Principal's Message

Anthony Jackson - Principal (Acting)

Issue Highlights

Please find below a summary of this weeks issue:

Students take part in their Transition "Move-Up" Day.
Year 12 Graduation at Club Italia - Goodbye & Good Luck!
Year 6 Graduation Highlights & Achievement Assembly.
"Step" into our 2021 Virtual Art & Design Show.
Official DET letter about children aged 5 to 11 will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations from 10 January 2022.
Jackson School COVID-19 Hotline (0419 529 340) and email (covid@jacksons.vic.edu.au) - please text/email your results here to return to school
This week you will have received your child's end of semester reports by email which outlines your child's achievement and progress against their learning goals. Parents and carers are able to request a hard copy of their child’s report if they would like one through their current class teacher.
Our new Performing Arts teacher is Pagan Newman and will continue working at Jackson in 2022. Pagan and her band Darlinghurst are playing at the Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Christmas Eve.
As another demanding year draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity once again to thank you all of our community for your incredible support and flexibility this year to ensure that our children and young people's education has been able to continue.
Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary.
Allied Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child.
Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Dear Families,

Transition "Move-up" Day

On Tuesday 7th December our students took part in their Transition "Move-up" Day where they got to meet their new teacher and education support staff for 2022. This was a great success and gave us a taster of what classes will be like next year. There may have been some minor changes to class placement for your child based upon staff feedback from Transition Day. These will be confirmed with family in a separate letter.

Year 12 Graduation

Last Wednesday 8th December our Year 12 Students had their Graduation at Club Italia as they now enter into the world of work. It was a very special evening for our students and their families. This was an extra special graduation for me too. Not only is it my first full year in the role as principal but also this cohort was the last class that I taught as a teacher before I became an Assistant Principal at Jackson School in 2015.

Students graduated Jackson with either the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) or ASDAN which is an internationally approved qualification based around the development of personal, social, work-related and independent living skills. Both certificates are pathways to Technical and Further Education (TAFE), university courses, apprenticeships/traineeships or employment. 100% of students have been placed into further education, training or employment next year. I’m so proud of all of you have achieved throughout your time with us and I wish you all the very best for your future lives and careers. We will miss you!

You can watch the Full Year 12 Graduation below:

Year 6 Graduation & Achivement Assembly

This week, all classes came together in the courtyard for our Annual Achievement Assembly where we celebrate our success and achievements aligned to our school values of: Learning, Independence, Safety, Respect and Responsibility. Congratulations to all of our award winners.

This is also where we celebrate our students who are graduation from our Primary School and moving into Year 7 next year. Students were also able to have a celebration lunch together on Wednesday afternoon. I am extremely sorry to our families for the unavoidable technical difficulties we experienced with the live streaming technology. I can understand this was disappointing for families who had planned to watch the ceremony from home/work. Please find below some photos and clips of the Year 6 Graduation.

Virtual Art & Design Show

I would like to present to our the 2021 Virtual Art & Design Show. We were planning on having this in person this year but our staged return disrupted this plan. I'm sure you'll agree at how talented our students are.

Thank you to Lynsey Hagan for preparing the Virtual Gallery to present our student's amazing work and to Paul Calleja for our Design Technology contributions.

Each year Paul would normally enter our students into the Royal Melbourne Show and regularly win 1st or 2nd Prize in the mainstream and special categories. Again this has not been possible this year but we'll keep our fingers crossed for 2022.

Click Here to Enter Our 2021 Virtual Art & Design Show

COVID Vaccination Ages 5-11

Please find below an official DET letter from Stephen Fraser, Deputy Secretary for School Education Programs and Support.

schools-vaccination-5-11-letter-to-parents.pdf

Children aged 5 to 11 will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations from 10 January 2022.

These vaccinations will be available at participating general practices (GPs), pharmacies, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, and state vaccination centres.

The vaccine is one third of the adult dose and will be delivered at 2 separate appointments, expected to be 8 weeks apart. The time between the two doses can be shortened in special circumstances, such as in an outbreak response or for international travel.

The commencement of the program from 10 January 2022 provides an opportunity for all children aged 5 to 11 to receive at least one vaccine dose before they return to school, and their second dose before the end of Term 1 2022.

You are strongly encouraged to book your child or children in to receive their first vaccination before Term 1 begins.

COVID-19 vaccines have been tested, and shown to be safe and effective in protecting against serious illness and reducing the likelihood of COVID-19 spreading. They are important to protect you and your loved ones from COVID-19 and to reduce disruption to your child’s education and out-of-school activities.

Vaccination is not mandatory to attend school, but it is highly encouraged to keep all children and their families safe.

There is extra support for students with disabilities and specialist requirements to access COVID-19 vaccinations. Parents of children with disability who need extra assistance to access a vaccination should contact specialist Disability Liaison Officers who can help make the process easier. The Association for Children with a Disability will hold a Facebook live session for families with children with additional needs on Tuesday 11 January at 10.30am. Register online.

Experts from the Royal Children’s Hospital will hold a Facebook live session – ‘COVID-19 vaccinations for 5- to 11-year-olds: Your questions answered’ on Thursday 16 December at 11am. Refer to the Facebook page for more information.

More information

Resources are available to help you and your child or children prepare for the vaccination:

The Victorian Government’s coronavirus.vic.gov.au website also has information about COVID-19 vaccines in 63 community languages.

For positive cases please let the school know via this mobile number as soon as possible. There is a message bank on the phone for when the phone is unmanned by our rostered COVID Officer. Please note we will only be able to respond to messages and calls within office hours. Families are able to message the mobile number and/or email address 24 hours a day.

Semester 2 Reports to Parents/Carers

This week you will have received your child's end of semester reports by email which outlines your child's achievement and progress against their learning goals based upon the Victorian Curriculum (P-10) or VCAL/ASDAN in Years 11 & 12. These are based upon robust end of term assessments and teacher's professional judgement. There is a section for you to provide any comments or feedback to the classroom teacher on your child's report should you wish.

School Council agreed this year that for our Semester 2 reports we won't print and post student’s reports for parents/carers and encourage families to access them online via Xuno instead. Parents and carers are able to request a hard copy of their child’s report if they would like one through their current class teacher. This is more cost effective, sustainable for the environment and avoid postal delays experienced by some families in Term 2. If you have not received an email from us please make sure your email address is correct with our school office or download your child's report on Xuno.

All of your child's ILPs and Reports are also available on Xuno. Parents and carers will have an opportunity to discuss your child's progress from Semester 2 and their proposed learning goals for Semester 1 2022 at your Student Support Group (SSG) parent-teacher interviews in Term 1.

Carols by Candlelight

Our new Performing Arts teacher is Pagan Newman and will continue working at Jackson in 2022. Pagan and her band Darlinghurst are playing at the Carols by Candlelight at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Christmas Eve.

The event is Vision Australia's biggest annual fundraiser for children's services, where all profits from ticket sales go directly towards supporting over 2,300 families whose children are blind or have low vision. The iconic Christmas celebration has been running for decades, with this year marking its 84th anniversary.

Darlinghurst is a new Melbourne based four-piece Australian Country-Pop group. Their debut self-titled album debuted at #1 on the ARIA Country Album chart. Darlinghurst have just been nominated for three awards at the 2022 50th Anniversary Golden Guitar Awards - New Talent of the Year, Capital News Group or Duo of the Year and Contemporary Country Album of the Year.

Over the past two years Darlinghurst has released six songs landing in the Top 5 #1of the Country HOT 50 chart. Four of the six - Sorry Won’t Get You Back, Gotta Go Rodeo, Where Do We Go and the recent Unfaithful have all climbed to the coveted #1 position.

Vision Australia's Carols by Candlelight will be presented live from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Friday, December 24, at 8.00pm. You can watch the event live on Channel 9 and 9Now.

For more information please visit: https://carols.visionaustralia.org/

Thank you

Today is the last day of the school year for students and staff. Thank you for your understanding yesterday with our planned Curriculum Day. This was unusual timing this year. For students at school today, we will finish at 1pm. School bus services will continue to operate. School Council have agreed on our Curriculum Days for 2022 which are: Term 1 - 28th January & 31st January, Term 3: 12th July, Term 4: 16th December. 31st October and 17th December will continue to be Pupil Free Days as time in lieu for not finishing early at the end of each term and for the Concert in the Courtyard. Fingers crossed this will go ahead in 2022. The first day for students in 2022 is Tuesday 1st February.

As another demanding year draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity once again to thank you all of our community for your incredible support and flexibility this year to ensure that our student's education has been able to continue.

In 2021 – a year when the pandemic response really did start to feel like a marathon due to the challenges of remote learning, staggered days returning to school, and sudden school closures, just to name a few!

I want to particularly acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the leadership team, teachers and education support staff in dealing with major disruptions during Terms 3 and 4. This has been a monumental team effort.

More than ever before, our school has been the heart of our community during these difficult times where many people have increasingly turned to school for reassurance, guidance and support. I hope that this has been useful as you have navigated the challenges faced in 2021. Without the shared commitment from our families and resilience from our students this wouldn't have been possible - a HUGE thank you!

I hope you all have a well-deserved break and I look forward to seeing you all in February.

Have a safe and well-deserved holiday. Merry Christmas!

Anthony