General Reminders

The school newsletter is published fortnightly. Please familiarise yourself with the Calendar of Events located at the back of the newsletter. Due to Term 1 being an extremely busy term, this, combined with Compass, will be the best place to access information relating to all upcoming events during the term. Upcoming events will be listed at the earliest possible opportunity, however this is dependent on dates being finalised in time for publishing.
Students are no longer permitted between the Drama Centre and the Primary School play area, with the exception of going to and from a PE class in the Gym or a Student Assembly in the Drama Centre.
Students are not to remain in corridors during recess and lunchtimes unless advised otherwise by a staff member.
For safety reasons, there is to be no running in and around the school buildings; please save this activity for the school oval and/or the basketball courts.
Please ensure you are attending class with all the necessary items you need to learn (charged laptop, stationery, exercise and text books and any required homework).
All sign-up sheets for inter-school sports will be placed on the sports noticeboard in the Link corridor. We encourage students to try out new sports in addition to those they are passionate about. Due to there being a limited time to submit teams in any given sport, we ask that you please sign up for your chosen sport/s as early as possible.
Sports equipment can be collected from and returned to the Year 12 Common Room, located opposite the library, each recess and lunchtime. Please ensure you are responsible for what you borrow, making sure to return it and have your name ticked off prior to your next class.
Guitar Club will once again be running on a Friday lunchtime, with the room/location yet to be confirmed. For further information, please speak to Mr McClure.
After school Basketball will be running again this term, from 3:30pm - 5:00pm in the gym. All students are welcome to attend.

Uniform

All students are required to attend school in complete school uniform, including school hats, beanies, socks and shoes. Please refer to the school website, beaufortsc.vic.edu.au, for all uniform requirements. If, for any reason, it is not possible for a student to attend in their full uniform, students will require a note from a parent or guardian stipulating the reason. If you have financial concerns relating to the uniform, please speak with one of our Assistant Principals, Simon De Zoete Spiero, Jackie Kerr or Kate McGinty, at the earliest opportunity. Uniforms can be purchased from Crockers, Ballarat.
Skirts, dresses and shorts must be of an acceptable length (generally between the knee and mid-thigh)
Hats and beanies are not to be worn inside, including both corridors, classrooms and the Gym. Please don't wait to be asked to remove them.
Hair past shoulder length is to be tied up at all times. Once again, please don't wait to be asked to do so. If you do not have a hair tie, please see Mr. De Zoete Spiero.
Earring studs, small sleepers and discreet necklaces may be worn, while the only facial piercing permitted is a small nose stud. Students will be expected to remove all other facial piercings and visible jewellery, including rings.
Discreet and natural makeup and nail polish are acceptable.

We acknowledge uniform may have taken a ‘back seat’ throughout the past few years of COVID, however, we are committed to our ‘high expectations’ with uniform and have placed a significant focus on correct school uniform in 2023. We ask for your support in making this happen. We will provide further information regarding uniform in our next newsletter.

Upcoming School Events

Sports Carnivals

During Term 1 we hold our House Swimming and Athletics Carnivals, which all students are expected to attend. On the day, students are encouraged to support their team by wearing their House colours. For the Swimming Trials and Carnival, all students are expected to wear appropriate swimwear (one piece bathing suits for girls). If you do not have an acceptable one piece bathing suit, you will be required to wear a t-shirt or rash vest over the top of any bikini or two piece suit. Please remember, this is a school event and it is expected that appropriate attire will be worn. It is also important to have all the necessary requirements on the day.

Students need to ensure they are prepared and bring the following:

Water Bottle
Coat (in case of inclement weather)
Sneakers/Runners suitable for competing in sporting activities (athletics only)
Packed Lunch (Canteen facilities may or may not be available on the athletics day)
Bathers and Towel (swimming only)
Sunscreen
School Hat

School Photos

These will be held on Tuesday the 7th of March. All students are required to attend in complete school uniform, with long hair neatly tied back. If you are experiencing any difficulties with providing the required uniform, please speak to one of our Assistant Principals prior to the event.

School Library

Our school library is a fantastic place to sit quietly with a good book, play a quiet board-game with friends, catch up on some schoolwork and generally hang out. Students are very fortunate to have this inviting and accessible space available to them and it is equally important that they not only respect the facility, but also other people utilising the space. It is open Monday through to Thursday, each recess and lunchtime.

Student Centre and Canteen

Our Student Centre and Canteen are located at the far end of the school Gym. The Student Centre is air-conditioned during the warmer months and heated in the cooler months, making it the optimal place to be. Like all our facilities, it is expected that students will clean up after themselves and be respectful and responsible with all items in this space.

CSEF Support

CSEF- Camps, Sports and Excursions Funds

The CSEF is an annual payment to the school to be used towards camps, sports and/or excursion expenses for the benefit of the eligible student.

To be eligible: a parent or legal guardian of a student attending a Secondary School must:

Hold a Veterans Affairs Gold Card or hold an eligible Centrelink Health Care Card (HCC) OR Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) OR
Be a temporary Foster Parent and:
Submit an application to the school by the due date

Payment Amounts:

Secondary School students $225 per year

The CSEF is paid directly to your child’s school and will be allocated by the school towards camps, sports and/or excursion costs for you child.

The school will require a copy of your current Health Care Card.

CSEF forms are available from the General Office.

Applications close on the 23rd June 2023.

Staff Announcements

We would like to extend a warm welcome to returning staff member, Kate McGinty. Two years ago, Assistant Principal Kate, moved with her family to live and work in Darwin, in the Northern Territory. Kate has since returned to the team as an additional Assistant Principal, working alongside Jackie Kerr and Simon De Zoete Spiero. Welcome back, Kate!

We would also like to welcome new staff member, Kim Westrope, to the team, as our new Hands on Learning Coordinator. Kim has 35 years experience working within the Education Department and was previously an Assistant Principal in Kerang, Victoria. Welcome to the team, Kim!

Year 7 Camp Information

This year's Year 7 camp to Halls Gap, will take place at the very beginning of Term 2, running from the 26th - 28th of April. Please keep a lookout for the relevant information that will be sent home during Term 1.

Privacy Collection Notice

Information for students, parents and carers

The Department of Education (the department) values your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal and health information that schools collect.

All school staff must comply with Victorian privacy law and the Schools’ Privacy Policy. This notice explains how the department, including Victorian government schools (schools), handles personal and health information. On occasion, specific consent will be sought for the collection and use of information, for example, for a student to receive a health service. Our schools are also required by legislation, such as the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, to collect some of this information.

Throughout this notice, ‘staff’ includes principals, teachers, student support service officers, youth workers, social workers, nurses and any other allied health practitioners, and all other employees, contractors, volunteers and service providers of the school and the department.

On enrolment, and during the ordinary course of a student’s attendance at a school, schools will collect information about students and their families for the following purposes:

educating students
supporting students’ social and emotional wellbeing, and health
fulfilling legal obligations, including duty of care, anti-discrimination law and occupational health and safety law
communicating and engaging with parents
student administration
school management
supporting policy in relation to student education and wellbeing.

If this information is not collected, schools may be unable to provide optimal education or support to students or fulfil legal obligations.

For example, our schools rely on parents to provide health information about any medical condition or disability that their child has, medication their child may take while at school, any known allergies and contact details of their child’s doctor. If parents do not provide all relevant health information, this may put their child’s health at risk.

Our schools also require current, relevant information about all parents and carers so that schools can take account of safety concerns that affect their children. Parents should provide schools with copies of all current parenting plans and court orders about or that affect their children and provide updated copies when they change.

When parents enrol their child in primary school, they will be asked to provide personal and health information in several ways, including via the Enrolment Form, the School Entrance Health Questionnaire (SEHQ) and the Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) Transition Form.

The Enrolment Form is used to collect information that is essential for the purposes listed above, and requests information such as:

Emergency contacts – Individuals parents nominate for a school to contact during an emergency. Parents should ensure that their nominated emergency contact agrees to their contact details being provided to the school and that they understand their details may be disclosed by the department if lawful, e.g. in the case of emergency communications relating to bush fires or floods.
Student background information – Information about country of birth, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin, language spoken at home and parent occupation. This information enables the department to allocate appropriate resources to schools. The department also uses this information to plan for future educational needs in Victoria and shares some information with the Commonwealth government to monitor, plan and allocate resources.
Immunisation status – This assists schools to manage health risks and legal obligations. The department may also provide this information to the Department of Health and Department of Families, Fairness and Housing to assess immunisation rates in Victoria, but not in a way which identifies students.
Visa status – This is required to process a student’s enrolment.

All schools may use departmental systems and online tools such as apps and other software to effectively collect and manage information about students and families for the purposes listed above.

When schools use these online tools, they take steps to ensure that student information is secure. If parents or carers have any concerns about the use of these online tools, please contact the school.

School staff will only share student and family information with other school staff who need to know to enable them to educate or support the student as described above. Information will only be shared outside the school (and outside the department) as required or authorised by law, including where sharing is required to meet duty of care, anti-discrimination, occupational health and safety, and child wellbeing and safety obligations. The information collected will not be disclosed beyond the school and department without parent consent unless such disclosure is lawful.

When a student transfers to another school (including Catholic, independent and interstate), personal and/or health information about that student may be transferred to the next school. Transferring this information is in the best interests of the student and assists the next school to provide the best possible education and support to the student. For further detail about how and what level of information is provided to the next school, refer to the: Enrolment: Student transfers between schools

Schools only provide school reports and ordinary school communications to students, parents, carers or others who have a legal right to that information. Requests for access to other student information or by others must be made by lodging a Freedom of Information (FOI) application.

To update student or family information, parents should contact their school.

For more information about how schools and the department collect and manage personal and health information, or how to access personal and health information held by a school about you or your child, refer to the: Schools’ Privacy Policy

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