Student Management Teams 2019

Welcome to 2019!

As a College we place a high importance on communication between home and school. To facilitate this process, please refer to the student management contact list below.

Aside from subject specific matters, where communication with the class teacher is most appropriate, the first contact point for most student related matters should be directed to the relevant sub school. Please see the attached list of contact names and emails for each sub school.

School Photos

College photos will be taking place on Friday February 15. Closer to the date, students and class teachers will be provided with a time table indicating their photo time. Due to the nature of the day the timing of photos will need to be flexible. Announcements in relation to any changes on the day will be communicated to students as required.

All students are expected to wear correct SUMMER school uniform and ensure that items such as plain white socks, and black leather lace up school shoes are worn. We will aim to have minimal disruption to regular classes on the day.

Sibling portraits will be taken during lunch time. Students will need to go to C1 at lunchtime on photo day to have their sibling portraits taken.

Please refer to the attached document outlining the process to follow if you would like sibling photographs and to order photo packs.

In addition, further to my Compass post earlier this week , this year all student ID cards will include the PTV (Public Transport Victoria) logo which will enable students to use their college ID cards as concession cards on public transport. This will now negate the need for students to arrange a separate student ID concession card to travel on public transport.

Uniform and Punctuality

It has been a pleasing start to the year in relation to the correct wearing of the college uniform.

We are proud of our College and we have high expectations across many areas including, teaching and learning, behavior, student achievement, and the college uniform is no exception.

At the end of 2017, School Council ratified the College Uniform Policy.

Please take the time to familiarise yourself with this document as we wish to see all our students wearing complete and correct college uniform every day. Staged responses as per the uniform policy will be followed for students who are out of uniform. In the interim, we would like all students to travel to and from school in their college uniform regardless of the time they have a PE class.

As a reminder to members of our college community, all students are required to be at school and ready for the commencement of Home group each day. Home group starts at 8.50 each morning and this is an important session for the students that signals the start of the school day. Students need to ensure that they arrive to school in plenty of time prior to the start of home group to unsure that they can prepare themselves for period one which commences immediately after home group. While students may occasionally experience glitches to their routine which impacts on their ability to arrive to school on time, such as heavy traffic, sleeping in etc, we generally expect, that each and every student is arriving on time every day. Continued late arrival will be followed up by a member of the Student Management Team.

School Grounds Traffic Management

To ensure student safety, it is timely to remind all parents/guardians that vehicle drop off and pick up is to take place from outside the school grounds. Unauthorised vehicles are not to enter the grounds from Raphael Drive (front of college) or Phoenix drive (back of college). Only approved vehicles are permitted in the car parks/grounds. WHSC does have a traffic management plan, which provides for the safety of all students. Thank you for your support in this matter.

Supporting Our Children with Responsible Use of Social Media

As a reminder at the start of the school year, given the high volume of students who utilise the plethora of social media platforms, it is timely to remind parents/guardians that if their child is experiencing any issues via these platforms, parents and students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the following websites:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/

https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/

These sites contain a range of resources for both parents and students, along with security and reporting information.

Given the 24/7 access students have to social media platforms, as educators and parents, we need to make every effort to ensure our children are using these platforms in a responsible and respectful manner.

Please report any concerns regarding inappropriate social media usage to the college so that we can work with families in this space as appropriate.

Student accident insurance, ambulance cover arrangements and private property brought to school

Parents are reminded that the Department does not provide personal accident insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents and guardians of students, who do not have student accident insurance/ambulance cover, are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs.

Secondary Schools Vaccinations in 2019

The Secondary School Vaccine Program offers free vaccines to Year 7 and 10 students. These vaccines provide protection against:

· Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) – one dose for year 7 students

· Human Papillomavirus (HPV) – two doses for year 7 students

· Meningococcal A,C,W,Y – one dose for year 10 students

Parents/guardians of year 7 and 10 students should look out for the vaccine consent card booklet coming home from school with your child. You need to read the information, complete and return the card regardless of whether your child is being vaccinated at school.

The Monash Council immunisation service may contact you about the Secondary School Vaccine Program. Schools are authorised to provide basic parent/guardian contact details to local councils for this purpose. Contact the school by 28 February 2019 if you do not want your contact details given to the Monash Council immunisation service.

To learn more about the Secondary School Vaccine Program, the vaccines, the diseases they protect against, or how you can prepare your child for vaccination, go to betterhealth.vic.gov.au

Additionally, the Commonwealth government is funding vaccinations for all children under 20 years of age who missed any scheduled vaccines, including a catch up program for Meningococcal ACWY vaccine for adolescents aged 15-19 years of age who have not already received the vaccine in school. If students have missed vaccines, either in childhood or adolescence, and require catch-up vaccines, they should speak with their immunisation provider. (ie. local council or GP).

Computer Use at WHSC

There is some misinformation in the College Community that the Wheelers Hill Secondary College's Information Technology environment supports the use of Apple Computers (including Macbooks).

This is not the case.

All systems within the College, including access to printers and the internet, are based on a Microsoft platform. This is incompatible with any operating system other than Microsoft computers operating on the Windows 10 system.

We advise all parents and students to contact the College before purchasing computing hardware unless purchases are made through the Learning with Technologies (LWT) portal.

Whole College Assembly

On Thursday February 14th we will be holding our first whole college assembly in our brand new gymnasium. We will follow an assembly timetable on this day.

This assembly will officially welcome our school community for 2019 and we will be inducting our 2019 school leaders.

Please refer to the attached document detailing our 2019 student leaders.

Library Opening Times

The Library opening times for Term One will be:

8.00 am to 4:00 pm (Mon- Thurs)

8.00 am to 3.45 pm (Mon - Thurs)

Lunch times (Mon to Fri)

The library also has a film running during Friday lunchtimes.

Mrs Judy Anderson & Mr Andrew Dixon

Assistant Principals

What's Coming Up Next

February

8th

13th

15th

18th

19th

20th

21st