Late Arrival/Early Departures

Please read the attendance article below. One statistic that is really concerning is that in the past fortnight we have had 74 students signed in late and over the year to date this figure is 1200. We know there are certain times due to an emergency or important appointment that a child is late but these statistics are really concerning. Please make every effort to get you child/children at school before the music starts. This gives them time with their friends and the opportunity to settle and go to the bathroom before formal learning begins.

Education Minister’s new mobile phone policy

On 26 June 2019, the Minister for Education, the Hon. James Merlino MP, announced a new mobile phone policy for every government school in Victoria.

The new mobile phone policy comes into effect from Term 1, 2020, and requires that students who choose to bring mobiles phones to school must have them switched off and in a secure location as identified by the school.

In the event of an emergency or if you need to contact your child, I ask that families contact the staff in the school office who will pass on a message as needed.

We are currently working on our own local mobile phone policy which will implement the Government’s announcement in a way that reflects the needs of our own community.

Student Requisites

School Council has set Parent Payments for 2020 at the following:

$165 per child or

$110 with a valid Health Card which must be presented at the office.

We would appreciate payment by Friday 13th December 2019. All pre-paid book packs will be delivered to the children in their classrooms on the first day of Term One 2020.

Parents are also invited to make a donation to the school for our new oval seating area and shade cloth if they wish. This donation is tax deductible and would be very much appreciated as we are focusing on our oval and building facilities in 2020.

Many Thanks.

Teachers 2020

The specialist staff for 2020 has not been finalised yet but we are able to announce the following

STEAM- Gary Hindle

Music- Chris Ramm

PE- Lauren Stephens

Art-yet to be decided

Transition Days

As usual the students will be involved in a 2 day Transition Program on Monday 9th December and Tuesday 10th December. Children will spend these days in their new grade area. Grades will be randomly selected and are not an indication of grade placement in 2019. Students will get a chance to find out how their new unit operates, chat about programs that operate at that level, where to line up etc. These days will give students a feel for their new grade. Batesford students for 2020 will attend the Batesford Campus and the Grade 4 students at Batesford returning to Rollins in 2020 will attend the Rollins Campus.

Parents will be formally notified of grade placement on Wednesday 18th December.

Final Assembly

There are two remaining assemblies- tomorrow(Friday 6th December ) and Friday 13th December. At the assembly on Friday 13th December we will announce the new school captains and house captains for 2020.

Final Day for Students for 2019

Students finish school for 2019 on Thursday 19th December at 3.30pm. School resumes for Grades 1-6 on Wednesday 29th January 2020.

Many Thanks

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to our success during 2019- the staff, parents, students and School Council. I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and hope that the time that is spent together over the holidays is filled with great memories and enjoyable times. Good luck to our Grade 6 students as they move into their secondary education. May this experience be filled with many character building experiences, successes and enjoyable times. See everyone else again in 2020 for another big year!

Rollins PS welcomes The Resilience Project

As parents, carers and teachers, together we can help equip children with the tools to foster positive mental health and I am pleased to announce to our school community that we will be launching our whole school wellbeing program in partnering with The Resilience Project in 2020. Mr Callaghan has had many discussions with the team at The Resilience Project in planning our teacher professional learning, engaging student sessions and an informative parent session for early in 2020 in promoting evidence-based, positive mental health strategies to build resilience and happiness.

“Resilience is best described as one’s ability to bounce back from adversity, whether it’s something large or small. The ability to cope when unexpected things happen will, to a large extent, dictate a child’s wellbeing and happiness. For a child, those tough times might mean anything from moving home, changing schools, studying for a test, a traumatic experience or dealing with the death of a loved one. But, while it’s tempting to try to protect kids, it’s important to let them deal with the challenges that come their way. One of the ways that we can support the development of a resilient child is to allow them to make mistakes and to experience what it’s like when things do go wrong. Our initial thoughts as adults is to protect and shield children from these kinds of incidents when in actual fact, they are less likely to cope when something does happen if we continue to step in.

Simply put, adversity breeds resilience."

Below are just a few of the recently published statistics on mental health.

1 in 4 adolescents have a mental illness
1 in 7 primary schools kids have a mental illness
1 in 5 adults will experience mental ill-health throughout the year
65% of adolescents do not seek help for mental illness

It’s estimated that one in seven Australian children experience mental health issues in their childhood.

With potential family and friendship problems, body image issues, bullying, abuse or worry, combined with childhood being a vulnerable time of life, it’s important to look out for children and adolescents.

The World Health Organisation says that mental health is part of being a healthy child. They define mental health as a state of wellbeing, not just the absence of mental illness, which means the aim of adults is to help children thrive, not just cope. As parents and teachers, I look forward to us working together in promoting positive mental health strategies for health and happiness for all students and in creating a culture where gratitude, empathy and mindfulness and everyday language and experiences across the school.

For more information about The Resilience Project please head to their website at

https://theresilienceproject.com.au/

Assemblies 2019

There are two assemblies left in 2019-

Friday 6th December - Prep ST will perform for you.

Friday 13th December. On Friday 13th December we will be announcing our School Captains and House Captains for 2020.

Music Performance

Prep ST will perform for you this week.

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Attendance

Rollins Primary School recognises that being at school on time and attending every day contributes towards a student's learning and that maximising school attendance enhances academic outcomes.

We take attendance very seriously at Rollins PS and have a goal to have as close to 100% of student attendance as possible.

Whole school attendance rate year to date (YTD)	Whole school attendance rate past fortnight
91.4%	89.6%

Student Attendance Level: Proportion of students attending 90% or more YTD

(90% equates to missing one day a fortnight or a week a term)

68.8%

Grade	Prep	Grade 1	Grade 2	Grade 3	Grade 4	Grade 5	Grade 6
% attendance rate YTD	92.2%	91.6%	92.7%	89.7%	91.8%	90.7%	91.4%

Whole school late attendance year to date (YTD)	Whole school late attendance past fortnight
1216	74

For more information regarding attendance please follow the link to the Education Department's Attendance Policy

Principal's Pondering

A Growth Mindset message...

Research has explained a growth mindset as ‘a willingness to confront challenges, viewing failure as a springboard for growth, and a passion for learning. Not surprisingly, this type of mindset is strongly linked to greater happiness and achievement in life.’ Children who are happy, comfortable, safe and confident have a greater outcome with learning and socialising.

Here’s a child friendly video as made by one of our communication apps, Class Dojo, that explains it brilliantly. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zrtHt3bBmQ

Dates to Remember

December