Need to Know

Apologies for the break in newsletters - I had a brief stint of long service leave to attend a family wedding in the UK.   I would like to thank Daniel Stephens for Acting as Principal in my absence - he did an amazing job of handling a number of unforeseen issues that cropped up.

A big congratulations to all involved in "Our Town" - another outstanding directorial achievement by Amanda Egglestone.  Although I missed the performances, I have heard only accolades for the quality of the production.  Amanda is to be congratulated on challenging our students with some intense and intellectual scripts.  It is a credit to the whole team that our students are able to engage with the text on the page and bring the dramatisation to life with such conviction.

The weather has certainly turned since I left,  which makes a few of these reminders timely.

Uniform

There are a number of reasons why a school has uniform, and why it is enforced.  These should be self evident.  One of the key reasons is safety - our students need to be clearly identifiable both within and outside of school, and staff need to be able to quickly pick up any intruder who may be on site.  If a student is obviously out of uniform, even with a reasonable request, they will be withdrawn from the yard at recess and lunchtime.   Hoodies are absolutely banned because it is very difficult to identify a student who has a hood up.  

Our uniform has such a wide range of options that all students should be able to dress appropriately, in uniform, for the weather.   Please note that ONLY UNIFORM ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED ON OUR POLICY are permitted.    

Hair colour:  pol_hair colour.docx (sharepoint.com)

Uniform policy:  Web Site Content - pol_uniform.pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)

Permitted items:  Web Site Content - St Helena Uniform FINAL 28TH JUNE 2021.pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)

Shoe guidance:  Web Site Content - Shoes.pdf - All Documents (sharepoint.com)

If there is a legitimate reason that a student is temporarily out of uniform, they need to take a note from a parent or guardian to their mini school office BEFORE SCHOOL to obtain a uniform pass.  

New tracksuit pants

In response to feedback from parents, students and the College, Bob Stewart have redesigned the cut and feel of the current tracksuit pants.  

The new design looks pretty much the same, but are more durable, have a more relaxed waistband, a relaxed crotch to the waistband area.  Early reports from students who have purchased them are very positive.

Illness and recording of absences 

School attendance is vital for academic success.  Continual lateness or missing days of school can quickly add up to months or  years of lost classroom learning, and social disconnect.  However, if students are genuinely unwell they need to stay home and recover.   We are experiencing a high number of Covid, RSV and flu cases at the moment and I encourage all students to rest and recover at home if unwell.   Senior school students will need to follow the VCE policy in providing evidence of illness to meet attendance requirements and/or have SACs rescheduled.  Other students should have their absences recorded by a parent on Compass with "medical" as the reason for absence.  

We will follow up students who have not had parent approval recorded on Compass for absence or illness.   Please note  that our coding has changed.   If a parent does not respond to a request for an absence approval, the student will be recorded as "truant" as the parent has not provided an acceptable reason, and the college cannot explain the absence.   

You can see your child's attendance summary on Compass by clicking on "Profile" on the left hand menu on the screen.    Click the "Attendance" tab.  

Each triangle represents half a day on the summary screen.  Green is present, yellow is unexplained absence, orange is absent which could include parent choice, suspension, medical appointment, medical absence, bereavement or truancy,   and red is an unexplained absence - ie, the parent has not contacted us and the school has not yet followed up.  

The column to focus on in this screen is the "Class %" column which shows you what percentage of available classes your child has attended.  

You can also click on "full record" to get a period by period breakdown.  

Please contact us via AskLeadership@sthelena.vic.edu.au if you would like support with getting your child to school, or if you would like to query the detail of their attendance record.  

Time out of class

When students leave class to go to lockers, attend the toilet etc it interrupts their learning but is also disruptive to the teacher and other students.  

Students will be permitted to use the bathrooms, but only one student at a time from each class.  Students will NOT be permitted to leave class to get a drink - students are encouraged to bring water bottles to class with them.  

We are a Showcase School

We are very honoured to have been approached by The Academy (The Department of Education's Leadership Academy) to be a Showcase School for our School Wide Positive Behaviours work, and the resulting positive school climate.  It means other schools will be visiting us to view our work, and we will be running some seminars for other school leaders.  Congratulations to all the staff and parents who have been involved in running and developing this program over a number of years.  

Lockers

As foreshadowed in the last newsletter, and communicated to students via Microsoft Teams and mini school assemblies, this week we started locking all lockers that either did not have a lock, or had an opened lock, with a RED school padlock.

Students with a red lock need to obtain a lock from the front office ($15 cash, card or it can be debited to your account), take it to the mini school and their locker will be released.

We cannot take responsibility for student belongings in unsecured lockers and we have had a few instances of valuables disappearing during the school day and, in one instance, being removed from lockers during an overnight burglary.    I encourage students to take responsibility for their belongings.  It is not mandatory to have a school combination lock - sometimes students find these cumbersome in the time it can take to unlock the combination - and students may bring their own locks.  

Help Needed

We are in the process of sourcing raffle prizes for our Monster Raffle to be run in Term 3, raising the funds to ensure all of our classrooms are air conditioned.  If you own a business, or know someone who does, and you are able to offer goods/services or a donation it would be greatly appreciated.   Please contact Angela Campbell ac@sthelena.vic.edu.au or Karen Terry kt@sthelena.vic.edu.au   A big thank  you to the families and businesses who have already offered support. 

Notable achievements

Congratulations to Sarah Holmes who won a Gold Medal in the 1500 m Walk at the Little Athletics Australian Championships with a time of 7:07:64.   This is an amazing achievement, no doubt earned with a long and gruelling training regime.  Well done Sarah!

Would you like your child featured in our newsletter?

We don't always hear about the great achievements of our students in arenas outside of school.  If  your child has excelled in sport, performing arts, community service or any other area outside of school and you would like them featured please email AskLeadership@sthelena.vic.edu.au

Daring to be excellent is an important characteristic to recognise in our young people, both in and outside of school.