Dear families,

LONG WEEKEND

Monday the 6th November and Tuesday 7th November are both pupil free days. Hopefully families will be able to have the opportunity to get away for a break over the long weekend.

STAFFING UPDATE

Sadly, we are losing two of our much-loved staff members at the end of the year Miss Pirie and Miss Larcombe. Gab is relocating to Wangaratta and Bec has accepted a position at Kyabram P-12. Fortunately, we have managed to employ two experienced teachers to replace them, Rachel Farrar and Natalie Price. Toolamba PS is very lucky to have a good reputation in the community, so staff are eager to work here. Amee McCoy will be returning for three days a week next year.

I applied for an have been accepted into the Flexible Work Initiative. There were 200 positions available across the State. This means I will work 4 days a week next year and Filippa will be acting principal on a Friday. Through this initiative the Department fund a cross over day to support the process and minimise the impact on the school.

Mrs Lipshut will continue in her Tutor Learning Role and Carly Tuhan will increase her time fraction to four days a week.

CONCERT

Concert preparations are well underway for our special event on Thursday 16th November. Families can purchase tickets for $10 via Qkr! Children 12 and under are admitted free. Food and beverages will be for sale on the night.

ROLLING COMPUTER UPGRADE

We have placed an order to purchase another bank of 25 netbooks and five iPads at a cost of $21,039 to continue our rolling replacement program. Our oldest 40 laptops were bought in 2017 and are failing now on a weekly basis and ideally will be taken out of service at the end of this year.

Thank you to the families who contribute to the Information Technology levy. Your generosity enables us to ensure that students have access to devices which are up to date and able to enhance the teaching and learning program in our school.

BACK TO SCHOOL SUPPLIES

The COS back to school portal is now live. Families can log on and place your orders for the 2024 school year. By placing orders earlier this year we aim to have all supplies arrive at the school prior to the end of the year. Students will be bringing home an information pack tomorrow containing all the details regarding ordering your child’s requisites for next year. We encourage you to go online and place your orders as soon as possible to secure this special back to school pricing.

LITTLE ANGLERS KIT

The Victorian Government is investing $1.5 million from the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Fund to provide up to 95,000 Little Angler Kits to primary school aged children in Victoria.

The free kits provide a wonderful school holiday activity for children with their families and help ease the cost of living, providing a fun activity close to home.

Grade 5 students at all Victorian schools, including ours, will be offered the opportunity to receive a FREE Little Angler Kit. Grade 5 students have been selected based on the Victorian Curriculum focus, movement and motor development, and safety considerations.

The program is entirely voluntary. Schools were provided with the option to opt out of the program. Our school has opted to stay in the program so that parents can decide whether they want their child(ren) to receive a free fishing kit.

Parents of Grade 5 students can advise the school if they do not wish their child(ren) to participate for any reason whatsoever. Please do so by Thursday 9th so that we can then distribute the kits. We support parents in making decisions that align with their family values and beliefs.

The roll out of kits will occur through the second half of 2023 (16 October - 4 December) so that all participating children will have a kit in time for the summer school holidays.

The kits include a rod, reel with line, tackle tray, some tackle and information on how to use them to catch a fish. Please note that the tackle tray includes fishing hooks. The tackle tray will be wrapped in cardboard and placed inside a pocket inside the fishing kit bag, which will be sealed with a cable tie to discourage students from opening their kits until they are with a parent or carer.

Kits will be handed out to students to take home with them as soon as the school receives them. Teachers will tell students not to open the kits until they are safely at home with a parent or carer, however parents can contact the school and request to collect their kit from the school themselves if they prefer.

The Victorian Fisheries Authority will create a Little Angler hub on their website, which will be live when the kits start being distributed. It will have useful information, instructional videos and online resources about where and how to fish linking to existing resources from Fishcare and new resources to be produced just for the Little Angler Kits program.

This initiative aims to grow recreational fishing participation in Victoria by actively encouraging primary school aged children to learn how to fish, as well as learning more about marine life and the natural environment.

Have a wonderful extra long weekend.

Regards Heather

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