Change to school office hours

Please note our school office hours are changing. Our new hours are 8:30am - 4:00pm.

Student Attendance Matters

At Miners Rest Primary School, we are committed to providing a safe, supportive and engaging learning environment for all students. Regular school attendance plays a vital role in student learning, wellbeing and social development. Every day at school provides valuable opportunities for students to build knowledge, develop relationships and participate fully in school life.

We recognise that absenteeism and truancy can have a significant impact on a student's academic progress and wellbeing. For this reason, Miners Rest Primary School expects all students to attend school and participate in learning for the full school day, every school day.

Parent and Student Responsibilities

Parents and carers can support positive attendance habits by:

Ensuring students arrive at school before the start of the school day at 8:55am (students should not arrive before 8:45am unless participating in a supervised activity).
Ensuring students attend school every day unless they are unwell or have an approved absence.
Notifying the school of any absence as soon as possible and providing an explanation for the absence.
Supporting students to be organised and ready for learning each day.
Avoiding unnecessary interruptions to classroom learning through late arrivals or early departures.

Late Arrivals

Students arriving after 8:55am must report to the Administration Office to sign in and collect a late pass before proceeding to class.

Early Departures

Where possible, appointments and family commitments should be scheduled outside school hours. If a student needs to leave school early:

A parent/carer must contact the Administration Office to inform of an early collection. Parents are kindly asked to attend the Administration Office 5 minutes prior to their intended collection time to allow staff time to arrange for the student to be collected from their classroom and brought to the front office.
Students must be signed out through the school's system. If you need help, there are instructions next to the iPad to support you. You're also welcome to ask our friendly staff for assistance should you need.

Limiting disruptions to student learning time helps ensure all students can fully engage in classroom activities and maintain continuity in their education.

School Bell Times

Time	Session
8:45am 8:55am	Morning Supervision Commences Learning Commences
11:00am - 11:20am	Recess
1:20pm - 1:35pm (Eating time) 1:35pm - 2:20pm	Lunch
3:20pm	End of School Day

Reporting Student Absences

If your child is absent from school, please notify the school as soon as possible using one of the following methods:

Sentral Parent Portal (update your child's absence online)
Phone: Contact the school office and provide the reason for the absence via the absense line.
Email: Send absence details to the school office email address
Respond to any student absence notification sent by the school
Proactively notify your child's teacher or the school office of any known future absences

Providing timely absence notifications helps the school meet attendance requirements and ensure the wellbeing and safety of all students.

Working Together for Student Success

Regular attendance is one of the greatest contributors to student achievement. By working together, families and the school can help ensure every student has the best opportunity to learn, grow and succeed.

Head Lice Reminder

Head lice are a common occurrence in primary schools and can affect anyone. Parents are encouraged to regularly check their child's hair and commence treatment promptly if live lice are found.

In accordance with Victorian Department of Education requirements, students with live head lice must be excluded from school until the day after treatment has commenced. Please note that the presence of eggs (nits) alone does not require exclusion from school.

We appreciate families working with us to minimise the spread of head lice and support the health and wellbeing of all students.

Family Statements

Last week, we emailed everyone their Family Statement. Family Statements are sent out via an autogenerated system.

How do I read my statement ?

A -negative amount at the bottom of the statement means your family has credit available to use. Credit may be a combination of unallocated previous payments ie. SSB, or unused CSEF.

You can opt to use this credit by selection ‘Use School Credit’ when you are responding to SENTRAL permissions. NB: It is a manual process for staff to update SENTRAL when using Credit. Please allow up to 7 days for SENTRAL invoices to show as PAID.

Camp Payments

You may find that you have partial credit to use toward the total cost of a camp but not enough to cover the whole cost. In this situation, please indicate on the SENTRAL permission that you would like to use ‘School Credit’ and then make a ‘top up’ payment to cover the difference using the BPay Biller details shown on your invoice. BPay details are unique to your family. The invoice on SENTRAL will show UNPAID until the full amount of the camp/excursion is covered by the ‘top up’ Payment.

Top Up Payments | BPay

BPay is our preferred method of payment. Your BPay Biller code is specific only to your family and will go straight to your account.

SSB | There may be some SSB transactions on your account. This is left over from last years SSB (School Savings Bonus initiative). Please ignore any SSB transaction.

Please reach out if you have any questions via email: miners.rest.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Thank you,

Penny Kaletsch

Business Manager

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