Principal's Message

Anthony Jackson - Acting Principal

Dear Families,

Issue Highlights

Please find below a summary of this weeks issue:

Message from Hon. James Merlino, the Deputy Premier & Minister for Education
Lockdown Extension for the remainder of Term 3.
Year 12 students will be prioritised for COVID-19 vaccinations
Students age 16 and above are now eligible for the vaccine. Students age 12+ will be eligible soon
If you would like your child to not use the trampolines at school you can opt-out by letting your teacher know by messaging them on SeeSaw.
Your NDIS local area coordinator (LAC) Brotherhood of St Laurence who can provide you will support with your NDIS application. School can provide you with exisiting documents that have been created about your child but cannot complete additional NDIS supporting documents.
Next week is eSMART Week to ensure our students are Cyber Safe, Respectful Online and Digitally Responsible. Please find resources below to support families with their children using devices and the internet.
Thank you to our students and support from our families in developing your Jackson Flag design. See some examples of our shortlisted finalists below.
Over the next two weeks, teachers will meet with leadership in their teacher teams to plan for your child's learning next term. Your child's teacher will be unavailable on their set day but learning will still be available to your child.
Showcase of students' learning from across the school in Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary.
Allied Health and Wellbeing information to support you and your child.
Community news including from Jackson OSHC provider TheirCare.

Lockdown Extension

Video Message from Hon. James Merlino, the Deputy Premier & Minister for Education:

Due to the ongoing level of community transmission of COVID-19, the Victorian Government has announced the current restrictions in place across Victoria will be extended. This means remote and flexible learning will continue in all Victorian schools until the end of Term 3. Any update or change to this will be communicated through the return to onsite learning plan that will be released next week.

This means remote and flexible learning will continue in all Victorian schools until the end of Term 3. There are no changes to the current operational settings in schools or the categories of students who can attend on-site. If you child is attending onsite, please ensure you have completed the onsite attendance form and send this in with your child.

We are trusting our school community to continue to do the right thing at this time, by complying with the restrictions in place and making careful and supportive decisions that limit movement and risk of spreading COVID-19 across our community.

There are now 900+ exposure sites across the state. For current public exposure sites please visit: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/exposure-sites.If you have been to any of the locations below during the specified times:

Follow the specific advice listed for that exposure site
Contact DoH by completing the self-reporting form to leave your details, or call 1300 651 160.
See where to get tested

I know this isn't the news we were hoping for but I'm sure it's what we all expected with the rising cases in our community. I'm sure many of our families are finding this a difficult and anxious period, filled full of uncertainty. Please continue to look after yourselves and reach out to staff, your friends and family at this time for support if you need to.

Vaccinations - Year 12 Blitz

To help support the safe conduct of end-of-year assessments for our VCAL students, the Victorian Government today announced a vaccination blitz for our Year 12 students, their teachers, and other support staff. They will have access to priority time slots to attend their vaccination appointment at a local vaccination centre (e.g. Sunshine Hospital Vaccination Hub). The blitz will begin on 7th September and continue until 17th September. Year 12 students will also be able to book their first and second doses via a dedicated appointment booking hotline. These additional pathways will help support a faster booking process and minimise absence for students during their schooling hours. The Department of Health will release details of the dedicated phone number and session information on Friday, 3rd September.

COVID-19 and Vaccination – Your questions answered webinar

The Victorian Department of Health is hosting a live webinar for final year high school students, their families and educators to provide information on COVID-19 vaccination. You can join the free webinar on Friday 3 September, 4.00-5.00pm via this link (no need to register).

Topics covered include:

Vaccines, development and safety
Accessing and consenting to a vaccination
How to book an appointment
Q+A with the panel

This event will be held via Microsoft Teams Live. For access information, visit Attend a live event in Teams.

Students age 16 and above are now eligible for the vaccine. Students age 12+ will be eligible soon.

Trampolines

At Jackson School we have 6 Springfree Trampolines which are used by students at recess and lunch times under the supervision of staff. Trampolines, the swing and exercise equipment programs may also be prescribed by our Occupational Therapists to support our students to regulate and meet their sensory needs. Trampolines and Exercise Equipment may also be used at Jackson to support the physical health and wellbeing of our students, at the discretion of classroom staff, to get student ready to learn. Manufacture safety guidelines are followed by the staff on duty.

If you would like your child to not use the trampolines at school you can opt-out by letting your teacher know by messaging them on SeeSaw. If you are unsure whether your child should use trampolines at school due to the nature of their disability, please consult with your medical practitioner.

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is a national approach to providing individualised support and services for people with a disability. 56% of the students at our school have or will commence the process of becoming NDIS participants. NDIS will be an extremely valuable program for all of our students and will allow our families to access external therapists, programs and support in the home.

To ensure educational programs are not disrupted, our teaching and Allied Health staff are not directly available to support with NDIS requests. Bernadette O'Sullivan (Leading Teacher) is our NDIS Coordinator and is able to provide you with letters of support and copies of any previous assessments to support your application. No new assessments will be completed for the purpose of NDIS. No individual documents will be created for each individual family.

To receive the best package available to support your child, ensure that you contact your Local Area Coordinator (LAC) is: the Brotherhood of St Laurence (BSL). Their team is there to help you to access NDIS, community and government supports. To contact BSL telephone 1300 275 634, email ndis.info@bsl.org.au, or visit https://ndis.bsl.org.au/service-areas/brimbank-melton.

For more information about the NDIS Guidelines please visit: https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/operational-guidelines/access-ndis-operational-guideline (see Lists A, B, C, D for eligible disabilities)

eSMART Week - 6th-12th September 2021

We’re excited to be bringing everyone together for another National eSmart Week next week. This year we’re celebrating ‘Responsible Action’. By taking responsible action, we can demonstrate how we all keep kids safe online and offline. This has never been more important with our children's increased screen-time and access to the internet. We know this causes many issues for our families at home and at school. Many of the issues we face are because children have access to social media and apps which are not age-appropriate. This creates a real safety concern for our students. Many apps and games have a minimum age requirement under their terms and conditions, for example: ages 13+ years (facebook, instagram, TikTok) and 16+ years (WhatsApp, Zoom). For more information watch the video below:

As also included in Issue 11, please find below a range of resources to support families in managing their children online. Click Here: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars

The eSafety Guide has information about the latest games, apps and social media, including how to protect information and report inappropriate content.
eSafety has a guide for parents, carers and grandparents (in six languages) which covers key online safety issues for young people and includes a range of practical advice on what to do if things go wrong. These resources cover the big issues and has tips for the hard to have conversations.

The eSafety Commissioner blogs are a good resource to use in communication with parent and carer communities, some of the latest blogs include:

Learn how to report cyberbullying, image-based abuse and illegal content.

Please find below a photo of our online expectations of our students at Jackson to be Cyber Safe, Respectful Online and Digitally Responsible citizens:

Jackson Flag Competition

Jackson School is running a competition to design a flag for our school. Thank you to our students and support from our families in developing your Jackson Flag design. These are very creative and I particularly love the designs that reflect the diversity of our community. Our Jackson Student Leadership Team (JSLT) will choose which finalists will go to School Council for the final decision. The flag will be created and flown at the front of the school. Here are some examples of our shortlisted finalists:

Professional Practice Days

Each teacher is entitled to one day per term release from their scheduled duties, including teaching. These days are in addition to existing pupil free curriculum days. Over the next two weeks, our teachers will work collaboratively with their teams and leadership to plan for the improved delivery of high quality teaching and learning for next term. On your child's teacher selected day, they will be unable to be contacted and respond to learning activities. Learning tasks will still be available for your child on this day via SeeSaw, our online platforms and in the offline learning grids.

Thank you to all of our parents and carers who have completed the DET parent, guardian and carer survey. You opinion matters to us. If you have been chosen but haven't yet responded today is the last day to give us your feedback. Thank you as always for your ongoing support at this challenging time.

Lastly, I'd like to wish all of the Dads in our community a Happy Father's Day!

Take care and stay safe.

Anthony