Newsletter – Week 3, Term 3, 2021

We were excited to have the students return to onsite on Wednesday. It was lovely to see their smiling faces – we could have done without the rain and hail right-on pick-up time!

Our teachers have relayed how it was fantastic to speak to parents via Webex on Wednesday afternoon. It was disappointing that these could not be held in person, however it is a reflection of the times and last-minute adjustments to ensure we can still provide these opportunities to our community.

Our school is conducting a survey to find out what parents/caregivers/guardians think of our school. The Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey is an annual survey offered by the Department of Education and Training that is conducted amongst a sample of randomly selected parents/caregivers/guardians (previously known as the Parent Opinion Survey).

The survey is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of families’ perceptions of school climate, student behaviour, student engagement and experiences of remote and flexible learning. Our school will use the survey results to help inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

We will be sending a link via Sentral to all of our families. All responses to the survey are anonymous. This year, the Parent/Caregiver/Guardian Opinion Survey will be conducted from the time you receive the link until Sunday 22nd August.

The survey will be conducted online, only takes 20 minutes to complete, and can be accessed at any convenient time within the fieldwork period on desktop computers, laptops, tablets or smartphones.

The online survey will be available in a range of languages other than English. These include: Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Chin (Hakha), Hindi, Japanese, Somali, Turkish, Punjabi and Greek.

Last year we used the results to guide our Annual Implementation Plan. The results will once again be shared with our school council and school community, once they are made available to schools.

I appreciate the time taken in parents and carers completing this year’s survey.

The Victorian Government has announced new arrangements for schools in Victoria from and including Wednesday 28 July 2021.

To keep our school safe, we will be continuing with and have introduced some important operational changes. This includes:

• Non-essential visitors are to remain off site. Parents are only permitted into school buildings with a pre-arranged appointment via the office.
• Rather than coming onto school grounds, please contact the office via email or phone if required to limit the number of adults on site.
• Beginning and end of school day student drop off and collection will remain as it was prior to our most recent lockdown. Continuing with maintaining social distancing measures for students and adults at drop off and collection is priority.

Face masks:

There has been no change to the face mask advice, which will continue to apply to all school settings, including any Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) programs:

• All staff and adults must wear a face mask at all times indoors and outdoors when at school (except when engaged in teaching), including in staff rooms.
• Children under 12 years of age and students at primary school are not required to wear face masks when at school, or when attending an OSHC program.
• Face masks are mandatory for all school students aged 12 or older on public transport and when in taxis or ride-share vehicles. This includes travelling to and from school on public transport or in a vehicle with others not from your household.

Thank you for your continued support during this time.

The Department of Education have recently announced ‘Inclusion Funding’ for schools. This is exciting information for schools and assists us to support students in their learning. The funding came through to schools at the beginning of this term and in the coming weeks students may comment to you that there are a number of extra adults around the school. This year we will be using the money to provide extra human resources (Education Support Workers) in classrooms supporting students in a ‘hands-on’ capacity. We are very excited to be able to provide this for our community.

This year the Book Week Parade will be held on Friday, 20^th August. The Book Week activities will follow in Week 7. This year’s theme is “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds” (Book Week is actually the following week however the following week is our Junior Swimming Week). Students are invited to dress up as a character from their favourite book. We will endeavour to host a parade but we are unsure at this stage. What is certain, teachers will take plenty of photos.

We can’t wait to see all of the great outfits the students (and staff) will be dressed up in!

Great news, concert is still going ahead! How this takes place, is still to be determined. Students have started back this week, practising their dance moves. A note regarding costumes will be sent home by classroom teachers soon.

If you have changed jobs or your employment has been affected by Covid-19 within the last 12 months, please advise us asap.  Our funding is greatly impacted by employment data.  To ensure we receive the maximum amount of funding for our students in 2022 we need to submit accurate data – please contact the office before Friday 30th July with your updated occupation code or for assistance.  Please see codes below:

PARENTAL OCCUPATION GROUP CODES

The codes outlined below are to be used when providing family occupation details for enrolled students. This information is used for determining funding allocations to schools.

Group N – NOT IN PAID EMPLOYMENT FOR PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS

Group A – Senior management in large business organisation, government administration and defence, and qualified professionals

Senior Executive / Manager / Department Head in industry, commerce, media or other large organisation.

Public Service Manager (Section head or above), regional director, health / education / police / fire services administrator.

Other administrator (school principal, faculty head / dean, library / museum / gallery director, research facility director)

Defence Forces Commissioned Officer

Professionals – generally have degree or higher qualifications and experience in applying this knowledge to design, develop or operate complex systems; identify, treat and advise on problems; and teach others:

• Health, Education, Law, Social Welfare, Engineering, Science, Computing professional
• Business (management consultant, business analyst, accountant, auditor, policy analyst, actuary, valuer)
• Air/sea transport (aircraft / ship’s captain / officer / pilot, flight officer, flying instructor, air traffic controller)

Group B – Other business managers, arts/media/sportspersons and associate professionals

Owner / Manager of farm, construction, import/export, wholesale, manufacturing, transport, real estate business

Specialist Manager (finance / engineering / production / personnel / industrial relations / sales / marketing)

Financial Services Manager (bank branch manager, finance / investment / insurance broker, credit / loans officer)

Retail sales / Services manager (shop, petrol station, restaurant, club, hotel/motel, cinema, theatre, agency)

Arts / Media / Sports (musician, actor, dancer, painter, potter, sculptor, journalist, author, media presenter, photographer, designer, illustrator, proof reader, sportsman/woman, coach, trainer, sports official)Associate Professionals – generally have diploma / technical qualifications and support managers and professionals:

• Health, Education, Law, Social Welfare, Engineering, Science, Computing technician / associate professional
• Business / administration (recruitment / employment / industrial relations / training officer, marketing / advertising specialist, market research analyst, technical sales representative, retail buyer, office / project manager)
• Defence Forces senior Non-Commissioned Officer

Group C – Tradesmen/women, clerks and skilled office, sales and service staff

Tradesmen/women generally have completed a 4 year Trade Certificate, usually by apprenticeship. All tradesmen/women are included in this group

Clerks (bookkeeper, bank / PO clerk, statistical / actuarial clerk, accounting / claims / audit clerk, payroll clerk, recording / registry / filing clerk, betting clerk, stores / inventory clerk, purchasing / order clerk, freight / transport / shipping clerk, bond clerk, customs agent, customer services clerk, admissions clerk)

Skilled office, sales and service staff:

• Office (secretary, personal assistant, desktop publishing operator, switchboard operator)
• Sales (company sales representative, auctioneer, insurance agent/assessor/loss adjuster, market researcher)
• Service (aged / disabled / refuge / child care worker, nanny, meter reader, parking inspector, postal worker, courier, travel agent, tour guide, flight attendant, fitness instructor, casino dealer/supervisor)

Group D – Machine operators, hospitality staff, assistants, labourers and related workers

Drivers, mobile plant, production / processing machinery and other machinery operators

Hospitality staff (hotel service supervisor, receptionist, waiter, bar attendant, kitchen hand, porter, housekeeper)

Office assistants, sales assistants and other assistants:

• Office (typist, word processing / data entry / business machine operator, receptionist, office assistant)
• Sales (sales assistant, motor vehicle / caravan / parts salesperson, checkout operator, cashier, bus / train conductor, ticket seller, service station attendant, car rental desk staff, street vendor, telemarketer, shelf stacker)
• Assistant / aide (trades’ assistant, school / teacher’s aide, dental assistant, veterinary nurse, nursing assistant, museum / gallery attendant, usher, home helper, salon assistant, animal attendant)

Labourers and related workers

• Defence Forces – ranks below senior NCO not included above
• Agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fishing, mining worker (farm overseer, shearer, wool / hide classer, farm hand, horse trainer, nurseryman, greenkeeper, gardener, tree surgeon, forestry/ logging worker, miner, seafarer / fishing hand)
• Other worker (labourer, factory hand, storeman, guard, cleaner, caretaker, laundry worker, trolley collector, car park attendant, crossing supervisor

The 2021 CSEF application cut off has been extended to Thursday 12th August.  If your situation has recently changed, you are eligible and wish to apply for CSEF – please contact the school office immediately.

Principal

On Thursday 15^th of July, the Bellaire debating teams kicked off their 2021 campaign after a delayed start. The nerves were high in anticipation for the debate, with students arguing whether ‘We should ban Social Media for people under the age of 18.’ Mr.Canny’s team had the affirmative side of the argument and made a compelling case, using their knowledge from incursions and Inquiry units to help. Fyans Park were a tough opposition but Bellaire managed to win by a solitary point!

Mr Piazza’s team were on the negative side of the topic and also tackled Fyans Park. Both sides traded arguments throughout the debate, with brilliant rebuttals and reasoning coming from the team, who used their experiences through remote learning and connection to family to help convince the adjudicator. Unfortunately, they just fell short by a point.

Both teams are excited and gearing up for debate number 2, ‘That Australia should become a republic.’

Congratulations to all involved.

Mr Canny

Due to the current restrictions, the on-site uniform shop will not be operating.  For your uniform requirements, please visit Beleza School Uniforms at 136 Ryrie Street, Geelong.  Phone: 5221 8545

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