A message from Tami -Jo

We are well and truly into Term 2. 

This is our reporting term and semester reports will be going home at the end of the term. Teachers are working hard to collect evidence to support their knowledge of your child’s progress throughout the semester. We know that children develop at different rates and encourage you to speak to the teacher if you have any concerns around your child’s progress. 

Mobile Phones at School – Working Together for Student Success

We are committed to creating a safe and focused learning environment for all students. In line with the statewide policy for all government schools, mobile phones are not to be used during school hours or on school grounds. This policy helps ensure that students remain engaged in their learning and are free from unnecessary distractions and social pressures.

We truly appreciate your support in helping us implement this policy effectively. When everyone works together—students, families, and staff—we create a positive, respectful school culture that benefits all.

Why this matters:

• Ensures student safety and wellbeing
• Allows staff to spend more time teaching and less time managing phone-related issues
• Supports students in staying present and engaged in their learning

We’ve noticed a few challenges where phones are being used inappropriately, including:

• Messaging friends and family during class time
• Accessing and posting on social media during the day
• Bringing phones into classrooms despite rules
• Using phones to avoid participation or escalate social issues

How you can help at home:

• Talk with your child about whether they really need a phone at school. If you drop off and pick up your child, they do not need one during the day.
• Encourage your child to follow school processes for communication. If they need to contact you, they can speak with their teacher or go through the front office, and we will get in touch if needed. If you communicate with your child through their phone, then you are encouraging them to disregard the policy.
• Support the school’s mobile phone policy by reinforcing the rules at home and backing up any actions the school may take.
• Have a conversation about the responsibilities that come with owning a phone. Remind them that it’s a privilege, not a right, and that it comes with clear boundaries—especially during school hours.
• Help your child organise a safe place to store their phone during the day, such as a sturdy container in their bag.
• Make sure they have a lock for their locker so they can securely store their phone. If they don’t have a lock, they should leave their phone at home.

We value your partnership in helping students develop positive habits and strong learning behaviours. Your support makes a real difference, and we thank you for being a part of this shared effort.

Maintaining Clean and Safe Toilets at School

We understand the importance of clean and hygienic toilet facilities for our students, and we want to share some of the steps we’ve been taking to improve this area across the school.

As part of our ongoing commitment, we fund an additional cleaner during the school day specifically to maintain the toilets between breaks. While this helps manage daily cleanliness, we also recognise the need to support students in using these shared spaces respectfully and responsibly.

To help with this, we’ve developed age-appropriate lessons and videos aimed at educating students about proper toilet use and hygiene. While these conversations can feel a little outside the comfort zone for classroom teachers, we’re approaching the topic with care and sensitivity. We ask that families reinforce these expectations at home, as your support makes a big difference. Explicit conversations around how the children can help ensure that our toilets are safe and hygienic spaces will support us as well. 

We’ve also made changes to reduce unsupervised toilet visits, as we’ve found that some students may misuse the facilities when left alone for extended periods. This change is helping us maintain cleaner and more respectful spaces for all students. Please help us by encouraging your child to use the bathroom during break times. We do not want children wandering during class time and missing out on valuable learning time.

In addition, we are working closely with the Department of Education and Training (DET) regarding the standard of cleaning we receive. If you have concerns or feedback in this area, please feel free to share them with us. We will ensure your comments are passed on through the appropriate channels.

We know there is still work to be done, but please know that we are addressing these issues from multiple angles and remain committed to ongoing improvement.

New Playground

Our new playground opened at the end of last week and has been extremely popular. It finishes off the area at the end of the DCC Tiny Town. It has been wonderful to see the students so excited. Rolling down the little hills has been a hit so has sitting on the throne!

Giraffe Shed

We have some very exciting news. We have had our first conversation with the Victorian Schools Building Authority to start the process to build our giraffe shed over the multi-courts. This will be a lengthy process and due ot the cost will be managed by the VSBA. The cost will be just short of $1 million. This has been a focus of our fundraising events for the past few years and has been supplemented heavily through funds managed carefully by the school. This will mean we have a covered area for PE classes, shade for our students and a place for cohort and sub-school assemblies. 

We will keep you updated. 

There a number of events still to come this term. 

-Year 7 Camp is next week- Monday 19th May - Wednesday 21st May

-Attitudes to School Survey begins next week for our Year 4-9 students and will be administered over a number of weeks

-School Photos are the 29th and 30th May

-Secondary exams starting the week of June 2nd

-Year 7 vaccinations on Monday June17th

Have a great weekend everyone.