Welcome to 2025!

Welcome all families and friends of Vermont Primary School & Kindergarten! We are so thrilled to be back for another year, and hope that you all had a safe and relaxing break.

It was wonderful to see so many happy and smiling children returning to school last Thursday, and we can't wait to see our Foundation students start this Thursday! Students in Year 1-6 all settled quickly and were getting back into the swing of things straight away.

Over the holidays we have continued to have maintenance work in different areas of the school with painting, ground works, playground inspections and upgrades as well as general maintenance to classrooms and facilities.

We also have some changes in staffing to announce, with Ms Williams taking a year's leave. We would like to welcome Ms Astrid May who will be teaching a Foundation class this year, and also welcome Mrs Beth Manser (formally Miss Cardwell) who will be taking a variety of different classes and roles. Mrs Manser is a regular CRT to our school who many students will know, and we are thrilled to have her joining us in a more permanent basis.

This newsletter is just a brief update of some important 'start of year' things, and won't have updates from classes, however our regular newsletter content will start from this Friday, and be published every fortnight thereafter.

Reminders for parents and carers

Parents are reminded that students are supervised by teachers from 8:45-3:45pm. Students should not be dropped at school prior to this time, and any students who are still awaiting pick up after 3:45pm will be taken to the office as no supervision from teachers is offered after this time. Your child's safety is paramount, and we appreciate your support with this. In line with maintaining student safety, we urge all people using the surrounding streets for drop-off and pick-up of students to follow the road rules and exercise caution and patience. Before and after school, the surrounding streets have No Standing and Kiss-and-Go zones. These are monitored by the Council with frequent patrols during peak times, with infringement notices being issued for those not following the guidelines on signs.
If the weather is inclement or too hot (over 35 degrees) students will have their break times inside. Often parents worry that their child will be outside on very hot days, but please be rest assured if it is extremely hot, students will remain indoors in the cool. Likewise, if it is raining heavily, students will have their break inside. Students will need to have their school hat with them each day in Term 1 and 4, (or indeed every day if they prefer), and we recommend all students apply sunscreen before leaving home in the morning, and have a small tube/roll on in their bag to reapply during the day. Teachers cannot apply sunscreen for students, but can certainly remind them! Likewise, students will need to have a named drink bottle with them each day which can be refilled at school.
Contacting Teachers: We encourage frequent and open communication between families and teachers, and understand that this is the basis for a strong home-school partnership. Sometimes you may have questions for your child's teacher, and usually the best way to contact them initially is via email. We have amazing teachers and support staff here at Vermont Primary School, but they are often very busy, particularly in the morning as they prepare for the day ahead. Teachers will always endeavour to get back to you if you email or call as soon as they possibly can, but please be aware that teachers are under no obligation to respond to communication after their work hours. This is in line with the Right to Disconnect legislation, and something that we work hard to follow to enable our staff the best chance at a manageable work/life balance.
Compass: Please ensure that you have access to Compass, either through the app on your phone/device or through a web browser. Information from the office and your child's teacher will come via Compass, as well as reports, booking for Parent Teacher Interviews and the payment portal for excursions, camps and other school events. If you have any issues logging on, please just come up to the office and one of the admin team will be more than happy to help you out.
Working With Children Checks: We love having parents and carers helping in our school, and rely on help from our community for many whole school events. If you would like to support the school by helping in the classroom, on excursions, camps or with whole school events you will need to hold a current and valid Working With Children Check. If you don't already have one, you can obtain one through visiting a Post Office or online here - Working with Children Check | vic.gov.au

School Saving Bonus - a note from the Office

If you have allocated all or part of your School Savings Bonus to School Activities on the SSB Parent Portal, and wish to use it for an event, please tick the “Use CSEF or Credit Balance for this Event” and continue to complete consent. If the checkbox is not visible to you, please email the school office Vermont.ps@education.vic.gov.au with “SSB credit” in the subject line to request to use it.

The office will process the credit and if there is a balance owing it will be reflected on the Compass event in your app.

Second Hand Uniform

We are pleased to advise that orders for Second Hand Uniforms can now be placed through the Compass Parent Portal, under the Shop Menu. To access the Shop Menu from the app, click the ‘More’ button at the bottom right of screen. Then click on the 'Shop' tile. Items are delivered to your student's class within 3-5 days.

We are grateful to all those families who have donated items no longer needed, and can still accept PSW branded uniforms at the office. All items are pre-owned and have been laundered by the school, various items are available in limited quantities and stock levels do change regularly. Please bear in mind there may be some minor marks or imperfections in some garments. No refunds or exchanges possible.

Please feel free to reach out to any of the school leadership team at any point through the year should you have any questions or concerns.

Have a great week!

Jess (Principal), Joy & Jacci (Assistant Principals)

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