Dear Parents and Caregivers,

We welcome everyone to Term 1 and what we are sure will be another wonderful year at Tarneit Rise Primary School. This week, it has been wonderful to see excited children about the school and observe how settled they are, ready for learning. Even though staff have been preparing for the start of the school year for some time now, the school only truly comes alive once the sounds of our children can be heard across the school grounds.

We would like to extend an extra warm welcome to all our new families and children. We are looking forward to getting to know you all!

We have new staff joining us this year. We welcome to Tarneit Rise Primary School the following new staff:

Paul Quarton – Prep teacher
Kelly-Anne Marsden – Grade one teacher
Doris Narayan – Grade one teacher
Emily Kelly – Grade two teacher
Sharon Samuvel – Grade three teacher
Stacey Scanlon – Grade three teacher
Rayz Yanga - – Grade three teacher
Kate Ferguson – Grade four teacher
Julia Chowles – Grade four teacher
Nico Chowles – Grade five teacher
Sarah-Jane Smith -– Grade six teacher
Alice Polasek -– Grade six teacher
Steven Biddle – Facilities Manager
Shani Bar – School Nurse

I am excited to share Tarneit Rise Primary School was recognised nationally as the School of the Year in 2025 for the Explicit Maths Program (EMP). Last year we introduced this program in grades Prep-2 and this year we are extending the program to grade 4. EMP is a high quality, rigorous, and evidence informed mathematics program and has already improved outcomes for children in maths. We are very proud of this award and the high quality of instruction provided at TRPS.

This year we changed our book pack distribution process. I would sincerely like to thank families for working with us by purchasing the book pack through our third-party provider. We have had two thirds of families purchase book packs for their children! If you have not yet purchased a book pack, and would like to, this can now be done through the school office as the portal has closed. Please see the admin team and they will help you with this.

We kindly ask that, where possible, families collect their children from Tarneit Rise Primary School before travelling to collect siblings from secondary school.

This will help ensure that the younger primary school students are collected on time. While this may mean that secondary school students need to wait a little longer, given they are older, this is the preferred and more appropriate option.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in supporting the smooth and timely collection of all students.

Here at Tarneit Rise Primary School, we celebrate the many different cultural and religious backgrounds represented in our student cohort, our families, and our staff. We would like to pay respect to the staff, children, and parents/ caregivers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds. We would also like to acknowledge the increasing diversity in the gender identities of the adults in our community, and we invite those of you who identify as non-binary to let us know if you have a particular preference regarding your title or pronoun reference. We are also here to support our children who are navigating their gender identity and their families.

Throughout the year you will often hear us address the importance of attending school each day. Daily school attendance is important for all children to succeed in education and ensure they do not fall behind both socially and developmentally. Children who regularly attend school have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives. It is important children develop the habit of attending school daily at an early age. There are no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student misses puts them behind and can affect their longer term educational and social outcomes. It is just as important for students at the beginning of their school journey to be at school each day as it is for those who are moving on to secondary school next year. EVERY day is important to ensure solid foundations for learning are built. We will continue to rigorously monitor student absences, particularly unexplained absences, which means you will receive a phone call from the school any time your child is absent for unexplained reasons and sometimes even when the absence is explained. If your child is absent, please inform us before 10 am of the reason. We will also not approve absences due to extended family holidays which occur during the term. Whilst it is more expensive, in terms of your child’s development, it is an investment in your child’s future by going on family holidays during the school holidays.

When at school, it is expected all children are wearing either the complete sports uniform or the complete academic uniform (please see below). Our school uniform is important because it fosters a sense of belonging, it represents Tarneit Rise Primary School within our community, and it reduces the focus on what children wear in comparison to others. Therefore, uniform infringement notices will be issued to children who come to school wearing non-uniform items of clothing or who are wearing a combination of items from the sports uniform and the academic uniform. Regarding our school uniform and children’s personal presentation, it is essential:

children only wear the complete sports uniform or the complete academic uniform
children are in full school uniform every day, unless there is a casual dress day
all uniform items are clean in appearance
garments are kept in good repair
children wear their uniform neatly
all uniform items are clearly named. We recommend student labels be ironed or sewn on to each uniform item rather than written. Student name labels should also be on the inside of garments only
nail polish or false nails (acrylic, shellac, SNS, gel) are not worn
only small, plain, and round gold or silver stud or sleeper earrings are worn in earlobes
if children’s hair reaches their collar, it is secured off the face using black, teal or hair colour clips, clasps, hair bands and hair ties only
cultural headdress is to be either white, black, or teal only
the only hat that is worn is the Tarneit Rise Primary School hat

We have many children here at Tarneit Rise Primary School who ride their bike to school. Given this, it is important our community understand bike laws in Victoria. Of particular importance are the following:

when you are riding a bike, you and any passengers must wear a properly fitting and fastened helmet unless you are riding on private property. Your helmet must meet Australian safety standard AS/NZS2063
A person can also be exempt from wearing a helmet for religious reasons if religious headdress makes wearing a helmet impractical. An exemption certificate is not required in these circumstances. Visit the VicRoads website for more information about exemptions from wearing a helmet.
riders must ride at a safe speed, especially around pedestrians on shared paths and footpaths and slower bike riders
children 12 years old or under and 13 years or over and riding with a child who is 12 years old or under permitted to ride on a footpath
when riding on a footpath, riders must keep to the left and give way to pedestrians
children can ride on the road, but it may be safer for them to ride on the footpath. Children 12 years or under can ride on footpaths, bike paths, shared paths, and separated footpaths. If you are 13 years or older and you are accompanying a child 12 years or under, you can ride with them on a footpath.

Annual privacy reminder for our school community

Our school collects and uses student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the schools’ privacy policy and the schools’ privacy collection notice.

Our Photographing, Filming and Recording Students policy describes how we collect and use photographs, video and recordings of students. The policy also explains when parent consent is required and how it can be provided and withdrawn.

We ask parents to also review the guidance we provide on how we use Google Workspace for Education safely at the school and what parents can do to further protect their child’s information. If after reviewing the guidance, you have any questions or concerns regarding your child using Google Workspace for Education, please contact the school.

For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ privacy policy: information for parents. This information is also available in eleven community languages:

Amharic
Arabic
Chinese
Dari
Gujarati
Mandarin
Somali
Sudanese
Turkish
Urdu
Vietnamese

And finally, here at Tarneit Rise Primary School we are very proud of our school, our students, and our community. One of the reasons our school operates so well is because of our active and enthusiastic School Council. Each year we conduct elections for School Council. Parents and Department of Education (DE) members are elected for a period of two years. Community members can also be co-opted to School Council for up to two years. This year there are three parent positions to be filled (2 years) and one DE position.

Returning parent councillors are Vidhi Patel, Madhavik Patel, Nancy George.
Returning DE councillors are Piumi Arumapperuma

We encourage people to seriously consider getting involved in School Council which meets once a month (last Monday of the month – dinner is at 5.30pm and the meetings begins at 5.45pm). School Council is an important decision-making body in the school. Any parent or carer of a student can be on School Council. School Councillors need to be prepared to work in a positive and constructive way with other parents to shape the future of our school, support our students and improve our school. No experience is necessary. Information and induction/training sessions are provided.

This year our school is undergoing our school review and school council plays a big part in this review and setting up the next school strategic plan.

How do I nominate for the election?

If you decide to stand for election, collect a nomination form from the front office, or call so we can arrange to have one sent home with your child. Nominations open on Monday February 9th and close the following Monday February 16th. Complete all details and return the form to school. It is that easy! A ballot will only be held if the number of nominations exceeds the number of vacant positions. Please see us or any other councillor if you would like more information or have any questions about being on School Council. Current councillors are

Nadia Bettio, Grant Dew, Piumi Arumapperuma, Lucy Williams, Maha Narayanan, Vidhi Patel, Madhavik Patel, Nycole Jarvie, and Nancy George.

Remember these dates:

Monday February 9th – Nominations Open
Monday February 16th - Nominations Close
Tuesday February 17th – Ballot Papers issued (if required)
Tuesday February 24th– Close of ballot
Monday March 30th – AGM and first meeting of new School Council

We look forward to seeing you all at Meet and Greet on Thursday 19th February and at our Harmony Day celebration on Friday 20th March. More information will be provided closer to the events

We wish you all the very best for the year ahead!

Warmest wishes,

Nadia Bettio

The Fortnight Ahead