Event	Date	Permission Due
Year 6 EveryBODY Session 1	Tuesday 17th March
Classroom Helper Induction	Thursday 19th March
Family Portrait Fundraiser	Sunday 22nd March
Athletics Day	Monday 23rd March	9th March
Year 6 EveryBODY Session 2	Tuesday 24th March
GRIP Student Leadership Conference	Thursday 26th March
Cross Country	Friday 27th March
Year 6 EveryBODY Session 3	Tuesday 31st March
Last Day of Term 1 (2.30pm finish)	Thursday 2nd April
SCHOOL FETE!	Saturday 14th November

Brain Food and Brain Break Clarification

Dear parents & carers

Recently we have had questions from some families regarding the snack break or brain break food at school. We are mindful that there is some ambiguity around this and wanted to clarify the situation for the benefit of students, staff and families.

Our morning learning block runs from 9.00 - 11:30am which we recognise is a lengthy session. Official lunch eating time is from 11:30 - 11:40am. In the junior grades, the lunch eating time is often slightly longer and all students who have not yet finished their lunch are encouraged to take the remainder out to Break 1 with them.

In recognition of the long learning block at the start of the day, teachers also provide a short brain break and some time to consume some brain food at approximately 10:15am (refuel and rehydrate time). In many instances, this break may occur as the students continue a learning activity.

Breaks are essential for the brain and learning. When students pause, their minds get a chance to recharge. Stepping away for a moment boosts productivity, sparks creativity, and improves concentration because the brain has time to reset. Eating healthy food and drinking water gives the brain the nutrients it needs to think clearly and concentrate on the task at hand. Small, nutritious snacks can provide a second wave of energy, helping with focus, memory, and overall wellbeing, bearing in mind that students will be eating their lunch relatively soon after the brain break'

Our preference during the brain break is that students have a healthy, 'non-messy' snack to refuel. Selected fruit or vegetables are generally the recommended option for this time. For clarity, snacks such as yoghurt, oranges or sugary treats are discouraged.

Students are welcome to choose any of the foods from their lunch box to eat during the lunch eating time at 11.30am. While balanced and healthy lunches are always encouraged and forms part of our school curriculum, school staff will not be 'policing' student lunchbox contents. A teacher might ask a student to save a particular food item for their lunch rather than their snack; these decisions might vary slightly from class to class and even day to day, depending on the classroom activity at the time.

I hope this provides some clarity around this issue and thank-you in anticipation of your support.

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Kind regards

Duncan

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SCHOOL FAMILIES

Student Arrival

Classroom doors open at 8.50am and we encourage students to enter classrooms at this time to ensure that they are ready to commence learning at 9.00am. We ask that parents support their child to arrive at school on time each day. Arriving at school on time helps children start the day calmly and ready to learn. It ensures they don’t miss important instructions for the morning’s learning and helps minimise disruption to lessons already in progress.

Students should enter school through their designated year level entry/exit door, not the front office door.

Teachers/staff are on playground supervision from 8.45am before school and until 3.45pm after school. Students should not arrive at school prior to 8.45am. For those parents who need to deliver their child to school earlier than this, supervision is available at Team Kids, our Out of School Hours Care provider.

Late Arrival or Early Dismissal

If students arrive late to school, they must sign in at the office and take a late arrival slip to their teacher.

Parents collecting their child early from school must enter the details on the Sentral Kiosk at the front office. We understand that there are occasions when students need to be collected from school throughout the day for appointments or other commitments. To minimise classroom disruptions and for ease of management, we ask that whenever possible, pick-up times throughout the day be restricted to the beginning or end of B1 or B2. (11.30am, 12.20pm, 2.00pm, 2.40pm.)

Absences

Regular attendance at school (and punctuality) are essential in supporting your child’s learning. Even an attendance rate of 90% will mean that your child misses approximately 5 terms of education across their primary and secondary school education. While there are obviously times when absence from school is unavoidable, please do you best to keep this to an absolute minimum. If your child is going to be absent from school, we ask that you phone the office or enter the absence on the Sentral portal by 9.00am. You may also notify your child’s teacher if you wish, however advising the office should be your first step as the office staff manage all absences.

The Department of Education requires all unexplained absences to be followed up. If your child is marked as an unexplained absence by their teacher, you will receive a text message from school requesting an explanation.

Contact Details

It is very important that you advise the office staff of any changes to your contact details or those of your emergency contacts. Contact details should include current address, contact phone numbers, email addresses and alternate emergency contacts.

Visitors & Child Safe Practices

All visitors to the school, including parents & carers, must report to the front office and sign in using the Sentral Kiosk located at the front desk. Visitors must also collect and wear a Visitor’s Badge whilst at the school. This practice is a requirement of Child Safe Legislation.

Visitors must not visit classrooms to deliver forgotten items such as hats or lunches. These can be left at the office if necessary.

Student toilets / bathrooms are exclusively for the use of students. Parents & carers are not permitted to enter student toilets under any circumstances; if your child needs adult assistance, the bathroom adjacent to the school office is available for this purpose.

Working with Children Checks

All volunteers working in schools (this includes classroom help, excursions, School Council membership, etc) must have a current Working with Children card. It is free to apply and only takes a few minutes by visiting Working with Children Check.

Privacy

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 and the Collection Statement.

Car-parks & Safety

The safety and well-being of our students, staff and visitors is of paramount importance at all times. In light of this, please note:

The staff car-parks at both the front and rear of the school are for staff use only. They are not for parent parking or for student drop off or pick-up. Students are not to walk through carparks at any time, and we ask for your assistance in not walking through with them.
Parents are required to observe the time restrictions in the Kiss & Drop zones on Koonung Road and Lantana St. Between 8.15 & 9.15am and 3.00pm & 4.00pm, the zone is designated as No Parking and is intended as drop-off and pick-up only with a 2-minute limit. Vehicles should not be left unattended during these times and should not be parked here waiting for school dismissal. We also ask that you follow all traffic signs and restrictions and show consideration to our neighbours by leaving their driveways clear at all times.
Please also avoid double parking and U-turns wherever possible – these are extremely dangerous at busy times.

Anaphylaxis

We have a significant number of students at Old Orchard who are anaphylactic. Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening condition involving a severe allergic reaction, often (but not limited to) foods such as nuts or dairy products. We ask that parents support us by avoiding the use of peanut butter, Nutella and other nut products wherever possible, particularly in classes where there is a child with anaphylaxis. Another extremely element of our management plan is to not allow the sharing of food between students. We thank you for your support in this matter.

Communication with School Staff

Maintaining open, honest and effective communication is a high priority at Old Orchard. Parents & carers are encouraged to communicate regularly with their child’s teacher; however, we do ask that you do so at a mutually convenient time. A detailed policy is available on the school website and the Sentral Parent Portal. The following extract addresses some key points:

Expectations of school and staff

Staff school email addresses will be made available to parents
Staff will endeavour to respond to emails and phone calls within 48 hours initially and if a more detailed response is required or appropriate, within 7 days
Staff are not expected to complete administrative work in the evenings or on weekends
Staff will communicate respectfully and honestly
The school will provide timely notification of school events and activities wherever possible.

Expectations of parents

Parents are expected to communicate respectfully and honestly (aggressive communication is not acceptable and staff have been advised to discontinue such interactions and refer the matter to the Principal or Assistant Principal)
Parents are reminded that staff are not always available for ‘on the spot’ meetings particularly before or immediately after school
Remember that your child may not always have told you the entire story – take the time to listen to your child and also to speak calmly with the teacher to gain a complete context of any incident
In general, it is most effective to raise a concern with the class teacher in the first instance – following up with an email summarising the discussion is also a useful strategy
If an issue is urgent, contact the Principal/Assistant Principal directly
Parents are expected to read information that is distributed in relation to school events, activities and procedures

If you feel that out of hours communication is of an urgent nature or extremely high priority, please contact the Principal in the first instance at duncan.cant@education.vic.gov.au.

Messages to the office during the day

In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in parents & carers contacting the office during the day asking that messages about pick-up arrangements, etc be relayed to their child. We understand that emergencies do arise and communication of these messages will be supported. However, ‘reminders’ about after school arrangements or similar are strongly discouraged and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to communicate these messages to your child. We thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Personal Items Brought to School

The Department of Education does not hold insurance for, nor does it accept responsibility for private property brought to school by students, staff and visitors. Students are discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school and do so at their own risk.

School Uniform - Sunsmart

School uniform is compulsory and a wide variety of new and second-hand uniform items are available for purchase. In accordance with our Sun Smart policy, the wearing of ‘sun-smart’ hats (either broad brimmed or legionnaires style) is compulsory from mid-August through until the end of April. Students who do not have a hat to wear will be required to play in the allocated 'No hat, no play' areas. We encourage students to have a have a small supply of sunscreen at school and to apply this prior to the B1 and B2 play breaks. (Please note that staff are not permitted to apply sunscreen on students.)

Dogs in the School Ground

The Old Orchard Primary School Dogs in School Policy is reflective of the fact that many of our parent community enjoy walking the family dog to and from school in the morning or afternoon.

Please note the following:

• Dogs must be on a leash and under control at all times and in the control of a responsible adult

• Dogs are not to be walked through the main front gates near the office (please enter via the pedestrian gate at the end of the asphalt)

• Dogs are not to be tied up at the gate or fence or left unattended at any stage

• There is a dog free zone (near the sandpit and prep entrance) as this is an extremely congested area, before and after school

• Dogs are not to be brought inside school buildings, this aligns with the guidelines surrounding our school therapy dog, Ginger.

• If your dog becomes agitated or aggressive around people or other dogs, you will be asked not to bring your dog to school in the future.

Mobile Phones

In accordance with the Department of Education’s mobile phone policy, personal mobile phones must not be used at Old Orchard Primary School during school hours, including lunchtime and recess, unless an exception has been granted. Please refer to the school website for the Mobile Phone Policy. Any mobile phone brought to school by a student must be handed to the school office staff upon arrival and collected at the end of the day.

Bikes and Scooters

A significant number of our students opt to ride bicycles or scooters to and from school. Students are not permitted to ride in the schoolground in the mornings and not until after 4.00pm in the afternoons. In addition, students must wear safety helmets when riding. This is a legal requirement as well as a commonsense safety precaution. Please note that electric bikes and scooters are not permitted to be used in the schoolgrounds at any time.

Excursions and Incursions

Permission for your child to attend excursions and incursions needs to be provided on the Sentral portal. We ask that permission is actioned by the requested date to prevent office staff from having to follow up on this.

Following up approvals for excursions, etc is extremely time consuming and impacts significantly of the workload of our teachers and admin staff. Families will only receive one reminder following the initial notification. It is the responsibility of parents and carers to respond by the appropriate date to ensure that their child does not miss out on special events and activities.

The Harvest

2026/7 · 13 Mar 2026

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