Acting Principal's Message

Wow what a camp! Last week forty-four year five students along with six staff, attended a ski camp at Mt Buller for an amazing four days of skiing. A lodge was booked for the duration and all students participated in ability-based ski lessons led by fully qualified instructors. The snow camp has been declared a huge success by all in attendance, with glorious weather and all students displaying a ‘can do’ attitude. The snow camp is yet another outstanding educational opportunity available to the students at Toorak Primary School.

Next week the year 6 students will attend the same camp and we are hoping the weather will be just as favourable for them.

Thank-you to the families that contributed to our uniform survey. The subcommittee of school Council, who is reviewing our school uniform supplier, has appreciated the comments and suggestions. The many comments have enabled the committee to pass on valuable information to our chosen supplier, to improve the service.

We are very pleased to welcome to our school Ms. Vanessa Martelli into 5B. Ms Martelli has recently moved from New Zealand to Melbourne and brings to our school a strong belief in the importance of relationship building, with all school community members. She has a passion for sports and high academic standards.

We also welcome Mrs. Margaret Whitford, an experienced teacher who has taught in several schools. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience in learning enhancement, intervention and EAL. She

is passionate about inclusive education and creating a supportive learning environment for all. Mrs Whitford will be working with Mrs. Leila Sheehan in the learning enhancement, intervention and Tutor Learning initiative area of the school.

Child Safety and Wellbeing

The Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safety across organisations, including schools. The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing.

At Toorak PS, we are currently reviewing and updating our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. 

The new Standards set out minimum requirements and outline the actions organisations must take to keep children and young people safe. They provide more clarity for organisations and are more consistent with Standards in the rest of Australia. 

What will be different? 

Although similar to Victoria’s current Child Safe Standards, key changes include new requirements: 

• to involve families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe 

• for a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people 

• to manage the risk of child abuse in online environments 

• in relation to governance, systems and processes to keep children and young people safe. 

We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome all feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices. 

Upcoming Curriculum Day – Friday August 12th

Just a reminder that on Friday August 12th we have a Curriculum Day. Students are not required to attend school on this day.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019). 

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. 

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD please contact the school.

COVID Update

Family members are asked to continue reporting positive COVID-19 cases to the school and both the Department of Health and our own testing portal. 

You must also let the school know if your child is close contact. Students who are close contacts and want to attend should still take 5 RATs over 7 days and wear a face mask whilst indoors if they are aged 8 years or over.

Students should continue to stay home if they are unwell, even if they test negative on a RAT, given the impacts of flu and colds on our school community.

Face Mask Recommendation

The Victorian Department of Health and Department of Education strongly recommends that face masks are worn in indoor settings at present. As a result, we are recommending all students aged 8 and over and all staff in all schools across Victoria to wear masks when in class (except where removing a mask is necessary for clear communication) from now to the end of winter.

Students won’t be required or expected to wear masks when outdoors, and this expectation won’t stop student participation in the full range of school activities, including music, sport and performances.

We are asking for your support in explaining to your child or children the importance of this simple step that will help keep our schools as safe as possible.

Wearing a face mask can help protect you, your child/ren and those around you. Face masks stop droplets spreading when people talk, cough, sneeze and laugh, which lowers the chance of spreading or catching the virus. This information is especially important for those who are medically at risk.

If you wish your child to wear a mask at school, and/or they themselves wish to wear a mask, we will ensure they are supported to do that.

We also ask that you make sure your child (or children) takes a mask to school (and wears it if they are travelling on public transport) or collects a mask when they arrive at school.

Testing Requirement Change

The period of time when someone is considered a recently confirmed case and therefore exempt from testing and isolation requirements has been reduced from the previous 12 weeks to 4 weeks.

This means that staff and children who are household contacts of people with COVID-19 are now required to undertake the testing and isolation requirements from 4 weeks after completing isolation with COVID-19. 

After the 4-week exemption period, students and staff members who are a household contact of a new COVID-19 case, must follow the rules for household contacts, including reporting this to their school. We all appreciate how important it is for students to be back at school. This action will help make sure as many students and staff as possible are protected from COVID and other winter illness.

Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will continue to be available in our school in Terms 3 and 4.

RATs continue to be required by students who are household contacts to attend school (5 negative tests over a 7 day period) or who have symptoms.

The ongoing supply of RATs to families in our school will ensure that parents and carers will have them should they need them if their child is a household contact or has symptoms.

Thank for your help with this collective effort to keep our communities safe and healthy.

Just advising the community that Mrs. Manallack will continue to be on leave for the remainder of the year, and we wish Mrs. Manallack well. I’ve been asked to stay on, in the Acting Principal role, and I’m very pleased to accept that role. I look forward to continuing to work with the School Council and the community to ensure that all students achieve high academic outcomes and that all students are supported socially and emotionally. 

Kind regards,

Sharon Wildermuth

Acting Principal