Updated: March 20, 2024
We ask parents to be vigilant in monitoring their child’s health. We trust that parents make an informed judgement about when its appropriate to keep their child home from school if they are ill. If this is this case, please ring or email the school to leave a message with the office regarding your child’s absence due to illness.
From time-to-time, we need to inform parents of cases of particular illnesses or infections in a learning community that may require you to take action. The Better Health Channel (Victorian Department of Health) provides an excellent source of information to help you make informed decisions about various illnesses and infections.
Find out about:
Child Safety
BEPS is committed to child safety. In the wake of Victorian Government Betrayal of Trust findings, BEPS wants to reinforce that we as a community want children to be safe, happy and empowered. We support and respect all children, as well as our staff and volunteers. There is a zero tolerance of child abuse, and all allegations and safety concerns will be treated very seriously and consistently.
We already have policies and processes in place to protect the care, safety and welfare of children. Policies and procedures have been reviewed, strengthened, and in some cases newly written, to ensure that we meet our legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety and ensure a rigorous approach to child abuse. As policies are ratified at school council, they will be made available to you through our web page.
All our school policies can be found here.
BEPS is committed to preventing child abuse and identifying risks early, and removing and reducing these risks. We have robust human resources and recruitment practices for all staff and volunteers. We are committed to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability. Brunswick East Primary School has specific policies, procedures and training in places that support our leadership team, staff and volunteers to achieve these commitments.
There will be clear boundaries about how adults in our school community may interact with the children here, set out in our school’s Child Safe Code of Conduct. This will be made available when school council ratifies it at school council.
The child safe standards apply to all school staff (including volunteers and contractors), visitors and students’ family members.
Keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility.
All unsupervised contractors and instrumental music teachers have a Working With Children check as a condition of working with us and all parents/guardians who go on excursions are required to have a WWC check. All parents who come in and help in the rooms also require a WWC check, and should be brought into the school so that a copy can be kept. You can apply on line at www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au . It is free for volunteers.
COVID-19 safety
People with in our school and community are still contracting COVID-19 and it is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) are used by students and staff:
- If you have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
- If you are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians should report their positive Rapid Antigen Test result to the Department of Health online, or by calling 1800 675 398.
Students (or their parents/carers) should also report a positive result to their school.
Rapid Antigen Test are also available for all Victorians from Council sites. People can get 2 free packs (10 tests) for themselves and 2 free packs (10 tests) for each of their household members.
People with disability and their carers can get up to 4 free packs (20 tests) in line with existing Rapid Antigen Test distribution for people with disability.
Further information can be obtained at Council Rapid Antigen Test Program.
It is recommend that students wear a mask at school if they are a close contact.
School Crossing Safety
Here’s a terrific video about school crossing developed by Merri-Bek Council and you can also download this information sheet Parents Road Rules.