2026 Parent Voluntary Financial Contributions

Please find attached the 2026 Parent Voluntary Financial Contribution letter to parents. The covering letter from School Council gives a summary of how the Parent Voluntary Financial Contribution gives our students the best support to enhance their education while at Ringwood North Primary School

Our Parent Voluntary Financial Contributions are sent out to all families of students annually at the end of Term 4. We would like to encourage all our families to consider contributing at the start of the year (Term 1).

Payment is made through the Compass Portal and will be open for payments from 20/12/25. Parents can submit payment this way, or there is the option to pay at the office by cash, card or cheque if preferred from Term 1.

School activities, incursions, excursions, and sports that require permission and payment for students are communicated as events through the Compass Portal leading up to the date of the event. Parents will receive communications each time an event is posted.

The Camps Sports and Excursion fund is available to eligible parents to assist with payments of school activities. Please complete an application form and return it to the office with a copy of your Centrelink Card. If you are an existing family new students need to be added to your application. Further information has been included in the newsletter.

Families requiring assistance with payment of activities are encouraged to speak to Ricarda Lillis (Business Manager) as the school can offer families different support options, including with the purchase of uniforms.

CSEF (Camps, Sport & Excursions Fund)

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:

school camps or trips
swimming and school-organised sports programs
outdoor education programs
excursions and incursions.

Please note that if you applied for CSEF for an older sibling last year you do not need to reapply this year.

Eligibility

For concession card holders, CSEF eligibility will be subject to the parent/legal guardian’s concession card being successfully validated with Centrelink on 27 January 2026 and/or 15 April 2026.

To be eligible for the fund, a mature minor of sixteen years of age or over, a parent or legal guardian of a student attending a registered Government or non-government Victorian primary or secondary school must:

• on the first day of Term one, or;

• on the first day of Term two.

a) Be an eligible beneficiary within the meaning of the State Concessions Act 2004, that is, be a holder of Veterans Affairs Gold Card or be an eligible Centrelink Health Care Card (HCC) or Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holder, OR

b) Be a temporary foster parent, and;

c) Submit an application to the school by the due date

be an eligible beneficiary of one of these cards:
Veterans Affairs Gold Card
Centrelink Health Care Card
Pensioner Concession Card
OR they must be a temporary foster parent
OR the student is 16 years or older and holds a valid concession card (such as a Youth Allowance Health Care Card)
AND the parent or legal guardian must submit an application by the due date.

Parents who receive a carer allowance on behalf of a child, or any other benefit or allowance not income tested by Centrelink, are not eligible for the CSEF unless they also comply with the above.

Eligibility will be determined when the parent’s concession card successfully validates with Centrelink on either the first day of term one or term two.

If the eligible card is in the name of the student, the fund is only granted to that student, not their siblings.

State Schools' Relief - Prep 2026 Families

State Schools’ Relief (SSR) is a not-for-profit organisation that works closely with all government schools across Victoria. They provide assistance to families experiencing financial disadvantage with school uniforms, footwear and range of other essential educational items. Please read the information below for more information.

School Uniform

In accordance with the Department of Education and Training guidelines the School Council of Ringwood North Primary School introduced compulsory school uniform. All students of the school will wear the correct uniform at all times.

Shoulder length or longer hair (both boys & girls) must be tied back to help restrict the spread of lice and for student safety.

Closed toe shoes worn with socks are also compulsory for safety reasons. Sandals/Crocs/any other beach sandal type shoes are not permitted.

Our uniform is unique to our school and helps foster a sense of community and belonging and encourages students to develop pride in their appearance. We ask for parent support in this matter.

Prep Polos

2026 Prep Polos are available to purchase from the school office for $35 each.

Second Hand Uniform

We have been very fortunate to have a Uniform Shop Fairy (one of our generous parents who wishes to remain unnamed!) She has worked so hard to revamp the area to make it more user friendly and tidy. It looks incredible and we are so grateful for all of her help.

So, if you are looking for second hand uniforms, come and grab a bargain and check out the new space at the same time!

All items are $5 a piece.

Absences

The Department of Education requires schools to record attendance/absences of all students, therefore it is vital that we are notified of your child's absence as soon as possible. Protecting the safety and well-being of children through the reporting and monitoring of absenteeism is the responsibility of both parents/carers and schools. Please remember to update Compass as soon as you know your child will be away, and where possible, please inform us in advance of upcoming long term absences.

Please be advised that if you do not enter your child’s absence in compass, office staff will call you directly for a follow up explanation, as we need to have an explanation for all absences. If you are using the Compass app, you will need to select the "shortcuts tab"at the bottom of your screen and then select "add attendance notes".

If you require any assistance using Compass, please refer to the two attached step by step processes on how to enter your child’s absence, or feel free to come and see us in the office - we will be happy to help you!

Late Arrivals

Please ensure that your child is signed in at the office if they arrive after 9am - even if it is only a couple of minutes later. Once they are signed in, we will give them an orange card that they will need to give to their teacher. This notifies the teacher that they have been signed in to the school and are now marked as present. If they do not come to the office, they will be marked as absent and will show up as an unexplained absence on your child's attendance record.

Early Arrivals

Please be aware that there is no yard supervision in the morning until 8:45am. If you choose to drop your child off before that time, please use our before and after school care service, TeamKids, to ensure that your child is safe and well looked after.

Late Pick-up

If a student is normally collected from school but is still at school beyond normal collection time, the office will make every effort to contact the parents and/or emergency contacts. If you know that you will be late picking up your child, please contact the office to notify us as soon as possible, so that we can reassure your child and come up with a plan. It is in the best interest of all students to be collected at the end of the day when the bell rings.

Early Leavers

If you wish to collect your child from school early, can you please come to the office first. We will then give you an "Early Leavers" pass to give to your child's teacher, so that they know we have signed your child out.

Recess/Lunch Times

Recess 10:50am - 11:20am

Lunch eating time 1:10pm - 1:20pm

Lunch break 1:20 - 2:00pm

Assembly Times

Assemblies are held every Friday afternoon from 2:50 in the Auditorium. Parents are most welcome to attend. We'd love to see you there!

PS if you need to pick your child up early on a Friday afternoon, we would appreciate you trying to collect them prior to assembly for ease of collection.

School Pick-Up Zone

Please be aware that the pick-up & drop-off zone at the front of the school is only to be used for quick dropping off & picking up of students. Vehicles must not be parked in this lane, as it stops the flow of cars. This means that parents/carers are not permitted to leave their vehicle. The local council has advised us that they have parking officers who regularly drive around the schools in our area to monitor this. Please be mindful of these rules, as we do not want any one in our community to be issued with any fines.

Lost Property

PLEASE encourage your children to come and check the Lost Property tub at the office (just past the glass double doors) for any missing items. Sometimes the items appear days later, so we ask that you advise your children to keep checking lost property and not to check "just once". Parents are also welcome to come and look through the tub.

*Please note that any items of clothing that have not been collected by the end of each term will either be donated to our second hand uniform shop or will be disposed of.

Staff Car Park

Just a friendly reminder that for the safety of our students, the staff car park is only to be used by staff during the hours of 8:30am - 4pm, and for OSHC drop off & pick up before and after school. If you are using the car park for OSHC, please ensure that you are driving SLOWLY, so that everyone in the car park is safe. There have been a number of occasions where vehicles have been driving too fast through the car park to get to OSHC. Please consider everyone around you. We greatly appreciate your cooperation with this.

The lower car park near the front playground is also a STAFF ONLY car park. Please make sure that this car park is not used for drop off/pick ups to ensure the safety of all children crossing the driveway.

Financial Support for Families

Ringwood North Primary School understands that some families may experience financial difficulty and offers a range of support options, including the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and alternative payment arrangements. If you have any queries or wish to discuss your circumstances and possible options, please contact the office to make an appointment with the Business Manager or the Principal.

Changing Schools?

If you are relocating to a different school, could you please notify the office as soon as possible so that we can update our records and transfer any relevant information to your child's new school.

School Office Hours & Contact Details

Our school office operates between the hours of 8.30am to 4:30pm.

Ph 9876 3411

ringwood.north.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Compass Hints & Tips