Principal's Message

The Issue Highlights

• Welcome back to Term 4!
• Please check the School Dates page for exciting upcoming events this term. Please note Sports Day has been moved to Friday 28th October due to the weather
• Mary Bradshaw, Lee Martin and Kate Aubrey-Rees who were already on leave from Jackson have decided to leave to seek new job opportunities
• Jan Brown has decided to finish working at the end of the year after 50 years of service
• Cody Guy is now on maternity leave. Michael Linder will be the 78C class teacher for the remainder of the year
• COVID-19 Update: from 11.59pm on Wednesday 12th October, the mandatory orders around isolation for people with COVID-19 have ended 
• High-Risk Weather Season: Thunderstorm Asthma & Rain Fall/Flooding
• Last Tuesday, the Leadership Team took part in professional learning with a Canadian education expert, Dr Lyn Sharratt on her CLARITY research
• The National Mental Health Month 2022 Awareness Campaign theme is: ‘Building Resilience: Communities and Connections’
• Student of the Week from our PBIS rewards system
• Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary and Secondary
• Allied Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child
• Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare

Dear Families,

Welcome back to Term 4!

I hope you've all had a lovely holiday together as a family. Personally, it has been a well-needed break to spend quality time with the kids as well as a short trip away to Melbourne and Shepparton with Han's family. Congratulations to all the Cats fans too! 

We are already in full swing for a busy Term 4 ahead. We've already had a VCAL camp to Blackwood and a Year 9/10 camp to Phillip Island. Next week our Year 5/6 students go on their camp. We also have Sports Day, Halloween Dress-up, The Art & Design Show, Year 6 and 12 Graduations, The Concert in the Courtyard and our end-of-year Achievement Assembly to look forward to. Please note Sports Day has been moved to Friday 28th October due to the weather. This is also Halloween Dress Up day so students may need a change of clothes. Please check the School Dates page for more information.

Staffing

Lee Martin, Kate Aubrey-Rees and Mary Bradshaw have all now made the decision to cease their employment at Jackson School. Mary Bradshaw (Speech Pathologist) has left her temporary SSSO (Barwon) role and has taken on an ongoing community speech pathology position in Geelong. Kate Aubrey-Rees made the move to Brisbane, Queensland during her family leave and has now decided to leave her Design Technology position. Lee Martin has made the decision to resign from his position after many years of service at Jackson School to work closer to home following his long service leave. We thank all of you for your dedication and commitment to our students over the years.

Jan Brown has also made the difficult decision, after 50 years of service working for the Department of Education and Training (DET), to finish working at the end of the year. Jan has worked at Jackson School since 1980. Jan has been a teacher, primary department coordinator and most recently our Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) coordinator. In June, I shared with you that Jan attended a celebration in June with then Deputy Premier and Minister of Education, The Hon. James Merlino. On behalf of our school community thank you for your years of service and impact you have had on our students.

Cody Guy left Jackson at the start of term to begin her maternity leave. We wish you all the very best with your new arrival and we hope to see you soon. Thank you Michael Lindner, who has been working with us as a teacher this year, for offering to stand in for Cody in 78C until the end of the year.

We are currently recruiting staff for positions in 2023. For more information please visit: Recruitment Online. 

COVID-19 Pandemic Orders

You may be aware that the Victorian Government has announced changes to the COVID-19 isolation requirements.

This means that from 11.59pm on Wednesday 12th October, the mandatory orders around isolation for people with COVID-19 have ended and instead we move to health advice and recommendations for people with COVID-19 or COVID-19-like symptoms.

Our school will continue to adhere to the Department of Health’s recommendations to ensure that our school remains a safe environment for our staff and students.

The Department of Health strongly recommends that students and school staff:

• who test positive to COVID-19 stay home and isolate for 5 days and do not attend school after 5 days if they are still symptomatic
• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive not attend school. This does not include students with pre-existing conditions such as hay fever.

Parents and carers are recommended to continue to report their child having COVID-19 to both the school and the Department of Health. We will, however, no longer report occurrences of positive cases to the school community.

We ask parents and carers to continue to remain vigilant in preventing COVID-19 transmission. Any student who is unwell should continue to remain at home. This is about keeping students healthy and well in our school and reducing the spread of both COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.

Free rapid antigen tests are available at the school for those who need them.

Parents and carers will be contacted if their child shows symptoms while at school.

Students who wish to wear a mask should continue to do so.

Thank you for your continued efforts to keep our school community safe and well over the last couple of years. I'm hoping this will be the last COVID message I have to send to you all after a long period of restrictions and operational changes. Thank you for your flexibility and understanding over this time. It has been an unusual couple of years, including: minimal notice school closures and remote learning to multiple operational health restrictions. It is a period that we will not easily forget. 

However, this does not mean that COVID has gone away in our community. To keep our school as safe as possible, we will also continue to use air purifiers and other COVID-19 prevention measures, including Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT). 

High-Risk Weather Season: Thunderstorm Asthma & Rain Fall/Flooding

The BOM is predicting the worst of the rainfall this week will happen across Northern Victoria on Thursday but will start sweeping across the state tomorrow, with flash flooding and damaging winds possible. Victoria’s emergency services are urging Victorians to be prepared and stay alert ahead of heavy rainfall and flood risks across the state this week with emergency relief on standby for vulnerable communities. Victorians are encouraged to make their own preparations for potential emergencies by having enough supplies on hand to last for up to 72 hours and to set up a support network with friends, family, neighbours and their local council.

There is also an increased risk of seasonal asthma, hay fever and epidemic thunderstorm asthma during seasons with increased grass pollen levels. This typically occurs between October and December. Epidemic thunderstorm asthma events are triggered by a combination of higher grass pollen levels and a certain type of thunderstorm. People with a history of asthma, undiagnosed asthma or hay fever are at an increased risk under these conditions. This risk is increased further for people who have poorly treated hay fever and asthma. The best way to reduce and prevent symptoms of asthma or hay fever and reduce unnecessary absences from school is to follow an up-to-date asthma action plan or hay fever treatment plan, provided by a general practitioner (GP) or specialist. 

Download the VicEmergency app on Apple App Store or Google Play Store and create a ‘watch zone’ for epidemic thunderstorm asthma advice and warnings and/or floods. Alternatively, you can visit the VicEmergency website: https://emergency.vic.gov.au or Vic SES website: https://www.ses.vic.gov.au/ 

Lyn Sharratt Professional Learning

Last Tuesday, the Leadership Team took part in professional learning with a Canadian education expert, Dr Lyn Sharratt on her CLARITY research. This work has been driving our Annual Implementation Planning (AIP) this year. The Leadership Team took part in Learning Walks and Talks at University Park Primary School (UPPS) and Taylors Lakes Secondary College (TLSC) to learn from their practice. The key focus of this work has been around improving assessment practices in our Professional Learning Teams and Jackson Learner Case Management Meetings (CMM) to better understand and cater for the complex and individual learning needs of our students.

University Park Primary School is turning 50! Principal Andrea and the UPPS community are celebrating their 50 year anniversary on 21st October 2022 from 3:30-7:30pm. Any past students and local community members are welcome to attend to join in their celebration.

Congratulations Kathy for 35 Years of Service!

Kathy attended a ceremony with the South-West Regional Director, Chris Thompson, to celebrate 35 years of service with the Department of Education and Training (Victoria). Kathy has held a range of positions at Jackson from ICT Specialist, Senior Secondary Coordindator to Assistant Principal. Congratulations on this significant milestone. 

I hope you have a safe weekend with the increased rainfall. 

Anthony