Welcome to a New School Year!

A warm welcome back to all of our returning students and families, and a huge welcome to the Brookside community to all of our new students and families!

It has been a fantastic start to the school year, and it has been wonderful to see our students settle into another year of learning. During the first two weeks of school our staff and students worked through our ‘Start Up’ program, during which students participated in wellbeing and ‘getting to know you’ activities. Staff also focused on school and classroom expectations throughout this time.

Students and staff are filled with excitement about the year ahead, and we look forward to working with everyone in what we hope we are sure will be an amazing 2025 school year!

Welcome to our New and Returning (from leave) Staff

Ashley Desimone – French

Ashlynne Sorensen – English (7-9)

Christine Mitreski – Year 2

Emma McInerney – Learning Specialist (P-2) & Teaching Year 2

Gemma Saunders – Year 6

Lewis Harvey – Maths (7-9)

Maninder Kaur – Science (Year 8)

Payal Ghosh – Maths/Science (7-9)

Vanessa Taylor – Year 5

First Day of Prep!

Our Prep students were very excited to begin their education and get into the classroom for their first official day on Wednesday 5th February. There were lots of smiles and not too many tears from students… or their families!

Thank you to Sarah Jarmen and Sonia Martinovic for organising refreshments for our Prep parents as they gathered to enjoy this milestone in their child’s education journey.

P-6 Monday Morning Assemblies

Our Monday morning assemblies are back! It was very exciting to see all of our students and many parents in attendance during our first two assemblies for the year. Our Monday morning assemblies are a great way to keep up to date with what is happening at the school, and is also a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the successes of our students each week. We encourage all P-6 parents to attend whenever you can!

2025 Booklist Ordering

For families who may have missed the online ordering for the 2025 Booklist at the end of last year, you are still able to purchase them through the supplier, Paperchase. The online portal will only be open for another week for families to place an order/s. After Monday 17 February, you will need to contact Paperchase directly.

All the Booklists across Prep-Year 9 are available on our Brookside College website. You will find them listed under the following link: https://brooksidecollege.vic.edu.au/families-community/#Booklists. Alternatively, you may pick up a paper copy from the Office.

New Canteen 2025

Brookside P-9 College have a new company managing the school canteen this year 2025. All students can visit the canteen at any time during scheduled school breaks to purchase their food, and may also place lunch orders in advance.

Lunch Orders

Prep to Year 6:

Families can order online via Flexischools, or can place money in a paper bag with the student’s Name & Homeroom written clearly. These bags may be placed in their class lunch order basket during their Homegroup session in the morning.

Year 7 to Year 9

Families can order online via Flexischools only. Students may attend the canteen during lunch and use the express line to collect their lunch orders.

Families can download the Flexischools app and register their child(ren) using the following link:

www.flexischools.com.au. Families experiencing any issues with the app will have to ring Flexischools directly.

Please Note: If your child has food allergies or dietary requirements please note this in red on the child's lunch bag or when placing the order.

Notice of Election/Call for Nominations for School Council

A reminder that we currently have 5 available positions in our parent/carer member category on School Council, and 1 position in our student member category. These positions are 2 years in length and will encompass both the 2025 and 2026 school years.

This is a fantastic opportunity to become a member of School Council, which has the ability to set the key directions of a school within state-wide guidelines and directly influence the quality of education that the school provides.

Nomination forms may be downloaded from the post sent out on Compass, or obtained from the College Reception from Monday 10th February and must be lodged by 4pm Monday 17th February. The timeline for the nomination and election process can be found on Compass and is also on display at the College. All completed nomination forms are to be delivered or sent to Karen Fernandez (Business Manager) via the College Reception or College email address: brookside.p9@education.vic.gov.au

Student Leadership – House Captain Elections

At Brookside P-9 College, leadership is considered to be a vital component for student learning. As such, leadership is not a responsibility confined to the ‘badge wearers’ and is shared by all students and staff.

To support this vision, students in Years 3 to 9 have the opportunity to apply for a range of leadership opportunities as part of the Whole School Student Leadership Program. This program enables students to see how they can use their skills to help others and allows them to have a strong voice within our community.

House Captains & Vice Captains

One House Captain for each house is elected in Years 7-9 and one House Vice Captain in Years 3-6. House Captains have the opportunity to develop a calendar and lead activities/projects within the school that build and promote a sense of belonging.

These Student Leaders work hard to promote their house and encourage students in their house to participate in activities and projects running throughout the school.

Key Dates:

Week 2 - Wednesday 5th February - Application forms handed out.

Week 3 - Monday 10th February - Applications close.

Week 3 - Friday 14th February - House speeches.

We wishing all students who apply for a House Captain/Vice Captain position the very best of luck with the process.

NAPLAN 2025

Students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 will be participating in NAPLAN in 2025.

The NAPLAN testing period is scheduled to take place early in the year to give teachers and parents important information about a student's skills and capability sooner, so that more targeted support can be delivered to improve literacy and numeracy skills throughout the year. It will be held during Term 1 from Wednesday 12th March to Friday 21st March and will encompass the areas of Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language and Numeracy.

A timetable will be communicated to families in the coming weeks, detailing when students at Brookside College will be participating in the tests. We ask parents of students in Years 3, 5, 7 & 9 to record these dates in home diaries/calendars.

A brochure detailing important NAPLAN information for parents will be posted for parents/carers on Compass. Please take the time to read the information provided in the brochure, and please contact your child’s teacher or Brooke Gillis (Assistant Principal) if you have any questions.

Uniform

Please note that all students at Brookside College are expected to wear the correct school uniform, including wearing a visible school logo and black shoes. For further information about our school uniform, please view the following link on our website:

https://brooksidecollege.vic.edu.au/families-community/#uniform

Students in Years Prep-6 MUST also wear a hat when playing outside during Term 1. Students who do not wear a hat will not be able to play outdoors during the summer months.

Photography, Filming and Recording of Students Policy & Consent Forms

In 2024, Brookside College launched a new Photography, Filming and Recording of Students policy. Part of this new policy included an update which outlined that we now only collect this written consent from parents/carers once whilst attending Brookside, rather than annually (you may remember completing a pink form towards the end of 2024).

Seeking Consent from Parents/Guardians

Whilst we received a large number of responses from families in our initial distribution of this form, there are still families who have yet to sign this consent form. If you are one of these families, please keep an eye out for a pink form coming home in the next few weeks and return it to the college as soon as possible.

Changing Prior Consent

As family circumstances can change year on year, families who have previously given consent on the form can choose to change the options they have previously given. Please see the attached “Brookside College Photographing, Filming and Recording Students Policy 2024 – 2028” form to re-read what the policy includes, and if you would like to change the previously given consent, please email the college at brookside.p9@education.vic.gov.au with your request.

Acceptable Use of Technology and Seesaw Consent – Opting Out

All parents and carers were previously asked to sign consent forms for the “Acceptable Use of Technology” and for our Seesaw Ongoing Reporting program. As these tools have become key aspects of our curriculum, assessment and reporting, we have changed our collection of these consent forms to opt-out. This year all students will automatically be marked as consent accepted for these two policies; however, we want to offer parents the option to opt out if they do not wish for their child to participate. Attached are the two policies for you to read. If you would like to opt-out your child from consent in either of these two areas, please contact your child's homegroup teacher in writing informing them of your choice.

Positive School Attendance

At Brookside P-9 College, we are committed to providing your child with a high-quality education. Regular school attendance is vital and missing school days can have a big impact on a child’s future - missing one day per fortnight is equal to missing four full weeks by the end of the year… and by Year 10 these students will have missed more than a year of school!

There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind, which can affect their educational outcomes.

As a College we closely monitor each individual students’ attendance and have a clear process in place to support with maintaining expected attendance rates.

If your child is absent from school please phone the College attendance line. Alternatively, you are able to log your child’s absence and the reason directly on Compass, as this will help to keep teachers informed. If you know your child will be absent in advance (holidays or medical appointments) please enter the dates on Compass prior to the date of absence.

Parents of students with unexplained absences will receive a follow up phone call or SMS to request a reason for the absence.

If for any reason your child must miss school, there are things we can do together to ensure they don’t fall behind:

speak with your classroom teacher and find out what work your child needs to do to keep up.
develop an absence learning plan with your teacher and ensure your child completes the plan.

Annual Privacy Reminder

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.

Please take time to read our school’s collection notice, found on our website. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in ten community languages:

* Amharic

* Arabic

* Dari

* Gujarati

* Mandarin

* Somali

* Sudanese

* Turkish

* Urdu

* Vietnamese

Child safety and wellbeing at Brookside College: information for families and the school community

The Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safety across organisations, including schools. The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing.

Brookside College has reviewed and updated our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. These are available to view on the school’s website www.brooksidecollege.vic.edu.au

We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact our college Principal Violeta Dellidis.

Road Safety Around The College

As our student body continues to grow, we recognise that parking during drop-off and pick-up times can be challenging. However, ensuring the safety of our students is our top priority, and we need everyone’s cooperation to maintain a secure environment.

We kindly ask that all parents and carers exercise caution while driving around the school. Please adhere to the following guidelines:

Drive Slowly: Maintain a safe speed in all school zones and parking areas.
No Stopping in 'No Standing' Areas: This includes not stopping in the middle of roundabouts.
Letting students exit vehicles in the middle of a roundabout can put both the students and other drivers at risk. Stopping in the middle of a roundabout interrupts the flow of traffic, creates sudden obstacles and increases the chances of collisions. Additionally, when students exit a vehicle in the center of a roundabout on the road side (as opposed to the curb side) they are exposed to moving traffic, putting them in immediate danger.
Use Car Parks: Please pull into the car parks when dropping off or picking up your child. This helps maintain traffic flow and reduces the risk of accidents.

We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in prioritising the safety of our school community. Together, we can create a safer environment for everyone.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend and look forward to working in partnership with our parents and community through this year!

The Executive Team

ENVIRO ARMY with Mylinh Crossman and Co.