Volunteers @ DPW

The induction program covers information around the Victorian Child Safe Standards, Occupational Health & Safety and a familiarization tour of the school.

The Victorian Department of Education states:

Volunteers should be inducted, trained and supervised according to the school’s procedures for staff or volunteer induction and management. This includes being familiar with school level procedures for identifying and reporting suspected child abuse.

Should you wish to volunteer at DPW (attend excursions, assist in the library, etc.):

Contact the school office to add your details to the volunteer expression of interest form
Supply the school office with your Working with Children (WWC) Clearance (we will take a photocopy for our records)
Complete a volunteer induction session facilitated by the school (offered at the beginning of each term and if there are sufficient numbers, to offer an additional session during the term)

If you have any further questions, please contact the school office.

Canteen 2023 -No canteen in 2023

No canteen in 2023 until further notice. Students will need to bring their own snack and lunch from home.

Single-use plastics ban

From Wednesday 1 February 2023, Victorian businesses and organization's (including schools) will not be able to sell, supply or provide a number of single-use plastic items.

Items that will be banned from 1 February 2023

The ban applies to the following single-use plastic items made from conventional, degradable or compostable plastics:

drinking straws
cutlery including knives, forks, spoons, chopsticks, sporks, splades and food picks
plates
drink stirrers and sticks
cotton bud sticks.

The ban also applies to:

food service items and drink containers made from expanded polystyrene.

For more information on items that will be banned, refer to this fact sheet.

Exceptions to the ban

People who need single-use plastic drinking straws due to disability or for a medical need will still be able to purchase and use these items.

Schools can continue to purchase single-use plastic straws from their suppliers so that these are available when needed.

There is no requirement for individuals to provide verification of disability or medical need when requesting straws.

For more information on single-use plastic straws and other exceptions to the ban, refer to our new Single-Use Plastics Ban policy.

Implementing the ban

Schools can continue to use up existing stock before the ban starts on 1 February 2023. Banned items cannot be provided after this date, even if they were purchased before the ban.

From 1 February 2023, all businesses and organisations' (including schools) will need to comply with the regulations and ensure they do not purchase, supply or provide any banned single-use plastics.

Schools with canteens and out of school hours care programs operated by third parties should ensure their operators are aware of the ban.

Schools should make plans to replace single-use items with reusables. Where it is not possible to use reusable items, schools can choose single-use items made from alternative materials – such as uncoated paper, wood or bamboo.

When procuring new supplies, note that:

single-use plastics have now been replaced with suitable alternatives wherever they exist in the COS catalogue
COS is working with its suppliers and the Victorian Government to identify and replace all remaining single-use plastic products in the catalogue.

If schools expect to have significant excess stock, for example, unopened boxes of banned items after 1 February 2023, please email: sup.policy@delwp.vic.gov.au

School community communications

Please note that the offences relating to the ban do not apply to private or domestic activities at home, for example, individual families’ decisions about lunch packaging brought to school. The intention of the ban is to remove the specified items from the supply chain before they reach the consumer.

Draft newsletter text is available in the resources section of our Single-Use Plastics Ban policy, for schools that would like to share information about the ban with their school communities. There are also posters that can be used around the school, such as in the canteen, if schools want to use them.

Policy, guidance and resources

Our Policy and Advisory Library includes all related policy information, guidance and resources under the relevant menu tabs:

Single-Use Plastics Ban.

Find out more

For more information, refer to:

For further enquiries, email our Environmental Sustainability team: sustainability@education.vic.gov.au

Food sharing and student birthdays

At Deer Park West Primary School, we acknowledge and celebrate individual students’ birthdays in many ways appropriate to their year level. This may include the class singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and the student wearing a special item e.g. badge indicating it is their birthday.

At our school, the safety and health of our students is of the utmost importance and therefore food treats as gifts are strongly discouraged. It is exceedingly difficult to verify the ingredients in every food product that is brought to school. Furthermore, we have students with a wide range of moderate and severe allergies to various nuts, milk products, wheat, soy and fruits.

Therefore, we request the following:

If food items are being shared, they must be individually pre-packaged e.g. Freddo frogs
Consider other options such as non-food items such as a pencil or sticker

Please note the following:

No food items that contain nuts
No lolly bags
No cakes or food items that need to be cut up or distributed
No home prepared foods

If families wish to bring above items, these will be distributed at the end of the day for students to take home.

Please find attached our student birthday's policy.

School Buildings

A reminder that the school buildings are off limits before and after school to students and their families, including students who attend before and after school care. If students need to return to their classroom or if you need to speak to a staff member, please go to the office first, walking around the outside of the school. Only staff should be in the school buildings during before and after school hours unless a meeting has been arranged. Please ensure you sign in at the office first. The school office closes at 4:30pm, so anything after that time will need to be dealt with the following school day. You can always call and leave a message, email the school or contact the teacher via Seesaw. Students should not be entering a staff members office at anytime.

Student Safety Online

Many of our students are very active online. Some of this time is spent safely playing games and chatting to friends. However increasingly we have found that there have been some negative consequences of their interactions online and at times this carries over into the school environment. As soon as we are aware we talk to students and parents and work to resolving any issues. Last term, police from a special unit came to speak to our Year 5 and 6 students about online safety. They explained what kind of risks can be present online. Students were very surprised to hear about these risks and did not realise that your digital footprint is forever and that even when you delete something it can still be found.

As these incidents occur at home it is really the responsibility of the parents to monitor their children’s actions online and to guide them and keep them safe. To assist you, we have attached some of the information shared with students for you. As much as we can help deal with some of the incidents, often it is difficult for us to deal with things which have happened outside of school hours. It may be important for you to direct your concerns to the police.

Academy Uniforms

Below is the link to our new uniform supplier Academy Uniforms, along with a uniform price list. Our school uniform can now be purchased from Academy Uniform in Derrimut.

Tissues

It would be appreciated if each child could bring a box of tissues for their classroom each term. We thank you for your kind donation.

School Hats

All students will be required to wear a school hat when outdoors between the 1st of September until the 29th of April (1st week of Term 2 2022). During May-August we still encourage the students to wear their hats when outdoors but it is not compulsory.

School hats are available from Academy Uniforms. Please ensure your child's name is clearly written on their.

DPW Communication & Learning Apps

Please click on the link below to access our Communication & Learning apps which are available for families to download and use. Staff at DPW will use these apps to communicate with our families.

The Principal, Assistant Principals and Administration staff use the Compass app as their way of communicating with families, sending out important information daily/weekly . Parents/Guardians can access their child/rens school reports on Compass.

If you are having any issues with your Compass app or log in details, please contact the school office on 9363 3519.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast club runs everyday except Wednesdays. Students need to wait at the front gate at 8:30am and a staff member will come and collect them. Reminder breakfast club is only for students who can not have breakfast at home and students must eat breakfast while attending. If you require supervision of your child/ren in the morning or after school, please contact Camp Australia.

School Captains