From the Principal 

Welcome back

Welcome back! It has been wonderful to see so many smiling faces back to start the 2025 school year. Students have settled beautifully into their new classes and during the visits 

we have made to each class, we have enjoyed seeing well organised and engaged groups of students. Thank you to all the parents and carers who have prepared their children so well for school this year. A special welcome to our new families and students. We know you will quickly become part of our positive school community. 

We would also like to welcome our new staff, who have worked hard to transition to our great school. A strength of Camelot Rise Primary School is our people, and our whole-school practices deliver a guaranteed curriculum for all our students. It has been this invisible work of setting up dynamic classroom environments and planning together that has contributed to such a smooth start for the students.

Thank you to all the dedicated staff that spent many hours at home and school over the holidays preparing their resources and classrooms for the start of the school year. We are most fortunate to have such dedicated, professional staff who work collaboratively to ensure the best learning environment for our students.

On behalf of the staff, I would like to welcome all our new and returning families to Camelot Rise Primary School, and we trust that you will enjoy working with us to provide your child with the best possible education.

In 2025 we will be producing newsletter on a fortnightly basis, and we will also be communicating with families via Compass. It is extremely important that all families have access to Compass and stay aware of what is happening at school.

Class Structures and Staffing for 2025

Class structure for 2025 

Foundation E:   Miss Caroline Eaves

Foundation N:  Miss Amanda Neary

Foundation L:   Ms Le-Buu Ly

1G:       Mrs Tennille Giannopoulos (Monday – Thursday) & Mrs Mary Katsigiannis (Friday)

1S:       Mrs Sarah Woods

1K:       Mrs Karen Watts

2G:       Miss Lauren Gabriele 

2JR       Mrs Peta Rose (Monday - Tuesday) & Mrs Stephanie Johnson (Wednesday - Friday)

2S         Mrs Julie Shepherd

3CB:     Mrs Michelle Cohen-Beavis 

3KR:     Mrs Aggie Kurzak-Reeves

3L:        Miss Hayley Lonsdale

4J:         Miss Ashleigh Jacobs

4F:        Mrs Sarah Fortune

5YT:     Mr Chris Young (Monday – Wednesday) & Mrs Illana Tusia (Thursday - Friday) 

5B:        Mrs Linda Bett 

6J:         Mr Simon Judkins

6A:        Mrs Riena Astuti

Specialist Programs for 2025

Administration

Principal:                              Mr Matthew Coney

Assistant Principal:          Mr Ben Heys

Learning Specialist:      Mrs Tennille Giannopoulos, Mr Simon Judkins and Mrs Wendy Yoong (Term One)

Business Manager:           Mrs Christine Chara

Student Administration:  Mrs Kerryn Wardle & Mrs Tracy Davidson

Education Support Staff (Integration Aides/Learning Support)

Mrs Jo Hewett        Mr Andy Pullar       Mrs Fiona Schwass      

Mrs Chrissie Sandford-Ricci                 Miss Sienna Bett

Welcome (and welcome back) to our new (and returning) staff in 2025

In 2025 we would like to welcome:

We look forward to introducing these new (and returning) staff to the students and community at a school assembly early in 2025. 

Other staffing news

We would like to inform the School Community that during the Christmas School Holidays Mrs Lani Burgess, English as an Additional Language (EAL) Teacher accepted a position working for NDIS.

Lani has been working at Camelot Rise PS since 2016 as the EAL Teacher and has been a wonderful teacher, colleague and friend to the students, parents and staff at our school.

We are thrilled that Lani was successful in applying for and securing this job and we know that she will be extremely successful.

We wish Lani all the best in her new career path.

Thank you Lani for your years of outstanding service at Camelot Rise PS.

School Improvement-Thank you to Safe Coat Epoxy Flooring

We would like to thank and acknowledge the wonderful works that were completed by Safe Coat Epoxy Flooring over the school holidays. 

Safe Coat Epoxy Flooring completed the following works for our school:

• Removal of all existing floor systems (Epoxy/Vinyl) in designated areas across three buildings using diamond grinding.

• Installation of new Vinyl Flake Epoxy Flooring systems in the bathrooms and bag drop areas.

• Installation of a Blue UV Stable Flooring System at the Office Building’s entry/exit, including the removal of the planter box at the reception entrance.

All of these works were completed to the highest standard and prior to the School Holiday Program commencing meaning there was no interruption to anyone in our school community.

Next time you are at school look at our new flooring in Unit A (Main Building), Unit B (Year 1 & 2) and Unit C (Hall) and Unit D (Foundation Building). The new flooring looks amazing!

https://safecoatflooring.com.au/

Thank you to Safe Coat Epoxy Flooring for your support with these works.

Staff Professional Learning

As a school, we are always looking for ways to upskill our staff and maintain the high-quality education we provide at Camelot Rise PS. This year, our staff will work with a highly regarded Educational Consultant, Mardi Gorman. Mardi has worked with our staff in the past, and the feedback and impact on the teachers and, ultimately, student learning outcomes and engagement levels were outstanding. Throughout the year, Mardi will spend time in classrooms, working with teachers and students and providing ongoing professional learning to our staff. We look forward to welcoming Mardi back to Camelot Rise PS.

Home - Mardi Gorman Education Consultancy

School Improvement

Last year, we installed split systems in Unit B (Year 1 & 2 Building) and Unit D (Foundation Building). We have just ordered new split systems for 2G, 2S, 5B, and 5YT, which will be installed as soon as possible.

We want all classrooms to be as comfortable as possible for students and staff so that we can maximise our learning opportunities.

Birthday treats

When celebrating a student’s birthday or other milestones, some parents choose to send something small to school for their child to share with the class. At Camelot Rise Primary 

School, this is allowable; however, strict parameters must be adhered to for Child Safety, including medical and equity purposes. 

Please note and ensure the following:

• Only individually pre-packaged food, where the ingredients are clearly visible, will be allowed. (A packet of Freddo Frogs or similar is a great option)

• A small, inexpensive, non-food party favour such as a fidget toy, pencils etc to take home.

or

Please note that any items brought to school to share must be:

• Given directly to the child’s class teacher by the parent at the beginning of the day.

• Will be shared with the class at the end of the day by the teacher.

• Taken home by each student to show their parents, who will decide when it may be eaten/played with

Classes often sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to students or teachers on their celebration day. This is a great way to celebrate at school.  However, if you wish to send something for your child’s class, the above requirements must be followed. If you are unsure if the item you wish to send meets the guidelines, please get in touch with the classroom teacher or the school office.

Productive Patnerships

Camelot Rise Primary School staff are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure all children can achieve their highest potential. We recognise that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school, knowing that a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our students’ success. We want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities, and we ask that you guide and support your child’s learning by ensuring:

• Attendance at school daily and arrival on time, ready for the day’s learning experience

• Supporting the school values

• Daily reading to develop a love for literature and to improve critical language skills

• Sharing school experiences with you so that you are aware of your child’s school life

Working and ‘learning together’ we can achieve great results.

Learning together

Communication 

At Camelot Rise Primary School we have a high emphasis on building community and developing the important link between school and home.

Should you need to contact your child/ren’s teacher, an email is the suggested starting point, with this form of communication particularly accessible for working parents who are not able to visit the school and chat before and/or after school. 

When emailing, we ask parents to respectfully give staff sufficient time to respond or to take action as requested, as during school hours we concentrate our efforts on the students. Our teachers and staff are very responsive to parents and careers; however, they are extremely busy each day. For this reason, we ask for emails and phone calls to be kept to a minimum – and not to be an avenue for daily or weekly updates about individual students.

Please remain mindful that teachers are occupied during much of the day. It is very important that teaching staff devote full attention and ‘duty of care’ to our school’s students throughout each school day (noting that some staff are not full time, therefore may need a longer response timeframe depending on working hours and days). 

Additionally, staff are not expected to attend to emails outside of ‘business hours’, during holidays or on weekends. We also have an expectation that all parents and members of the community communicate with staff in a respectful manner at all times. 

Emails are best used when you have a message that does not require a lot of detail and is not urgent; if a message is urgent, please call the school office on 9803 5344. 

2025 Curriculum Days and Teacher Professional Practice Days -Student Free Days

Term One

• Tuesday, 28th January (Curriculum Day)
• Tuesday 11th March (Curriculum Day)

Term Two

• Monday, 5th May (Curriculum Day)

Term Three

• Friday, 15th August (Teacher Professional Practice Day)

Term Four

• Monday, 3rd November (Curriculum Day)

All of the dates listed above are Student Free days at Camelot Rise Primary School. We will advise the community if Camp Australia will be able to provide a service on these days. Reminders of these dates will be sent out throughout the year.

School Assemblies

In 2025 we will continue to hold our school assemblies on a fortnightly basis. The 

rationale behind this decision is to allow teachers to spend more time with their classes and enable them to complete weekly ‘Wellbeing’ sessions. 

All students will still have the opportunity to be presented with a ‘Student of the Week’ award and be involved in a class performance throughout the year.

Assemblies will commence at 2.45pm until approximately 3.15pm. 

Each class / specialist teacher will now present two awards at each assembly. Student Leaders will continue to read out the names of the students accepting the award (but not the reasons as to why they were selected – this will be discussed back in the classroom). Students will come forward and collect their award and stand proudly in front of their peers and school community.

At each assembly we will still have children presenting a song, dance, class presentation, student and teacher announcements etc. 

During non-assembly weeks the Year 6 Student Leaders will be working with a Year 6 teacher on their leadership roles across the school. This may include making news reports or mini movies about the school activities in the Green Room. These items will then be shared at the assembly the following week.

Our next school assembly for 2025 will be Friday, 21st February.

Information Nights

We were thrilled with the attendance at our Parent Information Nights during the first week of the year. It was great that parents were able to listen to the teachers talk about the upcoming year ahead and parents had the opportunity to ask questions. The presentations that were used by staff on the night have been sent home to families via Compass and are displayed on our school website for future reference.

Thanks to the teaching staff for leading these sessions.

'We are Learning' Boards

Each term our teachers carefully plan what the students will be learning in all curriculum areas for the upcoming term. This is based on the Victorian Curriculum. The Victorian Curriculum F–10 sets out what every student should learn during their first eleven years of schooling. The curriculum is the common set of knowledge and skills required by students for life-long learning, social development and active and informed citizenship.

The Victorian Curriculum F–10 incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards.

Our staff carefully plan the content of what is taught based on the learning needs of the students, prior knowledge and student interests. The planning documents our teachers produce form part of our ‘We are Learning’ Board that is displayed in the foyer of our school.

We invite parents to look at our ‘We are Learning’ board that clearly articulates exactly what is being taught in all class and specialist classes this term. The class and specialist teachers have prepared this information. As a parent it is invaluable to know what is taught at school so you can assist and support your child / children at home. This information will be updated each term. Thanks to all the teachers for the amazing amount of work they have put into this display!

We encourage all parents to look at this board and see what exciting learning adventures your child has to look forward to this term.

All of these ‘We are Learning documents’ will be sent out to all families via Compass by the end of Week Two each term.

Welcome to our new Foundation (Prep) students

We are thrilled with the way our 2025 Foundation (Prep) students have settled into schooling life. It was a pleasure to see so many smiling faces. I would like to thank Caroline Eaves, Amanda Neary and Le-Buu Ly who have created wonderfully attractive classrooms for these students and the look of excitement on the student faces was priceless.

Supervision of Students in the Playground Before and After School

To ensure that students are appropriately supervised, we ask that students arrive at school after 8.45am each morning.  If you elect to send your child/ren to school prior to 8.45am, it is important that you understand that they cannot be supervised until the school gates are open and yard duty teachers begin their assigned duty from 8.45am.  Similarly, at the end of the school day, the school will ensure the appropriate supervision of all students until 3.45pm and after this time it is the responsibility of parents to collect/supervise their children. Any children not collected after this time will be sent to our After School Program.

We strongly encourage all families to register for Camp Australia (there is no cost to do this) as there might be a time when your child will need to access this service.

School Council Elections

During Week One information regarding the 2025 School Council election process was sent to families via Compass. I would encourage any interested parent to contact me for more information. School council is an extremely vital part of the school, and it is from school council feedback that helps inform the future direction of our school. Please look out for this if you think you may be interested in nominating or being nominated for 2025. Information includes a timeline and summary of the role of School Council. 

Students's Mobile Phones and Smart Watches

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 2025 school year.

The ban applies equally to all government schools 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.

This also applies to ‘smart’ watches that some of our students have. ‘Smart’ watches have similar capabilities to mobile phones, including the ability to send and receive messages, make phone calls and play games. As such, these watches will also need to be locked up at school. 

If your child brings a phone or smart watch to school, they will need to lock it up during school hours and then collect it back from the safe at the end of the day. If parents need to contact their children with urgent messages, please contact the school and we will ensure the message is passed on. This way our staff are aware of the arrangements.

I 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. Please contact Matthew Coney or Ben Heys if you would like to discuss this.

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.

School mobile phone policy: A copy of our school’s local mobile phone policy, which implements the government’s mobile policy in line with our local context, is available here: Camelot Rise Primary | Glen Waverley | Home

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.

If you have further questions, please contact the administration office.

Student Leadership badge presentations

Our Student Leadership Badge Presentation will be held on Friday 21st February at 2.45pm as part of our school assembly. Mr John Mullahy (MP – Member for Glen Waverley) will be at this assembly to present the badges to our student leaders and talk to all students about leadership. We thank Mr Mullahy for his time to attend this very special assembly for our students and their families.

At this assembly we will be presenting badges to the following students:

• School Captains 
• Sport Captains
• Visual Arts Captains
• Performing Arts Captains
• French Captains
• STEM Captains
• Environment Captains
• Wellbeing Captains
• House Captains (Avalon, Galahad, King Arthur & Chivalry)

We hope to see as many parents as possible attend this assembly.

The Resilience Project

In 2025 Camelot Rise Primary School students and staff will once again be participating in

the Resilience Project. In addition to weekly lessons teaching the core values of the 

Resilience Project of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness, we will also delve into the importance of emotional literacy and connection. 

Your child will also receive a Resilience Project diary. This diary has daily tasks that can be completed at home to ensure that these skills are being practised at school and at home. 

Camelot Rise Primary School staff will attend a professional learning session with the Resilience Project this term focussing on making authentic connections. We look forward to another successful year implementing this program.

onPsych is available at our school

Do you find that your child is having emotional or behavioural issues? Are they struggling socially, academically? Camelot Rise Primary School now has an accredited mental health social worker to support your child. 

Tracy Harris is an accredited mental health social worker who specialises in child and adolescent mental health. Their services are provided at the school at NO OUT OF POCKET COST through Medicare bulk billing, NDIS and other services. They will work collaboratively with you, your child, and the teachers to maximise opportunities for positive growth. 

If you believe that this might benefit you child, please contact Ben Heys ben.heys@education.vic.gov.au and request a Parent Pack for further information.

2025 Parent Payments Reminder

Parent payments are an essential source of funds for a school to operate effectively. Without student fees schools would not be able to provide the many programs and resources we provide for the students at Camelot Rise Primary School. We would like to thank the parents that have already made these payments.

Working with Children Checks (WWCC)

We encourage and value parental and community support at Camelot Rise Primary 

School. There are many ways that parents, grandparents and friends can assist at our school. We encourage all parents to obtain a Working with Children’s Check that will allow you to be very involved in your child’s education. These checks are free for volunteers. Once you have your WWC please come to the office so we can photocopy this, and we will add your name to our list of parents who have a current WWC check.

Accident Insurance

The Department of Education (DE) does not provide personal accident insurance for students. Parents are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs.  Ambulance cover could be one consideration as the school will not hesitate to call an ambulance if we are concerned about a child’s wellbeing.

The Department of Education (DE) states that reasonable low-cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector. 

Personal goods brought to school at owner's risk

The Department of Education (DE) does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools. Principals are requested to remind students and parents/guardians of this at the beginning of each academic year and to discourage parents/students from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school. Please, try and avoid bringing these items as it can be most upsetting for all concerned when items do go missing. 

Annual Privacy reminder

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 Camelot Rise Primary | Glen Waverley | Home

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

Our Physical Education/Sports Uniform

As part of a school uniform the Year 4, 5 & 6 students have the opportunity to purchase and wear a sports uniform. This sports uniform is an optional item.

Historically our students have worn their ‘normal school uniform’ on Sports Days, however, now students can wear their sports uniform when representing the school and participating in Physical Education classes.

These items are currently available in the PSW shop.

These are optional additions to the school uniform. 

These uniforms can be worn by Year 4, 5 & 6 students on the following days:

• Physical Education classes
• Sporting events
• Interschool Sports
• House Sport events

We are very excited at the prospect of these sports uniforms as we will look fantastic and further develop a sense of pride in the school.

Literacy Parental Engagement and Activities

We have listed below a useful Department of Education website that provides parents with many activities that their children can participate in to help inspire and boost their Literacy & Numeracy ​ skills. 

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/LiteracyandNumeracyTipstoHelpYourChild_Final.pdf

Help with school costs

Families are encouraged to contact Ben, myself or the school office if you are having difficulty with school costs. Programs like School Savings Bonus, Affordable School Uniforms and the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) can help with the cost of school uniforms and other essential school items as well as school activities for eligible students.

For more information for parents, refer to Help with school costs and fees.

Heat Policy

The school operates a heat policy, and we keep the children indoors in air-conditioned 

classrooms on very hot days where the temperature exceeds 35 degrees. We have also been asked to remind our parent community about the dangers of leaving children in cars on very hot days. 

Luna New Year

Wednesday 29th January marked the beginning of the Lunar New Year.  2025 is the year of

the Snake.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone in our community who celebrates this significant event a Happy New Year!

Home-school communication

Ben Heys (Assistant Principal) and I are always open and available to meet with parents and our community. Our number one priority is the engagement, wellbeing and care of all students at Camelot Rise Primary School, and we are always happy to hear feedback on the improvements we are making and what we can do to better assist our students. Ben and I are always available to speak to parents in relation to any feedback you can provide us that will ultimately benefit the students at Camelot Rise Primary School. Please feel free to drop in at any time or contact us to arrange a suitable meeting time.

Please come and see us for a chat!

Matthew Coney and Ben Heys