Father’s Day stall with a gift for their dad or father figure. A huge thanks goes out to Parents and Friends who once again organised and ran the day. Your efforts are appreciated by all. 

Year 4 Camp

Next week the Grade 4 students take off to the beach, heading to Coastal Forest Lodge in Anglesea. This is the first time for some time our school has had a camp down at the coast and our staff and students are really looking forward to sharing all the stories upon their return.

Last day of School is - Sporting Colours Day

On the last day of term we will celebrate all sporting codes with our Sporting Colours Day. On this day students are welcome to come dressed in their favourite sporting team colours and bring a gold coin donation for the Ballarat Foundation.

The structure of the day will work in the following way for the students: 

I will be dusting off the boots to ensure that we maintain the teacher record of being unbeaten.

SCHOOL UNIFORM AND SCHOOL SAVING BONUS 

This week I will be covering with the teachers and students the consistency of our school uniform.  In the main, 95% of our students come to school in the correct uniform. It sounds trivial but those schools who have their students attend school in the correct uniform shows an expectation we have set as a School Council and school community.  Collectively it represents who we are. This is true in sporting clubs where a uniform is set to show everybody else who you are representing.

Those expectations we can achieve together.  

For those who are unable to attend in the correct uniform, we are able to provide back school uniforms that have been regularly washed.

Some clarification points in the uniform are shown in the picture below.

• The only permissible coat that can be worn inside is the school soft shell coat. Non logoed coats are not part of the uniform inside - in this case a jumper should be worn (2 styles available)
• Can you wear a non logoed coat outside? - Yes you can, but we encourage students to wear the school jumper underneath.
• Students can wear beanies but not inside the classroom, this applies to school hats

Hats

As we are a SunSmart School, students are expected to wear a broad brimmed hat from the beginning of Term 4. Please have these ready for use in Term 4 with student names on them.  We do have some for sale at the front office for $1.00.

Last week I met with the Beleza uniforms as a follow up on feedback from Term 2.  The meeting covered the following points: 

• They have taken on the feedback of not enough stock in the store and believe they have rectified this.
• Mr Phillips passed on the inability to be able to layby at Beleza and not everybody uses Afterpay
• Beleza highlighted a VIP sale for Preps 2025 starts next term for all of Term 4 and allows for 20% the price of everything 
• There will be a sale for Beleza uniforms in the month of November - stay tuned for this
• There is also a Report Writing day on Monday 25th November - this might be a good opportunity to take your child in for uniforms for 2025 if the sale is on at this time and use the bonus

FACILITIES UPDATE 

We recently confirmed that the school will receive two sets of toilets for 2025.  The toilets will be provided for our students in Grade 5-6 and staff that are closest to the portables.  

These additional toilets will allow us to set toilets for students in particular age groups. The junior (P-2) external toilets will be set on the deck, the middle years (Gr 3-4) will be set at the stadium and the senior toilets in the 5-6 area. The picture below sets out where the new toilets will be placed and what we receive.

CLASS STRUCTURES 2025

We recently confirmed that the school has had it confirmed that we will receive one set of 4 classrooms in a double storey layout but will have the current modular building 5 (4D and 4C) taken away. 

On this provision the school can run all of its specialist classrooms in specialist areas and 29 classrooms.  We had been working on a 30 classroom structure prior to being informed of the Modular 5 building being taken away.

The 29 classroom structure has been through staff consultation.  There will be 1 Grade 1-2 classroom that will be part of the Grade 2 planning team.  This has been structure this way to keep the whole school class sizes a low as we can make them: 

2025 class structures 

It is anticipated by February census next year we will have 610 students enrolled in the school and over the year we do receive further enrolments that have moved into our zone.

Next term we will begin the process of forming our classes for next year. We often move our teachers around to another year level and teachers don't often know their class allotment until we have all staffing settled. Therefore, we ask that you do not request a teacher as we cannot guarantee this will work. We will take your child’s needs into consideration and place them where we believe it will achieve the best for everyone.

You will however be asked in the newsletter, mid next term to have input into your child's friendship placements and potential clashes to consider in 2025.

Parent Opinion Survey 

Thank you for those who did manage to complete the Parent Opinion survey.  We will be reviewing the data and reporting this back to the School Council and Parent Liason.

Term 4 reminders

Beyond on term 3 and school holidays we have a number of events to look forward to:

• In our first week of Term 4 we launch the Girls’ program with breakfast at Morse Head Park.
• Grade 3 Camp will occur in the second week of the term and will head off to Lady Northcote.
• Our kinder transition program commences and will begin the preparations of our Prep students for 2025.
• Our Grade 5 students begin the process of applying for leadership positions early Term 4.
• Our Prep - Grade 2 Athletics Carnival on Friday 18th October at the Doug Dean Reserve.
• Our Writers’ Festival is on Tuesday 22nd October and will highlight the wonderful writing of all the students in the school.
• On Thursday 24th October is the Grade 2 sleepover at the school and is the first step into our camping program.

This is just a snapshot of what lies ahead. So on behalf of the school enjoy the break if you are having one and we look forward to working with you in our final term of the year.

Whooping cough

Whooping cough cases are continuing to increase across Victoria, particularly among school-aged children.

Whooping cough is a very contagious infection, mostly spread through coughing or sneezing. Symptoms include: 

• blocked or runny nose
• tiredness
• mild fever
• severe bouts of coughing, often followed by a ‘whooping’ sound on breathing.

Whooping cough can lead to life threatening infections in babies.

If your child is unwell, they should not attend school. Please see a doctor if you or your child develops whooping cough symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment will help reduce the spread of the infection. 

Students diagnosed with whooping cough must not attend school

If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, they must not attend school for 21 days after the onset of the cough, or until they have received 5 days of antibiotic treatment. You must notify the school if your child is diagnosed with whooping cough.

To further reduce the spread of infection to your child and the school community, the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 require that some students who were in the same classroom as a student diagnosed with whooping cough should not attend school.

Your child should not attend school for 14 days after they were last exposed to a person diagnosed with whooping cough, or until they have taken 5 days of a course of antibiotic treatment if they are:

• aged less than 7 years; and
• not fully vaccinated with 3 doses of whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine. 

This exclusion is required by law – refer to the School exclusion table for primary schools and children’s services.

If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, please contact the school to let us know.

More information

For more information about whooping cough, refer to Whooping cough on the Better Health Channel.

Vaccination is the best way to reduce the risk of whooping cough. The Department of Health recommends staying up to date with immunisations, including booster doses. A free booster dose of the pertussis vaccine is covered under the national immunisation program for students aged 12 to 13. If you are unsure about your child’s vaccination status for whooping cough, please discuss with an immunisation provider, such as your doctor.

I really appreciate your support in keeping our students safe and well.