School Saving Bonus

In Term 4, 2024, families with a child enrolled in a government school from Prep to Year 12 in 2025 will receive the one-off $400 School Saving Bonus.

The $400 School Saving Bonus provides families with support for education-related costs, such as school activities and/or school uniforms and textbooks.

The School Saving Bonus is not available for full-fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.

Actions for parents and carers:

Before 18 October 2024, the Department of Education is asking parents and carers to:

Complete enrolment: If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025. For more information, read about Enrolling in School.
Check your contact information: Ensure your email address and phone number is up to date with us. You can check this information by contacting us directly.

We need to ensure your contact information is up to date as the Department of Education will email you twice:

- in October, to verify your email address

- in November, with your $400 School Saving Bonus.

Please check your junk mail regularly to make sure you do not miss an important email. To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, download the School Saving Bonus Information sheet for government school parents and carers or visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus.

Fathers’ Day Stall

Our PCA, as expected, conducted a fantastic Fathers’ Day stall on Wednesday in our Wentworth Building. There were heaps of volunteers on hand to service our students who were keen to find a bargain. Catherine and her team are wonderful examples of giving back to the community. Well done to all who helped out! Happy Father's Day to all the special father-figures in our community.

Being Cybersafe

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a dramatic increase in cyberattacks as well as instances in which our students may have not been the best digital citizens. This is a timely opportunity for families to discuss the importance of being safe online. Listed below are 10 tips from the Alannah and Madeline Foundation to help start the conversation. I am amazed by the number of students in Year 6 who have access to Snapchat, Instagram etc that have age restrictions in place. At Park Ridge, we believe students should be having lots of face to face interactions with peers and adults. It is through these conversations that we develop our emotional intelligence. This is only one of many reasons why we are actively working with students to ensure all mobile phones are handed into the office at the beginning of the school day, and picked up at the conclusion. Below is some supporting information of why being Cybersafe is important for all of us:

Care about the Share
Social media wants you to share as much as you can bear! But the share should be rare. NEVER share: passwords, private/personal information, your location.
Privacy Matters
If you care about the share, you’ll protect your privacy, no matter what. Regularly check your privacy settings on social media, and always think before you post. It’s amazing where data ends up – usually all over the internet.
Respect the Privacy of Others
Treat others’ privacy as you would your own. Ask for your friends’ permission before uploading photos and videos of them. It’s not all about you.
Keep Everything Updated
Any idea what causes the most security breaches on the internet? Software that isn’t up-to-date. Seems crazy simple, but it’s true! Be vigilant about updating software, including apps, anti-virus and even the humble browser.
Spam
Even with the best anti-spam and malware software – that’s up-to-date – spam is the modern version of junk mail. It’s everywhere! Learn how to tell the difference between real emails and messages, and dodgy things with dodgy links. Sometimes they don’t look so dodgy...always be suspicious of hyperlinks in emails.
Control the Troll Within
There be trolls out there – beware! Don’t feed them, don’t give them what they want: an angry response. Block/Report the trolls. But also: resist the inner troll. If you’re not adding something to the debate online, don’t bother. Don’t be part of the problem.
Cyberbullying and Harassment
If you’re being targeted by this kind of behaviour, know what you can do, and where you can get help. Visit the National Centre Against Bullying website and the Office of the eSafety Commissioner's website.
Keep Your Friends Close and Strangers at Arm’s Length
Do you know how many true friends most people have? Three. Yup, those four thousand and fifty-two Facebook ‘friends’ are a combination of acquaintances, people-you-met-once, people-you-can’t-remember-meeting-once, and probably, some ‘randoms’. They don’t need to know what you had for breakfast, or what concert you went to last night, do they?
Feel the Flow – Keep Your Life in Balance
Technology is incredible. Gaming, networking, apps…online shopping! But make sure you take time out and find the right balance for you. Too long on tech can put the world out of whack.
Have Fun, Friend
Always remember to chill out and keep things in perspective. There’s too much information online to take it all in! Focus on each moment, and enjoy.

(Alannah and Madeline Foundation)

Professional Practice Days - November 2024

Every year, schools, in conjunction with School Council, are in a position to provide four curriculum days per year to support staff professional development. We also have a fifth day for staff (called a Professional Practice Day) to focus on specific aspects of their work for a day - all with no students on-site. Each of these days are invaluable for the ongoing development of our knowledge of contemporary educational practices. At our previous School Council meeting in July, School Council approved the following date for the remainder of 2024 as student-free days. They are:

Wednesday, 6 November - Professional Practice Day (Report Writing)

Our decision to hold our Professional Practice Day after Melbourne Cup public holiday, like last year, is to support our teachers to write accurate December reports through analysis of key data sets measuring student achievement and growth as well as to support those families who wish to have an extended mini-term holiday before Christmas.

To further support families, TeamKids will also be providing care facilities on Wednesday, 6 November.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please feel free to pop in for a chat with either Carrie, Brendan or I, should you wish to discuss anything.

Our doors are always open!

Take care,

Mr. Dale Blythman

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