From the Principal Team
EDUCATION STATE
On Monday 14 September, the Victorian Government announced a series of landmark reforms to build and define Victoria as the Education State.The announcements included a focus on strong school leadership, better teaching, more collaboration between teachers and schools and resources targeted at student need.
Next year all government schools – including ours – will receive extra needs-based funding to better respond to every student’s needs. We are very happy to receive the news of an additional $728,000 in our 2016 budget.
You can find out how much extra funding every government school will receive next year on the Find Your School’s Equity Funding Amount website: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/educationstate/Pages/schoolbudget.aspx
Our teachers will receive training to implement the new Victorian Curriculum, which will include new subjects like digital coding and respectful relationships. The government also set new state-wide education targets – goals for our students in areas like maths, reading, science, the arts, resilience and critical and creative thinking.
This is an exciting time for Victorian schools, and these new initiatives will inform our planning for 2016. I encourage you to visit the Department’s website to find out more about the Education State initiatives: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/educationstate.
PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS
Parent Teacher interviews will take place at the end of term and it is important that all parents book appointments to get an understanding of how your child’s education is progressing. Interviews can be booked through the parent portal of Xuno https://portal.shs.vic.edu.au and will be conducted in the Personal learning Centre, Science Centre and the Senior Study Centre.
Times for the interview sessions are:
Thursday 17th September 4pm -7pm
Friday 18th September 10am – 1pm
Trouble logging in?
If you have lost or misplaced your Parent Portal password or have trouble logging in, please either contact the school office on 58214322 or email the school at shepparton.hs@edumail.vic.gov.au. A new password will be mailed home to your address. Parent portal username and passwords were mailed home last term with the Semester One reports.
Reports
As has been previously communicated, ALL REPORTS (SPA, Semester and End of Year) will now be uploaded to the XUNO Parent Portal. Cycle 5 SPA reports have just been completed by staff and are now available to be viewed on XUNO. No more printed copies will be made unless you have made formal contact with the school. Saving tress and the environment. If you require a printed copy in the future, you can download and print via the Portal, or request a copy from the school.
If you have any questions in regard to any of the above, please contact the school office on 05 58214322.
SUNSMART IN TERM 4 – HATS
A reminder to all that Term 4 is a Sunsmart Term.
SUNSMART POLICY SHEPPARTON HIGH SCHOOL
RATIONALE: Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. It is estimated that more than 75% of all skin cancers could be prevented by practising sun protection in early childhood and adolescence.
This SunSmart policy has been developed to ensure that all students and staff attending Shepparton High School are protected from over-exposure to the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.
These practices will be applied to all school activities including sports carnivals, excursions and camps. It is to be implemented throughout Term 1 and Term 4
IMPLEMENTATION:
Behaviour
Encourage all students and staff to wear sun protective hats that shade the face, neck and ears during recess, lunch time and during sporting and other high risk activities; wear clothing with sleeves and collars that are made from a closely woven fibre; and apply at least SPF 15 broad-spectrum water-resistant sunscreen before all outdoor activity and reapply every two hours.
Encourage students to sit in shade areas at recess and lunchtimes. Students not in acceptable shade areas are expected to be wearing a broadbrimmed hat.
This means that a broad brimmed hat must be worn by all students when out in the yard and not sitting in the shade during recess, lunchtime and when taking part in outdoor sports and PE.
Make sure you dust off the hats or purchase a new one during the holidays and have them ready to go for the first day back. Each student is free to select a hat of their choice, provided it is of a conservative color, and the brim is at least 5cm wide. Baseball caps are not permitted. Navy broad-brimmed hats are also available for purchase for $5 from the bursars office.
As this is the last newsletter before the end of term, we would like thank all staff for their terrific work. Term three is always a difficult term for illness and we am aware that many students have been away sick throughout this term.
We hope everyone has a relaxing break and that both students and staff return fit and healthy after the holidays.
Phil Squire Debbie Oliver Kimberley Tempest
Principal Asst Principal Asst Principal