Heights Happenings – 2024 – Term 3, Week 8

Father’s Day

I hope all our dads and grandfathers had an enjoyable day last Sunday for Father’s Day. I enjoyed a special time with my wife and kids in the morning, watching my daughter win her netball final, followed by a catch-up with my dad, grandfather and extended family in the afternoon. It was a lovely day for me, and I hope your children showed their gratitude and love to their fathers, grandfathers and special father figures in their life too. I’d like to extend my thanks to the many mums who helped us last week in running the Father’s Day stall. Your time spent volunteering at our school is greatly appreciated!

Footy Day and End of Term 3

It’s hard to believe that we’re nearly at the end of third term! I really look forward to the end of Term 3 because we get to celebrate Footy Finals time by wearing our team colours to school. Regardless of how the Cats go in the finals, I’ll be coming to school dressed in my Cats gear to cheer them on. This year, the Junior School Council are asking families to donate a gold coin towards the My Room Children’s Cancer Charity.

Just a reminder that students will be dismissed at 2:30pm on Friday 20^th September.

Three-way Conferences and Professional Practice Day

There are two days coming up over the next two weeks where the kids won’t be attending school. The first student-free day is happening on Wednesday 11^th September (next week) which is a Professional Practice Day for teachers. Teaching staff will be using this day to plan the learning program for term 4. Our Education Support staff will be engaged in professional learning about reading intervention for students who require additional support.

The following Tuesday is the second Three-way Conference day for the year. For the most part, kids will be at home on this day and only attending with their parent(s) for the interview time. If there are any families who are unable to make arrangements for the care of your child(ren) on this day, please see the Compass post that was sent on August 27 which contains a link to the request form. I’d like to thank families for supporting this approach to parent-teacher conferences. Doing it this way allows us to meet with families whilst also solving the time-in-lieu issue for teachers.

School Saving Bonus

The School Saving Bonus will provide $400 in one-off support for Victorian school-aged students in Term 4, 2024, for use on 2025 school costs.

Families can choose how they want to spend the School Saving Bonus. It can be used towards 2025 school costs, which may include:

• camps, trips, excursions and incursions
• swimming and sporting programs
• outdoor education programs
• graduations
• school uniforms.

The School Saving Bonus will be in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and the Affordable School Uniforms Program.

More information about the School Saving Bonus is included in this newsletter, so please read on.

Kind regards,

Mat Anderton
Principal

CARE Ticket Winners

Care Award Winners – Term 3 – Respect

School Saving Bonus

About the School Saving Bonus
The Victorian Government is making life that little bit easier for families by providing a one-off $400 School Saving Bonus.
This support will help cover the cost of school uniforms, textbooks, and school activities like camps, excursions and sports.
The School Saving Bonus is in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and the Affordable School Uniforms Program.
The School Saving Bonus will be provided to schools and families in Term 4, 2024.

Who receives the School Saving Bonus
The School Saving Bonus is available for parents and carers of all Victorian government school students from Prep to Year 12 in 2025, except for full-fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.

Actions for parents and carers 
Parents and carers of children who meet the School Saving Bonus eligibility above are required to do the following by Friday 18 October 2024:

• Complete enrolment

If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025, please complete enrolment. For more information, read about Enrolling in School.

• Check your contact information

Ensure your contact information is up to date with your school. You can check this information by contacting your school directly.

Accessing the $400 School Saving Bonus
You do not need to apply for the School Saving Bonus.
The Department of Education will email you in November 2024 with your $400 School Saving Bonus. You will be able to access it via an online system.
You can decide how to best use the School Saving Bonus for your family’s needs. You can choose how to allocate the $400 in the online system.
The bonus can be used towards 2025 school costs, which may include:

• camps, trips, excursions and incursions
• swimming and sporting programs
• outdoor education programs
• graduations
• school uniforms.

The bonus can be used at your school’s approved textbook or uniform suppliers either in-store or online, or through State Schools’ Relief. The list of suppliers may include a school uniform or bookshop. Any amount that you choose to allocate to textbooks and uniforms will be valid until 30 June 2025. It will then transfer to your child’s school account for future activities.
Funds will roll over for use in future years if it is not all spent in 2025.

Families with more than one eligible child 
Families who have more than one child at the same school can combine their School Saving Bonus payments to use on one child, or for a specific activity. So, for example, a family with 3 children who are all government school students would receive support to the value of $1,200 and choose how they spend those funds. The School Saving Bonus cannot be combined across different schools.

More information 
To learn more about the School Saving Bonus visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus. Translated information will also be available on the School Saving Bonus website in the next few weeks.

Name Your Belongings

We know you treasure your uniform and books. Please remember to label all uniform, books and belongings coming to school. Like most years, we have had an incredible amount of lost property through the year. The majority was unnamed, along with illegible tags. We would love lost items to boomerang back to your kids.

Father’s Day Stall

Many thanks to Melanie Snibson and her crew of volunteers for the fantastic Father’s Day Stall. The kids were very excited buying the wonderful fathers/father figures gifts.

Twilight Market

Our Twilight Market is locked in for the 25th October 2024. Click here to follow the event page on Facebook. If you know a business who would be keen to sponsor the event, please contact us on 9729-2614.