Jackson School Family Handbook (A to Z)

E

Education Support Staff (ES)

All non-teaching staff at Jackson School are education support staff. ES are also integral members of the classroom team and they work closely alongside teachers in the delivery of daily classroom routines. Each classroom has either 1 or 2 full time ES staff. We do not provide one-on-one ES support to help develop our students' independence. Some students however may have additional inclusion support throughout the day, e.g. specialist subjects, recess or lunch.

Emergency Management Plan

Schools are required to develop and maintain an Emergency Management Plan (EMP) that complies with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) registration requirements. Evacuation procedures are practiced during school time once every term. Students are taught our emergency codes, including for student behaviours of concerns. Due to the unpredictable nature of our students at times, this is to ensure we can keep everyone safe and continue learning.

 

Click here to download our Emergency Announcement Social Story for students:

 

Emergency Announcement Social Story.pdf

Energy Drinks

Please note that hydration and energy drinks are not suitable for our students and not permitted onsite at school. Energy drinks usually contain high levels of caffeine and sugar. Under the Food Standards Code Standard 2.6.4 formulated caffeinated beverages are not recommended for children. These products come with a warning label stipulating “Not recommended for children under 18 years of age".

Epilepsy

People living with epilepsy usually have seizures at unpredictable times. Because epilepsy varies so much between individuals, it is crucial that everyone understands how to support the person. An Epilepsy Management Plan documents the person's seizure types, support needs and emergency procedures. Jackson School requires a current epilepsy management plan to be filled out by a parent/carer and signed by a doctor for all students who have epilepsy and these need to be updated annually. If your child has also been prescribed Emergency Epilepsy Medication, a copy of the current plan and training to administer this this medication is also required by the school before they can administer it.

Excursions & Incursions

Excursions are organised on a regular basis and enable your child to be involved in a variety of learning experiences outside of school. No student may participate in an excursion unless written parental permission is obtained. It is important that permission notes are signed on Xuno. All Medical Plans must be current in order for students to attend. Throughout the year there may also be incursions where visitors/performers come to the school to provide in school learning experiences. 

Early Leavers

Parents/carers will have to wait until the end of the day (2:50 pm) to collect their child if parents/carers present at the office after 2:30 pm and no prior notification has been provided. This is to ensure end of day dismissal lists are accurate. 

eSMART

During PBIS lessons and eSMART week each year, classes take part in activities to learn about being Cyber Safe, Digitally Responsible and Respectful Online. By taking responsible action, we can demonstrate how we all keep kids safe online and offline. This has never been more important with our children's increased screen-time and access to the internet. We know this causes many issues for our families at home and at school. Many of the issues we face are because children have access to social media and apps which are not age-appropriate. This creates a real safety concern for our students. Many apps and games have a minimum age requirement under their terms and conditions.

 

The eSafety Commissioner website has many resources for families, such as:

 

If you have any concerns about your child or another child online, you can report this directly to the social media platform. If you do not get a response within 48 hours you can then report this to the eSafety Commission. Learn how to report cyberbullying, image-based abuse and illegal content. School wellbeing staff are always available to support you and your family where possible. Issues that happen on social media out of school hours can also be reportable to Victoria Police.

Enrolment

Currently Jackson School has limited places, and eligible students may not be able to be enrolled. In Victoria, all students with disability have a right to enrol at their designated neighbourhood school, where they can access supports, resources and classroom adjustments to meet their needs. The Find my School website can help you identify your designated neighbourhood school. Jackson School follows the Department of Education’s Enrolment Policy for the enrolment, placement, and transfer of students. Click here to view our Enrolment Policy. If your child meets our enrolment criteria (mild intellectual disability) and you are interested in learning more about our school please complete the pre-enrolment enquiry form.

Employability Skills

Each term we focus on one characteristic/skills of learning and independence as a throughline of our Inquiry units. The 8 Employability Skills are learner characteristics which we teach our students to become a Jackson Learner and enable them to become contributing members of the wider community. 

Emergency Contacts

It is important that we have correct phone numbers and email addresses for parents and carers at all times. We will ask families to update their details twice a year as part of the February and August Censuses. Please also ensure we have Emergency Contacts in addition to Parent/Carer A and B in case we are unable to contact you.