Swimming

As we reach the conclusion of our 2023 Swimming Program, I must thank and congratulate our students, staff and parent / carer volunteers for ensuring the program has been so successful and beneficial. As mentioned last week, it is a massive undertaking and could not happen with the support, co-operation and flexibility of everyone involved. Thanks to our patient bus drivers and also to the fantastic and very professional staff at Aquanation - we have been attending this venue for a number of years now and they are terrific to work with.

Public Speaking Competition - Grand Finals

We are looking forward to the Public Speaking Grand Finals next Thursday. This is always an outstanding event as our students deliver their chosen topic talk to a large audience and a team of Year 5 judges made up of last year’s finalists. Our best wishes to all students involved.

Prep Information Evening

Our Prep Information Evening is also scheduled for next Thursday, as we welcome our newest Old Orchard families to our school community. The information evening will follow our final Transition Session before the official Prep Orientation morning on December 12th when the 2024 Prep students will meet their teachers for next year.

Policy updates

The following school policies were reviewed and updated at the October School Council meeting.

Statement of Values & School Philosophy

Complaints Policy

Child Safety & Wellbeing Policy Bullying Prevention Policy

All school policies are available on our website policy page.

Dealing with distressing online content

With the tragic and distressing events unfolding in the Middle East, Australia's independent regulator for online safety, eSafety, has issued guidance to help parents and carers support their children in dealing with distressing online content.

The eSafety website has resources for parents and carers about online safety. These include information on extra precautions you can take to protect your children from seeing disturbing content online.

eSafety encourages parents and carers supporting young people who may be more vulnerable to check in with them. If they are presenting with signs of distress, support is available through external services including:

headspace: 1800 650 890

Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800

Lifeline: 13 11 14

Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636.

School term dates for 2026

There have been changes to Victorian school term dates for 2026. Following the announcement that the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria will not proceed, the original 2026 school term dates have been reinstated.

The 2026 Victorian school term dates are:

· Term 1: Tuesday 27 January to Thursday 2 April 2026

· Term 2: Monday 20 April to Friday 26 June 2026

· Term 3: Monday 13 July to Friday 18 September 2026

· Term 4: Monday 5 October to Friday 18 December 2026.

For the list of school term dates until the end of 2030, refer to School term dates and holidays in Victoria.

No community is immune to Domestic Violence, which exists to various degrees across all areas of society. Saturday 25th November 2023 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and is the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence. The 16 Days of Activism campaign is a chance to reflect on what we are doing to address discrimination, gender-based violence and family violence.

There are numerous external agencies and services for those who may need support.

The Orange Door – supports families experiencing family violence and families that need extra support with the care of children
Safe Steps (phone 1800 015 188) – 24-hour statewide family violence support service
1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) – 24-hour sexual assault and family violence information, counselling and support service
Kids Helpline (1800 551 800) – 24-hour counselling for young people aged 5 to 25
What’s OK at home? – a website for children and young people aged 10 to 17
headspace – Victorian government secondary school students can access counselling services.

Support for members of diverse communities includes:

Djirra (1800 105 303) – offers phone and face-to-face legal, emotional and cultural support from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, for Aboriginal people experiencing family violence
InTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence (1800 755 988) – offers specialist family violence support from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, for migrant and refugee women
Rainbow Door (1800 729 367) – offers free service by text, phone and email from 10 am to 5 pm daily for LGBTIQA+ people and allies
WIRE (Women’s Information and Referral Exchange) (1300 134 130) – offers free support, referrals and information by phone, web chat and email, from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, for all Victorian women, non-binary and gender diverse people
No to Violence (1300 766 491) – works with and helps men who use family violence.

COVID-19 transmission

The Department of Education & Training has asked schools to remind parents & carers that there is currently an increase in community transmission of COVID-19 in Victoria.

You can help us keep our school as safe as possible by taking 2 important steps:

1. Ensure your COVID-19 vaccinations are up to date. Information on how and where to get vaccinated is available on the Get Vaccinated webpage.

2. If your child shows symptoms of COVID-19, please ensure they stay home and get tested. The easiest way to test is to use a rapid antigen test (RAT). Free RATs are available from your local council. You are not required to have a Medicare card and you can collect RATs as many times as you need. You can also buy RATs at supermarkets, pharmacies and other retailers.

If your child has symptoms but tests negative, please ensure they stay home until they no longer have symptoms. If the RAT test result is positive, please ensure they stay home for at least 5 days and until there are no more symptoms.

Thank you for your support – these steps will help us all stay well.

Kind regards

Duncan

Sport