Canteen/Breakfast Club

The canteen will operate with a limited menu Thursday. The Canteen and Breakfast Club will not operate on Friday.

Breakfast Club Thank You

We are very fortunate to be able to provide a breakfast club to the students at Merbein P-10

5 days a week. A big thank you to the regular staff that work in the canteen to provide the food: Kylie, Michelle, Kim, Wayne, Mel, Cheryll and Evelyn. We are also lucky to have the wonderful support from the Bendigo Bank and the volunteers from our local community groups. A Big Thank You!

School Uniform Shop and Main Office Opening times in 2020

Monday 20th and Wednesday 22nd January the uniform shop will be open from 1.30pm till 6.30pm.

On Tuesday 28th January 2019, the school main office will be open from 8.30am - 4.30pm.

Uniform Shop - Uniforms can be purchased from the main office.
CSEF Forms - A Camps Grant for eligible families can be collected and submitted at the main office.
Bus Travel Forms - Bus Forms for families eligible for Bus Passes will be available for collection and submission at the school main office.
Family Payment/Fees - Family statements with payments owing will be available from the main office. These can be paid on the day or arrangements for payments to be made in instalments can be negotiated.
Secondary Book Collection - Collins Books will be set up in the School Canteen. Textbooks can be collected - payment to be made to Collins Books on the day.

BYOD Portal

The school provides access to netbooks and desktop computers for all students. Students in Years 4-10 also have the option of bringing their own digital device for use at school. Our technicians will set up the device so it can be used both at school and at home. BYOD offer significant advantages for students. They can be customised for each individual student and will operate at fast speeds. They can also be used at home for personal use. Many families may already have a device at home that can be readily set up for use. If you decide to get a new device for your child, they can be purchased from any of the normal suppliers. The school has also set up a parent portal with JB Hi-Fi, which gives families easy access to purchase a device that is preferred for school use. The link for the portal is www.jbeducation.com.au/byod Please contact the office for the school code. This is optional for families to use and devices may be purchased from any company.

Family Payments 2020

All secondary students should have previously received the family payment schedules for 2020 along with the booklists. Primary family payments for 2020 have increased by $20 per student. This increase means that the swimming program will be completely covered by the excursion levy and there will be no need to pay any extra money for the bus for this program. Please see the attached Primary Family Payment Schedule for more information. The Parent Payments Policy and copies of all Family Payments schedules are also available on the school website.

Term 1 Dates 2020

The Merbein P-10 staff will be back at school on Tuesday, 28th January and students will start Wednesday, 29th January.

NSW Bus Information for 2020

Below is the Transport for NSW "Guidelines for managing school student behaviour on buses" link.

https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/news-and-events/reports-and-publications/guidelines-for-managing-school-student-behaviour-on-buses

Victorian School Buses for Last Day of School

On the last day of this school term, Friday 20th December 2019, ALL SCHOOL BUS afternoon runs will commence one hour earlier than a regular school day.

NB: ALL PUBLIC SERVICE ROUTES WILL CONTINUE TO RUN AT THEIR NORMAL TIMES AS PER THE CURRENT TIMETABLE.

Any student that would normally catch connecting buses will be required to make their own arrangements.

Wherever possible, Buslink Sunraysia staff will be happy to advise and assist.

Conveyance Allowance Program

The Conveyance Allowance Program offers families in rural and regional Victoria help with the cost of transporting their children to their nearest appropriate school or campus. Students must be attending the nearest school appropriate to their year level and reside at least 4.8km from the school by the shortest practicable route to be eligible.

Eligible students can receive a conveyance allowance based on:

the least expensive public transport fares and/or
a distance based allowance when travel is by private car or private bus.

Parents applying for the allowance must complete an application form and return it to school. We will then process applications using the Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS).

Uniform Shop

School uniforms can be purchased from the school’s main office between the hours of 8.45am and 4pm during the school week. If these hours are inconvenient for you, please ring the school to make an alternate arrangement.

School Bank Account

BSB - 063 714

Bank Acc Number – 10060535

Account Name - Merbein P-10 College Official Account

Weekly Newsletter Emailed

The school distributes a weekly school newsletter every Thursday to families via email. With our new inewsletter you can now receive the weekly newsletter on your mobile phone if you have the school COMPASS App installed on your phone. Please give us feedback on our new Newsletter system and let us know what you think. If you have not received the newsletter by email, please notify the school to either of the following email addresses: Giddings.beth.l@edumail.vic.gov.au or

merbein.p10@edumail.vic.gov.au, with the subject Newsletter Email, so this can be rectified.

Students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 who would like to take home a printed copy of the newsletter each week, can collect one from the main office every Thursday at 3.15pm.

Breakfast Club

The Merbein & District Community Bank is financially supporting the Breakfast Program. Foodbank Victoria also supports the breakfast program with donations of food. The following organisations provide volunteers to assist with the program; the Board & Staff of the Merbein & District Community Bank, Merbein Development Association, Merbein Lions Club, and Merbein Uniting Church. Merbein P-10 College parents are welcome and encouraged to volunteer. The Breakfast Program is held in the school cafeteria. All students are welcome to come along between 8.00am and 8.45am each morning if they would like a FREE tasty breakfast to kick-start their days learning.

If you have time to volunteer for this community service from 8-8.45am on school days, please contact the school, we would love to hear from you. Please note that volunteers will need a Working with Children’s Check.

Student Absences

If your child is away from school, please notify the school before 10am. The preferred method to notify of absences is via the compass portal or by phone or sending an email to the following email address: Collihole.heather.h@edumail.vic.gov.au

An automated text message will be sent to your phone if your child is not at school and the school has not been notified.

Merbein P-10 College Newsletter

Issue 25 · 18 Dec 2019

In this issue