Dear Parents and Carers,

At this morning’s assembly, a group of our Year 5 students presented an engaging piece about the benefits of academic challenge and rigour. They explained the Learning Pit, which is a powerful framework that encourages resilience, critical thinking, and deeper understanding in students. It illustrates the process of grappling with challenging concepts, experiencing struggle, and ultimately achieving mastery. By embracing difficulty as a natural and valuable part of learning, students develop perseverance and problem-solving skills essential for lifelong success. Our teachers incorporate this model within a supportive environment where students feel confident taking risks, reflecting on their thinking, and emerging with a stronger grasp of new knowledge.

Junior School Council

We had the privilege this morning of introducing our Junior School Council representatives for 2025.

Having a Junior School Council (JSC), in primary school plays a vital role in fostering student leadership, responsibility, and civic engagement from an early age. It provides students with a voice in school decision-making, empowering them to contribute ideas, represent their peers, and collaborate on initiatives that enhance the school community. Additionally, the council promotes a sense of belonging and inclusivity, encouraging students to take pride in their school and actively participate in projects that benefit both their peers and the wider community. By instilling leadership qualities and a sense of agency, a Junior School Council helps cultivate confident, responsible, and engaged young citizens.

Attending School Everyday Matters

It’s important for your child to attend school every day, unless they are unwell, as every day matters in their learning and development. Below is a table showing the impact of missing school time. It’s crucial that we provide every child the opportunity to learn and grow by ensuring they are present each day. Your efforts in making this a priority will have a positive impact on your child’s future. If your child is absent, please be sure to record it on COMPASS.

School preparations for the bushfire season

Each year, we undertake a range of activities to ensure the safety of our school and to prepare for bushfires and grassfires. An important part of this process is communicating to parents and carers what will happen when certain fire danger ratings are issued to help ensure the safety of students and staff.

Our school has been identified as being at risk of bushfire or grassfire and is a Category 4 school.

Our school will close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating in Central fire district.

Closure of the school due to a Catastrophic fire danger rating will be enacted when the Bureau of Meteorology forecast and related public safety messaging are confirmed. Due to uncertainties in the forecast, the timing of this confirmation may vary. Information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to you by Compass.

It is also important to be aware that:

• No one will be on site on days where the school is closed due to a forecast Catastrophic day.
• Out-of-school-hours care will also be cancelled on these days.
• All bus routes that travel through the Catastrophic area will be cancelled.
• School camps will be cancelled if a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast for fire weather district in which the camp is located, or if the travel involves passing through areas that have Catastrophic fire danger.

As part of preparing our school for the fire season, we have updated and completed our Emergency Management Plan and reprioritised any maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire and have cleared our facility’s grounds and gutters.

What can families and the school community do to help us prepare?

• Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone numbers. 
• Keep in touch with us by reading our newsletters and accessing Compass.
• Make sure your family’s bushfire survival plan is up-to-date and includes alternative care arrangements if our school is closed due to Catastrophic fire danger. Further information can be found on the CFA’s website.
• Action your family’s bushfire survival plan if your own triggers are met. Our school community may be spread out across many areas and some families may be at higher risk than others. Your family’s safety is critical, so please let us know if you are actioning your bushfire survival plan and if your children will be absent on these days.
• If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s bushfire survival plan.

Families are encouraged to action their Bushfire Survival Plan on Catastrophic fire danger rating days in their district. The safest option is to leave the night before or early on the morning of the Catastrophic day. On such days, children should never be left at home alone or in the care of older children.

You can find more information on emergencies, warnings and preparedness actions here:

• VicEmergency app – that can be downloaded on your android and iOS mobile devices
• VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226)
• Website https://emergency.vic.gov.au
• Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/vicemergency)
• Twitter (https://twitter.com/vicemergency)
• ABC local radio, Sky News and other emergency broadcasters

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the department’s policy?

The Department of Education annually assesses the fire risk of all schools and early childhood services with the support of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). They are allocated a category of risk (categories 0 to 6). Schools and services that are Categories 0-3 are published on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR). Schools at some risk of bushfire and grassfire are published on the Category 4 List.

The department’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness Policy requires all schools and early childhood services on the BARR and the Category 4 List to close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district. All school bus routes which travel in or through a district with Catastrophic fire danger must also be cancelled.

The policy also requires that schools at the highest risk of bushfire (those in Categories 0, 1 and 2 of the Bushfire At-Risk Register) enact pre-emptive action plans based on the fire danger forecast for their Local Government Area (LGA).

Who issues fire danger forecasts?

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) provides public fire danger rating forecasts each day of the fire danger period using fire weather district areas. In Victoria, there are 9 fire weather districts, which are based on Local Government Area boundaries.

The department uses these forecasts when supporting schools to enact their pre-emptive bushfire actions plans.

School Voluntary Financial Contributions 2025

Schools provide students with free instruction to fulfil the standard curriculum, and we want to assure you that all contributions are voluntary. The ongoing support of our families ensures that our school can offer the best possible education and support for our students. Your voluntary financial contributions support our school to continually update and add to the digital devices within the school, complete upgrades to our buildings and playgrounds, purchase additional educational resources for student use and provide additional support staff to run extra learning programs. A reminder that school financial contributions can be paid via Compass. You may also pay at the front office.

Financial Assistance for Families

Conveyance Allowance

The conveyance allowance is a contribution towards transporting children to and from school.

To be eligible for the conveyance allowance a student must reside 4.8km or more from the school/campus they attend. This distance is measured as the shortest practicable route from the student’s residence to the school/campus using all-weather public roads drivable by car.

To be eligible for a conveyance allowance a student attending a mainstream school must attend:

their nearest government school/campus appropriate to their year level – being the closest school determined by the shortest practicable route from the student’s residence, or

the student’s Designated Neighbourhood School (DNS) – refer to Find my School website to identify a student’s DNS

The conveyance allowance may be available to students attending government or non-government schools and:
• travelling by public transport or by private car, motorbike, bicycle or bus, and
• whose nearest school is not serviced by a free school bus provided under the School Bus Program.

Please contact the office if you require further information or would like an application for Conveyance Allowance.

Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund – CSEF

Please contact the school office if you have any questions regarding CSEF.

School Photography Day

We have our school photography day booked for Tuesday 11th February with SchoolPix.

Order forms were sent home with students last Friday. Please contact the school office if you have misplaced these details.

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