Principal and Assistant Principal's Page

Principal's report

Welcome to the 2022 school year. I hope you had a fabulous holiday period with some well-deserved family and leisure time. I had a fabulous holiday, spending time in Geelong, Hobart and Inverloch. I also read lots of books and watched the cricket.

The school year has started off well. Our Year 1-6 students settled well back into school on Tuesday in the humid weather. Naomi and I visited each class and students were happy to be back at school. So many of them had grown over the summer! Our Foundation students start tomorrow which is exciting! 

COVID-19 update

I notified parents via Operoo the current DET Policy regarding COVID-19. I have attached the current guidelines. There have been a couple of changes to the guidelines since I released them last week. The most notable changes are: 

• Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19, have completed their 7-day isolation period and are subsequently asymptomatic do not need to undertake surveillance testing for 30 days. 
• Visitors and volunteers performing work on school sites (both inside and outdoors) are required to have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by 25 February 2022 if they became fully vaccinated on or before 25 October 2021. For those that became fully vaccinated after 25 October 2021, the deadline is 15 March 2022, or have a valid medical exception. 
• This requirement applies to:
  • a person contracted to work at an education facility and who will or may be in close proximity to children, students or staff, whether or not engaged by the education operator including casual relief teachers, NDIS providers and auditors (but does not include delivery personnel).
  • Department staff who attend an education facility (such as allied health personnel)
  • Staff of any other entity who attends an education facility
  • Volunteers that attend and education facility and that work in close proximity to children, students or staff (including parent helpers)
  • Students on placements at an education facility.

I have attached the latest guidelines:

Collecting your children after school

Just a reminder to all families about collecting your children from school. Please ensure the following:

• You collect your children by 3.45pm. Office Staff and teachers are not responsible for looking after children beyond this time. We suggest that families also register for Team Kids. Then if you know you will be late you can call them and arrange for your child to attend.
• Tell your children who and where you will collect them and be specific e.g. Germain Street gate, Grange Street gate, Clarendon Avenue gate, outside your classroom, the basketball court or the pickup zone in the car park 
• Tell your children if they are going to Team Kids and remind them in the morning
• Remind your child if they are going to an after-school event such as Kelly Sports
• If you are running late or collection circumstances change, please notify the office so we can tell your child

Doing all of these helps collection time to be much smoother for your child and the school. 

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) applications

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities.  If you have a valid means-tested concession card, such as a Veterans Affairs Gold Card, Centrelink Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card, or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible. There is also a special consideration category for asylum seeker and refugee families.

Payment amount this year is $125 for eligible primary school students. Payments are made direct to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions and sporting activities for the benefit of your child. 

It is important that funding made available in 2022 support students to participate in school trips, camps and sporting activities this year rather than being held for future years. This funding can also be used in conjunction with any funding accrued from previous years. Please note these activities will only take place if they meet COVIDSafe requirements.

If you applied for CSEF through our school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year, unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

If you would like to apply for the first time, please contact the school office and ask for an application form. 

You can also download the form, and find out more about the program and eligibility, on the Department of Education and Training’s Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund web page @ https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/about/programs/CSEF_application_form.pdf 

Check with the school office if you are unsure, and please return completed forms to the school office as soon as possible.

School Uniform

The start of the year is the perfect time to assess your child’s school uniform needs. 

Parents are asked to buy items with our Huntingdale logo including- teal polo shirt, jumper, jacket, school bag, hat and school dress. These can be purchased from PSW in Ormond, Address: Unit 1/596 North Rd, Ormond VIC 3204 or online @ https://www.psw.com.au/schools/huntingdale-primary-school.html

All students must wear a Huntingdale hat and will need this from the first day of Term 1.

Other items that are navy blue without a logo such as shorts, tracksuit pants, leggings, tights and skirts can be purchased from PSW or chain stores such as K-Mart and Target.

Any accessories need to be in navy blue not black. Black is not our school uniform colour. Our school uniform colours are navy blue and teal.

We look forward to seeing all our students in their Huntingdale uniform in 2022. 

Reporting your child’s Absence

Attending school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. 

If your child is absent for any reason, we prefer all absences to be reported using Operoo by no later than 9.15am. Please see the attached Instructions: 

Please do not use See Saw to report student absences.

After teachers have marked the roll, Office Manager Gill Penfold checks for any unexplained absences. She aims to send a text message to parents as soon as possible and you are able to reply to this.

Reminder- 2022 Curriculum Days

Just a reminder that the following dates have been approved by School Council for our remaining curriculum days:

• Tuesday 21 June (Parent teacher interviews on this day)
• Friday 15 July

Notification re: Measles and Chickenpox Reminder

Each term there is a reminder in the newsletter regarding Measles and Chickenpox.  As you may or may not be aware, there are currently members of our school community who are receiving medical treatment. They participate in the normal school program without any major limitations when they are well enough to be here.  A major concern, however, is if these students develop measles or chickenpox, they can become seriously ill.  I seek your cooperation in preventing this situation.  If your son/daughter has or may have measles or chickenpox or is unwell, I request that you do not send them to school during this period and notify your class teacher and the office as soon as possible.  Thank you for your support in keeping our school a safe place for all of our students.

Anaphylaxis and Allergies

We have a number of children in the school with anaphylaxis and allergies.  We ask that all parents to avoid packing nuts or nut related products in their child’s lunch.  This will assist us all in keeping our environment safe for all of our students.   

Medical Plans and Update contact details

At school we often need to contact parents for a variety of reasons. Over the break many families’ telephone numbers, home address and email addresses might have changed. If you do change telephone numbers, email, and/or home address or there is an update on personal/medical/family situation, it is most important that you update this on Operoo and also contact Gill in the school office to let us know so we can update the school records. An early reminder that we must have your correct email address as school reports are emailed to parents. We thank you for your cooperation with this matter.

DET Privacy Policy

The Department of Education and Training has asked that we remind parents about the DET Privacy Policy. The policy can be found on the school website and at https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Pages/schoolsprivacypolicy.aspx

Communication and Key Dates 2022

Have you connected to our school communication tool ‘Operoo’? 

This assists you with organisation and information about the school.  This tool aids with home school communication particularly for those families who are unable to make drop off or pick up on a regular basis which limits face to face networking opportunities.  A major benefit of Operoo is that it has online permission forms which means no more paper! Parents can easily update personal information as well. 

Parents of Foundation or new students to the school should download the app and register.

If you have any difficulties, please see Gill or Rosella at the office.

We have also updated our flow chart of communication between home and school (attached), so you know and understand who to go for different questions. It is in your child’s first page of their diary, is around the school and is also below. Please read it carefully.

Please note that on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, teachers are required to attend a staff workshop and cannot meet with parents after school on these days. 

2022 Teaching Staff

Our 2022 Staff is as follows:

2022 Captains Roles

 I am pleased to announce the following captains for 2022:

Child Safe Standards

Huntingdale Primary School, as part of the State Education System as a commitment to the Child Safe Standards. The standards are listed below.

• Standard 1: Strategies to embed an organisational culture of child safety
• Standard 2: A child safety policy or a statement of commitment to child safety
• Standard 3: A Child Safety Code of Conduct
• Standard 4: Screening, supervision, training and other human resources practices that reduce the risk of child abuse
• Standard 5: Procedures for responding to and reporting suspected child abuse
• Standard 6: Strategies to identify and reduce or remove risks of child abuse
• Standard 7: Strategies to promote child participation and empowerment.

On the school website we have a dedicated page related to the Child Safe Standards. Here you will find our child Safe Standards Policy and other policies related to the standards. There are also useful web links. Please access them at:

https://huntingdaleps.vic.edu.au/parent-information/#safe

As part of the school’s commitment to Standard #7 Strategies to promote the participation and empowerment of children, during our ‘Creating Our Learning Community’ I will visit each class to read a book about personal safety targeted to that year level. These books send messages about personal safety to empower students to understand who can look and touch their body. These texts aim to provide a platform for some interesting and thought-provoking discussion amongst the class and enable students to ask questions.

With their classroom teachers F-2 students complete a ‘helping hand’ listing the people who can help them when they are in need. 

Students in Years 3-6 look at a support network of who can help them.

Parent Opinion Survey

Each year, DET implements the Parent Opinion Survey. A link is sent number of families selected randomly. In 2021, there were 112 families who received the survey, 54 completed the survey which is a 48% response rate. Very late last year the survey results were released

Overall, the results were very good. Student connectedness, school communication, physical environment, respect for diversity, high expectations for success and confidence and resiliency skills were rated highly. These are pleasing considering the interrupted school year we had in 2021. Keeping students and families connected to the school was a high priority. 

If you have any feedback about the survey, please contact me.

Expectations of Behaviour in the School Community

Our school community has demonstrated incredible solidarity and resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Being back in our classrooms with extra health and safety measures is another big transition, but it’s the very best one for our children's education. As we navigate these changes to onsite learning, including required mask wearing for some students, it’s more important than ever that adults in our school community treat each other with respect and kindness.

The Department of Education and Training has released a new policy that describes the positive behaviour expected from parents, carers, and other adults in Victorian school communities. The policy sets clear standards of behaviour to create a safe, respectful, and inclusive learning environment for students, staff and adults.

There are also other resources to support safe and respectful relationships in our school community, including information about getting involved in the school, advice on how to raise a concern or complaint, and parenting support resources. You can find the new policy and these resources here.

You may also see a new poster up around our school, promoting positive behaviour.

Parent Conduct- discussing issues and approaching other families

Occasionally, incidences occur between students at school. The school liaises with the involved students and their families to sort out a resolution. This is done in a respectful and in some cases, confidential manner to all involved. 

We ask that parents do not share and discuss these issues amongst themselves on the school grounds or via social media. We also ask that parents do not approach other parents to sort out disputes as this can often cause more upset. We ask that you contact the school and meet with either the classroom teacher, Naomi or me to discuss this so we can help with a resolution in a constructive manner. 

Student Achievements

A reminder that we ask that any parents who have a child who has achieved something special at any time to please take a photograph and write a short sentence or two about what the child did, when it happened and what it means to the child and send this through to the school account at Huntingdale.ps@education.vic.gov.au

Achievements could be getting an award from the local footy team or ballet performance or library book club or gaining their Grey Wolf Award at Scouts or any other hobby your child pursues we’re here to celebrate Personal Best in whatever form that takes.    

Happy Chinese New Year

We wish all of our families who are celebrating Chinese New Year a fabulous festive time. 2022 is the year of the tiger. 

We look forward to a fabulous 2022 school year.

Have a great fortnight!

Ruth Biddle

Principal