Dear families,

I extend a warm welcome to all our new staff, Preps, Year 7’s and their families as we begin our academic year for 2022. I certainly commence this year full of hope after a very smooth start for all our students. It has been a delight to speak to our new families at the gate and begin to match children to their parents. We have cherished having all our students here onsite and, in their classrooms, learning with their teachers face to face. Our new preps have loved the playground and have certainly been actively exploring their new surroundings. Our students are to be commended for the way they have returned and settled into familiar routines with our newcomers in prep and Year 7 currently being introduced to our values, culture and expectations. I know beginning something new can be daunting, as it has been for a few, however with routine comes security and confidence in their new surroundings which is essential for personal health and wellbeing.

It has been a pleasure to welcome our new staff to our growing community of 620 learners from Prep to Year 12.

Mrs Deena Kaltmann (Maths and Science High Ability), Mr Lachlan Christopher (Year 5/6 teacher), Mr Nicholas Burgess (Tutor - Primary), Mrs Casey Sperling (Year 2 teacher), Ms Dotti Li (Secondary Art), Ms Hera Li (Mandarin), Mr Matt Salisbury (Secondary Mathematics), Mrs Julia Cutelle (Visual Arts – Primary), Mr Robert Fell (Music – Primary), Mrs Kathryn Sawyer (Secondary VCE English), Kruti Vaghela (IT Support)

College Council Elections

All secondary students and Prep to 12 families will be emailed essential information regarding our college council election process for 2022. The call for nominations officially opens on Monday 14th February and the closing date is Monday 21st February. Nominations must be emailed or delivered personally to the administration office by 4:00pm on Monday 21st February. Please note: Late nominations cannot be accepted. Hard copies of the nomination forms are available from the administration office. The current vacancies are:

Parent Category 3 VACANCIES
School Employee Category 1 VACANCY
Student Category 1 VACANCY

Parent Access to the College

Parents remain welcome onsite under the current restrictions, however I do ask that you do not enter the classroom learning spaces unless checked in and able to show evidence of their vaccination status. Should you be required indoors to meet with a staff member, a mask is mandatory.

Student accident insurance, ambulance cover arrangements and private property brought to school

Parents and guardians of students who do not have student accident insurance are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for injured students, including the cost of ambulance attendance or transport as well as any other transport costs. Parents and guardians can purchase insurance policies from commercial insurers.

The Department of Education does not hold insurance for personal property brought to schools and it has no capacity to pay for any loss or damage to such property. This includes: mobile phones, calculators, toys, sporting equipment or cars parked on school premises. Students should be discouraged from bringing any unnecessary or particularly valuable items to school.

Hats are Compulsory from Prep to Year 12 @ Altona College which is a SunSmart School

All students are required to wear a school hat outdoors during physical education, breaks and class activities. If students do not have a hat they will be directed to a shaded area. Please ensure your child has their hat when they return to the college on Monday.

Secondary School Immunisation Program – Year 7 & 10 students

Immunisation for Year 7 students - Human Papillomavirus (HGPV) and Diphtheria Tetanus Pertussis (Whooping cough) (Boostrix)

Immunisation for Year 10, Meningococcal vaccine

The Hobsons Bay Council Community Life Immunisation Team will be visiting our school to conduct annual immunisation program for Year 7 and 10 students. Information will be sent home to families in a clearly named envelope and ALL FORMS must be returned even if parents do not wish their child to participate in the immunisation program.

Primary School Parent Teacher Interviews Wednesday 16th February

We will be holding “Getting to know you!” parent teacher meetings on Wednesday 16th February. Mr Kelly our Primary Assistant Principal has emailed information to families via COMPASS to enable you to book a time with the teacher.

The Importance of Full-time Attendance

Schooling is compulsory for children and young people aged from 6-17 years unless an exemption from attendance or enrolment has been granted.

Daily school attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they do not fall behind both socially and developmentally.Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomesand higher incomesacross their lives.It is important that childrendevelop habits of regular attendance at an early age.

School participation is important as it maximises life opportunities for children and young people by providing them with education and support networks.School helps peopleto develop important skills, knowledge and values which set them up for further learning and participation in their community.

All students are expected at school every day, parents are requested to contact the office as soon as practicable if a student is unwell and unable to attend school. Parents can also advise of an absence via the COMPASS App.

Communication requests

Our college is rapidly growing and we have a home room system in the secondary school to ensure that all students have a key contact that knows them well. These teachers meet with your child daily and we have held additional homeroom sessions in the past fortnight to enable your child to get to know them well. Parent communications must be directed to the home room teacher in the first instance via the administration office. Please explain the reason for your call and the message will be passed on via email. Alternatively, you may email the teacher directly. Staff check emails following their daily teaching and meeting commitments. They make every effort to respond via phone within 24 to 48 hours. If there is additional follow up required the teaching staff will liaise with the year level coordinator. Email is also an effective way to initiate contact with staff and increase the likelihood of a timely response. When emailing a query to the school, please ensure that you provide both your full name, the name of the child you are enquiring about and a brief summary of your query. This will ensure staff can liaise with each other as required and hopefully resolve your query in the first instance of communication.

Senior staff and the Principal team have planned weekly schedules including external meetings and class coverage when staff are absent. Requests for appointments should again be made via the administration office after first speaking to the homeroom teacher. We will make every effort to respond within 24 to 48 hours. Unfortunately, we cannot cancel planned commitments or classes to respond to families who turn up at the office requesting immediate attention. If the situation is urgent please notify the office staff and they will advise a member of the team as soon as they are available to seek a response. Appointments may be made in advance via administration.

An added layer of complexity around timely communication comes as we respond to increasingly demanding Child Protection laws. In accordance with Child Safe standards, we will not respond to communication from anyone who cannot be verified as an approved contact for the child in question. This ensures that the whereabouts and identity of our students are protected to the best of our ability. If you are liaising with external support services, please ensure that you inform us of the contacts name, their agency and the specific information you require. We cannot respond directly to tutors, medical services or extended family and friends without clear written consent from an authorised parent/carer. It is usually preferable for families to remain in control of information sharing between schools and the many agencies that might be accessed by families to support learning, health and wellbeing.

We have had an incredibly smooth start to the academic year and it has been wonderful to see our community slowly returning to normal. We look forward with anticipation to our first term of learning.

Julie Krause

CORONAVIRUS – How can we all help?

Stay home when unwell

The most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), is to ensure that any unwell staff and students remain at home and get tested, even with the mildest of symptoms.

Students with underlying conditions (such as hay fever or asthma)

If a student has persistent symptoms due to an underlying condition such as hay fever or asthma, the student should still be tested for coronavirus (COVID-19) if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms.

Parents/carers should also consider getting a medical certificate from the child’s treating GP to confirm that it is safe for them to attend school with persistent symptoms that may overlap with some of the symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) such as cough or runny nose.

Young children with persistent mild symptoms

Younger children (pre-school up to Grade 2) may have prolonged post-viral symptoms such as a runny nose or cough and may return to school following a negative coronavirus (COVID-19) test even if they are not completely free of symptoms.

Mandatory Face Masks

As per the directions of the Victorian Chief Health Officer, the following actions are mandatory.

Face masks to be worn by individuals from Year 3 and older when indoors at school on public transport and school buses – unless you have a lawful exemption.

Face masks and hot weather

It is important to follow the Victorian Chief Health Officer’s directions on wearing face masks, and there are steps that can be taken to improve comfort during warmer weather:

Keep hydrated with water.
Use a single-use mask, or a reusable face mask made from 100 per cent cotton, for increased breathability.
Wash your reusable mask frequently to maintain effectiveness and bring a spare so you can change your mask if it gets damp or wet.
Take mask breaks throughout the day, when you’re in settings that do not require them to be worn.

Rapid Antigen Tests

Thank you to our families that are committed to keeping our community safe and regularly checking their children for coronavirus using the RATs provided by the school. We are expecting a second delivery and will advise families via compass once they become available.

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