College News

Faces Magazine 2023

Orders for the Faces Magazine 2023 can now be made on Compass.

EVERY DAY COUNTS 

SECONDARY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE  

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your teenager’s education.  

Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind.  

SCHOOL IS BETTER WHEN YOUR TEENAGER IS THERE  

Why it’s important  

We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day 

Students develop good habits by going to school every day – habits that are necessary to succeed after school, whether in the workplace or in further study.  

Missing school can have a big impact on students academically and socially. It can affect their test results, including VCE & VCAL, and, just as importantly, it can affect their relationships with other students, and lead to social isolation.  

There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes.  

Each missed day is associated with falling behind in subject topics and assessment tasks, and lead to fewer subject choices and may impact on achievement in years 11 and 12 and post-school pathways.   

Getting in early  

 It’s never too late to improve attendance. Even in the middle years, when school can seem the most challenging for students and when attendance rates can be at their lowest, going to school more often can make a big difference. Every day counts.   

Schools are there to help – if you’re having attendance issues with your child, speak to your child’s House Leader about ways to address those issues.  

IN VICTORIA SCHOOL IS COMPULSORY FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 6 – 17 YEARS  

Student Absences   

The main reasons for absence are:  

Sickness – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. It’s vital that they’re only away on the days they are genuinely sick, and setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference.  

Family holidays - It's vital that holidays are planned during school holidays where possible, and not during the term. If you are planning to go on holiday during term time, make sure that you talk to your school in advance, and work with them to develop an absence learning plan.  

“Day off” – Think twice before letting your teenager have a “day off” as they could fall behind their classmates – every day counts.  

Truancy – This is when students choose not to go to school without their parent’s permission or skip out of school during the day. There can be many reasons for truancy; the best way to address this is for schools and parents to work together.  

While all absences can effect academic performance, DET’s statistics show that unexcused absences are a much stronger indicator of lower reading and maths achievement.  

School refusal - School refusing children experience significant emotional distress not only when going to school but also at the thought of going to school; they may be absent from school for weeks or even months at a time. School refusal differs from truancy as children generally stay home with the knowledge of the parents and despite their best efforts to encourage their child to go to school. See: My child or teenager has anxiety  

BEING AWAY FROM SCHOOL FOR 1 DAY A FORTNIGHT EQUALS MISSING 1.5 YEARS OVER 13 YEARS OF SCHOOL  

If your teenager is away  

If for any reason your teenager must miss school, there are things you can do with the school to ensure they don’t fall behind:  

1. Inform the school via phone or Compass  
2. Find out what work your teenager needs to do to keep up.  
3. Develop an absence learning plan with your teenager’s House Leader and ensure they complete the plan.  

Remember, every day counts. Openly communicating with your teenager’s school about all absences is a good way to prevent attendance issues being escalated to a School Attendance Officer. A School Attendance Officer is a Department of Education and Training Regional Director who has authority to follow up attendance issues. Chronic or ongoing attendance issues that are escalated can lead to an Infringement Notice being issued to parent/s.  

If you’re having attendance issues with your teenager, please let the House Leader know so you can work together to get your teen to school every day.  

TOP ATTENDANCE TIPS FOR PARENTS 

• Schools want to work in partnership with parents – act early if you have any concerns by contacting your child’s school and asking for advice and support 
• Remember that every day counts 
• There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes and their social connectedness  
• Talk positively about school and the importance of attending every day  
• Open and prompt communication with your child’s school about all absences is a good idea   
• Avoid making routine medical and dental appointments during the school day or planning family holidays during the term  
• Seek help from your school if you are concerned about your child’s attendance and wellbeing. Schools want to work in partnership with parents to support student attendance and wellbeing.  

FURTHER INFORMATION   

For more information and resources to help address attendance issues, visit:  

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/studentmanagement/attendance/Pages/improve-attendance.aspx  

Discounted School Uniforms

Brentwood has minimal stock of the following items to be cleared out at heavily reduced prices.  Please note these items are ONLY available at the reduced price through the school, NOT at PSW.  If you are interested in purchasing some items please contact Kellie Rosenfeld Kellie.Rosenfeld@education.vic.gov.au

OLD STOCK CLEARANCE

Stay well this winter 

In Victoria, influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection numbers are high among children aged 5 to 11 years, particularly in those in their first few years of school. The Victorian Department of Health expects more respiratory infections over Term 3.

Most children with flu or RSV have a mild fever, runny nose or cough. Some children, particularly babies and children with underlying medical conditions, may have more severe illness.

Keeping our school community well 

Parents, carers and students are encouraged to:

• wash and sanitise their hands regularly
• avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
• cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing
• stay at home if unwell and consult a general practitioner (GP) or NURSE-ON-CALL as needed
• stay up to date with flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

Our school has masks for staff, students and visitors if they want to wear them. 

Flu vaccinations

Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and your family from getting the flu.

Annual flu vaccination is recommended for everyone aged 6 months and older. As part of the National Immunisation Program, it is free for:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 6 months and older
• children aged 6 months to under 5 years
• people aged 6 months or older with underlying medical conditions.

Flu vaccinations can be booked through GPs, pharmacies or your local council immunisation service. 

Find out more

For more information about staying safe this winter, refer to:

• Stay well this winter on the Better Health Channel, translated into 16 languages 
• Influenza and immunisation on the Better Health Channel
• Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) on the Better Health Channel
• Getting vaccinated against influenza.

Excursion Payment and Consent

It is a legal requirement that consent is given for students to attend and or participate in events such as excursions and sport. Payment and consent on the day or the day prior to an event is not sustainable for the college. Teachers and coaches need to know who is attending events with sufficient notice for buses, providers and fielding sporting teams.

Consent and payment for events is due two school days before the event at midnight – for example if an event is on a Friday, consent and payment will be due by midnight on Wednesday. If the event is on a Monday the consent and payment will be due by midnight on the Thursday prior.

Parents and students will no longer be able to consent and pay for events on the day before an event or on the day of an event. If consent and payment are not received by midnight two school days before an event the student will not be able to attend.

Payment and consent can be completed on Compass, if you do not have a Compass log in please contact the office on 8545-0300.

For families who would like to use Camps Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF) for payment of an event, please print out students excursion form via compass, complete the written consent and have students hand forms in to the general office with an instruction to use CSEF for the payment using the same timeline as above, two school days prior to an excursion or sporting event. Students can print their excursion forms in the library.

The college appreciates your cooperation and if you have any questions, please contact the general office on 8545-0300.

Public Transport - Prepaid Buses

To support safer bus journeys and the rollout of all door boarding , cash transactions were permanently removed from myki-enabled buses from 13 July 2020. Parents and students can ensure they continue to travel with a valid ticket by using the following:

• Online at ptv.vic.gov.au/myki
• New PTV app
• Auto top up
• Myki Retailers
• Quick top up  machines
• Myki machines
• Ticket offices including train stations and PTV Hubs

Prepaid boarding will help reduce travel time for passengers as well as increase the reliability of services and Public Transport Victoria is continuing to make improvements to help passengers' transition to this new model. More information is available at ptv.vic.gov.au/tickets/myki/buy-a-myki-and-top-up/ 

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 the school’s collection statement, found on our website.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:

• Amharic
• Arabic
• Dari
• Mandarin
• Somali
• Sudanese
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese

Student accident insurance, ambulance cover arrangements and private property brought to school

The Department of Education does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents/carers of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs.

Parents/carers can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers.

Private property brought to school by students, staff or visitors is not insured and the Department does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage.

This can include mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment and cars parked on school premises. As the Department does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property, students and staff should be discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.

Updated School Policies