Principal's Desk
A reminder about Parking, Traffic Management & Active Travel
Please continue to be ultra-cautious and safe around our school at drop-off and pick-up times. Also remember to be courteous and respectful. We have continued to receive communication from neighbours and members of our school community who report dangerous driving and illegal parking. Please remember, if you want to avoid traffic congestion in the mornings and afternoons, active travel is a great option!
Walk with your children, get them to walk with friends, or park a few blocks away from the school and walk the rest of the way to school. The children will be exercised, socialised and much more ready to learn when they get to school, and you will not have to deal with potential traffic infringement notices, or other hazards related to trying to drop your child off at the front entrance.
Attendance
There is a direct link between attendance and achievement. If students miss the basic skills in the early years of schooling they often experience learning difficulties later on. Children need to attend school regularly to make the most of the educational opportunities available to them. It has been shown that poor patterns of attendance in the early years can lead to poor patterns of attendance throughout their school years. Poor attendance makes it difficult for students to form positive friendships with their peers.
An 80% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing
1 day per week OR
40 days per year OR
Over 2 1/2 years of school from Foundation – Year 12
An 85% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing
30 days per year OR
2 years of school from Foundation – Year 12
A 90% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing
1 day per fortnight OR
20 days per year OR
Over 1 year of school from Foundation – Year 12
Student Attendance
It is important for all students to be at school every day. It is also important that children are at school on time. Arriving late is upsetting and unsettling for both the child who is late and their class. For safety reasons children arriving late to school are asked to attend at the office to be signed in. A Late Pass will be issued before they go to class. It is a legal requirement that teachers mark the time of arrival/departure on their roll each day.
Extended Family Holidays
If there is some known reason which requires your child to miss school for an extended time (eg. operation, overseas trip, etc.), parents/carers are asked to discuss the matter with their Classroom Teacher first and then inform the Principal. You will need to complete a written form notifying the school of the details. We urge parents/carers to use the school holiday periods for their family holidays if at all possible and to avoid having their children miss classes immediately before and after scheduled term breaks.
Absent Children
If your child is away for any reason, please report absences using Compass, alternatively you can notify the school, on the day, by phone and then provide a written explanation to your child’s teacher on their return to school. It is a government requirement to have all absences explained. In the case of unexplained absences, proformas will be sent home each month for you to complete. If a child is to be away longer than a week please keep the school informed. The school is required to report any unexplained absences to Department of Education and Training.
Taking Children Out of School for Appointments
When parents/carers are picking children up early from school for appointments, personal reasons or sickness, children must be signed out at the office and an early dismissal pass for the class teacher will be given to you. Children cannot be released by teachers without this formal process being completed. Please note: The school must be clearly informed in writing of custody arrangements and access agreements in regard to picking up children from school. Notes must also be provided when any student is picked up from school by adults other than their parent/s.
Emergency Information
Please make sure you have provided the school with at least two Emergency Contact numbers. It is very important that these are kept up to date with any changes to home, business and emergency contact phone numbers and addresses.
2025 Parents / caregivers / guardians survey
Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents / caregivers / guardians think of our school. The Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education that is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, and student engagement. The survey is optional, but we encourage all families to participate. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.
All parents/caregivers/guardians are invited to participate in this year’s survey. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be open from Monday, 18 August, and will remain open until Friday, 19 September 2025. A direct link to the survey has been sent to parents, carers, and guardians via Compass.
The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the survey period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones. The online survey will be available in English and 10 other languages including Arabic, Greek, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Punjabi, Simplified Chinese, Somali, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Please speak to your child’s teacher if you would like more information.
Update on suspension and expulsion powers
Park Ridge is committed to providing a safe, respectful and inclusive environment for all students and staff. You may be aware of recent changes announced to suspension and expulsion powers that became available to Victorian principals from day one of Term 3, (Monday 21 July 2025).
We know that students’ behaviour outside of school, particularly online, can sometimes impact the safety of students and staff at school.
In exceptional circumstances, principals of Victorian government schools will be able suspend or expel students for behaviour that occurs outside of school grounds and/or hours including online, if it poses a significant danger to the safety and wellbeing of students or staff.
These powers apply only to serious incidents where there is a clear and close connection to the school and the behaviour of a student outside of school unreasonably impacts the safety and wellbeing of students or staff at school, and their ability to learn or work. Please note:
They do not apply to behaviours unrelated to the school or school community.
They only apply to behaviour which occurs from Monday 21 July 2025 onwards.
Suspension and expulsion will remain measures of last resort – our primary approach continues to focus on proactive and positive behaviour support, including working with you to teach students the behaviours we expect of them, in school and in life.
Thank you for your continued support as we work in partnership to educate and support our young people.
School Council - Community Meeting
Our School Council meets approximately twice a term to oversee the operations of the school. We discuss policy and process, school operations and student learning data.
The objectives of a school council are set out in the school council’s constituting Order and section 2.3.4 of the Education and Training Reform Act and are to:
assist in the efficient governance of the school
ensure that its decisions affecting students at the school are made having regard, as a primary consideration, to the best interest of the students
enhance the educational opportunities of students at the school
ensure the school and the council complies with any requirements of the Education and Training Reform Act, the Education and Training Reform Regulations, a Ministerial Order or a direction, guideline or policy issued under the Education and Training Reform Act.
We will be holding our next school council meeting on Thursday 21 August at 6:00pm in the staffroom. We invite any members of the community who would like to attend this meeting to do so. Please email the school at park.ridge.ps@education.vic.gov.au to register your attendance.
Wishing you a great week ahead. As always, feel free to drop in for a chat with Carrie, Brendan, or me.
Our doors are always open!
Take care,
Mr. Dale Blythman