Ballarat Specialist School | Community
Ballarat Specialist School
Phone: +61 3 5334 1302
Reviews
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24.01.2022 Dear Parents & Carers, Families have recently been emailed out important information regarding BSS and the Stage 3 restrictions. Please check your emails. The information has also been posted on Compass to families. Thank you
23.01.2022 Dear Parents and Carers, Re- School Photos cancelled this week at both campuses. In the new Department of Education COVIDSafe Term 4 Operations Guidance that came out on Sunday night, school photographs are currently not permitted. This was completely new information for schools and we had no warning that this might occur. Yesterday our school (along with others) requested that this decision be reviewed. Unfortunately we have not received any change to the advice. So we again... need to postpone our school photos. I would like to thank our photographers, MSP Photography, for their understanding of the situation and their commitment to be flexible to support the needs of our school and families. We apologise for the inconvenience and we are hopeful that there will be an opportunity to reschedule the day prior to the end of the school year. Kind regards, Karen & Sam.
23.01.2022 Hi Parents and Carers, Just a reminder Term 4 will commence tomorrow for all students. We hope you had a lovely holiday and we look forward to seeing students tomorrow. Thank you :)
21.01.2022 Hi Parents/Carers, We have had our photo day rescheduled to October during the first week of Term 4. Farm Campus photo day will be on Wednesday, 7th October and Gillies Street will be on Friday, 9th October. Please see attached flyer for more information. Thank you :)
21.01.2022 Hi everyone, Please see the below reminder about photo day next week. Monday, 3rd August- Gillies Street Campus... Tuesday, 4th August- FARM Campus Please make sure your student returns their photo envelope on their relevant photo day. https://mailchi.mp/e4/photo-day-information-3rd-4th-august Thank you :)
20.01.2022 Morning everyone, A parent from the Early Years would like to share with you all two book's that might be of interest. The book is written by a person who is non verbal and diagnosed with autism. Have a good day :)
18.01.2022 This hopefully might be of interest to some of you :)
18.01.2022 31st July 2020 Dear Parents and Carers, Please see below some information about face coverings for staff, students and Parents/Carers. This information was extracted from the Parent/Carer newsletter emailed out to families earlier today. If you would like more information please check your emails. ... Face coverings for staff All school-based staff must wear face coverings at school, and when travelling to and from school. Teachers and education support staff will not be required to wear face coverings while teaching, but those who wish to do so, can. As shared last week, we are currently supplying face shields as a face covering for staff use, however, staff may choose to wear the face shields or their own face masks. Face coverings for students Students in specialist schools are not mandated to wear face coverings. We would like to encourage students in our Middle and Senior schools to wear a face covering if they are able. For our Senior students participating in VET certificate programs, a face covering will be required for students to participate in externally managed programs. The ‘face covering’ includes either a mask or a face shield for those who are not able to wear a mask. Face coverings for parents and carers Parents and carers will be required to wear face coverings whenever they leave the house, including for school drop off and pick up. If they are travelling in a car alone, or only with members of their household, they do not need to wear a mask. For information about face coverings, visit the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) website. For information about face coverings in schools, visit the Department of Education and Training (DET) website. Take care everyone :)
17.01.2022 Ballarat Specialist School would like to warmly welcome our new students and families for 2021. Due to current restrictions we can’t offer tours of our beautiful school. We have created a virtual tour of Ballarat Specialist School for your enjoyment. Please click on the following link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk7ShL4GU8c&t=81s
15.01.2022 Dear parents and carers, Thank you all for your active participation in our learning mode survey and appreciating that we needed the information as quickly as possible. By this afternoon, we had received responses from the vast majority of our families; so thank you! Please note the following information:... * Students who have already been participating in remote learning, can continue the same process for this week. * Students who are moving to remote or dual learning modes, information will be provided to families by Friday and remote learning will start on Monday. If technology equipment etc. is required this will be supplied by the school for the remote learning period. * Students who are continuing on-site learning can attend as usual, but please note there will be some changes to class groupings and staffing arrangements beginning on Monday. If families change their mind in regards to their individual circumstances and the type of attendance most suitable, we will have a communication process that we will ask families to follow so that we can ensure we have appropriate staffing levels etc., so please keep your eye out for further important communications this week as we finalise our new arrangements. Again thank you for supporting the school as we navigate the complexities of these arrangements. As usual, please feel free to contact the school if you require any further details or if you have questions. Kind regards, Karen & Sam.
14.01.2022 Dear Parents and Carers, As shared earlier today, Ballarat Specialist School will be offering both onsite and remote learning during the Victorian Government’s State of Emergency period. As you would appreciate this is a challenging time for us as a school operationally, and we appreciate the additional challenges this health response presents for all families. To work out our staffing, teaching and care allotments, we would like to ascertain our student onsite and remote l...earning numbers. If possible, we are requesting that parents and carers complete this https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSfIfdkudEWXdHXw3/viewform with the information below: My child/children will be attending via: Dual mode learning On-site for 2 days and remote learning for 3 days Full time remote and flexible learning at home Full time on-site learning at school Flexible mode learning Other (Please specify). With this information we can use the Curriculum Day tomorrow to plan for how we can most effectively cater for the requested needs of our families. We appreciate that only some families will see this information, so we will also be contacting our families via phone tomorrow. Please feel free to help us to get this message out to everyone, by freely sharing it with our school community members. Thank you, Karen & Sam.
11.01.2022 Dear Parents and Carers, We have been advised of a content warning today for social media sites including Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We would recommend keeping students offline today, and very closely supervising all social media interactions. Thank you
11.01.2022 Hi everyone, Please make note of the following reminders concerning the end of term on Friday: Our current arrangements in regards to COVID-19 will remain for the beginning of Term 3, whilst the state of emergency is still in place. For example current drop off and pick up arrangements for students will continue.... The virtual assembly will be live streamed at 11am on Friday and available to be viewed on the school's facebook page. School will finish at 2pm on Friday. Thank you and we hope you enjoy the holiday's :)
08.01.2022 Hello everyone, A reminder of the photo days for next week! Your received envelopes with payments have been held at both campuses. We have spare envelopes in both offices if you require. If you have any queries, please let us know. Thank you!
07.01.2022 Hi everyone, please see below The Salvation Army Parenting Programs that might be of interest :)
05.01.2022 Dear Parents and Carers, We have received a message from the Victorian Chief Health Officer in regards to COVID-19, and it details some general reminders to families as the school holidays approach. https://www.education.vic.gov.au//Pages/cho-message-parent... Thank you and have a great holiday :)
04.01.2022 Dear families, Today Premier Daniel Andrews has declared a State of Disaster and announced enhanced restrictions for both metropolitan and regional Victoria. Regional Victoria will be moving to stage 3 restrictions. We are awaiting advice from the Department of Education in regards to what that means for our school. It appears that Monday is a usual school day and Tuesday is a student-free day across the state of Victoria. Please note that given these circumstances we have... postponed our planned school photo days for Monday and Tuesday. We hope to share further information with you all tomorrow. Take care everyone, Karen & Sam.
04.01.2022 Dear Staff, Parents and Carers, The Disability Standards for Education 2005 are currently being reviewed by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. As part of the 2020 review, an extensive community consultation process is currently underway to seek feedback about whether the standards are effective or if any improvements can be made. Current, former and prospective students with disability, their families and carers, advocates, educators, an...d other members of the public are invited to share their experiences, views and ideas to inform the review of the standards. Due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, engagement activities will mostly be held online via a dedicated 2020 review Consultation Hub. The hub offers a range of different ways that participants can share their views and ideas, and will be open until 11.59pm on Friday 25 September. A series of webinars is also available for interested participants to share their experiences and opinions. The webinars will be fully accessible, and will include Auslan translation and captioning. The webinars are open to the public, and each will have a different theme. These are: Educators webinar on Wednesday 19 August, 3.30-5.30pm Tertiary education webinar on Thursday 20 August, 3-5pm Early childhood webinar on Thursday 27 August, 4.30-6pm. For more information about the upcoming webinars visit the frequently asked questions page. A discussion paper has been developed with guiding questions to help interested participants have their say. For more information email [email protected] Thanks, Karen.
02.01.2022 Dear parents and carers, You may have heard the Victorian Premier’s announcement in regards to metropolitan Melbourne lock-down restrictions returning, including implications for schools in these areas. Ballarat is not in this situation. The current Department of Education advice: ... For people who live in regional Victoria, where case numbers remain low, current restrictions will remain the same for now... For further information: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov//coronavirus-CO/statement-premier We will update our community if we receive any further or new advice. Take care everyone! Karen & Sam.
01.01.2022 Ballarat Community Health have produced a series of videos to help encourage young people to get tested for COVID-19, no matter how slight their symptoms. The message, straight from our young helpers is, get tested and we can all get back to doing the things we love! https://vimeo.com/453475509
01.01.2022 14th July 2020 Dear Parents and Carers, As you would be aware, the Victorian Government has introduced new measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire.... These measures do not apply to schools in regional and rural Victoria, including ours. Our school will therefore continue to operate as normal according to the plans that we put in place last term. The health advice is that schools can continue to operate while observing health measures recommended by the Victorian Chief Health Officer. To provide further assurance, our school, along with all other government schools in metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, will be conducting temperature checks for all students on arrival. The Victorian Chief Health Officer has confirmed that the use of face masks or coverings by adults or children is not recommended in schools at this time. As has always been the case, students who wish to wear face masks in school and in going to and from school may do so. If you, your child, or a family member develops symptoms of a fever, chills or sweats, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell or taste, you should get tested at a coronavirus (COVID-19) testing facility and stay home. If you would like health information from the Department of Health and Human Services, you can visit dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus These continue to be challenging times and I will keep you updated on further information as soon as it is available. Stay well and keep safe. Karen & Sam Ballarat Specialist School
01.01.2022 Dear Parents and Carers, Employment impacts We understand that during this pandemic there are significant employment impacts for many people, and unfortunately Ballarat and the surrounding communities are also facing these financial challenges. Government schools in Victoria are funded through a program called the student resource package (SRP). The amount each school receives is based on: how many students are enrolled... the demographics of students (such as family education and jobs) where the school is This means funding for each school will change from year to year as enrolments and demographics change. The SRP includes equity funding. This is extra funding to help students who face challenges to learning. This may be due to family circumstances, health or disability. Equity funding is based on a three year weighted average of student demographic data. Schools collect this data through a census that happens in August each year. As our August census is approaching and many parents and carers may be experiencing changed employment situations, we are asking families to please let us know of these changes by the 31st of July. Please either: Ring the school on 53341 302 Email your changes to the school email address [email protected] OR Complete the Google form below https://docs.google.com//1FAIpQLSfb0IAdjc7j49mKT/viewform Thank you and have a nice weekend :)
