Principal's Message

Jackson School is a collaborative learning community for all. We aim to develop independence through safety, respect and responsibility. We aspire to offer authentic, quality educational experiences that develop futures, create opportunities and inspire student potential; enabling our students to be valued and contributing members of the wider community. We share and celebrate our successes and achievements.   

The Issue Highlights

• Olympics Sports Day
• Disability Royal Commission Response 
• Student Support Groups (SSGs) Survey and Individual Learning Plans (ILPs)
• School Review Concluded
• Students of the Week from our PBIS rewards system.
• Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary and Secondary
• Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child.
• Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare.
• School Dates -For the most up-to-date calendar dates, always refer to the Xuno Calendar in your Parent Portal.

Dear Families,

Olympics Sports Day

Today was our Sports Day brought forward due to the Olympics. Many students (and staff) have enjoyed following the Paris 2024 Olympics over the last two weeks. Our Jackson Olympians competed in traditional school sports and games. We couldn’t quite build the swimming pool in time. However, over the next few weeks our Prep to Year 4 students will take part in their swimming programs. Congratulations to all of our athletes who took part today to “try their best”. Thank you to all of the family members who attended today.

Disability Royal Commission Response

As sent in my letter to the community via Seesaw, the Victorian Government have published a response to the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (the Royal Commission). This follows a commitment made by the Australian Government and state and territory governments to respond to the Royal Commission in mid-2024. To read the Australian Government, state and territory responses to joint recommendations, refer to joint response.

In summary, all but one of the education recommendations were accepted in full, in principle or in part by the Victorian Government. However, the Victorian Government has decided to not accept recommendation 7.14, to phase out and close specialist schools.

The alternative recommendation provided by the Royal Commission, 7.15, to better integrate specialist schools with mainstream schools, has been accepted in principle.

The decision not to accept recommendation 7.14 is consistent with the Victorian Government’s ongoing commitment to providing parents and carers with the choice of enrolling their child in a school that is right for them and recognises that inclusion does not mean a ‘one size fits all’ approach to education.

I am a member of the Keilor-St Albans Network Executive for our local mainstream primary and secondary schools across the cities of Brimbank and Melton and I work closely with the Principals and their leadership teams. Our Inclusion Outreach Coach, Jessica Richards, is also working with our local mainstream partner schools to support their inclusive practices of students with disabilities and additional needs. I am committed to establish future partnerships and initiatives which will enable educational, cultural, sporting, recreational and celebratory activities with other students in mainstream schools. We are continuing to establish our Hands on Learning program “Farm” at Keilor Downs College. I will endeavour to strengthen our connections and opportunities for our students and their peers in mainstream schools.

I would like to acknowledge the uncertainty following the release of the Disability Royal Commission Final Report and the impact it may have had on you and your family. I am sure this is a welcomed announcement for all members of our community. We will continue to work closely in partnership with the Department of Education to support the best interests of our children and young people.

Student Support Groups (SSGs) Survey and Individual Learning Plans (ILPs)

In consultation with School Council, our Staff Consultative Committee and feedback collected from our families, this time we changed the way we deliver SSGs to increase the meeting times to 30 minutes. In this new format, SSG meetings were offered over three evenings after school Monday 29th July, Tuesday 30th July and Wednesday 31st July from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. These were offered in-person, virtually or over the phone to suit family's circumstances. 

We understand this change doesn’t suit everyone’s lifestyles and circumstances, we are therefore hoping to capture as much feedback as possible about whether families and staff preferred or didn’t prefer this different format. We would appreciate if all families could offer their views by completing this very short survey. Thank you. 

SSG Feedback Form

Teachers have now finalised students’ Individual Learning Plans (ILPs). These will be published to you via email and available through the Xuno Parent Portal. For families who are not familiar with using Xuno there is a Quick Guide attached to support you. If you need support in logging to Xuno or SeeSaw please contact our IT Team via the school office. 

School Review Concluded

We have now completed routine school review which has evaluated our performance over the last four years. This has included visiting classrooms, teacher professional learning team meetings and focus groups with our staff, students and parents/carers. Thank you to the parents/carers who took part in a focus group last Friday. We very much value your views and opinions on how we can improve.

We are yet to receive our final review report and School Strategic Plan (SSP) for the next four years. However, the feedback received from the review panel and the community has been extremely positive. The review panel, comprising of: the lead school reviewer from Monash University, our school Senior Education Improvement Leader (SEIL), School Council President and three Challenge Partners from the Department of Education or other Special Schools, were very complimentary about what they saw, heard and found during the fieldwork. I am extremely proud that the review panel’s findings have indicated that the education programs we are offering our students are “extraordinary” with many aspects “excelling” as we embed the work we began together in 2016, despite the challenges we all endured throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing staffing difficulties and the disruption of a huge school building upgrade.

Thank you to the whole community for making our successes and achievements possible. This is through the shared high-expectations and support of the leadership team, tireless work and dedication of our staff, positivity and effort of our students, and partnership from our families and wider community. Together, we have made Jackson School a Collaborative Learning Community for All and a system leader of inclusive education across the state.

I hope you all have a well-deserved weekend. 

Anthony