Principal's Report - Thursday 20th February 2020

Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to our students on wonderful levels of participation at our annual swimming carnival on Tuesday. While the weather was grey in the morning, the water temperature was like a warm bath! There were some excellent individual performances with several records broken and again, Wimmera House triumphed overall. Thank you to Mr Jake Hobbs, our Sport Coordinator for convening the day – ably assisted by all DMSC staff who undertook various roles at the sports. Thank you also to Mick and Lisa Polycarpou – the pool is always in pristine condition and we appreciate their ongoing support of the school. Well done to the VCAL students who organised and ran the BBQ and the lunchtime novelty activities – these were appreciated by all.

Darwin Defenders Commemoration

Yesterday, Year 10 students, Tehya Clarke and Harper Harradine, represented DMSC at the annual Darwin Defenders service at Horsham College. Both students participated in the service and laid a wreath on behalf of the DMSC community. Congratulations to Tehya and Harper for being excellent ambassadors for our school and thank you to Mrs Georgina Smith for driving the students to and from the service.

Year 7 and 8 Camps

Next week (Wed-Fri), all of our Year 7s and 8s will participate in their annual camps. The Year 7s will be heading to Campaspe Downs in central Victoria – with a range of outdoor adventure activities planned. Thank you to Year 7 Coordinator, Mrs Holly Combe, for arranging and overseeing this camp. The Year 8s are heading to Ocean Grove, where they will enjoy some water-based activities, including learning to surf. Thank you to Year 8 Coordinator, Ms Maddy Albrecht, for taking charge of this camp. Camps are an important part of our school program and students often report that they are something they really enjoy. Camps can only run with the dedicated support of staff, and I would like to thank in advance the teachers and education support staff who will be accompanying the students on both camp.

Family Details Information

All families should have received a hard copy of their family details information. If there are any errors or omissions on the form, please make the corrections, sign the form and return it to the office as soon as possible. If your details are not recorded correctly, we will not be able to contact you. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Smart Sessions

A reminder that our SMART Sessions have commenced, this year – every Tuesday and Thursday in the library. This free homework/catch-up club is open to all students and provides another opportunity for your child to access assistance from their teachers and to use the resources available here at school. The sessions run for an hour and the students are provided with a snack! If you have any questions about the SMART Sessions, please contact our Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Mrs Charlotte Pyers.

School Council Elections – Information for Parents

School Council elections will commence next week and nomination forms are available in today’s newsletter and from the General Office. Nominations for School Council close on March 2. All government schools in Victoria have a school council. They are legally constituted bodies that are given powers to set the key directions of a school within state-wide guidelines. In doing this, a school council is able to directly influence the quality of education that the school provides for its students.

For most school councils, there are four possible categories of membership:

• A mandated elected Parent category – more than one-third of the total members must be from this category.
• A mandated elected DET employee category – members of this category may make up no more than onethird of the total membership of school council. The principal of the school is automatically one of these members.
• A mandated student category where two student representatives are elected.
• An optional Community member category – members are co-opted by a decision of the council because of their special skills, interests or experiences.

Please consider applying for school council and helping to shape our school.

Anne Gawith

Click here for this week's full newsletter.

Respectful Relationships DMSC would like to congratulate ex- DMSC student, Simone O’Brien on her tireless efforts as an ambassador for the White Ribbon & Family Violence prevention. This has increased the awareness of family violence within Dimboola, Nationally and globally. DMSC continues to promote respectful relationships and educate our students and community members regarding positive behaviour. Unfortunately, adversity may affect our community and we would like to support anyone experiencing any issues in relation to family violence. We have created a ‘Disclosure Pathways and Crisis contacts’ list for anyone in immediate need or those questioning who to seek help from in our area.
This is available here on our website under the 'Resources' tab above and at this link: Disclosure Pathways and Crisis Contacts

Bushfire At Risk Register

Our school is on the Bushfire At Risk Register (BARR).

Schools on the BARR must close on a determined Code Red day in their weather district. No staff will remain on site and all out-of-school care programs (including vacation, before and after school programs) will not operate on such days.

As a bus co-ordinating school all bus routes will be cancelled.

Click here for more information.

Click here for fire danger ratings on the CFA website.

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Koorie Connections

Read about our Koorie engagement projects by clicking here.

eSmart

Click here for
eSmart resources

Sun Smart

We are a Sun Smart school.

A reminder that all students must wear a DMSC wide-brimmed hat in Terms One and Four. Only DMSC hats are acceptable, no caps can be worn.

Hats can be purchased from the office.

Click here for
our SunSmart Policy

UV Index