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New webpage to help families and students prepare for a new school year

A new school year is an exciting time for students and families, but it can be a big step – particularly for those starting Prep or moving to secondary school. The Department of Education has published a webpage with resources and information to help you prepare for the new school year.

During the school holidays, please consider reading through the resources, which include:

· tips to help transition between kinder and Prep and primary to secondary school

· what to expect at school

· help with school costs and fees

· health and wellbeing guidance to support children’s mental health.

Please refer to the New year of learning webpage.

Details to save in your phone

Kalinda Primary School's main number is 9876 3289

Kalinda Primary School's mobile is 0429 871 758 (this number is only monitored in the event of a phone outage or excursions/camps).

You can also save the email address to ensure emails do not enter your junk folder -

kalinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au

You can email teachers directly through Compass, under your child's profile.

Smile Squad is in Lilydale over the school holidays

The Smile Squad team from EACH will provide dental services to our school from the Smile Squad Hub at Lilydale, 18-22 Lakeview Drive during the month from 16th December 2024-24th January 2025.

Smile Squad is the Victorian Government's free school dental program.

This means all students can get a free dental check-up, preventive services, and treatment at the Smile Squad Hub

How to access free dental care

We need your consent before we can provide services. Consent is usually provided by a parent or guardian.

Sign up to Smile Squad at: https://bit.ly/smilesquadvic

OR use the below QR code:

Please complete and submit the consent form, this will be sent directly to EACH.

Paper copies of the consent form are available. Please contact the school office if you would like to request one.

The electronic consent form can be translated into more than 100 languages, and the paper form is available in 13 languages.

Once the registration has been processed, you will receive an SMS with contact details to arrange a suitable appointment time.

For further information, you can reach our Smile Squad Admin Team at EACH by calling (03) 9757 6209 or by sending an email to smile.squad@each.com.au

Payment plans and different payment options

Do you ever find that Compass doesn’t cater for the payment option that would suit your family? If this is the case, please get in touch with us and let us know via a confidential email to kalinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au.

There are lots of different payment options available, but Compass limits us to offering one option to all families. If paying for an event over several weeks, or in smaller payments, suits your circumstances better, we are happy to make this available to you.

For further information please feel free to contact the office on 9876 3289, or by email to kalinda.ps@education.vic.gov.au asking to speak to Jen or Melissa in Finance. All finance and administration matters are strictly confidential, and we are happy to help in any way we can.

Scholarship details

Scholarships support students and families to assist with the cost of education and engagement in further study at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.

Scholarships are available for students:

studying in Victoria and who are citizens or permanent residents of Australia
enrolled in Years 4 -11
enrolled in Year 12 who plan on undertaking tertiary studies.

Scholarships are awarded to students who can demonstrate:

excellent academic achievement
Participation in school and local community activities
financial need as determined by the parent or carer receiving a Centrelink income support payment, or the student themselves receiving the Youth Allowance.

For more information including how to apply please go to this link: https://www.vic.gov.au/student-scholarships

Authority for another person to pick up your child

Occasionally families will have the need for someone else to pick up their child. For the safety of your child, please complete the attached letter, and contact the office so we can let staff be aware. The form used is a template from the Department of Education and will remain in the school archives.

Primary school children are unable to leave the grounds, before 3.30 pm by themselves.

https://www.kalinda.vic.edu.au/uploaded_files/media/1691544719permission_for_another_person_to_pick_up.pdf

End-of-year checklist

Here are some things for you to remember over the holidays:

change class details in QKR
download student reports from Compass.
organise student supplies ( list is on Kalinda website, under parent payments )
Name everything
Check everything is named and in the bag ready for Day 1(name even the school bag)
Talk about where your child's new class is. Which way will you walk into Kalinda now? Does this change where you will meet?

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