School Start

What have we been up to in the first few weeks of the school year? Teachers and students have been working together to learn those skills needed to be a successful student i.e. the ability to work independently or in groups, the ability to work cooperatively, follow instructions the first time, speak respectfully to each other, have high expectations and pride in their work, develop their organisational skills, learn what it means to be part of the CEPS team (full school uniform, expected behaviours), and have a positive “have-a-go, keep on trying, bounce back” attitude to learning. This learning is ongoing throughout the year and is being constantly reinforced by the classroom teacher and by the students themselves. When all this is in place for your child, then they are set up for success and a great year of learning! These life skills are vital for being successful now, in adolescence, in adulthood and in the workplace.

Parent Committee Meeting

The first meeting of the Parent Committee will take place in the new eating area (due to Covid restrictions) at 7pm-8pm next Tuesday the 15th of February. This is a great opportunity to come along and support the school around fundraising. Ideas around what activities might raise funds for the school would be greatly appreciated.

House Swimming Sports Year 4-6

At the time of typing our school Year 4-6 Swimming House Sports are taking place at the Mentone Grammar pool. The children can participate in a number of events to either just have fun or qualify for the school swimming team who will compete in the District swimming sports. Thankyou to Mrs Robinson our PE teacher for organising the day for the children.

COVID Precautions

Thankyou to the parents who have unfortunately had children affected by Covid for following the guidelines and reporting it on the parent portal and letting the school know.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

If your child is not experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, they can continue to attend school, but you should monitor for symptoms.Students who show symptoms of COVID-19 cannot attend school and should get tested immediately and isolate until they receive a negative result.Students should continue with twice-a-week rapid antigen testing on school days.Students who have recovered from COVID-19 do not need to participate in surveillance testing for 30 days after their isolation period has ended.For information on symptoms visit: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/symptoms-and-risks.For more information on how to get tested visit: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/taking-test-covid-19.

If your child returns a positive result, your child has COVID-19.

You must quarantine your child for seven days
You must advise the school about the positive result
Your child must stay home until their symptoms have resolved and they are well
Everyone in your household is a close contact and must isolate for 7 days.

Reporting your child’s positive test

If your child was at school when they were infectious you need to report the positive case through the Student COVID-19 Test Portal or you can notify the school in writing or by phone.You must also report your child’s positive test to the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398. Further information for languages other than English

For school information in languages other than English, call TIS National on 131 450.
Please ask them to call the DET COVID-19 hotline on 1800 338 663 and they will help interpret.
For translated written information about COVID-19, please visit: Translated information about COVID-19 | Coronavirus Victoria.
For health advice in languages other than English, visit www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/translated-information-about-coronavirus-covid-19

At the present time due to COVID-safe practice, adults are not permitted in the school buildings unless they are double vaccinated. If you wish to see a teacher please make an appointment with them through Dojo. We are not in a position to have large groups of people meeting in indoor spaces at the moment. In the event you are required to meet with a teacher, all visitors must sign the entry and exit book at the main school office entrance. Please respect our health safety arrangements and co-operate with these measures, to ensure the safest conditions for all staff and students at our school. Please use Class Dojo to communicate with the teachers if you do not need to meet face to face with them.

We are following the Department’s guidelines to deal with Covid 19 and have air purifiers in each classroom, ventilation through open doors and windows, everyone using hand sanitiser and social distancing as much as possible.

It has been a very smooth start and I thank our fantastic staff for their wonderful contributions over the

Classroom Dojo

Make sure you use the Class Dojo to communicate with teachers and find out what is happening in the classroom regarding whole school briefings and individual messaging.

School Values

The children will continue working closely together through the coming winter months. This is a great time to reinforce our school values of RESPECT, RESPONSIBILITY, COURTESY and CO-OPERATION with all children. Filling someone’s bucket of kindness should be a priority for all children and adults. Helping others is to be encouraged by everyone and can be done in a variety of ways. It is great to see our Year 6 children looking after the younger children out in the yard.

School Uniform

Our students look amazing in their school uniform. School uniform is compulsory for all students. Please ensure that uniform is clearly marked with your child’s name, particularly hats and jumpers. Thank you so much to our many families who had their children in full school uniform for the start of our school year. Please discourage children from wearing additional clothing items which are not uniform – in particular girls’ coloured leggings/tights. This uniform item is grey. Brightly coloured socks are discouraged.

Emergency Management

The safety and wellbeing of our students is always our top priority. In the coming weeks we will be having our first Evacuation Practice for the whole school. This is to ensure the children are familiar with what to do in case of emergency. The school runs evacuation drills and lockdown drills on a termly basis.

Child Safe Standards

Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people is our highest priority. We know that schools are safe places for children and that principals and teachers work hard to protect all students from abuse and neglect. The Child Safe Standards (Standards) are the result of recommendations from the final report of the Victorian Parliament’s Betrayal of Trust inquiry. All schools have been mandated to self-assess against the Ministerial order 870, which is all about child safe standards. Our school has completed the process which entails having:

A policy with a commitment to child safety.
A code of conduct document that establishes clear expectations for appropriate behaviour with children.
Processes for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse.
Strategies to deal with and remove risks of child abuse.
Strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children.

These are all standards to ensure that the children are protected from abuse and neglect. Reporting Child Abuse When to make a report: Child protection receive reports about children when there are concerns the child is in need of protection. A child in need of protection is a child who has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect, and their parent has not protected or is unlikely to protect the child from harm of that type. To make a report to child protection a person needs to have formed a reasonable belief that a child has suffered or is likely to suffer significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect, and that their parent has not protected or is unlikely to protect the child from harm of that type. A reasonable belief does not require proof. Information provided to child protection when a report is made needs to be sufficiently detailed for child protection to identify the child at risk of harm. Where concerns relate to an alleged perpetrator of abuse, who may pose a risk more generally to all children, the concerns should be reported to Police.

For immediate help:

To report concerns that are life threatening, ring Victoria Police: 000
To report concerns about the immediate safety of a child after hours, call the After Hours Child Protection Emergency Service: 13 12 78. Contact Child Protection:

In Victoria, reports to child protection must be made to a protective intervener, or other appropriately delegated officer. Reports cannot be made via the department’s website or email, as staff who monitor the department’s website are not delegated officers. Almost all reports are made to child protection by phone. To make a report, you should contact the child protection intake service covering the local government area (LGA) where the child normally resides. The telephone number to make a report during business hours (8.45am -5.00pm), Monday to Friday: 1300 655 795 – Southern Department of Human Services Child Protection.

Contact Details

Have your contact details changed? We have already tried to phone parents and emergency contacts only to find that the phone number is no longer valid. It is absolutely vital that we can contact parents/carers at all times.

Attendance/Punctuality

“It’s not okay to be away!” Every minute counts! When students stay away from school their learning and friendships are affected. When children arrive late, they interrupt the learning of other students as well as valuable teaching time.

All children who arrive after 9am must report to the office area first, prior to going to the classroom. This will avoid an “unexplained absence” SMS from the school. We really look forward to the support of our families in ensuring our students absolutely maximise their educational possibilities by being here ON TIME, EVERY TIME. Your commitment to and interest in your child’s education is absolutely vital to their success at school.

Sun Smart School

We are a Sun Smart school and as such children are required to wear a school approved legionnaires or a wide brimmed hat from mid-August to end of April when participating in any outdoor activity (eg lunch times, sporting activities, excursions etc). They are also encouraged to bring a water bottle to stay hydrated during the day. On extreme hot weather days the school will be running a Sweat Day timetable where children stay inside. This will be at the discretion of the Principal.

Thought For the Week

Wayne Bach

Principal

Birthdays

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF WHO HAVE A BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK!