Jackson School Newsletter

Health & Wellbeing News

Jackson School recently contacted the Department of Health to organise the dental van to visit the school. Unfortunately, due to overwhelming demand for the Smile Squad program, they are unable to visit Jackson School in 2025. 

 

To ensure that students are not disadvantaged, allocated times have been provided for students to attend one of Smile Squad sites to receive free dental care through the Smile Squad program at IPC Health. 

 

Smile Squad appointments will be available at all our 3 sites St. Albans, Hoppers Crossing and Wyndham Vale sites. 

  • St. Albans - 1 Andrea St, St Albans VIC 3021   ph: 1300 472 432

  • Hoppers Crossing - 117-129 Warringa Cres, Hoppers Crossing VIC 3029   

    ph: 1300 472 432

  • Wyndham Vale - 510 Ballan Road, Wyndham Vale Victoria 3024 ph: 1300 472 432

 Families can contact their preferred site directly and make an appointment for their child(ren) to be seen.

 

ALL students at the school are eligible to receive services through the Smile Squad program; the services are FREE. 

 

The Smile Squad has also advised that families can expect a Smile Squad dental pack (includes toothbrush and tooth paste) for each of our students to be delivered to the school shortly. Parents will be updated of delivery dates via the Newsletter.

 

 

 

 

Above: Students from Yr 4-6 taking part in an activity with Jarrod.

 

MORNING FITNESS SESSIONS WITH JARROD

Our Morning Fitness sessions are back up and running and student participation has been high.  These sessions are conducted by Jarrod Borg, a Personal Fitness Trainer from Spectrum Health.  Jarrod has been associated with Jackson and providing his fitness sessions for five years now.  Morning Fitness sessions are provided through funding obtained from ACHPER Victoria’s Active Schools Program.  This program is voluntary and we are currently achieving a 60% participation rate which attests to its popularity with our students.

 

HEALTH AND FITNESS COACHING SESSIONS

Currently we have coaches in attendance four afternoons a week providing coaching programs in Tennis, Basketball, Netball and Football (Soccer).  The coaches are sourced through accredited sporting associations with funding coming from the Australian Sports Commission’s Sporting Schools program.  These sessions are timetabled as part of time-tabled curriculum and are available for all students from Year 3-10.

 

GET ACTIVE VICTORIA

Finally, I have attached a page on Walking Games that you can use with your family on family walks.  This activity comes via the Get Active Victoria website.  The website is free to sign up to and provides a wealth of information and resources to help encourage families to increase movement and physical activity.

 

SCHOOL-WIDE POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT (SWPBS/PBIS) AT JACKSON

 

“At Jackson School, we support positive behaviour through teaching clear and consistent expectations in order to maximise student academic achievement to build a community of safe, respectful and responsible citizens.” 

 

What is PBIS/SWPBS? 

PBIS (Positive Behaviour Interventions and Supports) is a system of interventions, strategies, and supports that positively impact school-wide and individualised behaviour planning.  SWPBS stands for School Wide Positive Behaviour Supports and they are the same.  The key words being Positive Behaviour. 

The outcomes that we believe that a SWPBS/PBIS framework in our school will achieve are: 

  • Increased school safety 

  • Increased student achievement 

  • Decreased office referrals 

  • Decreased classroom disruptions 

  • Decreased suspensions and expulsions 

  • Increased student, teacher and parent satisfaction in school climate 

Introducing, modelling, and reinforcing positive social behaviour is an important step of a student’s educational experience.   Teaching behavioural expectations and rewarding students for following them is a much more positive approach than waiting for misbehaviour to occur before responding. 

 

Throughout the course of the year, we will be conducting information sessions to expand on this framework and how it is implemented at Jackson School.

 

What are Jack Points?

Last year, you may have heard your son or daughter talking about Jack Points that they had received during the day or the Jack Store.  You may have even seen them bring home a new toy, game or piece of sporting equipment that they purchased from the Jack Store.  I am sure that you may have even seen the Jack Store in SeeSaw posts.

Jack Points are the frequent reinforcement currency that we use at Jackson School to help reinforce our expectations and rewarding the good behaviours that we see students engaging in.  At Jackson School our school expectations are RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY and SAFETY.  This is what we expect of all students and staff.  These in turn help our students to LEARN and eventually, become INDEPENDENT.

Every time we see a student behaving in a way that meets these expectations, we award that student a Jackpoint and in some cases, multiple Jackpoints.  Most importantly, the Jackpoint is accompanied by words from the staff member giving the points.  The teacher or staff member will thank the student with words which will state what expectation the student is meeting and the behaviour that they exhibited to do so. For example if I see a student holding a door open for a staff member or a classmate, I would say something like this- “Thank you for holding the door open for your friends, this is being respectful!”  Then I will register those Jackpoints for that student with my App.  The awarding of Jackpoints on a frequent basis represents a mini PBIS lesson for our students on what good behaviours look like.

 

Who Is Mr Puzzle Head?

You may also have heard your son or daughter talk about Mr Puzzle Head (image at right).  Mr Puzzle Head is our SWPBS/PBIS mascot.  Mr Puzzle Head is a frequent guest at our weekly assemblies and at end of Term Achievement Award Assemblies. 

 

 

Using Positive Reinforcement at Home

You can use similar systems of Positive Behaviour Reinforcement at home to help your child learn and meet the expectations that you may have of them. 

Many parents – especially those with young kids – keep track of rewards with a reward chart or Star Chart like the one shown here.  It is a tool which helps parent and children track their progress to learning new behaviours and in turn receiving a reward. Reward charts can take many forms, from marble jars to sticker charts to posters stuck on the refrigerator.

 

Talk with your child about your family’s expectations and negotiate a reward for when they are repeatedly displaying the expected behaviour. When your child behaves, you award them a point. When a certain number of points are achieved, you award your child with their reward.