Principal News

Student attendance at school; parents legal obligation

Parents are legally required to ensure your child attends school every day (including being on time and not leaving early).  If your child misses school you must promptly contact the school on the day of the absence and provide an explanation unless permission has been already been granted (which will then be recorded).

Parents are highly encouraged to avoid planning holidays or making routine medical appointments during school time.  Where possible, you should inform the school in advance of upcoming absences.

If your child reaches 5 days of unapproved or unexplained absence in the preceding 12 months then the school will work with you to implement the appropriate support or intervention to assist your child and ensure they attend school every day and remain at school during school hours. The  principal can make a referral to the School Attendance Officer - http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/parents/behaviour/Pages/attendance.aspx#link35

School phone calls

We are currently experiencing an alarming increase of the number of phone calls from families requesting alternate arrangements for student pickup during or at the end of the day.  This is interrupting classroom learning time.  The following is the updated process:

• Unless an emergency situation, the office will not be accepting/relaying such calls to the classroom.
• Families are to communicate directly with the classroom teacher via a written note (with a minimum of 24 hours notes) if a change of arrangement is required.
• At 3.45pm students still remaining in the yard are to go to the office for further arrangements to be made (not beforehand).

Empowerment Project callout

We are looking for family members who may be interested in assisting and contributing time to our school Empowerment Project this term in Junior School. We are thrilled with the activities run by parents and members in the past and are interested in the skills and learning our families can contribute to our students.

Whether this is gardening, building, cooking, cubby making or maintenance work, team helping with odd jobs around the school, students are receiving life learning experiences. If you would be interested in running an activity or assisting where possible, come and have a chat about how you can be involved.

We are also looking for ways in which we can reach out and support our community with this project and are open to suggestions families may have to achieve this.

If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the Empowerment Project and how you can be contribute, please contact Jessica Doolan.