An election is to be conducted for members of the School Council of Werribee Primary School. Nominations forms are attached and must be lodged by 4.00pm on Monday 17th February 2025.

It is important for students to establish positive attendance patterns from the start of the school year.  Regular attendance is essential to support every child’s learning, wellbeing and safety. 

Schooling is compulsory for children and young people aged from 6 to 17 years unless an exemption from attendance or enrolment has been granted.

Daily school attendance is important for all children and young people to succeed in education and to ensure they don't fall behind both socially and developmentally. Children and young people who regularly attend school and complete Year 12 or an equivalent qualification have better health outcomes, better employment outcomes, and higher incomes across their lives. It is important that children develop habits of regular attendance at an early age.

School participation is important as it maximises life opportunities for children and young people by providing them with education and support networks. School helps people to develop important skills, knowledge and values which set them up for further learning and participation in their community.

Parent responsibilities

Parents are required to ensure their child attends school and to provide an explanation for their child's absence from school, and the principal must record in writing the reason (if any) given by the parent. The principal must be able to determine from the records if the excuse given was reasonable in terms of the parent meeting their legal obligations.

Parents should promptly inform the school of the reason for their child's absence so that the school can:

• determine if the child's absence needs to be excused by the principal, in line with school policy and these guidelines
• determine the appropriate follow up to ensure the child's education and wellbeing is supported
• record if the parent has a reasonable excuse for not meeting their obligation to ensure their child attends school each day

Where possible, parents should inform the school in advance of upcoming absences.

How to report a student absence

Protecting the safety and well-being of children through the reporting and monitoring of absenteeism is the responsibility of both parents/carers and schools.  Please remember to call the school on 9742 6659, email at werribee.ps@education.vic.gov.au  or log your  child’s absence using our school’s IT platform Xuno or Student Absentee Form early in the morning if your child is going to be away or late for school so your child’s absence can be recorded correctly.

For further information on the processes and procedures our school uses to record, monitor and follow-up student attendance and absence please read our Attendance Policy.

To ensure a child's education and wellbeing are supported, parents are encouraged to communicate openly with the school where a child has an ongoing medical condition that may result in ongoing absences or medical appointments during school hours.

Attendance information for parents

Unexplained student absences - fact sheet

The importance of attendance at primary school

Click here for further information from The Department of Education.

To report a student absence please click here

Every Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. 

It is part of making Victoria the Education State and the Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s financial circumstances and their outcomes.

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors. Excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works while sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership. All are a part of a healthy curriculum.

CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school excursions, camps and sporting activities.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card or  support an out of home care student you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid directly to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

HOW TO APPLY

New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from the website below.

 
If you applied for CSEF at your child's school last year, you do not need to complete an application form this year unless there has been a change in your family circumstances.

You only need to complete an application form if any of the following changes have occurred:

• new student enrolments: your child has started or changed schools this year.
• changed family circumstances: such as a change of custody, change of name, concession card number, or new siblings commencing this year.

Check with the school office if you are unsure.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about CSEF visit:
https://www.vic.gov.au/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund

Pupil Free Days

The Department of Education (DE) allows all government schools to hold four curriculum days per year. Curriculum days are pupil free days which allow the staff to work together on planning and professional development activities.  The first day of Term 1 is a student-free day in all government schools to allow for appropriate planning to take place for the arrival of students. School Council has approved the following dates for 2026 as curriculum days:

Staff Professional Practice Day

The Department of Education (DE) allows all government schools to hold a common professional practice day on the same day for all staff.  This is to enable the most effective and efficient use of this day.  We have scheduled our professional practice day on the following day.  Students will not be required to attend school on this day:

Tuesday 2nd November 2026 (Melbourne Cup Eve) 

A reminder that Wyndham City take a proactive approach to children's safety around school zones, and have put a number of strategies in place to ensure drivers doing the wrong thing are held to account.

Parking officers will be out on patrol from Monday 30th January and will be looking for parking offences such as stopped within 20 metres before or 10 metres after children’s crossing, stopped contrary to a no-stopping sign, stopped on nature-strip, stopped double parked, stopped within 10 metres of intersection, stopped on footpath, stopped on or across driveways.

Parking patrols are conducted all-year-round every day of the week and it is important to park legally to protect children and families around schools.

The best protection against mosquito-borne illness is to avoid mosquito bites.

Families can protect against mosquito bites by: 

• covering up as much as possible with long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing  
• applying insect repellent that contains picaridin or DEET on exposed skin when outdoors 
• limiting outdoor activity if lots of mosquitoes are active
• clean up and remove containers and items around the home that may hold water where mosquitoes may breed.

Families with any health concerns should see their doctor or phone NURSE-ON-CALL: 1300 606 024 (available 24 hours).

Free Japanese encephalitis vaccines

Japanese encephalitis virus is spread to humans through bites from infected mosquitoes and can cause a rare but potentially serious infection of the brain.

A free vaccine is available to some individuals to protect Victorians at higher risk of the virus.

For more information, including vaccine eligibility, refer to the Department of Health’s Japanese encephalitis webpage.

Find out more

For more information on protecting against mosquito-borne diseases, families can refer to the following Better Health Channel pages:

• Mosquitoes can carry diseases
• Protect yourself from mosquito-borne disease, including a handy checklist to help reduce mosquito breeding sites at home and resources translated into other languages.
• Japanese encephalitis virus

We kindly ask for your cooperation in ensuring a smooth and safe transition at the end of the school day (3:10 – 3:20 pm).  After school hours, the playgrounds, Spider Web, Gaga Pit, and oval are not available for student use, as our staff need to lock the gates and attend meetings. Additionally, our Camp Australia program uses the grounds, and our gym is hired for other activities, so we need to keep these spaces clear.

We ask that students leave the school grounds promptly and safely after dismissal.

However, students are welcome to enjoy the playgrounds before school, from 8:30 – 8:50 am, and during recess and lunch breaks. To ensure safe play, each playground is designated for specific year levels based on height:

• The playground outside Rooms 5 & 6 is for Foundation and Year 1 students
• The playground outside Rooms 7 to 10 is for Year 2 and 3 students
• The playground behind the Wedge Building near the oval is for students in Years 4-6

Thank you for your understanding and support in helping us maintain a safe and organised school environment for everyone!

Before school: School grounds are supervised at 8:30 am. Students are able to enter from any gate.  Gates will be locked at 8:50 am.  After this time please use Gate 1.

After school: School grounds are supervised until 3:20 pm.  Any student not collected by this time will be taken to the office and contact made with the child's parent or carer.

Students on school grounds outside these times will not be supervised (unless they are attending a before or after school care program or supervised extracurricular activity).

Parents/carers are requested to ensure that students do not attend school outside of these supervised times unless they are attending before or after school care, or a pre-arranged supervised activity (i.e. sports practice).

Families are encouraged to contact Camp Australia for more information about the before and after school care facilities available to our school community.

Click here for a copy of our school’s Yard Duty and Supervision Policy.  This policy includes Werribee Primary School’s student supervision arrangements across the school day, including before and after school.