News from the General Office

If you need any assistance, we are here to help you, or get you to someone who can.  Our office hours are 8am - 4pm Monday - Friday during the school terms.

If you have a missed call from the College telephone number, please check your voicemail or text messages before calling back.  Every phone extension in the school shows the same caller ID so unless you know who has called you, we will be unable to direct your call.  If the matter is important, the caller will leave a message, call back or email at a later time.

Eligibility for the CSEF

Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply for the Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund. A special consideration category also exists. Schools can receive applications from families by 28 June 2024.

Families can list more than one student in the one application form if they are attending the same school.

Click here for more information and the application form.  

https://www.vic.gov.au/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund

This is just a friendly reminder from the office that 2024 CSEF forms are due back to the school as soon as possible.  

COMPASS ISSUES

At VSC we are using Compass more and more for various things for staff, students and Parents.  Parents are reminded to log into Compass each week to check for events, notices and messages that may require your attention and/or action.

Attendance and Absences 

This is an important note on attendance procedures.

Protecting the safety and well-being of students through the reporting and monitoring of absenteeism is the responsibility of both parents/carers and schools. 

Please remember to log your child’s absence using Compass early in the morning if your child is going to be away, or late for school, so your child’s absence can be recorded correctly. Doing this will prevent getting a call from our Attendance Officer.

Please see our Quick Reference Guides below for more details on;

• How to complete an absence (this includes and early departure or late arrival) on Compass, and 
• How to  put a medical certificate onto Compass

Providing Consent for events

Please ensure that you have given consent (and payment if required) well before the day of an event, even if it is a whole school event like the athletics carnival.  We are seeing a lot of students expecting to attend an event only to be told at the time of roll marking that we do not have consent for them to attend.  Making sure that consent has been given will greatly reduce any anxiety for your student in these situations.

Early Departures

If you require your student to leave school during the day for any reason, please ensure that you have entered a note in Compass giving the time the student will be leaving and returning (if applicable) and a reason for the absence.  Please also ensure that your student is aware that you will be picking them up, letting them know exactly what time and where you intend to meet them.  

Entering a note in Compass is not only a Department requirement, it also enables the classroom Teacher to remind the student that they are leaving class early.  The student must sign out of school through the kiosk near the General Office Reception, taking their departure slip with them to show to any staff questioning them on their way out of school.  

If you have not put this information into Compass  prior to the school day it can create lengthy delays in collecting your student.  Also, please note it is not possible to collect students at recess and lunch if the permission has not be organised on Compass in advance, as we have no way to locate the student.

Sick Students

If your student is unwell at school, they should not contact parents directly and cannot sign themselves out.  They must attend Sick Bay who will contact parents and care for the student while they are waiting to be collected.

In most cases parents are required to collect their sick student in person from the sick bay.