From the Principal
Welcome back
Welcome again to the start of the 2024 school year. New beginnings, new hopes, new staff and new children. We have been thrilled with the way the students have commenced the school year ready to learn and reconnect with their peers and teachers.
We would also like to welcome our new staff, who have worked hard to transition to our
great school. A strength of Camelot Rise Primary School is our people, and our whole school practices delivers a guaranteed curriculum for all our students. It has been this invisible work of setting up dynamic classroom environments and planning together that has contributed to such a smooth start for the students.
Thank you to all the dedicated staff that spent many hours at home and school over the holidays preparing their resources and classrooms for the start of the school year. We are most fortunate to have such dedicated, professional staff who work collaboratively to ensure the best learning environment for our students.
On behalf of the staff, I would like to welcome all our new and returning families to Camelot Rise Primary School, and we trust that you will enjoy working with us to provide your child with the best possible education.
In 2024 we will be producing newsletter on a fortnightly basis and we will also be communicating with families via Compass. It is extremely important that all families have access to Compass and stay aware of what is happening at school.
Class structure for 2024
Foundation L: Miss Hayley Lonsdale
Foundation J: Miss Ashleigh Jacobs
Foundation N: Miss Amanda Neary
1GW: Mrs Tennille Giannopoulos (Monday – Wednesday) & Mrs Karen Watts (Thursday & Friday)
1KR: Mrs Aggie Kurzak-Reeves
1L Ms Le-Buu Ly
2G: Miss Lauren Gabrielle
2JR Mrs Peta Rose (Monday & Tuesday) & Mrs Stephanie Johnson (Wednesday - Friday)
2S Mrs Julie Shepherd
3CB: Mrs Michelle Cohen-Beavis
3HB: Mrs Jane Humphries (Monday – Wednesday) & Mrs Kellie Byrne (Thursday & Friday)
4Y: Mrs Wendy Yoong
4W: Mrs Sarah Woods
5YT: Mr Chris Young (Monday – Wednesday) & Mrs Illana Tusia
(Thursday & Friday)
5B: Mrs Linda Bett
6J: Mr Simon Judkins
6E: Miss Caroline Eaves
Specialist Programs for 2024
| Physical Education: | Mr Cam Stillman | (Tuesday – Friday) |
| Visual Arts: | Mrs Sharyn Newstead | (Monday – Thursday) |
| Performing Arts: | Ms Deb Hong | (Monday – Friday) |
| French: | Ms Rosemary Thom | (Monday – Thursday) |
| STEM: | Mrs Lorna Vinar | (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday) |
| EAL: | Mrs Leilani Burgess | (Monday, Tuesday & Thursday) |
| Tutor: | Mrs Sarah Martin | (Monday &Tuesday) |
Administration
Principal: Mr Matthew Coney
Assistant Principal: Mr Ben Heys
Learning Specialists Mrs Tennille Giannopoulos, Mr Simon Judkins and Mrs Wendy Yoong
Business Manager: Mrs Christine Chara
Student Administration: Mrs Kerryn Wardle & Mrs Tracy Davidson
Education Support Staff
(Integration Aides/ Learning Support):
Mrs Jo Hewett
Mr Andy Pullar
Mrs Chrissie Sandford-Ricci
Mrs Fiona Schwass
Welcome (and welcome back) to our new (and returning) staff in 2024:
In 2024 we would like to welcome:
Mrs Karen Watts | (Year 1 teacher) |
Ms Le-Buu Ly | (Year 1 Teacher) |
Mrs Jane Humphries | (Year 3 Teacher) |
Mrs Kellie Byrne | (Year 3 Teacher) |
We look forward to introducing these new staff to the students and community at a school assembly early in 2024.
Productive Partnerships
Camelot Rise Primary School staff are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure all children can achieve their highest potential. We recognise that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school, knowing that a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our students’ success. We want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities, and we ask that you guide and support your child’s learning by ensuring
- Attendance at school daily and arrival on time, ready for the day’s learning experience
- Supporting the school values
- Daily reading to develop a love for literature and to improve critical language skills
- Sharing school experiences with you so that you are aware of your child’s school life
Working and ‘learning together’ we can achieve great results.
Learning together
Communication
At Camelot Rise Primary School we have a high emphasis on building community and developing the important link between school and home.
Should you need to contact your child/ren’s teacher, an email is the suggested starting point, with this form of communication particularly accessible for working parents who are not able to visit the school and chat before and/or after school.
When emailing, we ask parents to respectfully give staff sufficient time to respond or to
take action as requested, as during school hours we concentrate our efforts on the students. Our teachers and staff are very responsive to parents and careers, however, they are extremely busy each day. For this reason, we ask for emails and phone calls to be kept to a minimum – and not to be an avenue for daily or weekly updates about individual students.
Please remain mindful that teachers are occupied during much of the day. It is very important that teaching staff devote full attention and ‘duty of care’ to our school’s students throughout each school day (noting that some staff are not full time, therefore may need a longer response timeframe depending on working hours and days).
Additionally, staff are not expected to attend to emails outside of ‘business hours’, during holidays or on weekends. We also have an expectation that all parents and members of the community communicate with staff in a respectful manner at all times.
Emails are best used when you have a message that does not require a lot of detail and is not urgent; if a message is urgent please call the school office on 9803 5344.
Curriculum and Teacher Professional Parents Days
2024 Curriculum Days and Teacher Professional Practice Day – Student Free days
- Monday, 29th January – Staff First Aid Training / Setting the scene / PLC Meeting time (Term One)
- Tuesday 12th March – Writing with Julie Shepherd (Term One)
- Wednesday 1st May - Writing with Julie Shepherd (Term Two)
- Monday, 4th November – Report Writing Day (Term Four)
2024 Teacher Professional Practice Days
- Friday 16th August – Professional Learning Communities (Term Three)
All of the dates listed above are Student Free days at Camelot Rise Primary School. We will advise the community if Camp Australia will be able to provide a service on these days. Reminders of these dates will be sent out throughout the year.
School Assemblies
In 2024 we will be holding our school assemblies on a fortnightly basis. The rationale behind this decision is to allow teachers to spend more time with their classes and enable them to complete weekly ‘Wellbeing’ sessions.
All students will still have the opportunity to be presented with a ‘Student of the Week’ award and be involved in a class performance throughout the year.
Assemblies will commence at 2.45pm till approximately 3.15pm.
Each class / specialist teacher will now present two awards at each assembly. Student
Leaders will continue to read out the names of the students accepting the award (but not the reasons as to why they were selected – this will be discussed back in the classroom). Students will come forward and collect their award and stand proudly in front of their peers and school community.
At each assembly we will still have children presenting a song, dance, class presentation, student and teacher announcements etc.
During non-assembly weeks the Year 6 Student Leaders will be working with a Year 6 teacher on their leadership roles across the school. This may include making news reports or mini movies about the school activities in the Green Room. These items will then be shared at the assembly the following week.
Our first school assembly for 2024 was on Friday, 9th February.
School Production 2024
We have locked in the dates of Wednesday, 9th and Thursday, 10th October 2024 for our production ‘Step Back in Time’. Information about this will be shared with families early in 2024.
Please put these dates into your calendars.
Information Nights
We were thrilled with the attendance at our Parent Information Nights during the first week of the year. It was great that parents were able to listen to the teachers talk about the upcoming year ahead and parents had the opportunity to ask questions. The presentations that were used by staff on the night have been sent home to families via Compass and are displayed on our school website for future reference.
Thanks to the teaching staff for leading these sessions.
'We are Learning' Boards
Each term our teachers carefully plan what the students will be learning in all curriculum areas for the upcoming term. This is based on the Victorian Curriculum. The Victorian Curriculum F–10 sets out what every student should learn during their first eleven years of
schooling. The curriculum is the common set of knowledge and skills required by students for life-long learning, social development and active and informed citizenship.
The Victorian Curriculum F–10 incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards.
Our staff carefully plan the content of what is taught based on the learning needs of the students, prior knowledge and student interests. The planning documents our teachers produce form part of our ‘We are Learning’ Board that is displayed in the foyer of our school.
We invite parents to look at our ‘We are Learning’ board that clearly articulates exactly what is being taught in all class and specialist classes this term. The class and specialist teachers have prepared this information. As a parent it is invaluable to know what is taught at school so you can assist and support your child / children at home. This information will be updated each term. Thanks to all the teachers for the amazing amount of work they have put into this display!
We encourage all parents to look at this board and see what exciting learning adventures your child has to look forward to this term.
All of these ‘We are Learning documents’ will be sent out to all families via Compass by the end of Week Two each term.
Welcome to our new Foundation (Prep) students
We are thrilled with the way our 2024 Foundation (Prep) students have settled into schooling life. It was a pleasure to see so many smiling faces. I would like to thank Miss Lonsdale, Miss Neary and Miss Jacobs who have created wonderfully attractive classrooms for these students and the look of excitement on the faces was priceless.
School Council Elections
During Week One information regarding the 2024 School Council election process was sent to families via Compass. I would encourage any interested parent to contact me for more information. School council is an extremely vital part of the school, and it is from school council feedback that helps inform the future direction of our school. Please look out for this if you think you may be interested in nominating or being nominated for 2024. Information includes a timeline and summary of the role of School Council.
Student's Mobile Phones
A reminder that the Department of Education has in place a mobile phone ban that requires students who bring mobiles phones to school to have them switched off and securely put away during school hours.
The department is requiring all schools to ensure this ban is in place and enforced from the start of the 2024 school year.
The ban applies equally to all government schools right across the state.
This helps ensure that school is a learning environment free from unnecessary distractions and disruptions.
By ensuring mobile phones are kept away at recess and lunch times, students can interact with each other face-to-face, without the distractions and social pressures that mobile phones can cause.
I ask for the support of all our families, staff and students in continuing to support the implementation of this policy in our school.
Further information
Exceptions: For a small number of students with particular health needs, an exception to the policy may be granted. Please contact Matthew Coney or Ben Heys if you would like to discuss this.
Emergencies: In the event of an emergency or if you need to immediately contact your child, I ask that families contact the school office who will pass on a message as required.
School mobile phone policy: A copy of our school’s local mobile phone policy, which implements the government’s mobile policy in line with our local context, is available here: Camelot Rise Primary | Glen Waverley | Home
Parent support: The Mobile phones in schools webpage provides links to resources for families to help them balance their children’s time using mobile phones.
If you have further questions, please contact the administration office.
Student Leadership badge presentations
Our Student Leadership Badge Presentation will be held on Friday 8th March at 2.45pm as part of our school assembly. Mr John Mullahy (MP – Member for Glen Waverley) will be at this assembly to present the badges to our student leaders and talk to all students about leadership. We thank Mr Mullahy for his time to attend this very special assembly for our students and their families.
At this assembly we will be presenting badges to the following students:
- School Captains
- Vice Captains
- Sport Captains
- Visual Arts Captains
- Performing Arts Captains
- French Captains
- STEM Captains
- Environment Captains
- Resource Captains
- Wellbeing Captains
- House Captains (Avalon, Galahad, King Arthur & Chivalry)
We hope to see as many parents as possible attend this assembly.
The Resilience Project
In 2024, Camelot Rise Primary School students and staff will be participating in the Resilience Project. To begin our journey, all students will participate in a one-hour student presentation by Martin Heppell.
This presentation will be at Glen Waverley Primary School.Martin will be delivering his flagship ‘Discovering Resilience’ presentation to your community. Through his high-energy humour and captivating storytelling, Martin will share simple, practical tips we can use everyday to improve our wellbeing.
Camelot Rise staff will then work closely with our Resilience Project coach throughout the year to support us through this role-out.
There will be weekly Resilience Project lessons taking place in the classroom, along with activities that students can do at home.
On Thursday, 15th February there will be a free Community Presentation for parents and carers to attend.
Anyone who would like to attend the Community Parent/ Carer presentation will need to register for a free ticket using the following link: https://www.ticketebo.com.au/mirvac2024
onPsych is now available at our school!
Do you find that your child is having emotional or behavioural issues? Are they struggling socially, academically? Camelot Rise Primary School now has an accredited mental health social worker to support your child.
Tracy Harris is an accredited mental health social worker who specialises in child and adolescent mental health. Their services are provided at the school at NO OUT OF POCKET COST through Medicare bulk billing, NDIS and other services. They will work collaboratively with you, your child, and the teachers to maximise opportunities for positive growth.
If you believe that this might benefit you child, please contact Ben Heys ben.heys@education.vic.gov.au and request a Parent Pack for further information.
2024 Parent Payments Reminder
Parent payments are an essential source of funds for a school to operate effectively. Without student fees schools would not be able to provide the many programs and resources we provide for the students at Camelot Rise Primary School. We would like to thank the parents that have already made these payments.
Working with Children Checks (WWC)
We encourage and value parental and community support at Camelot Rise Primary School. There are many ways that parents, grandparents and friends can assist at our
school. We encourage all parents to obtain a Working with Children’s Check that will allow you to be very involved in your child’s education. These checks are free for volunteers. Once you have your WWC please come to the office so we can photocopy this, and we will add your name to our list of parents who have a current WWC check.
Accident insurance
The Department of Education (DE) does not provide personal accident insurance for students. Parents are generally responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including any transport costs. Ambulance cover could be one consideration as the school will not hesitate to call an ambulance if we are concerned for a child’s wellbeing.
The Department of Education (DE) states that reasonable low-cost accident insurance policies are available from the commercial insurance sector.
Personal goods brought at owner's risk
Personal goods brought to school at owner’s risk The Department of Education (DE) does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools. Principals are requested to remind students and parents/guardians of this at the beginning of each academic year and to discourage parents/students from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school. Please, try and avoid bringing these items as it can be most upsetting for all concerned when items do go missing.
Annual Privacy reminder
Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.
Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website Camelot Rise Primary | Glen Waverley | Home
For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents. . This information is also available in ten community languages:
* Amharic
* Arabic
* Dari
* Gujarati
* Mandarin
* Somali
* Sudanese
* Turkish
* Urdu
* Vietnamese
Our Physical Education/Sports Uniform
As part of a school uniform the Year 4, 5 & 6 students have the opportunity to purchase and wear a sports uniform. This sports uniform is an optional item.
Historically our students have worn their ‘normal school uniform’ on Sports Days, however, now students can wear their sports uniform when representing the school and participating in Physical Education classes.
These items are currently available in the PSW shop.
These are optional additions to the school uniform.
These uniforms can be worn by Year 4, 5 & 6 students on the following days:
- Physical Education classes
- Sporting events
- Interschool Sports
- House Sport events
We are very excited at the prospect of these sports uniforms as we will look fantastic and further develop a sense of pride in the school.
Literacy Parental Engagement and Activites
We have listed below a useful Department of Education website that provides parents with many activities that their children can participate in to help inspire and boost their Literacy & Numeracy skills.
Help with school costs
Families are encouraged to contact Ben, myself or the school office if you are having difficulty with school costs. Programs like Affordable School Uniforms and the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) can help with the cost of school uniforms and other essential school items as well as school activities for eligible students.
For more information for parents, refer to Help with school costs and fees.
Heat Policy
The school operates a heat policy and we keep the children indoors in air conditioned classrooms on very hot days where the temperature exceeds 350. We have also been asked to remind our parent community about the dangers of leaving children in cars on very hot days.
Chinese New Year
Saturday 10th Febuary marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. 2024 is the year of
the Wood Dragon. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone in our community who celebrates this significant event a Happy New Year!
Home-school communication
Ben Heys (Assistant Principal) and I are always open and available to meet with parents and our community. Our number one priority is the engagement, wellbeing and care of all students at Camelot Rise Primary School, and we are always happy to hear feedback on the improvements we are making and what we can do to better assist our students. Ben and I are always available to speak to parents in relation to any feedback you can provide us that will ultimately benefit the students at Camelot Rise Primary School. Please feel free to drop in at any time or contact us to arrange a suitable meeting time.
Please come and see us for a chat!
Matthew Coney and Ben Heys