In January, one of APS families (Saaid, Safa, Salim and mum, Faiza) was featured on SBS News discussing the importance of vaccinations. This was a great feature for the family and the community and we thank Faiza's family for your ambassadorship to keep the school safe.
Article: Australia's vaccinations open to children aged 5-11 with extra help for migrant communities
Youtube: COVID-19 vaccination opens for children aged five to 11 across Australia
Have a fantastic weekend and I hope students are looking forward to basketball, African drumming and dancing and soccer clinics starting next week!
Stanley xiaozhang
This term, as part of our Wellbeing Curriculum, our students will be engaging with the Bullying. No Way! framework. For our Foundation-Grade 2 students, the framework focuses on emotional literacy. This is the ability to understand, express and manage individual emotions as well as the ability to understand and respond to the emotions of others. These skills are a central part of a child’s social development and provide a foundation for positive personal friendships. Positive interactions between peers lead to respectful relationships and help to prevent bullying. For our Grade 3-6 students the framework focuses on concepts such as: what bullying is, why people bully, how we can respond to bullying and how we can prevent bullying.
This is very timely, as at the start of each school year, teachers go through the Abbotsford Primary School ICT Acceptable Use Agreement with their class. This agreement outlines how we expect students to use digital technologies in a safe and respectful way. When learning about what constitutes bullying, students will also learn about cyberbullying and its harmful effects. Cyberbulling involves the use of digital technology to harass, threaten, or humiliate others. Cyberbullying can reach a child 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and the bullying can follow individuals anywhere so that no place, not even home, ever feels safe. With a few quick clicks, a child’s embarrassment can be witnessed by hundreds or even thousands of people online.
Below is a useful Fact Sheet that describes what the signs to look out for are that may indicate that your child is being cyberbullied.
The Department of Education and Training (the Department) values your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal and health information that schools collect.
All school staff must comply with Victorian privacy law and the Schools’ Privacy Policy. This notice explains how the Department, including Victorian government schools (schools), handles personal and health information. On occasion, specific consent will be sought for the collection and use of information, for example, for a student to receive a health service. Our schools are also required by legislation, such as the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, to collect some of this information.
Throughout this notice, ‘staff’ includes principals, teachers, student support service officers, youth workers, social workers, nurses and any other allied health practitioners, and all other employees, contractors, volunteers and service providers of the school and the Department.
On enrolment, and during the ordinary course of a student’s attendance at a school, schools will collect information about students and their families for the following purposes:
If this information is not collected, schools may be unable to provide optimal education or support to students or fulfil legal obligations.
For example, our schools rely on parents to provide health information about any medical condition or disability that their child has, medication their child may take while at school, any known allergies and contact details of their child’s doctor. If parents do not provide all relevant health information, this may put their child’s health at risk.
Our schools also require current, relevant information about all parents and carers so that schools can take account of safety concerns that affect their children. Parents should provide schools with copies of all current parenting plans and court orders about or that affect their children and provide updated copies when they change.
When parents enrol their child in primary school, they will be asked to provide personal and health information in several ways, including via the Enrolment Form, the School Entrance Health Questionnaire (SEHQ) and the Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) Transition Form.
The Enrolment Form is used to collect information that is essential for the purposes listed above, and requests information such as:
All schools may use departmental systems and online tools such as apps and other software to effectively collect and manage information about students and families for the purposes listed above.
When schools use these online tools, they take steps to ensure that student information is secure. If parents or carers have any concerns about the use of these online tools, please contact the school.
School staff will only share student and family information with other school staff who need to know to enable them to educate or support the student as described above. Information will only be shared outside the school (and outside the Department) as required or authorised by law, including where sharing is required to meet duty of care, anti-discrimination, occupational health and safety, and child wellbeing and safety obligations. The information collected will not be disclosed beyond the school and Department without parent consent unless such disclosure is lawful.
When a student transfers to another school (including Catholic, independent and interstate), personal and/or health information about that student may be transferred to the next school. Transferring this information is in the best interests of the student and assists the next school to provide the best possible education and support to the student. For further detail about how and what level of information is provided to the next school, refer to the: Enrolment: Student transfers between schools
Schools only provide school reports and ordinary school communications to students, parents, carers or others who have a legal right to that information. Requests for access to other student information or by others must be made by lodging a Freedom of Information (FOI) application.
To update student or family information, parents should contact their school.
Children aged 5-11 years are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Getting vaccinated is the best way you can protect yourself, your family and our school community from further outbreaks and the spread of COVID-19.
Vaccination is not mandatory, but it is highly encouraged, except where your medical practitioner advises you otherwise.
To help keep our school community safe, Professor Yoland Lim Health Care will be hosting a mini COVID-19 vaccination clinic at our school for all students at our school aged 5-11 years.
When and where
Dose 1
Dose 2
Parent/guardian consent
All students aged 5-11-years-old require the consent of their parent or guardian to be vaccinated. A parent or guardian must attend the mini vaccination clinic with your child to provide consent and support your child.
How to book an appointment
You’re welcome to book an appointment by contacting the Reception in person or via email (abbotsford.ps@education.vic.gov.au).
You can also attend without an appointment if you’re not able to book.
What to bring
On the day you should bring the following:
Please note, appointments and vaccinations through the school based mini-vaccination clinic are at no cost to your or your family.
Please speak to your doctor if you have any questions about vaccination for your child.
More information
If you and your child cannot attend the vaccination clinic at the school, you can book and receive your COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre, participating GP clinics, pharmacies or community health services.
You can find a Commonwealth vaccination centre or participating GP, pharmacy or community health service through the Vaccine Clinic Finder. You can book your appointment online or by calling the vaccine provider nearest to you. To find a state vaccination centre and opening times, visit coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
Translated advice about the vaccines is also available at coronavirus.vic.gov.au.
For further assistance, contact: