A Message From Anna 

What a windy week we have had for Week 7 of Term 3! While staff were completing First Aid training in the staffroom on Wednesday after school, we kept waiting for the building to lift off the ground and land in Oz! I hope everyone’s houses are safe, without any damage from branches or wind. Hopefully there is some calm and sunny weather soon, so we can all do some sweeping and tidying of our yards!

Book Fair

Over the past week or so, we have held the Book Fair in our school library. Thank you to Deb for running the Book Fair, and to all the families who passed through the fair, purchasing books and celebrating a love of reading.

Father’s Day

As the daughter of a father whose birthday is always the week before Father’s Day, I have been raised to believe this to be the most important week of the year. I hope all the dads in our school community are spoilt and celebrated on Sunday. I hope your feet are warm in brand new socks, and that you get to spend some special time with your families. Don’t forget our Father’s Day Stall is on tomorrow, along with a delicious afternoon tea after school. 

School Saving Bonus

The Victorian Government is making life that little bit easier for families by providing a one-off $400 School Saving Bonus. This support will help cover the cost of school uniforms, textbooks, and school activities like camps, excursions and sports. The School Saving Bonus is in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and the Affordable School Uniforms Program.

The School Saving Bonus will be provided to schools and families in Term 4, 2024. 

Who receives the School Saving Bonus 

The School Saving Bonus is available for parents and carers of all Victorian government school students from Prep to Year 12 in 2025, except for full-fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.  

Actions for parents and carers 

Parents and carers of children who meet the School Saving Bonus eligibility above are required to do the following by Friday 18 October 2024:

• Complete enrolment 

If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025, please complete enrolment. For more information, read about Enrolling in School.   

• Check your contact information 

Ensure your contact information is up to date with us. You can check this information by contacting the office directly.  

Accessing the $400 School Saving Bonus

You do not need to apply for the School Saving Bonus. The Department of Education will email you in November 2024 with your $400 School Saving Bonus. You will be able to access it via an online system.  You can decide how to best use the School Saving Bonus for your family's needs. You can choose how to allocate the $400 in the online system.

The bonus can be used towards 2025 school costs, which may include: 

• camps, trips, excursions and incursions 
• swimming and sporting programs 
• outdoor education programs 
• graduations
• school uniforms
• textbooks

The bonus can be used at our school’s approved textbook or uniform suppliers either in-store or online, or through State Schools’ Relief. The list of suppliers may include a school uniform or bookshop. Any amount that you choose to allocate to textbooks and uniforms will be valid until 30 June 2025. It will then transfer to your child’s school account for future activities.  Funds will roll over for use in future years if it is not all spent in 2025.

Families with more than one eligible child 

Families who have more than one child at the same school can combine their School Saving Bonus payments to use on one child, or for a specific activity. So, for example, a family with 3 children who are all government school students would receive support to the value of $1,200 and choose how they spend those funds. The School Saving Bonus cannot be combined across different schools.

More information 

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus. Translated information will also be available on the School Saving Bonus website in the next few weeks.  

Anna