Assistant Principals' Report
Hello and welcome to our newsletter item for this week.
We are pleased to share some positive changes around our school that support safer, more active ways for students to travel to and from school. As a result of feedback from our Active Travel Survey, Banyule Council has worked with our school to install new Kiss and Go zones and additional bike hoops at our Darebin and Cape Street entrance points.
What’s new?
* Kiss and Go zones have been introduced to help improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, and make drop-off and pick-up safer for everyone.
* New bike hoops are now in place to provide more secure parking for students and families who choose to ride to school.
These improvements aim to make the area around the school safer, calmer and more accessible, while encouraging active travel such as walking or rolling where possible.We thank families and students for taking the time to complete the survey and share their experiences. Your feedback directly informed these changes.
We encourage our families to:
* Familiarise themselves with the new Kiss and Go locations and signage
* Use the zones correctly to keep traffic moving
* Consider active travel options when possible (we have something exciting coming up to support this!)
Thank you for helping us create a safer and more welcoming school environment.
Child Safety @ HPS
Over the past few months, the Victorian government has been reviewing child safety procedures in education and the early childhood sectors. Last month the Department of Education updated the Child Safety resources to reflect the review and changes in particular in responding to incidents and disclosures. The resources will soon be delivered to our school and our displays around the school can be updated. The Protect website has also had a significant revamp with information for students, staff and families in government schools. https://www.vic.gov.au/protect-schools
Through the Education Sub-Committee of School Council, we will be updating our Child Safety policies in the next few months to align to changes, and as a component of our regular review of policy. If you would like to be involved, please reach out to us and we can invite you to our meeting or send information through to you if you can’t come in person.
See below an important paragraph from our Child Safety Policy which can be found on our schools website.
Heidelberg Primary School is a child safe organisation which welcomes all children, young people and their families.
We are committed to providing environments where our students are safe and feel safe, where their participation is valued, their views respected, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives. Our child safe policies, strategies and practices are inclusive of the needs of all children and students.
We have no tolerance for child abuse and take proactive steps to identify and manage any risks of harm to students in our school environments.
We promote positive relationships between students and adults and between students and their peers. These relationships are based on trust and respect.
We take proactive steps to identify and manage any risk of harm to students in our school environment. When child safety concerns are raised or identified, we treat these seriously and respond promptly and thoroughly.
Child safety is a shared responsibility. Every person involved in our school has an important role in promoting child safety and wellbeing and promptly raising any issues or concerns about a child’s safety.
We are committed to regularly reviewing our child safe practices, and seeking input from our students, families, staff, and volunteers to inform our ongoing strategies.
Have a great weekend and week ahead.
Helen Thomas & Monique Rankin
Assistant Principals
Heidelberg Primary School