Principal's Message

The Issue Highlights

• Thank you to all our students for their volunteering efforts and for displaying our school values during Russ Jackson and Values Week.
• On the 28th October, a video premiere of “Marcella’s Interview” was held at The Bowery Theatre in St Albans to showcase what our students have developed about employing young people with disabilities. Workplaces are for everyone.
• For 2023, Jackson School Council has recommended that families contribute a voluntary payment of $60 as a partial contribution towards curriculum consumables, online subscriptions and printed learning materials.
• We apologise that the Jackson Hoodie orders have been delayed with the manufacturer due to a shortage of fabric. These should be ready within the next three weeks. 
• The State election will be held on Saturday 26 November 2022. The Jackson School Hall will be a voting centre in the upcoming state election and will be open from 8am until 6pm on election day. 
• Next Wednesday Jackson School will hold our Art & Design Show from 5:30-7pm in the school hall. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided. 
• Thank you to the parents/carers who have provided feedback to us about the arrangements in place to drop-off and pick-up your child from school. As a school we have reviewed the feedback received to support us in refining our processes.
• Today, on Remembrance Day, we honour the memory of women and men who have served and who have died in all wars and peacekeeping operations. Our students paused to reflect in a minute's silence at 11am. 
• Students of the Week from our PBIS rewards system.
• Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary and Secondary.
• Allied Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child.
• Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare.
• School Dates -For the most up-to-date calendar dates, always refer to the Xuno Calendar in your Parent Portal.

Dear Families,

Values Week / Russ Jackson Day

Last Friday 5th October was Russ Jackson Day and our students took part in volunteering activities around the school in memory of Russ Jackson. In 1989, our school was renamed Jackson School to honour the work done by Russ Jackson. Russel was a volunteer at Jackson for over 20 years; he was gardener/handyman, caretaker and School Council President. One of his main initiatives was setting up the gardening program. Because of this, last week we celebrate "Values Week" to highlight what is means to be a Jackson Learner in Russ' name.

For Russ Jackson Day 56D helped out in the library checking that levelled readers were in the correct boxes and all facing the right way. They also sharpened all the pencils for the Year 1/2 students. 78B volunteered their time in the office sorting through lost property and storing things in the archive room. The Year 9/10s volunteered their time making staff free coffees and hot chocolates in the Hungry Jackson Cafe. Thank you to all our students for their volunteering efforts and for displaying our school values!

Premiere of "Marcella's Interview"

Some of our Year 11/12 VCAL students take part in a film making program at Future Connect with students from Keilor Downs College, Lakeview Senior College and Melton Specialist School. 

Future Connect is a not-for-profit organisation that creates opportunities that lead to improving education, training and employment pathways for young people in Brimbank and Melton.

On the 28th October, a video premiere of “Marcella’s Interview” was held at The Bowery Theatre in St Albans to showcase what our students have developed about employing young people with disabilities. Workplaces are for everyone. We're very proud of what you have produced - you are stars!

Parent Payments (Voluntary Financial Contributions)

Over the pandemic, Jackson School Council made the decision not to ask families for voluntary contributions in 2021 and 2022 due to the hardship many of our families faced during this period.

Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard curriculum requirements and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary. Nevertheless, the ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you for all your support, whether that is through fundraising or volunteering your time (Parents, Carers and Friends Association). This has made a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

Jackson School is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth) with the result that any donations made by you will be tax deductible. To be tax deductible, your donation needs to be made voluntarily. We have suggested an amount to be contributed under “Curriculum Contributions” and “Other Contributions” below, but please feel free to contribute an alternative amount. Amounts paid under “Extra-Curricular Items and Activities” are not donations and are not tax deductible.

For 2023, Jackson School Council has recommended that families contribute a voluntary payment of $60 as a partial contribution towards curriculum consumables, online subscriptions and printed learning materials. 

For further information on the Department’s Parent Payments Policy please see a letter and overview attached below.

Hoodie Orders

We apologise that the Jackson Hoodie orders have been delayed with the manufacturer due to a shortage of fabric. 

The School Leaver Hoodies will be ready next week for our Year 11 and 12 students to keep as a memento of their time at Jackson School. Year 11 students next year will have an opportunity to purchase a School Leaver Hoodie at the start of 2023 so they can benefit from wearing it all the way through the year.

Unfortunately, the Secondary Hoodies are still on backorder. School Council have agreed to include these hoodies as a permanent item on our school uniform list for purchase throughout the year. These should be ready within the next three weeks. Apologies again for this delay. 

To order school uniform you can either:

• Click Here to Order online with A Plus Schoolwear
• Visit AGS Prints at: 133 Bakers Road, Coburg North
• Visit our general office with correct money and we will forward the order to AGS prints on your behalf.

All uniform is delivered weekly to Jackson School and will be sent home with your child.

During Terms 1 & 4 students are required to wear a broad brimmed hat as per our SunSmart policy.

State Schools' Relief is a non-for-profit organisation which helps families with the cost of new school uniforms and shoes who are facing hardship. Fort more information, please click here: https://stateschoolsrelief.org.au/  

Jackson Art & Design Show

Next Wednesday Jackson School will hold our Art & Design Show from 5:30-7pm in the school hall. Families can also view students work in the day on Thursday during school hours. Please sign in at the office. During the pandemic we had to share our last Art & Design Showcase online, so we are very excited and looking forward to celebrating our student's successes and achievements. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided. All members of our community are welcome to attend. Thank you Ane O'Day for coordinating this amazing event! 

COVID-19 Pandemic Orders

The media have been reporting an increasing amount of COVID-19 across our communities. Our school will continue to adhere to the Department of Health’s recommendations to ensure that our school remains a safe environment for our staff and students.

The Department of Health strongly recommends that students and school staff:

• who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days and do not attend school after 5 days if they are still symptomatic
• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive not attend school. This does not include students with pre-existing conditions such as hay fever.

Parents and carers are recommended to continue to report their child having COVID-19 to both the school and the Department of Health. 

We ask parents and carers to continue to remain vigilant in preventing COVID-19 transmission. Any student who is unwell should continue to remain at home. This is about keeping students healthy and well in our school and reducing the spread of both COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.

Free rapid antigen tests are available at the school for those who need them.

Parents and carers will be contacted if their child shows symptoms while at school.

Students who wish to wear a mask should continue to do so.

Parent Drop-Off and Pick-up

Thank you to the parents/carers who have provided feedback to us about the arrangements in place to drop-off and pick-up your child from school. As a school we have reviewed the feedback received to support us in refining our processes. From the small sample of parents/carers who responded to the survey, families generally felt positive about the processes in place for dropping off your child to school. Staff have been allocated in the morning to keep traffic moving. The vehicle entry gates are opened automatically from 8:40am. Parents/Carers are responsible for the supervision of their children until 8:45am. We are unable to open the school grounds before 8:45am due to staffing and supervision requirements. As per DET policy, schools are required to supervise students on school grounds 10 minutes before the start of the school day (8:50-9:00am) and 10 mins after school (2:50-3:00pm). When our capital works program commences at the end of November, all students will enter the school through the gate to the left hand-side of the office. 4 car parks near the vehicle exit gates will be out of action during our construction works due to site access. 

The feedback received from families about the arrangements in place for collecting your child at the end of the day were mixed. We have allocated staff members to support with the traffic flow to ensure we keep vehicles moving through the car park. We ask all family members entering the car park at this time to keep moving through the drop off and collection zone and not to park in the centre thoroughfare or block the entry gate.  Many families park in the neighboring streets around the school and walk into the school grounds to collect your children from the school. We appreciate this and understand this is difficult like at most schools. This supports us in reducing traffic congestion onto Mulhall Drive. The electronic vehicle entry gates are open throughout the school day. We understand many families are having to get to the school very early to collect your children to avoid this congestion. We encourage all students to remain at school until the end of the day. We have strengthened our early collection of students policy in line with the new child safe standards. We will also improve signage around the school and update line markings. We have also altered the processes for signing students out at the student collection gate to speedy up this process, but ensuring all students are collected by a known adult.

Over the last few years our parent drop off and pick-up of students from school has doubled (up to 80 Families). Like most neighbourhood schools, we do not have adequate parking facilities for all staff, visitors and parents/carers. Our pick up and drop off zone can only allow for up to 18 parked cars. We also have limited car parking for the 100 staff at Jackson School. It is a traffic offence for cars to be parked over the public footpath and obstruct oncoming traffic any public road. We do not have authority to change parking or traffic management systems around our school. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Victoria State Election - Saturday 26th November

The State election will be held on Saturday 26 November 2022. The Jackson School Hall will be a voting centre in the upcoming state election and will be open from 8am until 6pm on election day. 

During the caretaker period (commencing 6.00 pm on Tuesday 1 November 2022), the Department of Education and Training must adhere to caretaker conventions.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) are seeking parents/carers who would be interested in working at the Jackson School voting centre or a voting centre closer to your home. If this is of interest to you please contact Stuart Goodwin (Assistant Election Manager, St Albans District) with any questions on 03 9678 1456 or via email StAlbansAEM01@vec.vic.gov.au.

Find a Voting Centre near your home: https://maps.vec.vic.gov.au/elections 

For more information, please visit: https://www.vec.vic.gov.au/voting/learn-to-vote/easy-english-guides-on-voting 

Remembrance Day

Every year at 11am on 11 November, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we pause to remember those men and women who have served and those who have died in all wars and peacekeeping operations. Today our students paused to reflect in a minute's silence at 11am. The Shrine's service was live streamed from 10:30am, see the video above (starts at 15:25 on the video). 

Lest We Forget.

Anthony