Out and about at Surfside

Welcome Back Surfside 

What an amazing Week 3 at Surfside! Our students have continued to shine, embracing our values of respect, honesty, teamwork, and achievement both in and outside the classroom. My highlight of the week was seeing small acts of kindness including: students opening doors for others to walk through; an older student supporting a younger student who was upset in the yard and students giving others compliments in class. 

It’s fantastic to see students thriving already in our Specialist Classes including Art, Music, PE, Kitchen, Garden, and Indonesian. These subjects help students explore their interests, build confidence and enhance student engagement and well-being by offering diverse learning experiences tailored to different strengths.

Breakfast club also kicked off this week! Breakfast Club runs on Thursday mornings from 7.45 - 8.30am, offering free toast, cereal, and fresh fruit in a supervised kitchen. It’s a great opportunity for students to connect and start the day positively. It was amazing to see our Breakfast club student leaders, Mr Chapman and attendees starting the day positively by connecting with other students in the school. Breakfast club will be running from Weeks 3-9 this term.

We’re excited to see what the next fortnight brings as our students continue to learn, grow, and shine!

Ms Patterson

Call for family helpers

We will be holding our annual Cross Country event for students in grades 3–6 at Kingston Park on Tuesday, March 4th. The event will commence at 9.15am and conclude by 1.00pm. Race times are as follows;

• Year 5 & 6 event is between 9:15 - 10:45
• Year 3 & 4 event is between 11:30 - 1:00

More information will be released next week via Compass but to ensure the smooth running and safety of children we will require the assistance of parents or carers. If you are available and willing to help, please answer the questions and complete the details below. 

All volunteers must have a  current Working With Children's Card that has been presented to our office and completed the 5 minute annual Induction, before the day of the event.

CROSS COUNTRY HELPER EXPRESSION OF INTEREST LINK

Thanks so much in advance for your support with this event,

Student Attendance

Regular attendance at school is very important for your child's learning and social development. Very good attendance for a child is 95% and above.

It is important that children are at school as much as possible to ensure the BEST opportunity for learning growth. We need to utilise every available minute to ensure student growth academically, socially and emotionally, in and out of the classroom. 

If early collection for a shopping trip or to beat the traffic happens on a regular basis this can take away from valuable learning time throughout their schooling life. Please take the time to read the graphic below and to understand the long term affect this can have on student development. We understand that students are impacted by illness, injury or other ailments. If your child is going to be absent you are required by legislation to notify the school by:

• Logging onto Compass  and
• Enter the absence for full days only 
• If your child/children arrive late or are being collected early, the office staff will enter this onto Compass for you.

School Council 2025

Our first school council meeting  for 2025 will take place on Tuesday 18th February in week 4. This will be our final full meeting with our current school council. We look forward to welcoming our new school council following our upcoming Annual General Meeting in week 8 and returning members for 2025. Nominations will be communicated in the coming weeks via our newsletter and elections will take place if required.

School Council 2025

School Nomination forms may be obtained from the school and must be lodged by Friday 28th February at 3.00 pm (nominations following this date and time will not be accepted)

The election ballot if required will close at 3.00 pm on Thursday 6th March  

Terms of Office

Membership categories and number of positions in each membership category open for election are as follows:

Membership category - Parent members & Co-opted member

Term of office - From the day after the date of the declaration of the poll in 2025 to and inclusive of the date of the declaration of the poll in 2026.

School Council 2025 

What is a school council and what does it do?

All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally constituted bodies that are given powers to set the broad directions of a school in accordance with their constituting Order and the Education and Training Reform Act 2006. In doing this, a school council is able to work collaboratively with school representatives to aid in the direction and quality of education that the school provides for its students.

Who is on the school council?

For most primary school councils, there are three possible categories of membership:

• An elected parent member category – more than one-third of the total members must be from this category. DET employees can be Parent members at their child’s school as long as they are not engaged in work at the school
• An elected DET employee member category – members of this category may make up no more than one-third of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members
• An optional Community member category – members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences. DET employees are not eligible to be Community members.

Generally, the term of office for all members is two years. The term of office of half the members expires each year, creating vacancies for the annual school council elections.

Why is parent membership so important?

Parents on school councils provide important viewpoints and have valuable skills that can help inform and guide the direction of the school. Those parents who become active on a school council find their involvement satisfying and may also find that their children feel a greater sense of belonging.

Do I need special experience to be on school council?

Each member brings their own valuable life skills and knowledge to the role. However, councillors may need to develop skills and acquire knowledge in areas that are unfamiliar to them. What you do need is an interest in your child’s school and the desire to work in partnership with others to help guide the school’s future.

Code of conduct for school councillors

School councils in Victoria are public entities as defined by the Public Administration Act 2004. School councillors must abide by the Code of Conduct – Employees issued by the Victorian Public Sector Commission. The Code of Conduct is based on the Victorian public sector values and requires councillors to:

• act with honesty and integrity (be truthful, open and clear about their motives and declare any real, potential or perceived conflict of interest and duty)
• act in good faith in the best interests of the school (work cooperatively with other councillors and the school community, be reasonable, and make all decisions with the best interests of students foremost in their minds)
• act fairly and impartially (consider all relevant facts of an issue before making a decision, seek to have a balanced view, never give special treatment to a person or group and never act from self interest)
• use information appropriately (respect confidentiality and use information for the purpose for which it was made available)
• exercise due care, diligence and skill (accept responsibility for decisions and do what is best for the school)
• use the position appropriately (not use the position as a councillor to gain an advantage)
• act in a financially responsible manner (observe all the above principles when making financial decisions)
• comply with relevant legislation and policies (know what legislation and policies are relevant for which decisions and obey the law)
• demonstrate leadership and stewardship (set a good example, encourage a culture of accountability, manage risks effectively, exercise care and responsibility to keep the school strong and sustainable).

How can you become involved?

Nominate or be nominated for a position on school council. However, ballots are only held if more people nominate as candidates than there are positions vacant. In view of this, you might consider:

• standing for election as a member of the school council or encouraging another person to stand for election.

What do you need to do to stand for election?

• The Principal will issue a Notice of Election and Call for Nominations following the commencement of Term 1 each year. All school council elections must be completed by the end of March. If you decide to stand for nomination, you can arrange for someone to nominate you as a candidate or you can nominate yourself in the Parent member category.
• DET employees whose child is enrolled in a school in which they are not engaged in work, are eligible to nominate for Parent membership of the school council at that school.
• Once the nomination form is completed, return it to the principal within the time stated on the Notice of Election. You will receive a Nomination Form Receipt via post, email or by hand following the receipt of your completed nomination.
• If there are more nominations received than there are vacancies on council, a ballot will be conducted during the two weeks after the call for nominations has closed.

Remember ask at the school for help if you would like to stand for election and are not sure what to do. We are happy to assist. Please see below for the election process and timeline. 

School council election process and timetable

Name of the School:  Surfside Primary School

• Notice of election and call for nominations - Friday 14th February 2025
• Closing date for nominations - Friday 28th February 2025 3.00pm (nominations following this date and time will not be accepted)
• Date by which the list of candidates and nominators will be posted - on Monday 3rd March 2025
• Date by which ballot papers will be prepared and distributed if required - on Monday 3rd March 2025
• Close of ballot if required - Thursday 6th March 2025 at 3.00pm
• Vote count if required - Friday 7th March 2025 
• Declaration of poll if required - Tuesday 11th March 2025 
• First council meeting to elect office bearers (the Principal will preside) - The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Tuesday 18th March at 5.00 pm prior to the first meeting at 5.30 pm 

*Please see our administration at the office for the nomination forms for school council membership.