Important information and reminders

Supervision

Homestead gates and library are open at 8:10AM and students will be able to enter. Passive supervision is available between 8:10AM and 8:45AM in the library. Formal supervision in the form of Period 0 begins at 8:45AM until 9:15AM, from then Session 1 starts. Morning supervision is in the library only however students are also able to be in the Cafe and Breakfast Club during Period 0.

The day concludes at 3:00PM, supervision in the form a Yard Duty is provided until 3:10PM. Passive supervision is available and the library is open to students until 4:20PM.

Traffic Congestion and Bus stop

In the morning and afternoons, we can get a bit of congestion. We ask that parents are mindful of this. Most students should be able to walk a little further down from the crossing on Coaching Parade to be picked up. 

Parents must not park in the driveways of homes/the road crossing, the admin carpark or the bus stop. Families have been fined for parking in the bus stop, we would not want this for anyone.

Camp, Sports and Excursions Fund

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.

If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amount this year is $250 for eligible secondary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

It is important that funding made available in 2024 supports students to participate in school trips, camps and sporting activities this year rather than being held for future years. This funding can also be used in conjunction with any funding accrued from previous years. 

If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office via the school email and ask for an application form. homestead.senior.sc@education.vic.gov.au

You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page.

Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.

Parent Payment Policy

Homestead Senior Secondary College is looking forward to another great year of teaching and learning and would like to advise you of Homestead’s voluntary financial contributions for 2024.

Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard Victorian curriculum and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary. Nevertheless, the ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. We want to thank you for all your support and contributions where you are able. This makes a huge difference to our school and the programs we can offer.

Anyone who has not paid the suggested $200 contribution who is in a position to do so, please contact the front office to arrange payment. Thank you. 

For further information on the Department’s Parent Payments Policy please see a one-page overview.

Privacy Collection Notice

It is important that all families know that the Department takes very seriously the collection of private information. Please see the Privacy Collection Notice via the link below. The College Privacy Policy can be found the the schools website, in the policy manual, under parent information.

Progress Reports, Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences and Semester Reports

Homestead has already published its first cycle of progress reports. If you have not checked your child's yet, please do so, they are important. Progress reports are an indication of progress within an identified period of time, usually 5 weeks. Teachers make judgements in the areas of Achievement, Behaviour and Effort. 

The rubric by which teachers assess a student can be found here.

Parent, Student, Teacher Conferences

Parent, Student, Teacher Conferenceswill be held from 12pm-7pm on Wednesday 27 March. We hope that all parents are able to make it to this important event. The day will not have scheduled classes however students are expected to attend with parents/guardians.

The conferences will be a hybrid, the morning session being online and the afternoon session being in person. We anticipate that all families will have the opportunity to partake in these valuable conversations.

Students complete SACs at senior school. SACs (School Assessed Coursework) are formal assessment tasks that are completed in a semester. Most subjects have three SACs in a semester. To satisfactorily pass the unit, students must achieve a satisfactory result in every SAC. The pass rate is 50% on the task, if this is not achieved, teachers will work individually with students through our redemptions process to achieve the satisfactory result. The secret to passing is to attend and do the work, not really a secret. The results of these SACs, including a comment about the achievement level is on compass within two weeks of having the tasks completed. These comments are then compiled into an end of semester report. We call this continuous reporting and as a result, students, parents and guardians should never be surprised at the time of reading the reports.

Parents may receive a variety of notifications from the school in regard to student progress or lack of progress. We would like to remind parents that these are not punitive but rather a strategic, systematic and supportive process to support all students to stay focused and achieve satisfactory outcomes in the end.

Being at school, and on time is important

The number one factor influencing student achievement and wellbeing is strong attendance at school.

At senior college, 90% attendance is the minimum requirement for a student to be able to pass. It’s never ok to be away, but this is highlighted in a senior setting where work missed is learning not taking place. At this time parents and guardians may have to be cruel to be kind – ensuring your child attends every day is vital to their success. They may get annoyed at you now but they will thank you at Graduation.

If attendance becomes a concern we will contact you to discuss.

Uniform

Student compliance to our uniform requirements has been excellent.

points to note:    

• PE uniform is to be worn ONLY during PE Practical classes - change before and after class-our change rooms are amazing
• Black School shoes only - black runners are not school shoes
  • Air Force 1s are not approved school shoes. Students will be asked to remove the metal tab for the day and must be in correct shoes the following day.
• No coloured tops under uniform - a white long sleeve T-Shirt is OK
• No facial piercing rings - a clear plastic stud is ok
• Dark Blue socks only
• Students at senior school can and will be sent home to change is if a concern is observed
• We are here to help-if attaining basic uniform items is difficult, contact us and we will support where we can.

Compass Parent Portal

Compass is our main form of communication. Parents have been been emailed login letters for parent portal. Only one account is provided per family address. The primary contact on enrolment is the primary contact in compass. The secondary contact will use the same login when required. Parent portal information should never be provided to students, they have their own portal and login. Please contact the college if you are not able to log in, it is essential for regular communication, student timetables, attendance, reporting, 

School Council Elections

A new term of council will commence on March 20. Homestead will have 3 parent and 1 student vacancies and we strongly encourage any parent or student who may be interested to consider putting their hand up to being on school council. Further information will be published via compass in the coming weeks.

Bus Fire Preparedness - Homestead is rated as a CODE RED school for the purpose of bushfires. 

What does this mean? 

The state SES has 4 fire ratings which change depending on the conditions forcast for each day. The highest alert rating is "Catastrophic". If this rating is forecast, the DET must shut our college. The community will be alerted the previous day, usually by 1pm and the school will be closed to all community members. This includes students, parents and staff.

It is important that always, but especially on hot days, students and parents are actively looking out for their emails and compass alerts. 

Bike Shed

The college has a very impressive bike shed. It is great to see so many students already using it. Families should know that the bike shed is not locked during the day. Students should ensure that they secure their bike each time they leave it.

Homestead Cafe and Breakfast Club

Homestead Cafe is run by students and open every morning during Period 0 and again during lunch. In the morning, we also have breakfast club to help the students wake up and transition to a positive day of learning. 

We hope all students can make their way down to the Cafe for a chat, a drink and a feed, from 8:30am.

Excursions

College excursions, be they whole school, cohort or individual classes are designed to enhance the delivery of the curriculum offered. It is important that families and students see these as positive opportunities and participate. The college sets reasonable timeframes for excursions and will not accept any late payment or permission. The college position on minimum number of students is 80% of the relevant group, this means that students who choose not to attend not only lower the quality of their educational experience but also may affect the experience of others. 

Sometimes excursions finish earlier than the school day. In these instances, and as a standard, because of the age of our students, students will be dismissed no earlier than 2:30pm.

Please do not hesitate to contact the college should you have any questions or require support with excursions, permission or payments.

School Bus

The college has a dedicated bus route that caters to for students in our local area. The bus route is an extension of the bus route that also caters to the Alamanda students. 

Families can find more information, maps and times of the bus route on the college website. 

Homestead Canteen

This year we have a new canteen provider. The canteen menu and information on online ordering can be found on our college website.