Junior School Handbook

JUNIOR SCHOOL HANDBOOK (ELC TO YEAR 6 STUDENTS)

Version: February 2026

Junior School Handbook

Table of Contents Welcome To The Junior School . . . . . . . . . .

4

Toys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20

Our Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Water Bottles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Our Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Lunch And Nutrition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

School Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Forgotten Lunches . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

Junior School Key Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Healthy Snack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

School Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Beyond The Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Term Dates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8

Camps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

School Times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8

Co-Curricular Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Attendances / Absences . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

Booklist Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Health And Wellbeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Community Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Allergies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

School Psychologist . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Excursions & Incursions . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11

Duty Of Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

Health Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

22

Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Information, Volunteering, Services . . . . . . . . . 23

School Uniform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Change Of Parent Details . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Visitors To The School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Holiday Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15

Out Of School Hours Care . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Parent Volunteers/Classroom Helpers . . . . . . 23

Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Home Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Individual Music Tuition - Home Practice . . . . . 15 Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 The Nest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Pastoral Care/Wellbeing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Behaviour Management . . . . . . . . . . .

17

Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Bullying & Cyber-Bullying . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Life At School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Birthdays, Parties And Invitations . . . . . . . . 18 Hats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

House System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

Information Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Kiss And Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

Lockers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Lost Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Personal Electronic Devices . . . . . . . . . . 20 Record Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

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Junior School Handbook

Welcome to the Junior School The Junior School is a safe, supportive and nurturing learning community, catering for students from ELC to Year 6. The Junior School is committed to providing opportunities that allow every child to experience success in their learning through rich, diverse and stimulating opportunities and experiences.

The Junior School strives to ensure every child reaches their full potential, by providing a personalised approach to learning that promotes a positive, challenging and affirming learning experience. Children are encouraged to seek meaning, be curious, collaborate, take risks and challenge themselves. This is achieved through a play based program promoting curiosity, creativity, and questioning as well as an introduction to early Literacy and Numeracy concepts. From Prep, strong foundations in Literacy and Numeracy are built, while also encouraging students to take responsibility for their learning and build independence.

In addition to a strong pastoral and classroom program, children are also immersed in a rich Specialist Program. The Specialist teachers work closely with classroom teachers to develop a curriculum that links concepts and skills across a range of topics.

Within the Junior School, we place significant importance on building an active learning community and fostering a sense of belonging and connectedness that nurtures the social, emotional and personal growth of children, through a focus on building wellbeing and resilience. We value respectful, caring and supportive relationships between children, teachers, and families. We work closely with families to support children’s learning and development at home and in the community.

Teachers at The Knox School value how well they know their students and how each learns. As a small school, students are known by all the teachers. The one-campus environment allows students to confidently and comfortably transition from one year level to another. We strive to create a learning environment with seamless transition points, particularly for students moving from ELC 4 into Prep, and from Year 6 into Year 7. This is underpinned by a transition program that supports children through critical stages in their education. At every level, there is a sense of looking forward, and yet an appreciation of what has gone before.

Mr Simon Cowell Associate Principal: Head of Junior School

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Junior School Handbook

Our Mission “To equip students to be the architects of, and advocates for, their learning through their lives”

Our Vision The Knox School is a secular, coeducational, Early Learning to Year 12 School committed to excellence in education. Our School has an environment which promotes learning as a means of discovery and enjoyment and where enthusiasm and diversity are the central tenets of the program. Each student is encouraged to aim high, to improve daily, to take pride in his or her achievements and to develop effective and worthy ethical values.

School Values It is expected that members of our community will do their best to implement the desired modelling of the values within the total life of the School.

Achievement Accomplishing a ‘personal best’ in the world of work, education or personal development.

Care & Empathy Being emotionally & physically supported, helping others and understanding their perspectives.

Resilience The mental/psychological skill to properly adapt to stress and adversity.

Responsibility Being personally accountable for and able to make decisions influencing a course of action.

Respect Honour or regard for the worth of others.

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Junior School Handbook

Junior School Key Contacts

6

Ms Nikki Kirkup

Mr Simon Cowell

Mrs Sarah McKenzie

Principal

Associate Principal: Head of Junior School

Deputy Head of Junior School

Ms Tina Cimino

Melissa Armsden

ELC Coordinator

Executive Assistant: Head of Junior School

Junior School Handbook

School Contacts Who

Contact

Phone

Email

Absences (ELC - Year 6)

Reception

8805 3800

js@knox.vic.edu.au

Absences (Year 7 - Year 12)

Reception

8805 3800

reception@knox.vic.edu.au

Update Contact Details

Tania Castles Registrar

8805 3800

tania.castles@knox.vic.edu.au

Student Account Fees

Accounts Receivable

8805 3807

accounts@knox.vic.edu.au

Health Centre

Colleen Norvill & Heather Lockhart - School Nurses

8805 3838

IT Helpdesk

Technology Services

8805 3888

Community Café

Community Café

Uniform Purchases

Uniform Shop

8805 3860

knx@dobsons.com.au

Junior School Enquiries

Melissa Armsden EA to Head of Junior School

8805 3800

js@knox.vic.edu.au

Music Enquiries

Shani Cossins EA to Director of Music Daniel Nealon Junior School Music

General Enquiries

Reception

Co-Curricular Activities

The Nest

colleen.norvill@knox.vic.edu.au heather.lockhart@knox.vic.edu.au helpdesk@knox.vic.edu.au communitycafe@knox.vic.edu.au

8805 3826

8805 3800

shani.cossins@knox.vic.edu.au daniel.nealon@knox.vic.edu.au

reception@knox.vic.edu.au The TKS App / Website

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Junior School Handbook

Term Dates 2026

Term Dates 2027

Term 1: 30 January to 2 April (Staggered Start)

Term 1: 29 January to 25 March (Staggered Start)

Term 2: 21 April to 26 June

Term 2: 13 April to 26 June

Term 3: 21 July to 18 September

Term 3: 13 July to 17 September

Term 4: 5 October to 9 December

Term 4: 4 October to 8 December

School Times Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 8:30 – 8:40

Homeroom

8:40 - 9:30

Period 1

9:35 - 10:25

Tuesday 8:30-8:40

Homeroom

50mins

8:40-9:30

Period 1

50mins

Period 2

50mins

9:35-10:25

Period 2

50mins

10:25 – 10:50

Recess

25mins

10:25-10:50

Recess

25mins

10:55 – 11:45

Period 3

50mins

10:55-11:45

Period 3

50mins

11:50 - 12:40

Period 4

50mins

11:50 - 12:20

Community

30mins

12:40 – 12:50

Lunch eating

10mins

12:20-12:30

Lunch eating

10mins

12:50 – 1:30

Lunch Play

40mins

12:30 - 1:05

Lunch Play

35mins

1:35 – 2:25

Period 5

50mins

1:10-2:00

Period 4

50mins

2:30 – 3:20

Period 6

50mins

2:05-2:55

Period 5

50mins

Supervision is provided for students in ELC to Year 6 from 8:20am each morning in the Junior School Atrium and in the Robert Read Learning Centre. Junior School classroom doors open for students at 8:30am when teachers are ready to welcome students.

All students should be at school by 8:30am.

Whilst parents of students in Prep to Year 6 do not need to remain with their children after 8:20am, those with pre-school children in the Early Learning Centre must supervise their children until they are signed into the program at 8:30am.

Supervision is provided for students after school for up to 15 minutes after dismissal. Students not collected by that time will be admitted to the After Hours Care Program (at a cost to be borne by families). Students in Years 5 and 6 may wait outside the Junior School building to be collected.

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Junior School Handbook

Attendances / Absences The School expects all students to attend every lesson every day as students cannot expect to achieve strong results if their attitude to study and attendance is irregular.

Students should be encouraged to be punctual.

If students are unwell and are unable to attend School, parents / guardians should request homestay by notifying the School before 8.45am. Absences can be submitted by either of the following methods: •

Submit attendance note via The Nest app

•

Email Reception and cc the classroom Teacher (js@knox.vic.edu.au + Teacher)

•

Call Reception on 8805 3800

We ask that every effort is made for students to be on time. Students arriving late to School are asked to sign-in at Reception prior to attending their first class for the day.

Students who have approval to leave school early must sign out and provide written notice from a parent or guardian.

Extended absences from school due to family circumstances must be notified in writing and addressed to the Head of School. Teachers do not set work for extended absences.

Booklist Supplies The Knox School book supplier is: Campion Education 1/170-180 Rooks Road NUNAWADING VIC 3131 1300 433 982 sales@campion.com.au www.campion.com.au Normal Trading Hours:

Monday - Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm

January Trading Hours:

Monday - Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm

Saturday 9:00am - 1:00pm

We prefer all students to order their books online. Campion offers an excellent website assisting parents with the purchase and delivery of all school items.

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Junior School Handbook

Community Café The Knox School provides a café service to all students. The Community Café is located in The David Aitken Building and is operated by an independent company.

Lunches for students in Junior School (ELC – Year 6) can be ordered via FlexiSchools. A link to their website can be found on The Nest.

Communications

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Knoxmail

Emailed every Friday afternoon from 2pm

The Nest

General Notices and Urgent Information from Staff

Paperly

Consent for Camps, Excursions and Incursions

Junior School Handbook

Excursions & Incursions Excursions and incursions are seen as an integral part of the rich and stimulating school curriculum as they enable students to explore, extend and enrich their learning and their social skills development, in a non-school setting. Excursions/ incursions may have a cultural, environmental or outdoor emphasis and complement the educational programs offered at The Knox School.

Regular excursions and incursions are planned for each year level. Parents are advised well in advance if students will be attending a program outside the school and will be asked to respond via Paperly with approval. On occasion, there will be opportunities for parents to attend excursions to assist with supervision. All parents must complete the parent volunteer information located on The Nest and hold a valid Working With Children Check.

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Junior School Handbook

Safety Student Safety The Knox School has zero tolerance for child abuse. We are committed to the protection of all children from all forms of child abuse and demonstrates this commitment through the implementation of a comprehensive Child Protection Program designed to keep children safe. Parents who wish to participate in activities involving students must complete a Student Safety presentation and hold a current Working With Children check.

Transport Car The commute to and from school is a daily undertaking that for all families involves considerable organisation.

The peak time for traffic are: •

8:25am - 8:40am

Monday - Friday

•

3.00pm

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

•

2.45am - 3.15pm

Tuesday

We have several strategies in place to make drop-off and pick-up as safe and efficient as possible including Burwood Hwy entry and a ‘kiss and drop’ area for Junior School. Senior School parents are encouraged to use the Merryn Grove entry and round-about. This is also optional for our Year 4, 5 and 6 families.

For more information, please refer to our ‘Travelling to TKS’ brochure.

Bus The Knox School is well-serviced by a variety of transport systems and we offer several chartered bus routes from surrounding suburbs, comprising coach services run specifically for the School as well as our own fleet of mini buses driven by qualified drivers.

For more information, please refer to our ‘Bus Transport’ brochure.

Bike Students may ride a bicycle to school if they have received the necessary permission from the Head of School and their parents.

Permission is dependent upon: (a) the wearing of an approved helmet (b) the secure locking of bikes in appropriate bays during school hours.

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Junior School Handbook

School Uniform

(School tie optional P to 3, compulsory 4 to 6)

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Junior School Handbook

Uniform (continued) Students of The Knox School are required to wear the relevant School uniform appropriate for classes, physical education, and sport. It is expected that they will wear their uniform appropriately. The School expects the uniform to be worn correctly at all times: at School, when travelling to and from School and on formal occasions.

All items of uniform are available for purchase through The Knox School Uniform Shop which is operated by Dobsons. The shop is located in the Daniel Rechtman Information Common adjacent to the Health Centre.

Opening Hours (Term Time) Monday: 8.00am – 11.00am Wednesday: 1.00pm – 4.00pm Friday 1.00pm – 4.30pm

Opening Hours (Holidays): Please contact Reception for holiday hours.

As December and January are the busiest months of the year in the Uniform Shop, we encourage you to make an appointment to enable the Uniform Shop staff to give enough time required.

Phone: 9801 0829.

Visitors to the School For the safety of our students, all visitors to the School during the school day should go first to Main Reception and sign in. All visitors will receive a visitor badge which must be worn for the duration of their stay. Visitors are also asked to sign out at Main Reception and return their visitor badge. If a meeting has been arranged with parents, the staff member will come to Reception after parents have signed in. This also applies to parent volunteers.

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Junior School Handbook

Learning Assessment As part of our Three Journeys, Learner Profiles are carried out at the beginning of each year for Literacy and Numeracy for all students Prep-Year 6. In addition, Year 3 and 5 students undertake NAPLAN (National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy) assessments. The results provide valuable information for teachers regarding student attainments and assist them with meeting the students’ learning needs. Other assessments are conducted as part of the monitoring of student progress and the school’s assessment schedule.

Curriculum The Knox School follows the Victorian Curriculum, which sets out what students should learn at the various stages of their schooling. The curriculum that is taught in the Junior School incorporates the Australian Curriculum and reflects Victorian priorities and standards.

Our programs cover the common set of knowledge and skills required by students for life-long learning, social development and active and informed citizenship. The Key Learning Areas are: •

English

•

Mathematics

•

Humanities

•

Science

•

The Arts – Music and Visual Arts

•

Health and Physical Education

•

Languages – French, + Chinese (Years 4-6)

•

Technologies - Design & Digital STEM

•

Personal & Social Capabilities

It is important, however, to note that primary school children need plenty of leisure time and home learning should not ever be seen as a form of punishment.

We appreciate that our students can be very busy after school and the completion of home learning tasks on a given night may not be possible. In most cases, the home learning tasks are set to be completed within a given timeframe. We encourage parents to use their best judgement on what can be reasonably completed.

Our staff are very flexible and understanding, and readily adjust their planned teaching program according to the specific needs, issues raised, and interests highlighted, throughout the lesson. This means that, on some occasions, students will be asked to make alterations to their home learning sheet so that their home learning continues to be related to work completed and discussed in class.

Individual Music Tuition – Home Practice Students undertaking individual or group instrumental tuition at the school will be given home practice expectations by their instrumental tutor. All queries regarding home practice should be directed to the Music Department.

Home Learning Home Learning helps to bridge the gap between home and school. It should be seen by teachers, students, parents and caregivers as a part of the home-school partnership that supports young people while they learn. The main purposes of home learning are: •

To communicate with parents about what their child is doing in the classroom and to encourage parents or carers to interact and talk to their child about their school work in a positive manner;

•

To practise the many skills learned in class, to reinforce work learned in and to revise content covered in class; and

•

To develop time and resource management skills in the students and to develop a disciplined and responsible attitude towards learning.

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Junior School Handbook

Reporting The School aims to keep parents informed of their child’s progress continually throughout the academic year. This is achieved through homework samples, reports, interviews and regular The Nest posts.

Welcome Evening and Specialist Morning (Term 1) This is held at the beginning of Term 1. The objective of this event is to enable parents to gain an insight into the curriculum for the year level, the special events planned, co-curricular opportunities and to meet their child’s new teacher.

Parent Teacher Interviews (Term 1 and Term 3) Parent Teacher Interviews are held during of Term 1 and Term 3. Parents are asked to book a specific time via an online booking system, Parent Teacher Online (PTO), to discuss their child’s progress with the classroom teacher and specialist staff. The students are welcome to come to the interviews also, if appropriate for their age.

End of Semester Report Formal reports of each student’s progress and achievements, along with recommendations for future learning are written and posted electronically at the end of each semester.

The Nest The Nest is the ELC and Junior School online platform that provides real time information to parents via the online portfolio. Teachers post photos and information about each child’s learning and can link activities to the curriculum outcomes the activity addresses.

Parents are also able to jointly view and contribute to their child’s learning journey. It is a safe and secure interactive environment Once parents have signed up, they receive notifications about their child’s personal learning and more generic information can be found in the year level and Community groups.

Semester reports are also accessed via The Nest.

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Junior School Handbook

Pastoral Care and Wellbeing Curriculum The Knox School prides itself on how the School cares for its students. Staff members participate actively in caring for students through their interactions with them in the classroom, in co-curricular activities, in the House Program, Community time and when on camps. Staff members willingly meet with parents to discuss any issue or concern they may have in relation to their child’s academic progress, wellbeing or behaviour.

The Wellbeing program involves a variety of key personnel. The classroom teacher is the first port of call, with the support of others as required, such as the Deputy Head of Junior School, the School Counsellor (Psychologist) and School Nurse.

In the Junior School a range of resources are used to promote emotional health and wellbeing, where students are empowered to deal effectively with situations of conflict that occur. The Resilience Project for instance focuses on developing gratitude, empathy, mindfulness and emotional intelligence.

Behaviour Management The manner in which we assist students in this area is largely based on the principles of common sense and natural justice, with the School Values and the consideration of others in the school community being paramount of greatest importance is respect for others and property. Each student should be responsible for their actions and become aware of maintaining self-control in relationship building within the community.

The Junior School teachers will communicate with parents as required. Each stage of the process when dealing with incidents allows for reflection and communication to allow for guidance and strategies for future growth.

Interviews If at any time during the year a parent wishes to discuss their child with the teachers, please make an appointment by contacting the class teacher by email, or by putting a note in the Student Record Book. The relevant teacher/s will then liaise with you about a suitable time.

It is recommended that parents communicate with the class teacher first before contacting the Head of Junior School or others

Bullying and Cyber-Bullying Bullying is behaviour that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behaviour is ongoing, repeated and regular. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumours, attacking someone physically or verbally and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

We regard bullying as totally unacceptable. Staff take reported incidences seriously.

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Junior School Handbook

Life at School Assemblies Assemblies in the Junior School for Prep to Year 6 are held each fortnight on Mondays from 2.45 – 3.20pm. Parents and family members are welcome to attend. As the Junior School requires most of the Auditorium, seating for parents is available in the back rows.

Birthdays, parties and invitations We understand that children often have birthday parties and wish to distribute invitations. We ask, that unless everyone in the class is invited, that these are not distributed at school.

As birthdays are very important, when it is your child’s birthday feel free to send in take-home lolly bags, but please do not send in cakes that require careful dividing up among the members of the class. Please be mindful of adhering allergy guidelines.

Hats All students are expected to wear a regulation school hat for all outdoor activities in Terms 1 and 4. The hat should be clearly named.

Students without a hat will not be permitted to play outside and will need to remain seated under cover.

House System The House system is an integral feature of our practice, particularly for competitions, festivals and student leadership. The Junior School holds a regular House Program each fortnight when students from each House work together on a wide variety of activities.

This enables student leaders, particularly the House Captains to take an active role.

The House system provides the sense of belonging to a small unit such as a House and the provision of individual attention form the basis of the House system. Each House develops its own spirit. House events are held in sports, performing and creative arts and other areas. All students belong to one of 4 houses at Knox.

Chisholm

Lawrence

Caroline Chisholm (1808-1877)

Marjorie Lawrence (1907-1979)

Progressive 19th-century English humanitarian known mostly for her involvement with female immigrant welfare in Australia.

Victorian soprano. Became an international operatic performer. Afflicted with polio in 1941, she continued to entertain troops during the war. She received the Légion d’honneur in 1946 and a CBE in 1976.

Flinders

Paterson

Captain Matthew Flinders (1774-1814)

Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson (1864- 1941)

Distinguished English navigator and cartographer who was the first to circumnavigate Australia and identify it as a continent.

Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas.

Students are automatically placed in the same House as an older sibling, unless otherwise instructed.

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Junior School Handbook

Information Technology The Knox School is a digitally rich environment where engagement with learning technology is a normal aspect of student learning.

The School’s use of technology throughout student learning programs is commensurate to the age group and mindful that technology is a tool to assist learning.

Prep to Year 2

Class sets of iPads for use as part of a student’s learning program

Years 3 to 6

One to One Laptop program whereby devices are owned by the School and loaned to students during the year. Students in Years 5 and 6 are permitted to take their device home in order to assist their learning, including opportunities for home learning

Years 7 to 9

One to one laptop tablet program

Years 10 to 12

The Senior College Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) Program requires students to bring their own technology, such as a laptop, to assist in their learning.

Kiss and Drop The Kiss and Drop Zone at the front of the school nearest to Burwood Highway is recommended for parents to drop students off in the morning and to collect in the afternoon. Parents and Carers of students can use this zone and it allows parents to efficiently deliver and collect at each end of the School day. Parents are not permitted to park their cars in the zone and walk to the Junior School.

At the end of each day, a teacher will accompany students to the Kiss and Drop zone and supervise them until all have been collected. Please consider making use of Kiss and Drop as this makes the carpark less congested and will save valuable time.

If your child will be using Kiss and Drop in the afternoon, please let your child know and also the classroom teacher, to ensure they are collected by the supervising teacher. This is especially important if the student does not always go to Kiss and Drop after school.

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Junior School Handbook

Lockers ELC to Year 6 have bag areas in their classrooms or just outside to store their belongings.

Lost Property Students are expected to name all items of clothing, belongings and learning resources. All named items, when found, should be returned to the student’s classroom teacher. Any unnamed items found will be placed in the Lost Property area in the Junior School, or the Physical Education Department Office (upstairs in the gym) until the end of term at which point they will be disposed of if they remain unclaimed. Students wishing to claim unnamed items will need to provide some evidence that they are the rightful owner.

Personal Electronic Devices Personal Electronic Devices (including Smart Watches in School Mode) and Mobile Phones are nowadays an integral part of the educational process. Inappropriate or irresponsible use of personal devices may result in them being confiscated for a period of time. Parents will then be advised.

The school takes no responsibility for personal electronic devices and mobile phones if lost or stolen on the school property.

Students in Junior School who have a mobile phone are asked to turn it off and place securely in their school bag during the school day. They are permitted to turn it on again at the end of the school day to make contact with parents about collection arrangements when necessary. Mobile phones have unfiltered access to the Internet and as such should not be in a student’s possession during the School day. Students who need to call home can do so by approaching their class teacher who will send them to Reception.

Record Books Every Year 4 to Year 6 student is given a Record Book at the start of the year. This may be used to record home learning, nightly reading and curricular activities.

The Record Book is also used as a means of communication between school and home. If you have any messages to convey (lateness, medical appointment or a request for an interview) please place this on the current week’s page. Your child is expected to show this message to the appropriate staff member.

If a student misplaces their Record Book, they should obtain and complete a ‘Request for Replacement Record Book’ form from their sub-school office or main reception as soon as possible.

Toys We ask that toys stay at home. This includes electronic games of all types and card collections etc. We discourage these at school as they can be broken or lost and this causes great distress. Appropriate sporting equipment may be brought to school named, but with the understanding that it may be lost.

Water bottles All students are encouraged to have a named, refillable water bottle that they can keep with them during the day in order to stay well hydrated.

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Junior School Handbook

Lunch and Nutrition Forgotten Lunches

Healthy Snack

Students who do not have lunch will be provided with a sandwich, piece of fruit and dessert option from our Community Café. When this occurs, students will take a slip home, guiding parents to repay the Community Café via card or Flexischools.

All students in the Junior School (Prep – Year 4) have a break at the end of Period 1 (9:50am) to have a healthy snack before commencing Period 2. Please ensure your child has some healthy food to eat each day. We suggest cut up fruit or raw vegetables.

Beyond the Classroom Camps The School’s camping program is an integral part of the learning for all students from Year 2. There are compulsory school camps from Years 2 to 10. The cost of these camps is incorporated into the consolidated charge.

Other non-year level camps are offered during the years, such as Music Camp, and may incur an additional cost to parents.

Please refer to the Beyond The Classroom document.

The School Library is open before school from 8:00am – 8:30am and after school from 3:30pm – 4:00pm should parents wish to take their children to browse in the Junior Library or to borrow and return books. Junior School students are not permitted to go to the library before or after school without a parent.

The Library also has a collection of parenting resources available to parents, which can be borrowed. A member of the Library staff will be able to assist.

Co-Curricular Activities The Co-Curricular Program is an integral part of the broad range of learning experiences offered to students at The Knox School. The School offers an extensive array of co-curricular activities and aims to cater for the diverse interests and talents of our students. Most classes take place after school and run between 1 hour and 1 5 hours unless otherwise stated. Some activities are taken by outside providers and others are taken by staff of The Knox School. As some programs do not finish until 5.00pm, it is recommended that students should take with them a snack to eat for afternoon tea. Students not collected by the nominated finish time will be taken to After School Care where fees shall apply.

Information regarding Co-Curricular programs and registrations are located on The Nest. Each activity has its own eligibility requirements and enrolment procedures, and these are clearly outlined on the relevant Nest pages.

Library The Knox School’s Library aims to provide a gateway through which our entire school community can enter an environment that supports and fosters lifelong learning, independent decision-making and cultural development on a ‘research and presentational’ model. To this end, the Library will acquire, preserve and make available the widest variety of print and electronic materials to support the school curriculum and reflect the needs and diversity within the school community.

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Junior School Handbook

Health and Wellbeing Allergies

Health Centre

The Junior School is nut and allergy aware. No nut products are sold at the Community Cafe and should there be a student in the class who is anaphylactic, this information will be shared with the class community. Parents are asked to be sensitive to the needs of others who may have severe allergies.

The School employs a registered nurse who is on campus from 8.30am – 4.00pm Monday to Friday to administer the Health Centre. The Health Centre is located adjacent to the staff room in the Daniel Rechtman Information Common. Students who are unwell will be taken to the Health Centre to be assessed by the School Nurse. She will provide care and will contact parents if necessary.

If your child suffers from food, insect or other allergies that may require urgent medical attention or monitoring, you must provide an Allergy Management Plan to the School and liaise with the School Nurse.

School Psychologist Many students find their years at school enjoyable and rewarding. However, students also sometimes hit bumps in the road and may need a helping hand to get through. All students have ‘ups’ and ‘downs’. Sometimes these ‘downs’ have a huge effect on us, and those around us.

Please contact your child’s classroom teacher to discuss a referral to the School Psychologist.

Duty of Care The school takes its responsibility to duty of care very seriously and supervises students at all times in class time and when the students are at recess or lunch breaks. We ask parents to ensure students are not left at school outside the hours when supervision is rostered. Play equipment is out of bounds before and after school.

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Please keep your child home if they are unwell. This prevents the spread of germs to others and is in the best interest of your child’s wellbeing.

Please notify the class teacher immediately should your child contract German Measles (Rubella), as expectant mothers will need to take precautions. The teachers also need to be notified if chicken pox, mumps, hand, foot and mouth disease, head lice, impetigo (school sores), ringworm or conjunctivitis are contracted.

Please call the Health Centre on 8805 3838 for health concerns.

Junior School Handbook

Information, Volunteering, Services Change of Parent Details If you change your address/phone number or family circumstances, please inform the school in writing (email is suitable) immediately; prompt receipt of accurate information ensures your family receives all vital information from the School in time.

Holiday Care Camp Australia offers a School Holiday Care Program that is open to all students from ELC to Year 6. Holiday Care operates on all holiday weeks, apart from approximately three weeks over the Christmas period.

Out of School Hours Care Before and After School Care from 7am is available for children in ELC – Year 6 attending The Knox School.

Camp Australia, an experienced company, has been selected by The Knox School to assume responsibility for the Junior School Out of School Hours Care Program. All students involved in the program need to be registered with Camp Australia through the Camp Australia website.

Before School Care (ELC - Year 6) is available from 7:00 am until 8:30 am and provides a safe and warm environment until classrooms are open.

The children will be given time for free play, for homework and will be provided with refreshments and suitable activities from 3.30pm - 6.00pm. Final collection time is no later than 6.00pm. Preference will be given to those requiring regular after school care, but casual places are usually available. Please notify Camp Australia (1300 105 343) or the Program Coordinator (0412 801 010).

Parent Volunteers/Classroom Helpers The Junior School welcomes assistance from parents, whether it be listening to reading, attending excursions, as guest speakers or at other activities. All visitors to the School, including parent volunteers, are required to sign in at Reception and to collect and wear a Visitor’s badge for the duration of their visit. We ask that parent volunteers then sign out at Reception and return their badge.

All parents wishing to assist are required to: •

complete an annual Child Safety Declaration;

•

view an online parent information session; and

•

have a current Working With Children Card.

completed the requirements as above. Being a classroom helper is not only of great assistance to staff and students but it is also an invaluable time to share in your child’s learning. Please be considerate of a few simple guidelines when in classes: •

Confidentiality is of prime importance; do not make the progress and/or behaviour of any child in the class a talking point anywhere

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Helpers are in the room to help the whole class through the tasks

Often duties will accompany class activities but sometimes help is needed with the preparation of tasks as well. The tasks will be subject to the class needs and may vary from visit to visit.

We discourage the attendance of younger siblings who may compete for adult attention.

All parents, grandparents or other special people are welcome to participate as classroom helpers as long as they have 23

220 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South P: 03 8805 3800 – E: info@knox.vic.edu.au www.facebook.com/knoxschool

www.knox.vic.edu.au