Important information and reminders

Camp, Sports and Excursions Fund

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amount this year is $225 for eligible secondary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

It is important that funding made available in 2022 supports students to participate in school trips, camps and sporting activities this year rather than being held for future years. This funding can also be used in conjunction with any funding accrued from previous years. Please note these activities will only take place if they meet COVIDSafe requirements.

If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office via the school email and ask for an application form. homestead.senior.sc@education.vic.gov.au

You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page.

Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.

Parent Payment Policy

Homestead Senior Secondary College is looking forward to another great year of teaching and learning and would like to advise you of Homestead’s voluntary financial contributions for 2023.

Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard Victorian curriculum and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary. Nevertheless, the ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you for all your support and contributions where you are able. This makes a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

For further information on the Department’s Parent Payments Policy please see a one-page overview.

Privacy Collection Notice

It is important that all families know that the Department takes very seriously the collection of private information. Please see the Privacy Collection Notice via the link below. The College Privacy Policy can be found the the schools website, in the policy manual, under parent information.

School Photos

Annual school photos will be taken at Homestead Senior Secondary College by Arthur Reed Photos on Tuesday March 7 2023.

There is no need to return any forms or money to school.

Unique image codes will be issued to all students on/after photo day so families can register online to view images when they become available in the web shop. 

Registration is simple, just follow the 3 simple steps on your child’s personalised flyer once you receive it and remember to add the codes for all your children attending this school.

Even if you registered last year, it’s important that you do again this year using your child’s 2023 image code to link their images for the current year with your contact details.

When images are ready to view and in the web shop, all parents who have registered will be notified by SMS and email.

Once registered, please wait for notification that 2023 images are online to view before making your purchase.

Progress Reports, Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences and Semester Reports

Homestead Senior will publish the first cycle of Progress reports on Friday March 3. Progress reports are an indication of progress within an identified period of time, usually 5 weeks. Teachers make judgements in the areas of Achievement, Behaviour and Effort. 

Parent, Student, Teacher Conferences will be held from 12pm-7pm on Wednesday 5 April. We hope that all parents are able to make it to this important event. The day will not have scheduled classes however students are expected to attend with parents/guardians.

Students complete SACs at senior school. SACs (School Assessed Coursework) are formal assessment tasks that are completed in a semester. Most subjects have three SACs in a semester. To satisfactorily pass the unit, students must achieve a satisfactory result in every SAC. The pass rate is 50% on the task, if this is not achieved, teachers will work individually with students through our redemptions process to achieve the satisfactory result. The secret to passing is to attend and do the work, not really a secret. The results of these SACs, including a comment about the achievement level is on compass within two weeks of having the tasks completed. These comments are then compiled into an end of semester report. We call this continuous reporting and as a result, students, parents and guardians should never be surprised at the time of reading the reports.

Parents may receive a variety of notifications from the school in regard to student progress or lack of progress. We would like to remind parents that these are not punitive but rather a strategic, systematic and supportive process to support all students to stay focused and achieve satisfactory outcomes in the end.

Being at school, and on time is important

The number one factor influencing student achievement and wellbeing is strong attendance at school.

At senior college, 90% attendance is the minimum requirement for a student to be able to pass. It’s never ok to be away, but this is highlighted in a senior setting where work missed is learning not taking place. At this time parents and guardians may have to be cruel to be kind – ensuring your child attends every day is vital to their success. They may get annoyed at you now but they will thank you at Graduation.

If attendance becomes a concern we will contact you to discuss.

Uniform

Student compliance to our uniform requirements has been excellent.

points to note:    

• PE uniform is to be worn ONLY during PE Practical classes - change before and after class-our change rooms are amazing
• Black School shoes only - black runners are not school shoes
• No coloured tops under uniform - a white long sleeve T-Shirt is OK
• No facial piercing rings - a clear plastic stud is ok
• Dark Blue socks only
• Students at senior school can and will be sent home to change is if a concern is observed
• We are here to help-if attaining basic uniform items is difficult, contact us and we will support where we can.

Compass Parent Portal

Compass is our main form of communication. Parents have been been emailed login letters for parent portal. Only one account is provided per family address. The primary contact on enrolment is the primary contact in compass. The secondary contact will use the same login when required. Parent portal information should never be provided to students, they have their own portal and login. Please contact the college if you are not able to log in, it is essential for regular communication, student timetables, attendance, reporting, 

School Council Elections

A new term of council will commence on March 22. Homestead will have 1 parent and 2 student vacancies and we strongly encourage any parent or student who may be interested to consider putting their hand up to being on school council. Further information will be published via compass in the coming weeks.