SCHOOL COUNCIL MEMBERS 2024

School Principal: Greg Sampson   President: Jenny Hauselberger 

 Vice President: Chris Avery  Treasurer: Isaac Eldridge  DET Rep: Kelly Henderson  & Peter Down Secretary: Duanne Corbett 

Parent Reps:  Ashlee Baker, Erin Wallace, Andrew Heatley.

Dimboola Primary School would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Wimmera Mallee area:

the Wotjobaluk, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali, Wergaia and Jupagalk peoples, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.

After 33 years we said goodbye to Mrs Bouts last Thursday at the VRI amid an assortment of students, past staff, members of the community and past students. Below is an excerpt from my speech which recognised her contribution to the school:

During Coleen’s time she had Jack Knight, Ken Magrath, Simon Vivian, Paul Holmes and myself as principal. In 1996 Dimboola Primary School and Pimpinio Primary School merged. The student population started at a population in the high 100s to 94 students today. She has worked here when two building renovations have been completed and seen buildings taken away including her portable and Worraigworm.

During her time at the school, Coleen has worked as a dedicated education support staff member. She assisted in the prep classroom, taught STAP, went on camps, took minkey hockey put up displays at the show, did the library clean up and cataloguing, tutored students in soundswrite and reading fluency, worked on Moona Lisa the cow and took life skills classes. Coleen was a wonderful support to many staff and formed a dynamic duo with Mr Geary for a time. Her support of the art program has always been front and centre and she will be missed for her work on creating wonderful representations of staff who leave. Coleen has been a friend to many and will be sorely missed.

I anticipate that her life in retirement will not be as bombarded with the need to use technology, remember her password or find that missing glasses case. Her life will be filled with time with Percy her beloved blue healer, family and travel with her partner Greg. Coleen will continue to work a few shifts at the hospital but will be able to take the foot off the accelerator a little. On behalf of the staff, I would like to present you with a gift, this was made by one of our past dear staff members Mrs Gove. I won’t call on you to respond at this time as I will now call on Milla and Levi who will speak on behalf of the students.

All of the Staff and Students at DPS are so very excited for you all and we cannot wait to meet beautiful little Lacey Evelyn xx 

A reminder that students in Years 4 – 6 will be attending the Winter Lightning Premiership at Nhill College on Thursday 13th June. Students have been put into teams, competing in football, netball and tee ball. They will depart by bus at the start of the day and will return before the end of the day allowing students to catch buses home. If you are able to assist with coaching, umpiring or scoring I would love to hear from you.

Please be aware that covid seems to be going around the community at the moment. Please remember if your child is unwell or tests positive to covid they are to remain home for five days.

This is really important as we try to stop the spreading. 

Testing kits are available in the front office if you need them. 

Remembering to sanitise is also important.

Thank you

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for NRW remain the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision. The theme for NRW in 2024 is 'Now More Than Ever'.

Leading up to - and especially throughout this week - students have engaged in a number of activities that have helped them appreciate and understand NRW.

2025 Prep parents are invited to attend an information session on Monday 17th June. This is a chance to meet some of the teachers at the school and be guided through some of the programs we have running. The event will be held in the Prep classroom and will commence at 6:30 pm. If you are unable to attend and would like to be given a tour of the school, please contact the office to arrange a mutually convenient time.

We are asking ALL FAMILIES if possible to please bring in any favourite family recipe you have to be added into our school cook book! We'd love to have them! This will be a great keepsake.

Ask families, friends and grandparents.

Thank you 

Each year, students are asked to complete a series of questions about their experience at school. The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education to assist schools to gain an understanding of Grade 4 - 6 students' perceptions and experience of their school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, bullying and life in general. Parents and carers will receive an email about this survey, which takes around twenty

minutes to complete online. This year, the AtoSS survey will be conducted over the period of May 27 to June 7.

Dear parents and carers

You may have seen the recent announcement of the School Saving Bonus, as part of the Victorian Budget 2024/25. We are sharing more information about how families will be able to access and use this support.

This one-off support will include $400 for each eligible student to help families cover the costs of school uniforms and activities in 2025.

It will be available to parents and carers of every child enrolled in a Victorian government school in 2025.

Cash will not be paid directly to individuals or families. Instead, families will receive the bonus as credits on their school accounts that will help meet the costs of your children’s activities and uniforms.

Existing supports The School Saving Bonus support will be in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for camps, sports, excursions and uniforms. The application-based Affordable School Uniform program, through State Schools’ Relief, will continue to be available to families experiencing financial hardship or other forms of vulnerability and short-term crisis. This program allows schools to make multiple applications for support on parents' behalf throughout the year if needed.

There will be more information and guidance about the School Saving Bonus in Term 3, 2024, ahead of its implementation in 2025.

Building a national picture of child health

From May 2024, our school, along with thousands of others across the country, will participate in the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

The AEDC is a teacher-completed census (similar to a questionnaire) which provides a comprehensive picture of how children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school.

The AEDC is an Australian Government Initiative and is completed nationally every three years.

Children don’t miss any class time while the AEDC is completed, and parents/carers don’t need to supply schools with any new information.

The data collected through the AEDC is used by schools, communities and governments to better understand children and families’ needs, and identify the services, resources and support they need.

AEDC data is reported at a school, community, state/territory and national level. AEDC results for individual children are not reported and the AEDC is not used as an individual diagnostic tool.

Some teachers have found that completing the AEDC made them more aware of the needs of individual children and their class, and that the data was useful for planning for transitions to Year 1 and developing programs.

Participation in the AEDC is voluntary, however the AEDC relies on all schools with children in their first year of full-time school participating in the collection.

Parents/carers don’t need to take any action unless they choose not to include their children in the census.

To find out more about the AEDC and how it is being used to help children and families visit: www.aedc.gov.au.

If you have any questions, you can contact Mr Sampson

Student safety at Dimboola Primary School is our highest priority and the safe and appropriate supervision of students is an important element of our duty of care to students. Part of this duty is ensuring parents and students are aware of our student supervision arrangements before and after school.

Before school: School grounds are supervised at 8:30 am

After school: School grounds are supervised 3:25 pm.

Students on school grounds outside these times will not be supervised (unless they are attending a before or after school care program or supervised extracurricular activity).

Parents/carers are requested to ensure that students do not attend school outside of these supervised times unless they are attending before or after school care, or a pre-arranged supervised activity (i.e. sports practice).

For a copy of our school’s Yard Duty and Supervision Policy through the Dimboola Primary School Website or contact the school office. This policy includes Dimboola Primary School’s student supervision arrangements across the school day, including before and after school.

A reminder about the importance of safety around students who have severe food allergies. We currently have one student who has anaphylaxis to nuts. This student is in Grade 2/3 so we ask parents to be mindful of lunches and snacks that contain nuts particularly in this classroom. Students are reminded not to share food with classmates.

Please refer to our Anaphylaxis Policy attached to this newsletter for further information.

Orders must be completed before 8.40 each Tuesday morning.

Please remember to bring the lunch wallets in on the Tuesday. If YOU have ordered on line using the QKR APP - You only need to write the CHILDS NAME ON THE LUNCH BAG. (Not the order)

If you are still paying CASH please Have the order written on the lunch wallet.

Thank you 

Can Students please be reminded that you are to be at school before the morning bell goes at 8:55am. Classes start at 9:00am

This allows all students to complete their morning routines before the bell goes.

Thank you 

The Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safety across organisations, including schools. The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing.

Dimboola Primary School has reviewed and updated our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. These are available to view on the Dimboola Primary School website or available at the front office

We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices.

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact Greg Sampson, principal.

School fees for 2024 for essential education items are to be $125. This pays for your son/daughter to have books, pencils, glue sticks, scissors, photocopying. This is a voluntary payment

A $40 cultural performance fee, per child, for 2024 is required for your child to participate in the performance. Those that do not pay up front will be asked to pay per performance of $10.00. Those who do not pay will not attend.

Due to New Department Regulations we have changed banks.

Below is a copy of our new account details

BSB -  063 000

Account Number -  14162144

Thank you 

Please call into the office if you require a form to fill out

Thank you 

With school returning it would be a timely reminder to all that:

o Drivers need to give way at school crossings until the pedestrians are well clear of the crossing

o Park in designated spots so as not to create ‘black spots’ for other drivers

o The ‘Kiss and Drop Zone’ at the front of the school is for a quick drop off or pick up.

o Obey the 40kmh speed limits around the school.

o There is a large ‘drop off’ zone in Wimmera Street that has a gate to allow children to walk across the big oval if it is too congested at the front or back of school.

o Bike riders will dismount from their bikes at the front gate (Hindmarsh Street) or the back gate (Church St) and wheel their bikes to the racks.

o Please assist with the education of your child by using the school crossing. Near misses have occurred due to people taking short cuts.

o Bike/scooter riders are to dismount prior to using the school crossings.

Tuesday 4th June – Laura Zordan, a new school-based wellbeing worker will commence work at Dimboola Primary School – further information to follow.

Monday 10th June  – King’s Birthday Public Holiday – student free day

Thursday 13th June – Winter Lightning Premiership at Nhill College Grade 4 – 6 involved.

Monday 17th June – Kindergarten information session in the Prep room commencing at 6:30 pm.

Friday 28th June – Last day of Term 2 – 2:15 pm dismissal