Principal's Report

Welcome

We would like to welcome you to the start of the 2021 school year.

We are just thrilled with how well all of the students have returned to school and the transition for all students including our Foundation students has been outstanding.

Thank you to all the dedicated staff that spent many days at school over the holidays preparing their resources and classrooms in preparation for the students. We are most fortunate to have such dedicated, professional staff who work collaboratively to ensure the best learning environment for our students.

On behalf of the staff, I would like to welcome all of our new families to Camelot Rise Primary School and we trust that you will enjoy working with us to provide your child with the best possible education.

Class structure for 2021

Foundation L: Miss Hayley Lonsdale
Foundation J: Miss Ashleigh Jacobs
1S: Ms Natalie Slobodzian
1/2M: Mrs Danielle Macleod
2CM: Miss Amanda Curtain (Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday) & Mrs Sarah Martin (Thursday & Friday)
3BM: Mrs Linda Bett (Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday) & Mrs Adrienne Meer (Thursday & Friday)
3H: Ms Deb Hong
4J: Mr Simon Judkins
4WT: Ms IIana Tusia (Monday & Tuesday) & Mrs Sarah Woods (Wednesday – Friday)
5Y: Mr Chris Young
5HA: Mrs Stephanie Johnson (Tuesday – Friday) & Miss Tennille Anderson (Monday)
6Y: Mrs Wendy Yoong
6N: Mrs Sharyn Newstead

Specialist Programs for 2021

Physical Education: Mr Cameron Stillman
Visual Arts: Mrs Mary Katsigiannis
Performing Arts: Mrs Mary Katsigiannis (Year 3 – 6 classes) &
Ms Rosemary Thom (Foundation – Year 2 classes)
French: Ms Rosemary Thom
EAL: Mrs Leilani Burgess
Tutor: Mrs Marshia Nash
Learning Support Teacher Mrs Michelle Cohen-Beavis

Principal: Mr Matthew Coney

Assistant Principal: Mr Ben Heys (Term One)

Business Manager: Mrs Christine Chara

Student Administration: Mrs Kerryn Wardle & Mrs Tracy Davidson

Education Support Staff (Integration Aides):

Mrs Jo Hewett
Mr Andy Pullar
Mrs Fiona Schwass
Mrs Deb Oakey
Mrs Chrissie Sandford Ricci

Productive Partnerships

Camelot Rise Primary School staff are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure all children can achieve their highest potential. We recognise that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school, knowing that a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success. We want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities, and we ask that you guide and support your child’s learning by ensuring:

Attendance at school daily and arrival on time, ready for the day’s learning experience
Supporting the school values
Daily reading to develop a love for literature and to improve critical language skills
Sharing school experiences with you so that you are aware of your child’s school life

Working and ‘learning together’ we can achieve great results.

Curriculum Days

Wednesday, 24th February will be a Curriculum Day (Pupil free day) at Camelot Rise Primary School. As part of our ongoing professional learning our teaching staff will be working with Mardi Gorman (Educational Consultant) with a focus on developing teacher capacity in the area of Reading. During the day our staff will further develop their skills and knowledge in this area.

Upcoming dates for Curriculum Days

Wednesday, 24th February
Thursday, 27th May
Friday, 20th August

Helping our students develop their independence

Last year when the students returned to school after ‘Flexible and Remote Learning’ and when parents were not allowed onsite we noticed how independent all of the students were in relation to walking into the school grounds, entering their classrooms, unpacking their bags and preparing for their learning to commence at 9.00am. Our teachers also commented that the students enjoyed this new found independence.

At the beginning of the day we encourage parents to please say goodbye to your children outside in the playground and do not enter the school buildings /classrooms with them. The students need space to organise their own bags and belongings, to develop independence.

This does not apply to our 2021 Foundation students and their families who will require additional support for the first few days or until the time your child feels confident entering the classroom by themselves.

Information Nights

Our Parent Information Nights are scheduled for the following days:

Monday, 8th February

Year 5 /6 at 6.30pm – 7.30pm (Unit B – Year Six classroom)
Foundation at 7.30pm – 8.30pm (Unit D – Foundation classroom)

Wednesday, 10th February

Year 1 /2 at 6.30pm – 7.30pm (Unit B – Year Six classroom)
Year 3 /4 at 7.30pm – 8.30pm (Unit B – Year Six classroom)

All parents that attend these sessions will be asked to sign in using the QR Codes that will be available at the entrance of the buildings where these session will be held.

Due to density limits the Year 1 /2 and Year 3 /4 Information Night sessions will also be held in Unit B (Year 6 Classrooms).

Seats will be arranged to ensure social distancing.

Parent Teacher Interviews

‘Getting to know you interviews” will be held on Thursday, 18th February in your child’s classroom. Information about how to make a booking will be sent via Compass. You will be selecting a time via our Compass platform.

Due to the success of our WebEx interviews last year we have the option of either choosing to attend the interview in person or ‘online’ via WebEx. Information about this will be sent to parents next week in relation to these interviews

The purpose of these interviews is twofold. Parents and guardians are encouraged to attend to:

Meet their child’s teacher to begin an effective home/school partnership.
Provide information to teachers regarding their child’s strengths, talents, issues or concerns.

Information shared by parents to teachers will assist us to plan for and work as effectively as possible with you and your child throughout the year.

‘We are Learning’ Boards

Each term our teachers carefully plan what the students will be learning in all curriculum areas for the upcoming term. This is based on the Victorian Curriculum. The Victorian Curriculum F–10 sets out what every student should learn during their first eleven years of schooling. The curriculum is the common set of knowledge and skills required by students for life-long learning, social development and active and informed citizenship.

The Victorian Curriculum F–10 incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards.

Our staff carefully plan the content of what is taught based on the learning needs of the students, prior knowledge and student interests. These planning documents our teachers produce will now form part of our ‘We are Learning’ Board that is displayed in the foyer of our school.

We invite parents to look at our ‘We are Learning’ board that clearly articulates exactly what is being taught in all class and specialist classes this term. The class and specialist teachers have prepared this information. As a parent it is invaluable to know what is taught at school so you can assist and support your child / children at home. This information will be updated each term. Thanks to all of the teachers for the amazing amount of work, they have put into this display!

We encourage all parents to look at this board and see what exciting learning adventures your child has to look forward to this term.

All of these ‘We are Learning documents’ will be sent out to all families via Compass by the end of Week Two each term.

We encourage all parents to look at this board and see what exciting learning adventures your child has to look forward to this term.

All of these ‘We are Learning documents’ will be sent out to all families via Compass by the end of Week Two each term.

Welcome to our new Foundation (Prep) students

We are thrilled with the way our 2021 Foundation (Prep) students have settled into schooling life. It was a pleasure to see so many smiling faces. I would like to thank Miss Lonsdale & Miss Jacobs who have created wonderfully attractive classrooms for these students and the look of excitement on the faces was priceless.

Accident insurance

The Department of Education and Training (DET) does not provide personal accident insurance for students. Parents are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs. Ambulance cover could be one consideration as the school will not hesitate to call an ambulance if we are concerned for a child’s wellbeing.

The Department of Education and Training (DET) states that reasonable low cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector. For those parents who seek personal cover, details of an insurer who offers individual accident insurance for $29 for the year is: EBM INSURANCE BROKERS and the link is https://www.ebminsurance.com.au/personal-cover/student-cover.php

Personal goods brought to school at owner’s risk

The Department of Education and Training (DET) does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools. Principals are requested to remind students and parents/guardians of this at the beginning of each academic year and to discourage parents/students from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school. Please, try and avoid bringing these items as it can be most upsetting for all concerned when items do go missing.

Mobile phones

Readers of the newsletter last year would be aware of the introduction of the state-wide policy on Mobile Phones in Victorian Government Schools. All students are required to turn off and hand in mobile phones to prevent usage during school hours.

We have purchased electronic safes to secure the phones in for each classroom in grade 5/6 area. Phones will be placed in the safe at the start of the day and handed back at the end of the day.

Last year our School Council approved our new Mobile Phone policy to ensure it is aligned to DET directives. A copy of this policy is available on our website.

To date this new process has been very successful. We thank you for your support in this area.

Student Leadership badge presentations

Our 2021 Student leadership Badge presentation for our Year Six Student Leaders will be held on Friday, 12th February at 2.45pm. Mr Neil Angus (State Member for Forest Hill) will be attending to present the badges. We thank him for his support.

In planning for this special assembly we have to ensure we comply with density limits in our school hall. To enable us to have parents attending this significant event we will have the Year Five and Six students in the hall ‘attending’ in person. The Foundation to Year Four students will be in their classrooms watching the assembly via WebEx. This plan will ensure that the parents of the Year Six students that are receiving a badge will be able to witness this assembly.

We thank our entire school community for working together in such a cooperative way to ensure that we can continue to hold significant events with parents attending whilst complying with all COVID-19 density limits.

Mr Angus will be presenting badges to the following students:

School Captains
Vice Captains
Sport Captains
Visual Arts Captains
Performing Arts Captains
French Captains
Environment Captains
Resource Captains
Wellbeing Captains
House Captains (Avalon, Galahad, King Arthur & Chivalry)

2021 Parent Payments Reminder

Parent payments are an essential source of funds for a school to operate effectively. Without student fees schools would not be able to provide the many programs and resources we provide for the students at Camelot Rise Primary School. We would like to thank the parents that have already made these payments.

Working with Children Checks (WWC)

We encourage and value parental and community support at Camelot Rise Primary School. There are many ways that parents, grandparents and friends can assist at our school. We encourage all parents to obtain a Working with Children’s Check that will allow you to be very involved in your child’s education. These checks are free for volunteers. Once you have your WWC please come to the office so we can photocopy this and we will add your name to our list of parents who have a current WWC check.

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 remind yourself of the school’s collection statement, found on our website https://www.camelotrise.vic.edu.au/policies-and-plans

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. This information is also available in nine community languages:

Amharic
Arabic
Dari
Mandarin
Somali
Sudanese
Turkish
Urdu
Vietnamese.

2021 ‘Teacher Professional Practice Days’

Message form the Department of Education (DET)

In the Education State, we achieve excellence by consistently focusing on improving the achievements of learners across Victoria, whether it is through improving the quality of educational services or changing the way we teach.

The most important thing we can do to improve student outcomes is to develop and improve the skills of our teachers.

The Victorian Government will continue to provide opportunities to develop professional, passionate teachers and principals and equip them with the right knowledge and skills for a modern classroom.

To ensure we support the learning and development of not only our students, but our teachers too; we are committed to providing professional development opportunities for our teaching workforce.

What is Professional Practise days?

As part of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement 2017, teachers will receive four days per year when they are out of the classroom to focus on the improved delivery of high quality teaching and learning.

What does this mean for your child?

Your child’s teacher will spend four days per year further developing their skills in areas that are aligned to the school priorities. Your child will directly benefit from these improvements in their daily learning.

On these days, an alternate teacher will be provided with the learning plan for the day and be well equipped to assist your child with their learning needs.

If you would like more information on the professional practice days and when they are planned, please contact the Department of Education.

Literacy Parental Engagement and Activities

We have listed below a useful Department of Education website that provides parents with many activities that parents and children can participate in to help inspire and boost their Literacy & Numeracy skills.

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/LiteracyandNumeracyTipstoHelpYourChild_Final.pdf

Home-school communication

Both my door and Acting Assistant Principal, Ben Hey’s door is always open should any parent need to chat. Our number one priority is the engagement, wellbeing and care of all students at Camelot Rise Primary School and we are always happy to hear feedback on the improvements we are making and what we can do to better assist our students. Ben and I are always available to speak to parents in relation to any feedback you can provide us that will ultimately benefit the students at Camelot Rise Primary School. Please feel free to drop in at any time or contact us to arrange a suitable meeting time.

Please come and see us for a chat!

Matthew Coney

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