PARENT

INFORMATION

BOOK

WELCOME

Welcome to Frankston Heights Primary School. We are committed to ensuring that a safe, supportive and positive environment is created and maintained to meet the needs of all our students. The school is proud of its attractive landscaped gardens and playgrounds which provide plenty of open space and varied play areas. We work closely with our school community and value this important partnership. We strongly believe that input and support from parents greatly enhances our children’s learning. We hope your child's time with us will be a happy and rewarding one. This booklet outlines many of our routine procedures.

OFFICE HOURS This school office is open from 8:30am until 4.30pm for general enquires. The principal and most teaching staff will also be available between these times however please make appointments whenever possible.

SCHOOL HOURS It is an expectation that all children should be at school no later than 8.45am. Assembly is run on Friday afternoons. Morning: 8.50am (First Bell) 9.00am (Official Bell) – 10.40am Recess: 10.40am - 11.10am Lunch: 12.50pm - 1.50pm Afternoon session: 1.50pm – 3:30pm (end of school) Collection Bell: 3.45pm (any students who have not been collected are to notify the school office)

LATE ARRIVAL & EARLY LEAVE LATE ARRIVAL: If your child arrives to school after the 9.00am bell they are required to be signed in by a parent/guardian via the iPAD system in the front office. Should a parent not attend the office to sign their child in late, the system will be marked as an ‘unexplained lateness’ on your child’s record. EARLY LEAVE: No child is permitted to leave the school ground during school times without permission. Should your child need to leave the school grounds during school hours for any reason parents are required to sign children out via the front office. Only persons listed on a student’s enrolment records will be permitted to collect students during school hours. If your child is to be collected during school hours by a person not listed on the emergency contact details then written or verbal consent must be provided to the school prior to pick up.

ABSENCES

If your child is absent it is necessary to notify the school either in writing or verbally stating the reason for your child's absence from school. Verbal notification can be made in person to the front office or via our absence phone line. If your child is absent for 3 or more consecutive days from school a medical certificate is desired. Should your family be planning holidays, it is desired that these be booked during the school holiday periods. If holidays are booked during school terms, parents must notify the school in writing the extended dates the child will be absent from school.

SPECIAL EVENTS/SCHOOL EXCURSIONS

During the year various excursions are arranged. Each excursion is programmed to suit the curriculum and educational needs of a particular year level. Permission notifications are sent a minimum of 2 weeks prior to these events. Before your child is allowed to participate in any excursion outside the local area, it is imperative that your written consent is given and the necessary indemnity is signed. Permission slips and payments MUST be handed in by the due date. Payments for these events can be made in a number of ways: CASH - Money sent to school should be sealed in an envelope with the permission slip and the child's name and grade clearly written on the outside. EFTPOS – EFTPOS facilities are available via the school office. Please bring the appropriate permission slips when making payment via EFTPOS. Please note credit card payments will incur a surcharge. BPAY – Specific BPAY details allocated to each family. These can be obtained from the school office and may be used for any payments throughout your family’s time at Frankston Heights PS. Please write on permission slips if you have paid via BPAY prior to handing them in at school. CSEF – Camps, Sports and Excursions Funds are allocated to eligible families holding a Health Care/Pension card upon application. If you hold a Health Care or Pension card or are fostering a child, please speak to the school office to apply for these funds.

SCHOOL UNIFORM Frankston Heights Primary School has an official school uniform which all students are expected to wear whilst at school and on official school excursions. School Council has approved a compulsory uniform policy.

Frankston Heights Primary School Uniform is sold directly through Peninsula Uniforms and Embroidery. Summer hats and school bags are sold directly through the school. All other uniform items can be ordered and purchased from Peninsula Uniforms. School shoes must be entirely black. This includes shoe laces and soles as well as any logos. Entirely black school shoes can be purchased from any reputable stockist. Peninsula Uniforms & Embroidery Address: 1/1 Titan Dr, Carrum Downs VIC 3201 Hours: Monday 7.30am–5pm Tuesday 7.30am–5pm Wednesday 7.30am–5pm

Thursday 7.30am–5pm Friday 7.30am–5pm Saturday By Appointment Sunday Closed Phone: (03) 9775 1777 Parents/guardians have the following options for ordering:-

1. Attend the store in Carrum Downs and place an order. 2. Email order to accounts@peninsulauniforms.com.au. Orders can be paid over the phone

by card (phone No 9775 1777). Uniform orders will need to be placed directly through Peninsula Uniforms. They are open Monday-Friday & Saturdays by appointment.

Shoes: Any entirely black enclosed school shoes or entirely black runners are the only footwear to be worn at school.

Hats: Frankston Height PS is a SunSmart School. Plain red wide brimmed slouch hats must be worn from 1st September-30th April. The approved school hat is the only hat to be worn at school.

Bag: Black school bag with yellow Frankston Heights Primary School Logo.

All garments must be neat and clean. Grooming – Students are permitted to wear a watch and simple studs or sleepers in their ears only. Body piercing is not acceptable. Students are not permitted to wear make-up, nail polish or coloured hair to school. If you have any queries please contact the school office on 9783 4988 or Peninsula Uniforms on 9775 1777.

COMMUNICATION

Ongoing communication between home and school is strongly encouraged throughout the year. NEWSLETTER - The school’s fortnightly newsletter is an important link in the sharing of information from school to home. This includes educational news updates, classroom/whole school happenings, committee reports and children’s writing. Our newsletter is published on our school website every second Thursday and distributed via email. FLEXIBUZZ - We also have a school app. FlexiBuzz can be downloaded to any smart phone or desktop. FlexiBuzz send instant notifications to keep fully informed and up-to-date with news and events. FACEBOOK - We encourage all families to keep up to date via our school Facebook page. Visit www.facebook.com/frankstonheightsps and press the thumbs up ‘Like’ button. This way when we post updates, you’ll receive them in your page. Please Note: Parents/Adults are not to use the school’s Facebook page to communicate with others via comments to one another. The school will not respond to private messages, comments or questions on the Facebook page.

VISITORS TO SCHOOL/PARENT HELPERS

When visiting the school during school hours it is important that parents first contact the office. All parents and adults assisting in classrooms or on any school related activity must hold a current Working With Children’s Check (WWCC). Volunteer WWCC are of no cost to the applicant. Please visit www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au to apply. Our visitors policy can be viewed on our school website. Please Note: our school is not a public place therefore ALL persons must report to the office if intending to visit during the school day.

PARENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS & INFORMATION SESSIONS

Throughout the year, various opportunities are available for parents and teachers to meet and discuss issues related to teaching and learning. Parent Teacher Interviews are held at the beginning of the year and mid-year and booked via an online booking system. Instructions for online bookings will be sent home prior to interviews. At the beginning of each year parents are invited to share information about their child with the classroom teacher. This also gives teachers an opportunity to outline classroom procedures and expectations. Mid-year interviews are held to discuss student progress as outlined in the mid year written report. All children receive a written report in June and December.

‘FRIENDS OF HEIGHTS’ PARENTS & FRIENDS ASSOCIATION

The Friends of Heights are a group of parents who meet with the main aim of bringing the school community together in a social environment and raising funds for our school. They organise social functions for parents and children along with other fund raising activities. New members are encouraged. Notices of meetings are sent prior to the scheduled meeting. All money raised by the Friends of Heights is spent in conjunction with School Council budget processes.

SCHOOL BANKING School Banking is facilitated at the school through the Commonwealth Bank. If you would like to open a ‘Dollarmites’ bank account please visit your local Commonwealth bank branch.

BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL CARE Our ‘Out of School Hours Care Service’ is provided to families Monday-Friday; commencing at 6.30am and finishing at 6.30pm. Camp Australia run the program for children who are enrolled at Frankston Heights Primary School only. For further information and to enrol your child in before and after school care please visit www.campaustralia.com.au

SCHOOL LUNCH

Children have designated breaks for recess and lunch. Children are supervised indoors while they eat their lunch from 12.50pm – 1.00pm. As part of our ‘healthy eating plan’ we ask parents to provide healthy items in children’s lunchboxes. Please avoid items such as fizzy drinks and high sugar foods. Children are also encouraged to bring ‘nude food’. Nude Food is food without excess packaging. This reduces the amount of rubbish that needs to go in bins to be sent to landfill. Please ensure all lunchboxes and containers are named.

FOOD SHARING

Children are not to share food or swap food with others.

Due to allergies we also ask parents to avoid items containing peanuts. NOTE: Food is unable to be reheated at school. Glass containers are not permitted at school.

SCHOOL CROSSINGS The school crossings on Heatherhill Road, Brooklyn Avenue, Kalmia Street and Robinia Street are important to the safety of pupils from this school. Students walking to school must use the crossings appropriately and as required. Please ensure that parents set a good example for their students at the crossings provided.

CAR PARKING Parking and U-turns are restricted in our neighbourhood. Parents should park cars well clear of the crossings; there are signs indicating where you may not park or stop to pick up children. Council By-Laws Officers do regular patrols. Please observe these restrictions at all times.

STAFF CAR PARK

The car park is for staff parking only. Parents are not to park in the school at any time and not to use the staff carpark as a drop-off zone for the safety of our students.

LOST PROPERTY All children's clothing and items should be clearly named. Missing property may be claimed from the Office. Any named items are handed to teachers for return to children. All unnamed items are held in Lost Property at the office.

DOGS Dogs are not permitted in the school grounds at any time.

SKATEBOARDS, SCOOTERS & BIKES Skateboards, scooters and bikes or any other moving or motorised vehicles are not to be ridden in the school grounds unless under teacher instruction during the school day i.e bike education. All students riding to school must walk their bikes, scooters etc through the school grounds and store them in the designated area until the end of the school day. All students riding to school must wear a helmet.

NO SMOKING Our school is a smoke free zone. Smoking is not permitted at any time. This includes the outside permitters of the school grounds. Fines may apply.

MEDICAL & FIRST AID

EMERGENCY DETAILS Parents are responsible for ensuring their contact details remain current. In the event of an emergency we may need to contact parents promptly. Student Detail forms will be sent home during Term 1 of the school year for upgrading your records. All families must provide up to date emergency contacts to the school. In the event of any change of address or phone numbers, please notify us immediately.

ILLNESS & FIRST AID AT SCHOOL Children may need to attend the first aid room throughout their time at Frankston Heights PS. Parents will be notified if children are unwell and need to be sent home or if a serious injury occurs and further medical treatment may be required. Children being collected from the First Aid room should be collected by a parent. All staff at Frankston Heights PS are Level 2 First Aid trained and update their Anaphylaxis and Asthma training annually.

MEDICATION Any matters regarding children's medication must be referred to the Office. All medication should be stored securely in the office and medication forms should be completed. No medication is to be kept in children’s school bags this includes Ventolin.

ASTHMA Many children suffer with Asthma. If your child has been diagnosed as Asthmatic, please provide the school office with a Current Asthma Action Plan from your child’s doctor along with an in date Ventolin & Spacer. These will be stored in the First Aid Room at the school office.

ANAPHYLAXIS / ALLERGY If your child has been diagnosed with Anaphylaxis or with an Allergy management plan please speak to the school office and provide the school with an up to date management plan and in date EpiPen. Anaphylaxis is a potentially life threatening, severe allergic reaction and should always be treated as a medical emergency. We have children in our school that have severe food allergies and confirmed diagnoses of anaphylaxis towards some food products. The most common are EGGS, PEANUTS, NUTS and COW’S MILK. We would like to make our school as allergy aware as possible in order to reduce the risk of accidental exposure. It is very important for you to understand the potential seriousness of this diagnosed condition (anaphylaxis) and how you can help us to reduce the possibility of exposure to the most common causes, in particular NUTS and NUT PRODUCTS within the school. We ask you to assist us by enjoying peanut / nut containing products at home, rather than send to school. All parents are asked to advise their classroom teacher in advance of sending in food to celebrate a child’s birthday or other special occasion. I encourage you to consider non-food items for some of these events so that all children may participate in the fun.

If you have any queries or we can be or any further assistance please do not hesitate to speak to the office staff in person, call the school office on 9783

4988 or email frankston.heights.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au.