Child Safe Standards and Kids Helpline

As part of our obligation to the new Victorian Child Safe Standards (see below), we frequently talk to our students about ways we can equip students with the knowledge, skills and awareness to feel safe and ask for help (Child Safe Standard 8). Our Respectful Relationships program focuses on educating students to identify Help Seeking strategies and their Trusted Adults.

For e-Safety week, all students will explore the Kids Helpline website (https://kidshelpline.com.au/) and bookmark this on their devices. The website has the direct call number for Kids Helpline as well as an online chat function that is very easy for children to navigate. We recommend spending some time together at home to explore the resources together. The website includes an interactive ‘feelings’ page that navigates children to a number of relevant stories to support different emotions and experiences.

IDAHOBIT day in the EPS community

“We were so happy to see so many students get behind and support by wearing rainbow colours. Our highlights of the day were going around to classes to hand out prizes for best dressed and celebrating our differences with a fun lunchtime disco that all year levels enjoyed.”

– by Maia, Remi, Sophia, and Millie, Year 6 Student Wellbeing Leaders

Achievement Program

Exciting news! Our school has been awarded Victorian Government recognition for Sun Protection & Safe Environments in the Achievement Program. This means we have successfully demonstrated how we are meeting best practices for this health area. We are very proud of this recognition and are particularly proud of our SunSmart policy improvements, auditing and updating protective equipment, creating a welcoming entry space for visitors, and meeting all areas for best practices in providing a safe environment for students, staff, and the school community. The Achievement Program is a free health and well-being initiative for schools. More information about the program can be found here. Our next focus area is Mental Health & Wellbeing.

Bayside Youth Awards - Molly D

We are so proud of Molly D for her recent nomination in the leadership category at the Bayside Youth Awards. Molly received this nomination for her initiative and leadership in taking ownership of planning, designing, gathering news stories, and writing up our EPS student newsletter. She believes that students should get their own line of communication just as parents do and aims to create a safe space for all our students to share their voice, interests, and achievements.

POLICY UPDATES

Communication Guidelines

Our EPS Communication Guidelines have recently been reviewed by our Education Subcommittee. The guidelines explain how Elsternwick Primary School proposes to manage common inquiries from parents and carers. Elsternwick Primary School understands the importance of providing helpful and timely responses to common inquiries from parents and carers. EPS encourages parents/carers to actively engage with the school. This relationship is vital to maintaining a positive and productive school community and is an important part of a student’s learning and wellbeing. The full policy will be available on our website shortly, with a summary of the Communication Directory below.

COMMUNICATION DIRECTORY

Talking to…	Talking about…	For Example…	How to Communicate…	Response Time…
School Office	School administration The School Office is often the first point of contact for a parent/carer. The School Office will channel requests, feedback, and concerns to the right people for you	Safety & repair needing immediate attention School fees & payments Timetabling appointments for the Principal and AP Urgent messages for teachers and/or other staff General queries	Phone call Email In-personneed	Immediately or ASAP
School Council	School-wide safety issues	Grounds Health and safety Parent/Carer communication Policies or guidelines Finance or budgets Health and Safety Outsourced programs	Phone call/letter to the School Council President or other members of the School Council Email	Acknowledged with proposed course of action at next school council meeting
Parents/carers and Friends Association (PCA)	Questions or comments regarding issues around PCA functioning as well as issues impacting on school community spirit	Communication Fundraising Social events	Discussion with Class Rep or PCA Executive	Acknowledged by Year Level Rep or PCA Executive within 1-5 days and such matters normally discussed at termly PCA Executives meeting Urgent issues will be address on a weekly basis
Class teacher	Your child’s progress and/or happiness or the curriculum It is not appropriate to raise an issue face to face during school hours as this does not allow the teacher involved to give you their full attention	Home reading Not wanting to go to school Any positive feedback for the teacher Unhappy in class or at lunchtime Educational event info e.g Naplan/excursion Absence note Assisting in the classroom Organisational queries, such as lost property	Email Make an appointment time for a phone call response If necessary arrange a face-to-face meeting	Generally acknowledged within 2 school days with proposed course of action
Grade team leader	Your child’s progress and/or happiness or the curriculum due to seeing the issue as a team-wide concern/query Students from several classes in the same grade are involved It is not appropriate to raise an issue face to face during school hours as this does not allow the teacher to give you their full attention	Inconsistent messages/expectations from teachers within the team Bullying issues across classes within the level Clarification of a learning unit Homework guidelines Positive feedback about teacher performance	Email Make an appointment time for a phone call response If necessary arrange a face-to-face meeting	Generally acknowledged within 2 school days with proposed course of action
Assistant Principal	School-wideCyberbullying issues Your child’s progress or wellbeing because other channels (i.e. teacher, team leader) have been tried Child Safety Officer	Child Safety Act Complex student issues Cyber bullying and bullying issues Curriculum Student welfare issues such as accessing Speech Pathology or Psychology, if you have difficulty making payments Issues involving school staff School-wide Behaviour Management Approach	Email Phone front office and arrange a meeting time Letter	Acknowledged within 1-5 school days depending on urgency of issue
Principal	School-wideStaff issues Your child’s progress or wellbeing because other channels (i.e. teacher, team leader & Assistant Principal) have been tried Parents/carers are encouraged to request a meeting to discuss more serious matters Child Safety Officer	Child Safety Act School safety issues such as parking School policy Very complex student issues School staff School management issue	Email Phone front office and arrange a meeting time Letter	Acknowledged within 1-5 school days depending on the urgency of the issue

How to find our full list of policies:

Warm regards,

Nicola Smith and Morgan Ili

Wellbeing team

Team Kids News

Mary Christofis - Director of Service