EPSOM PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER NO 25– 11/08/10 Phone Number: 03 5448 4318 School Fax Number: 03 5448 3334 Email: epsom.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Website: www.epsomps.vic.edu.au

This is a “YOU CAN DO IT” school

School Council Meeting: Monday 16th August at 6.00pm

Grounds Roster: This weeks gardening keys are being sent home to the Kamil and Keene families.

Next weeks gardening families are the Killen and King families.

Thankyou to our gardening families so far this term. The grounds and paths have been

looking very tidy on a Monday morning.

Blogs

Please check the

school website and

class blogs for extra

news. Lots to read

about!! www.epsomps.vic.edu.au

DATES TO REMEMBER: Whole School Gym Program Thurs. 12th and 19th August

Better Schools Presentation & Lunch 1.15pm Friday 13th August

School Council Meeting Monday 16th August

iPad information evening —7pm Wednesday 18th August

Book Club due back Friday 27th August

Epsom Primary Variety Show—7.30pm Thursday 9th September End of Term 3 Friday 17th September

EPSOM PALM PRESS

Look out for the

award winners in

next week’s

newsletter.

FINAL GYM SESSION

Parents are invited to attend our final gym session on Thursday 19th August –

Grades Prep-3:- 10am-11am.

Grades 4-6:- 11:00am-12:00pm

No pre-schoolers are allowed to attend this session.

Dear Parents/Carers,

During the curriculum day on Monday the staff spent

a productive day learning more about the Ultranet.

Sincere thanks to Jenny Ashby who facilitated the day

for Epsom and Goornong staff. Her hard work en-

sured that the day was a worthwhile learning experi-

ence for all participants. As you are aware, all Princi-

pals and Assistant Principals went to Melbourne for

the day to participate in the “Big Day Out” . We were

privileged to hear several international speakers. The

knowledge gained from the day will assist our school

in implementing the Ultranet.

Next week is the last week of gymnastics. All parents

are invited along to the session to see what the chil-

dren have been doing during the gym lessons. We look

forward to seeing many of you there. (No preschool-

ers please)

Next Wednesday will be very exciting for the students

in the Grade 5/6 class as the children will be opening

their iPads for the first time. We are hoping to have

some special visitors for this session. A note went

home yesterday regarding an information session for

parents on Wednesday evening. Please pencil this ses-

sion into your diary if you have a child in Year 5/6.

The children and staff are working hard on items for

the Epsom Primary Variety Show. This is being held

at the Connect Church on Thursday 9th September at

7pm. Please come along and support the children with

their performances.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Kerry McGuffie

Parking Please keep looking for changes to the

parking and pick up at the front of the school.

Currently the school does not have any up-

dated information from the Greater City of

Bendigo as to the status of the work. Parents

will be notified as soon as we know when the

work will be completed.

Office News Family Statements have been sent

home. Please come and see me if you

have any queries regarding payments

that are due. The school asks that you have the correct

money when you are making a payment

at the office. The school does not have

access to change and does not keep a

float on school premises.

Can someone from the following families

come in and see me please: Bartel,

Burge, Dwyer, Hampton, Hicks, Kent,

Lefrevre, Manion and Whitmore. If you know of any families that are con-

sidering enrolling their child at Epsom

PS next year, please ask them to visit us

to fill in an enrolment form. Book Club orders are being sent home

today. They are due back before Friday

27th August.

Student banking is done on Tuesdays.

Please come and see me for more infor-

mation.

If you have changed your address or

phone number/s PLEASE notify the Of-

fice.

Proposed Timetable Change

The staff and School Council having been discuss-

ing trialling a change to the daily school timetable

during Term 4. The main aim of the proposed

change is to make the teaching and learning time

more productive by being in hourly blocks and to

alleviate some traffic at the end of the day. The

model is currently followed by many schools and is

as follows:

Session 1: 9.00-11.00am

Recess: 11.00– 11.30am

Session 2: 11.30—1.30pm (Children would eat

lunch inside at 1.20pm)

Lunch break: 1.30-2.15pm

Session 3. 2.15-3.15pm

School Council would like to consider any parent

feedback so please feel free to put suggestions in

writing and drop them in at the office by Friday

afternoon. Thank you

Thank you

Marijke Harrison

Epsom Variety Show – September 9th The School Concert will take place on Thursday, 9th

September at the Connect Church Hall in Solomon St,

East Bendigo, off Murphy Street. It will commence at

7:30pm sharp, and all children are involved. The chil-

dren do not need to buy a ticket, but parents, family and

friends will need to purchase tickets from the office.

Tickets are on sale now.

If your child is unable to participate, please see his or her

teacher as soon as possible.

School Concert Tickets – Available

Next Week Please buy your tickets from our school office prior

to the concert, as there will be no tickets sold at the

door on the night. There is no reserved seating.

(Price of tickets to be confirmed….these funds help us

cover venue hire and sound and lighting charges.)

All current students at the school are in the concert,

therefore they do not have to pay. If you can’t get into

the office, send the money in an envelope with your re-

quirements and the tickets will be forwarded home to

you.

Concert Venue This year’s school concert will again be held

at the Connect Church Hall in Solomon St,

East Bendigo.

How do you get there?

If travelling into Bendigo from Epsom, turn left

at the traffic lights opposite Weeroona College

into Murphy St. Follow Murphy St through the

industrial area, go straight through the round-

about at the Strickland Rd intersection, con-

tinue along Murphy St and turn left into Solo-

mon St. The church hall is the first building on

your left. There is parking available in front of

and behind the hall. The concert commences at

7:30pm sharp and children should be assem-

bled at the hall by 7:10pm.

White Hills Cricket Club White Hills Cricket Club is holding its junior

registration day on Monday 23rd August, 2010 between 4-00 and 5-30 pm at the clubrooms Scott Street White Hills. The

club will be fielding teams in the following grades of the B.D.C.A. competition. Under 11A and B, Under 13A and B and Under 15. For further information contact Gill Davey Ph 54483336 or 0488010369

HOW IS PARENT ACCESS TO THE ULTRANET CONTROLLED?

Access to the Ultranet for parents is controlled at the school level. Schools will manage parent ac-

cess to the Ultranet in the same way that they do for access to other student information, such as

school reports.

Schools currently maintain personal files about families regarding who can and can’t access infor-

mation about students. Where there is a court order denying a parent access to their child (and the

school has been made aware of this), the school will not allow the parent access through the Ultra-

net.

Basic information on CASES21 flags families in distress/difficult circumstances and alerts school

administrators to follow a manual access process for the Ultranet, to ensure that only the appropri-

ate parent/s are granted access.

WHAT PARENT INFORMATION WILL BE STORED IN THE ULTRANET

The only personal information that is generated by the Ultranet is the parent’s full name. A parent’s

name can be viewed in the Ultranet by their child, the teachers at their child’s school, and members

of Community spaces that they choose to join. Parent contact details are not available in the Ultra-

net.

Parents manage their own information and participation in the Ultranet. They choose whether or

not to participate in Community spaces with other parents and teachers in the Ultranet.

Separate logins are created for each parent. Parents cannot see each other’s profiles or households.

CAN PARENTS REFUSE TO USE THE ULTRANET? All parents/legal guardians have the choice about whether or not to register for the Ultranet and

activate their profile. Parents will receive a ‘welcome letter’ for the Ultranet providing them with

instructions to set up their profile on the Ultranet. If a parent doesn’t follow this process, they will

not have an active/viewable profile within the Ultranet. Parent contact details (i.e. address or phone

number) are not stored on the Ultranet.

CAN PARENTS BE REMOVED OR SUSPENDED FROM THE ULTRANET? Yes. There are two circumstances where parents/legal guardians will be removed or suspended

from access to the Ultranet:

A parent has breached the Terms of Service for the Ultranet or demonstrated unsafe or irresponsi-

ble use of the system. In this case, the parent’s access can be suspended at the discretion of the

school principal for any period determined to be reasonable.

A family flags with the school that an intervention order has been put in place. In this case, all par-

ent access to the Ultranet will be suspended until court orders are presented to the school. The court

orders determine the future access to student information for the parents. Suspending and reactivat-

ing parent access to the Ultranet is a manual process for a school and should be managed under the

direction of the principal.

WHERE TO RAISE CONCERNS ABOUT PARENT OR STUDENT ACCESS TO THE UL-

TRANET Parents with concerns about parental or student access to the Ultranet should discuss this with their

school Principal.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ULTRANET Parents should contact their child’s school for further information or visit the Ultranet information

website: www.education.vic.gov.au/ultranet