February
Friday 13th - Prep Literacy Information Session @2.45pm (Prep Classroom)
Monday 16th - Hot Shots Tennis (select students)
Monday 16th - School Council @4pm
Wednesday 18th - Getting to Know You Interviews (Grade 1-6 Students)

March
Preps attend full time
Monday 9th - Public Holiday
Wednesday 11th - Friday 13th - NAPLAN Assessments (Grade 3 and 5 students)
Tuesday 24th - Tee Ball Interschool Sport (Selected Grade 4-6 Students)
Friday 27th - Athletics Carnival, Romsey Recreation Reserve (*Spectators Welcome!) 
*If you would like to volunteer on the day, you will require an up to date volunteer or employment Working With Children Card

April
Thursday 2nd April - Last Day of Term One - 2.30pm Finish

Other Key Dates
Tuesday May 5th - Grade 3-6 Cross Country - Hanging Rock
Thursday 7th May - School Photos
June 22nd - 26th - Whole School Swimming Program - Kyneton Pool
December 9th - 11th - Whole School Camp – Urban Camp, Melbourne

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Allergies
At Hesket there are currently no students who have known anaphylaxis. While we do not have a policy that bans foods, we ask that you take time to remind your child/ren of the importance of not sharing food and ensuring their hands are washed straight after eating.

In the event we have students who are anaphylactic, we will ask you to be mindful of the food choices sent to school.

Student Emergency Information
Today all families were emailed a copy of their child/ren's details and emergency information. Can all families check for this email and ensure that all information on our file is current and up to date? Please let Di or Deb know of any updates that need to be made via Seesaw and let Deb know if your email was not received. 

Timetable

Literacy Information Session – 2.45pm Friday 13th February
Next Friday afternoon Amanda and I will be hosting an information session for new families to Hesket. At the session, we will explain how your children learn to read, write and spell at school and how you can support them at home. There will be an opportunity to see resources and ask questions. This session is aimed at new Junior families, but all are welcome.

Facebook Page
Many families already follow our public Facebook page, 'Hesket Primary School'. Families of current enrolments may also wish to follow our closed Facebook page, 'Hesket Primary School Community'. Immediate families of current enrolments can request access to this page. 

CSEF - Financial Assistance - Information For Families 
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.

Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)
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.

The annual CSEF amount per student is $400 for all school students.

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

Conveyance Allowance

Help with the Cost of Travel if you're in Rural or Regional Victoria
If you live more than 4.8km from your closest school you can apply for the conveyance allowance. This is a payment towards the cost of transporting your child to school by public transport, car or school bus. The payment is a contribution and does not cover the full cost of transport. You must meet certain criteria (listed below) to be eligible for the conveyance allowance. Speak to your school first to check and get an application form.

Eligibility
An application on behalf of a student may be submitted if the student is

• a Victorian resident
• school aged and enrolled (3) three or more days per week at a school
• attending a school/campus located outside the Melbourne metropolitan conveyance boundary

A student who meets the above requirements may be eligible if they:

• attend their nearest or designated neighbourhood government school/campus appropriate to their year level, at which admission is permissible, or
• attend their nearest appropriate non-government school/campus appropriate to their year level, at which admission is permissible, and
• reside 4.8km or more by the shortest practicable route from the campus attended

Note: Eligibility is assessed when the School completes your child’s application on the Student Conveyance Allowance System (SCAS). If approved, the allowance payable is based on the one-way distance to make the journey to and from school. For further information regarding the Conveyance Allowance Program see: https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/conveyance-allowance/policy?Redirect=1

Lunches
Each Wednesday at Hesket we have lunch orders; one week from Subway in Woodend and the second week from Super Sushi in Kyneton. All lunch orders are to be completed via the Flexi Schools ap. Deadlines for lunch orders are 9.30am each Wednesday. 

Absences
If your child will be absent from school, please message their classroom teacher (include Seona) on Seesaw, call the school prior to 9.30am or leave a message on the school's answering service. 

Classroom rolls are marked at 9am each morning and at 2.30pm each afternoon. 

If your child is arriving late or needing to picked up early (e.g. for an appointment), please sign them in or out at the main office.

School’s Out Before and After Care
We are excited to announce that School’s Out will be running every morning and afternoon at Hesket this year.

Go to www.schoolsout.net.au or call 1300 329 106 for more information.

Getting to Know You Interviews

Student/Teacher/Parent conferences for students in Grades One to Six are planned for Wednesday 18^th February. On this day we will run an alternative program so that teachers can be available to meet with the families of their students.

If it is not possible for you to meet with your child’s teacher on this day, please make contact so that another time can be organised.

Please see previous Seesaw communication to book your interview time.

Note: if you had trouble sending through your preferences in the first few days the Survey Monkey link was open, please resubmit your preferences as there seemed to be a glitch with link which is now fixed. Thanking you!

Working With Children Clearances (WWCC)

We value the many volunteers that assist in our classrooms, sports events, school concerts, other events and programs. To ensure that we are meeting our legal obligations and the Child Safe Standards, Hesket Primary School is required to undertake suitability checks which in most cases will involve asking for evidence of a Working with Children (WWC) Clearance.

If you wish to volunteer as a parent helper where you are required to work with or alongside students, we will require volunteers to obtain a WWC Clearance and produce their valid card to the Seona or Deb or Di in the office.

Applying for a volunteer WWC is free and can be completed at https://service.vic.gov.au/services/working-with-children. A WWCC may be needed if you wish to volunteer at our end of term athletics carnival – yes, we will be calling on help from lots of you!

Run the Rock 2026
We have once again registered a team for Run the Rock and predict that many students will choose to participate - last year we had 38 runners! 

Our team name for next year is Hesket Primary 2026 and if you join our team using the code RTRSCHOOLS2026, you will also receive a 10% discount. 

Team Name - Hesket Primary 2026
Team Access Code - HESKETRTR26
Discount Code - RTRSCHOOLS2026

http://raceroster.com/events/2026/109981/run-the-rock-2026/register?team=890076

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We have had the most wonderful start to the school year and are so impressed with how our new Juniors have settled in. Some of their highlights and favourite things to do at Hesket are:

- meeting all of the new Preps - Kiki
- hanging out with my friends and playing sport - Sidney
- playing tennis and doing everything with my buddy and friends - Oliver
- meeting my buddy, Amy - Stevie
- meeting my buddy, Jasper - Elliott
- playing on the playground with my friends - Ginevra
- eating time with my buddy, Woody - Heath
- playing down ball with my buddy - William
- running around the whole school - Mack
- playing with my buddies, Ayla and Heidi - Hudson
- playing with Ginevra, Flossy, Kiki and Stevie - Grace
- getting our new caterpillars and seeing them change the next day - Flossy
- playing on the monkey bars and playing with my buddy, Caitlin - Ethan
- playing with my buddy, Harvey - Liam
- playing tennis with my friend Sidney and teaching him to play - Bjorn.

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This newsletter we'd like to wish lots of people very happy birthdays. We hope that Caleb, Stevie, James B, Kieran, Zach, Raffi, Aurelia, Kimberly and Heath all had special days with their family and friends.

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Congratulations to the following students on some amazing milestones over the last fortnight:

10 Runs - Hettie
15 Runs - Ginevra
20 Runs - Oscar C
25 Runs - Flossy, Malakai and Grace - Congratulations Run Club 25s
30 Runs - Indy
50 Runs - Margot  - Congratulations Run Club 50s
60 Runs - Max
70 Runs - Emily A, Mathilde, Kieran, Phoebe
80 Runs - Harvey
85 Runs - Archer
90 Runs - Ellina, Jamie, Amelia
95 Runs - Ada, Aurelia
100 Runs - Harry - Congratulations Run Club 100s
110 Runs - Hudson
120 Runs - Alex
140 Runs - Emily M

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