Be Safe and Thrive in 25!

Concerns about Road Safety around our school have been shared and highlighted in the newsletter over many years. For this reason, two of our teachers, Bridget Cooper and Tyler Trevaskis made a video as part of this years’ HERRRBy theme ‘Be Safe and Thrive in 25!’

If you were unable to attend the Parent Information Evenings, I ask you to watch the video with your children. Here is the link to the video. GPS Road Safety You may like to share the link with family members that regularly collect your children from school. Great work to our directors, producers and the entire cast!

Have you paid your School Contributions for 2025?

Parent Payment Arrangements for 2025 School Year are now due. We are so grateful to those families that have already paid their contributions. These payments are crucial and enable us to purchase resources and equipment for our high-quality and highly regarded learning environment including our specialist programs. Here are just a few examples of how some of the money we receive through our parent payments is utilised:

to purchase musical instruments for Performing Arts,
to purchase robotics for our STEM program,
to refurbish learning spaces with new carpet, painting and furniture,
to purchase classroom ICT resources (interactive touch screen TVs).

We value your support; it allows us to provide the highest quality education to our students and to create a more enriching experience for our entire school community. We extend our heartfelt thanks for your ongoing support. Please see guide below for paying your school contributions through the Compass Portal.

Leadership Badge Presentation

Our Year 6 Leadership Badge Presentation took place yesterday morning under the COLA at the Senior Campus. We are very grateful to our guest speaker, Zoe Daniel (the Federal member for Goldstein) for her time and thoughtful words. We also thank The Jets for their inspiring singing of ’Don’t Stop Believing’ at this special assembly.

A big congratulations to Milla P for receiving this year’s Goldstein Award. This award recognises a Year 6 student for their accomplishments in their previous year of schooling and contribution to the school. Milla we are very proud of you – you are a most worthy winner!

School Council

Gardenvale Primary School is supported by the governance and direction of our School Council. This group meets twice per term (or as required) and is made up of staff and parents. The current School Council of 15 members (9 parent, 1 community and 5 staff) and has sub committees that look at Education, Finance, Buildings and Grounds, Communications, Out of School Hours Care.

Below is a timetable for the upcoming elections for the 2025 Council and we are seeking to fill 5 parent vacancies. Please consider nominating for a role or call the office to discuss any queries regarding this upcoming election process. Nomination forms are available now from the Senior Campus office.

SCHOOL COUNCIL ELECTION PROCESS AND TIMETABLE - 2025
GARDENVALE PRIMARY SCHOOL
EVENT		DATE
a)	Notice of election and call for nominations	Newsletter on Tuesday 18th February and Compass message on Tuesday 25th February 2025
b)	Closing date for nominations	Tuesday 4th March 2025
c)	Date by which the list of candidates and nominators will be posted	Tuesday 11th March 2025
d)	Date by which ballot papers will be prepared and distributed	Thursday 13th March 2025
e)	Close of ballot	Friday 21st March 2025 at 4.00pm
f)	Vote count	Friday 21st March 2025 at 4.10pm
g)	Declaration of poll	Monday 24th March 2025
h)	First council meeting to elect office bearers (the principal will reside)	Tuesday 25th March 2025 at 7.00pm

District Swimming

This Thursday, 20th February, 30 of Year 4 to 6 students will represent our school at the District Swimming Carnival at the GSAC complex. We wish them well and am sure they will swim their best for themselves and the school.

Working Bees

Maintaining and improving our school grounds is an important and ongoing issue. We are so grateful and proud of the support we always receive from our School Community for our Working Bees. The dates for this year’s working bees are as follows: -

Term 1	Years 2 and 6 (Both Campuses)	Sunday 16th March
Term 2	Years 1 and 5 (Both Campuses)	Sunday 25th May
Term 3	Prep and Year 4 (Both Campuses)	Sunday 17th August
Term 4	Year 3 and Junior Campus	Sunday 19th October

Parents are most welcome to attend any Working Bee not just the one designated to their child/children’s year level.

Student Medical conditions

To all parents who have a child with a medical condition (Anaphylaxis*, Asthma, or allergies) could you please ensure you have emailed an updated Action Plan to gardenvale.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

(Recommended to be updated every 12-18months)

Any required medication must also be provided - clearly labelled with dosages and handed to either office and a Medication Authority form completed and signed.

*An Individual Anaphylaxis Management Plan (IAMP) must also be provided for those students with Anaphylaxis.

For students with asthma a clearly labelled reliever and spacer and copy of their action plan must be kept in their school bag. Importantly these must also be taken by students to any excursion or sporting event.

For any medication that is required to be given at school please complete a Medication authority form which can be found on our school website, in the policy section or from either campus office.

Thank you for your assistance in helping us to ensure the wellbeing of your child.

Annual Privacy Reminder for Our School Community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy and the Schools’ Privacy Collection Notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy, describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education] safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using [Microsoft 365/Google Workspace for Education], please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages: Amharic, Arabic, Dari, Gujarati, Mandarin, Somali, Sudanese, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Have a great week,

Janine Hall

Team Kids

Pancake Day