Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to 2026. I wish you all a safe, healthy, and prosperous year ahead.

Today we had all of our students return or start at school. What a great day! Our Grade 1 to 6 students have had a week to settle into school life.

On Friday, they were joined by the preps. There was a feeling around the Prep zone as parents waved goodbye to their children. As the students walked out today to join their parents and carers, it was obvious they had enjoyed their first morning. They all looked perfect with their new uniforms and bags.

Thank you to the Prep team for the assessments this week and to those parents for working with the teachers to tick that initial task off. The data will really help the team start teaching the children at their individual points of need.

Once the day started, the Parents & Friends (P&F) hosted a welcome morning. I would like to say thank you to Tanya and the team for organising the first event of the year.

I would also like to extend a thank you to all the staff who have hit the ground running after their summer break, to ensure that each child has the very best experience we can offer this week. Thank you all.

Changes for 2025

When we enter a new year, there are always changes. Last year, we shared information on staff that changed. This newsletter I would like to share a little more about the changes we have put in place, to support the curriculum needs of running a school.

The first change is an update to our staffing. Ms Murcott has agreed to support a local Primary School as the Acting Principal. It is a month to begin with, but may move into a longer period. If this happens, we will look at hiring someone in this position to cover. In the short term, I would like to thank Mr Younes for agreeing to take on the extra responsibility.

We also welcome Rowena Blake (1LB) who joins 1LB on Wednesday and will be here Tuesday to offer school support.

Kylie Morrissey (56O) will return on Wednesday & Thursdays.

This year there are less curriculum changes to share. The main change is the implementation of Decodable Readers, as the approach we will be taking to support DET's reading approach and the mandate for teaching phonics. This starts with Prep and Grade 1 and in 2027 we will move this approach through the school from Grade 2 and beyond.

Support

We will continue to focus on those students that need support in reading through MiniLit and MacqLit as well as small tutoring groups. There will be a maths support group in the mornings of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in the Library, for Grade 3-6 students. We are extending our maths support to include Prep to Grade 2 students on Fridays during the school day.

Extension

The students who show us that they need a push will continue to be offered spotlight sessions as well as the high-ability program. Spotlight groups are being organised and information will be shared in week 3.

School's Privacy Policy - Information for Parents

The School Privacy Policy informs the school community that information about students can be shared to fulfill the school's core functions of educating and supporting our students. The Schools’ Privacy Policy establishes a clarified ‘need to know’ framework, where school staff share information about students with other staff who need to know as part of their role. This is consistent with Victorian privacy law.

Child Safety

Legislation introduced by the Victorian Government which took effect from January 2017 ensures organisations that deal with children have appropriate and consistent measures in place to prevent and respond to allegations of child abuse.

The Child Safe Standards are compulsory minimum standards for all organisations that provide services to children including Victorian schools. The aim of the Standards is to ensure organisations are well prepared to protect children from abuse and neglect. Relevant resources for parents and students can be found at: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/child-safety , on the school website or by contacting the school office.

As part of our child safety policy, all visitors to school outside of the drop-off and pick-up times must report to the office.

All visitors need to sign into Compass as a visitor. You will be handed a visitor badge, you will require a volunteer Working with Children Check and will need to complete an OHS/Child Safe Induction to be in the school during the day.

If you arrive and need to drop off your child/ren, we will accompany them to class for you.

Inclusion

Inclusion refers to the practice of ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their background, abilities, or circumstances, can access and participate fully in educational and social environments.

Welcoming student differences

Victoria has a strong and vibrant education system that celebrates diversity and is committed to supporting the achievement and participation of all students. Inclusive education acknowledges that some children and young people have intersecting identities or additional needs that schools may need to take into consideration. These identities may relate to:

having a disability or additional learning needs
gender identity
sexual orientation
being an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person
race
cultural identity
speaking a language other than English
social factors
economic factors
experience of abuse, neglect or family violence.

Please see our school policy

Microsoft Word - November2023-2027_Inclusion and Diversity Policy.docx

as well as a number of policies that are provided by DET.

Inclusive education for students with disabilities | vic.gov.au

LGBTIQA+ Student Support: Policy | VIC.GOV.AU | Policy and Advisory Library

Mobile Phones

Since 2020, mobile phones have been banned in all Government schools. The policy was introduced because teachers and parents regularly raise concerns about the use of mobile phones during school hours as a cause of constant distraction in classrooms.

The policy provides consistency for principals, teachers, students, parents and school communities. As part of the policy, students must switch off their phones and store them securely from the moment they arrive on school grounds, until they leave at the end of the day.

Failure to abide by this regulation may result in a confiscation of the student phone. Students will be reminded regularly of the new arrangements and the School Mobile Phone Policy will be available on the school website. Policies | Rolling Hills Primary School

Parking at school

The parking bays at school are all used by staff. Please do not park in the staff areas. We have disabled bays for families at the front and back carparks. We have recently added two more. We have passes for families who have extenuating circumstances through the year, like broken bones etc. See below for details.

Kiss-N-Go:

In the mornings, we operate a Kiss-N-Go system after 8:30am, at the front and rear carparks. Please help us by having your child ready to hop out of the car, ready with their belongings. For safety, they need to exit on the curb side of the vehicle. If there is a child lock on the curb side door, and a staff member is at the ring road, give them a wave, and they will happily open the door for you.

If you are using the ring road and find yourself needing to wait for someone else's child to get out of their car, we PLEASE ask that you be patient. We never overtake other cars. If you are dropping children for OSHCare, please make sure the ringway is clear by 8:25am. After school, we DO NOT operate the pick-up system due to the volume of children leaving school at the same time. The gates are closed at 3:00pm.

PLEASE do not drive in and park if you are collecting children early. You will need to park off-site after 3:00pm.

Roadside parking:

We have lots of on-street parking, and lots of neighbours. When parking, please only park in marked car spaces. Let’s show kindness by not double parking and by keeping driveways clear for the households, so they are able to enter and exit their own properties without stress.

Kinder parking:

We are lucky that the Kinder/Council allow Rolling Hills families to park in the Kinder spaces. We do however need to ensure that their families have access to parking at all times. It is a popular pick-up and drop-off spot and in discussion with the Kinder/Council we need to ask you to follow their preferences when using the space.

RHPS families park on the far side of the car park, ensuring the bays nearest to the kinder are free for kinder family pick-ups.

As a community we need to continue to show their families kindness while using their parking spots. Please do not double park or block the entrance area to their car park, even if there are no spaces. This makes the area unsafe for ALL children.

General safety:

Drive safely and slowly at all times. The speed is 40km outside of school and 5km inside. Please respect this and keep our children safe.

We have received numerous requests to remind families that safety of children is of upmost importance. Please remind your child/ren how to move through carparks by checking for moving cars (including cars reversing from car parks). We encourage you to please park your vehicle, get out of your vehicle, and supervise your child/ren as they cross car parks.

Walking and riding to and from school:

Children leaving school need to use the pathways, rather than driveways when approaching or departing school. It would be appreciated if this could be emphasised and modelled to them.

If you find parking near the school during these times a challenge, we encourage you to park a few streets away and take a short walk to meet or drop off your child.

We would also welcome the safe use of bikes and scooters and have a bike rack outside OSHCare. Helmets are a must.

Children are to dismount bikes and scooters as they arrive at school and push their bike or scooter to the storage area. Locks are advisable as we cannot be held responsible for any theft of bikes/scooters. We are adding a camera for additional security.

e-Bikes and E-Scooters - are not allowed on school grounds.

We want to ensure all members of our school community are safe and well-informed. Recently, Victorian road safety laws regarding electric scooters (e-scooters) were updated, and these have direct implications for students and school procedures.

Key Victorian Laws on E-Scooters

Under current Victorian road rules:

A person must be at least 16 years old to legally ride an e-scooter on public roads or paths. Riders under 16 are not permitted to ride e-scooters at all in public spaces.

Riders must wear an approved helmet, cannot ride on footpaths, and must follow all road safety rules (e.g., obey speed limits).

This age requirement aligns with broader safety efforts led by the Victorian Government and road safety bodies, including campaigns reminding the community that e-scooters are not a toy and are not safe for younger riders.

These provisions are part of the Road Safety Road Rules 2017 and have been enforced in updated forms in recent years – including penalties and fines that now reflect these safety standards.

Relevant Policy Dates

While e-scooters became legal for adult use through legislative changes in recent years, the minimum age of 16 for riders has remained an important safety rule under Victorian road law. The latest enforcement and awareness campaigns were refreshed in late 2025 to reinforce these rules to families and the community.

What This Means for Our School:

As a primary school, all of our students are under the age of 16. As a result, to align with Victorian law and to keep our students safe:

Students are NOT permitted to ride e-scooters to school.

Students are not permitted to bring e-scooters onto school grounds, they cannot be ridden to drop-off or pick-up areas, nor stored on school property.

This approach is consistent with Department of Education expectations for safe student travel, and with how schools across Victoria are updating local transport and safety policies.

Our school community values active and safe travel. For families who walk, ride bicycles, or scoot (non-motorised scooters), we continue to support safe active travel choices for students, including helmet use and supervised routes where appropriate.

Where to Find Official Guidance:

For more detailed information on Victorian e-scooter laws:

Victorian Government’s e-scooter road rules – Transport Victoria

Victoria Police guidance on legal e-scooter use

Active travel guidance from the Victorian

Thank you for your understanding.

Permit to Park:

If you have an expired 2025 Family parking permit, can you please bring it into the office to be swapped for a current 2026 permit. These permits are for families who have an ongoing physical issue and need support with accessing school.

Requests can also be made for temporary passes for students who have extenuating circumstances through the year, like broken bones etc.

Free public transport for school students

As you would be aware, from January 1st, young people aged 5-17 (inclusive) can travel for free on Victorian public transport with a Youth myki and must tap on and off. No concession identification needs to be shown when travelling with a Youth myki.

Eligible forms of concession identification include the school’s Student ID card or carrying a Transport Victoria ID (this form can be downloaded from the Transport Victoria website).

Thanks,

Craig

Art