Years 7 & 8

YEAR 7 COORDINATOR

Beth Alvarez 

beth.alvarez@preshil.vic.edu.au

I hope all families had a restful break and I am thoroughly looking forward to this year. I am your Year Level Coordinator and my goal is to encourage my students to be resilient, creative and above all happy young people inside and outside of school. I’d like to officially welcome you or welcome you back to our Preshil community and please feel free to contact me at any time.

YEAR 8 COORDINATOR

Anthony Cavagna

     anthony.cavagna@preshil.vic.edu.au

As your Year Level Coordinator I wish you all a warm welcome to Preshil for 2021. I look forward to supporting the students to continue to grow as learners throughout the year and will be in regular contact with them, parents and Year 8 teachers to encourage this.

Year 7 transition

Slow and steady wins the race! Due to restrictions at the time, the students did not receive the Transition Program we would like to have delivered at the end of 2020. Therefore we have a well thought out program planned for the first few days of term to ensure they feel comfortable and in control of their school life. 

Parent Information Evening

A Parent Information Evening for Years 7 & 8 will be held on Monday 8 February at 6pm. This will be a great opportunity to meet teachers and other families. Beth and Anthony will be discussing all things relating to both year levels, so it is important you attend if you can. 

Camp Week

Melbourne Experience, 15-19 February

As you would have read in Anthony's recent email, we unfortunately had to cancel our Canberra camp. We are putting together a wonderful program for our Years 7 & 8 for this week and, as promised, will endeavour to get information to you as soon as we can.

Compass, student email and Google drive

We ask that parents please log onto Compass as soon as possible. You may wish to also download the app to your Smartphone. Both email and Compass will be the main communication tools between students, teachers and parents. The calendar on Compass will include important dates such as camps, school events and assessment tasks. Your child’s timetable is also visible on Compass. More information regarding the use of Compass will be provided at the Parent Information Evening. 

In 2021, students have not been issued with a school diary. They are encouraged to use Google Calendar to organise their schedule. Some students may opt to use a good old-fashioned diary however. Please help your child by regularly looking through their calendars and/or diaries with them, taking note of important dates and reminders. 

Lockers and locks

Locker allocation took place on the first day of school. Each student in Years 7 & 8 will need to provide their own combination padlock. To avoid theft or damage to books and devices, all lockers are to remain locked when not being accessed. Please be reminded that lockers are school property and students need to maintain them so that they can be handed on to future year levels. 

Absences, lateness and leaving early

If students are absent, a parent/guardian needs to notify the School. This can be done on Compass through the parent portal, by phoning the school on 9817 6135 and leaving a message on the Absence Line or by emailing judy.o’donnell@preshil.vic.edu.au. It is the student’s responsibility to check Compass and/or make contact with their teachers when they are absent. Additionally, if students have private lessons at school in the Instrumental Music program, their teacher needs to be advised beforehand of any absence.

It is expected that all students get to their Homeroom promptly at 8.50am so we suggest your child should arrive at school by 8.40am to ensure they have their books ready for Periods 1 and 2. Any student arriving after 8.50am must sign in at the office. If students need to leave early, a parent/guardian must provide permission and collect their child from the office. 

Homeroom and its teachers

This year’s Homeroom teachers are:

7A   Kate Ellis

7B   Rob Grundy

8A   Amy Byrne 

8B   Natalie Kunst

Please note that your Homeroom teacher is your first port of call as they will be seeing your child at the start of every day and are an added support network for them. You may wish to contact these teachers regarding extended absences, general wellbeing concerns or other day-to-day questions or concerns. We will be regularly visiting the Homerooms and can’t wait to catch up with everyone.

We look forward to a healthy and exciting 2021 and hope to see you all at the Parent Information Evening.

Beth & Anthony