From the office....
Illness and exclusion days
We are noticing a lot of students coming to school who are unwell or who are still showing symptoms from an illness. We understand that it is very hard to keep children home when parents need to work or who have no other arrangements to look after their children, however in order to keep other students and the Moriac community safe and healthy, we ask families to follow the department guidelines on the exclusion from school timeframe as per below -
| Conditions | Exclusion of cases |
| Chickenpox | Exclude until all blisters have dried. This is usually at least 5 days after the rash appears in unimmunised children, but may be less in previously immunised children |
| Conjunctivitis | Exclude until discharge from eyes has ceased |
| Covid | Excluded for 5 days |
| Diarrhoeal illness | Exclude until there has not been vomiting or a loose bowel motion for 48 hours, and for all other diarrhoeal illnesses exclude until there has not been vomiting or a lose bowel motion for 24 hours |
| Hand, Foot and Mouth disease | Exclude until all blisters have dried |
| Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) | Exclude until 48 hours after initiation of effective therapy |
| Herpes (cold sores) | Young children unable to comply with good hygiene practices should be excluded while the lesion is weeping. Lesions to be covered by dressing, where possible |
| Influenza and influenza like illnesses | Exclude until well, this includes running nose and cough. |
| Meningitis (bacterial other than meningococcal meningitis) | Exclude until well |
| Meningococcal infection | Exclude until adequate carrier eradication therapy has been completed |
| Molluscum contagiosum | Exclusion is not necessary |
| Pertussis (Whooping cough) | Exclude the child for 21 days after the onset of cough or until they have completed 5 days of a course of antibiotic treatment |
| Ringworm, scabies, pediculosis (head lice) | Exclude until the day after appropriate treatment has commenced |
| Rubella (German measles) | Exclude until fully recovered or for at least four days after the onset of rash |
| Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) | Exclude until medical certificate of recovery is produced |
| Streptococcal infection (including scarlet fever) | Exclude until the child has received antibiotic treatment for at least 24 hours and the child feels well |
Spare clothes
Just a reminder if you could please pack spare clothing in your child’s bag for any toileting accidents. We have limited supply in the sickbay due to students not having spare items in their bag.
We welcome returns of washed shorts, dresses and pants, but please do not return borrowed underwear.
Dogs on site
We have noticed lately there are a number of parents attending school grounds at pick up and drop off times with dogs on leads. Whilst we love our furry friends, it is school policy that no animals be brought on school grounds without permission or a special reason. Accidents can happen and we would hate for a pet to be inundated with attention from students and not handle the situation well. It is therefore a blanket reminder that no pets are to be brought onsite. This includes at morning school drop off and in the afternoon.
Toys at school
We are noticing a lot of children bringing toys from home to school to play with at recess and lunch. Can we please remind you all that we cannot take responsibility for items that have been brought from home like plush toys, balls and other objects. Children are coming up to the office asking for their lost items and becoming upset. Please be aware of what your child is bringing to school and if they choose to bring something from home, it must be clearly labelled and the responsibility falls onto your child.
Mobile Phone Policy
In line with the Department's policy on mobile phones, student mobile phones must not be used at MPS during school hours.
Students who choose to bring mobile phones to school must have them turned off and brought to the office for secure storage at the beginning of the day and can collect them at the end of the day.
Compass events
Please make sure your are checking Compass regularly for upcoming events for your child. Life can get pretty busy and sometimes we forget things, but unfortunately your child will either sit out or remain at school if payment/consent has not been updated.
Compass will send out multiple reminders to those who have not actioned leading up to an event.
Nut aware school
Moriac Primary School is a nut aware school. We aim to create a safe community by minimising nuts and nut products, as far as reasonable and practicable, in the school.
This will be managed by:
• Parents and caregivers being requested NOT to send food to school that contain nuts. This includes peanut paste, Nutella, peanut butter, all nuts and cooking oil containing peanut oil, as well as foods containing nuts.
• Students being encouraged NOT to share food.
• Students being encouraged to wash hands after eating.
• Parents and caregivers being requested NOT to send boxes that have previously contained nut products, e.g. cereal boxes, muesli bars with nuts, cake boxes, biscuits.
Please see our Anaphylaxis policy for further information.
Lost Property
This is a friendly reminder to please make sure ALL of your children’s uniforms and other items are clearly labelled with their names.
All uniforms that remain in lost property at the end of the term will be added to the school pile for collection at the end of each term and any item that is not clearly named eg. water bottles, lunchboxes etc will be thrown in the bin.
We understand that replacing lost items can be expensive and frustrating. Naming items makes them easy for us to return.
Attendance
If your child is going to be away sick, has an appointment or family holiday. Please make sure you add an attendance note via Compass. Otherwise you will receive a text message saying that your child has not arrived at school.
Please try and enter attendance note prior to 9:00am.
Moriac Primary School recognises that being at school on time and attending every day contributes towards a student's learning and that maximising school attendance enhances academic outcomes.
For more information regarding attendance please follow the link to the Education Department's Attendance Policy
Calls to the office/last minute changes
We understand that plans can change, and we are always happy to pass on important messages to students when needed.
We would however, like to kindly ask families to provide messages or changes to afternoon arrangements as early as possible. We have been receiving an increasing number of last-minute calls, particularly close to the end of the school day. While we will always do our best to assist, these calls can be difficult to communicate to students before the bell, and frequent interruptions can also disrupt classes and learning.
Where possible, please contact the office earlier in the day if your child’s arrangements need to change. This gives us enough time to ensure the message reaches your child safely and with minimal disruption to classroom learning.
Thank you for your understanding and for helping us keep the end of the school day running smoothly.
We appreciate your support!
School Bell Times
9:00am - Start of learning time
11:00am - 11:30am - Recess
1:30pm - 1:35pm - Lunch eating time (or before during class time as per year level)
1:35pm - 2:15pm - Lunch play
3:15pm- Bus bell and bus students
3:20pm - End of school day