Welcome back to term 2, I hope everyone enjoyed a restful break and a wonderful Easter without too many chocolates!

Thank you to all the students who supported the school at the local Anzac Day Services at both Terang and Cobden, our students represented our school with pride and respect.

Monday the 5th May is our school photo day at Cobden, all buses will come straight to Cobden on Monday morning. The bus driver will contact you if there are changes for your child. The following Monday the later years students are holding a whole school activity to recognise ‘Do it for Dolly Day’, students are encouraged to wear blue on Monday 12^th May and will participate in activities in Cobden during the afternoon. ‘Do it for Dolly Day’ recognises the importance of stamping on bullying online and in person, his continues to be a problem in society. All buses will leave for home for Cobden, so once again there may be changes to your child’s bus travel times.

Next Wednesday Lucy, Lyn and I will travel to Hamilton to participate in the network literacy workshop which has a focus on improving student writing. This has been an ongoing focus for the school as we work towards a structured literacy model with an emphasis on explicit instruction.

Take care,

Kylie Carter

ANZAC is a day when we think about the day when a lot of people went to the war in ANZAC cove. It was sad because a lot of people died. The battle lasted 9 months.

By Harper Webber

At school we made a wreath for Anzac Day to remember the people that died in the war.

By Caleb Rogers

On Wednesday the 23rd of April the school captains went to the Cobden cemetery for an Anzac service, and they were talking about some important information about what Anzac Day means. Next, we went up to the front to place a poppy on the silver pole to remember the soldiers who went to war. Lastly, they played the last post on the bugle and then we did the one-minute silence to finish up the service.

By Kenzie

We made a wreath with red poppies for Anzac Day.

By Miles

For Anzac day the AFL have a special round on friday 25th april to celebrate Anzac day.  Essendon played a game vs Collingwood. All teams have anzac jerseys to wear when they play their game. 

By Jesse

Later Years students created artworks in response to Anzac Day.

They did an amazing job on these mixed media portraits. Well done to everyone involved!

Building a stronger school community

Being a parent of a child with additional needs can be SO rewarding. Seeing the milestones achieved and independence gained makes the work behind the scenes so worth it. We see it as teachers, we see it as parents, and we see it in the community.

It can also be tricky to navigate some of the situations that can be presented. The highs and the lows. It can be consuming trying to navigate these situations alone. Who can you talk to that really understands the pressures, as well as celebrating the highs and lows with you?

Our Parents and Friends Club have been putting in the hard yards behind the scenes, with some amazing fundraising efforts and events organised. Last year they held 2 very successful fundraising events (bunnings BBQ and the dunk tank at the Terang Gala night), as well as the school sports day. They meet approximately once a month in person (or online).

After speaking with some of the P&F committee members, I am gaining insight into the friendships and the strong community that they’ve built for themselves from their roles in the committee. I’m putting the call out on their behalf to join our wonderful P&F committee to help us to build our strong school community and build strong connections with other like-minded families.

You don’t have to be a parent to join. The P&F committee welcomes grandparents, aunties, relatives, carers, community members etc. to all join and contribute to the growing school community created in this space.

The time commitment is minimal, generally meeting once a month, during the day.
Our next P&F committee meeting is set the be after the Mother’s Day Stall and Morning Tea in Terang on the 5^th of May and all interested in joining are welcome to attend!

If you can’t make this time, would like to join virtually or have any other enquiries, please contact Kristie Simpson on 0488 431 083 or at kristie.simpson@education.vic.gov.au.

If you have any questions, please reach out!

Letesha Sell
MHWL (Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader)
Letesha.sell@education.vic.gov.au

PARENT / CAREGIVER / GUARDIAN INFORMATION AND CONSENT LETTER

2025 Student Attitudes to School Survey

Dear Parent / Caregiver / Guardian,

This letter is to inform you about the 2025 Student Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS), which all government school students in Years 4 to 12 will be invited to complete.

About the survey

The AtoSS is a voluntary student survey offered by the Department of Education every year to help schools and the department understand students' experiences of school. We will ask your child about their thoughts and feelings about their school, their learning, relationships with other students, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general.

ORIMA Research Pty Ltd has been contracted by the department to manage the collection of the online survey and will provide support to schools through a telephone hotline and email.

This year, the survey will be conducted at your school from 12^th May to 13^th June.

What are the benefits?

Young people enjoy having a say! This survey has been running for nearly 20 years and helps schools plan programs and activities to improve your child's engagement with school, their wellbeing and their learning. The survey data also helps the Department of Education understand how to improve student learning.

What are the risks?

We don’t expect many risks of participation, but some students may find some questions personal or sensitive. If you agree for your child to take part, they can still skip questions or withdraw at any time whilst completing the survey if it makes them upset or uncomfortable. A teacher will be present during the survey to support students.

The questions come from validated survey instruments used in Australia and around the world. They focus on your child’s strengths and are designed for each year level group.

What will my child be asked to do?

Your child will be invited to complete the survey online during class time using a purpose built secure online survey tool. We are not “testing” your child. Please note:

• Students can choose if they want to take part, skip questions if they don’t want to answer, and can stop doing the survey at any time.
• There are different versions of the survey to let all students take part.
• The survey will take around 20-40 minutes to complete.

How is my child’s privacy protected?

A teacher will give your child a unique login to complete the survey. This unique student login is an assigned identifier that will be used by the department to link data for analysis and research only. Some student demographic data such as year level, gender, age, and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander status are provided to ORIMA research, and linked with the unique student login ID to administer the survey. This information helps to support analysis and research, to paint a clearer picture of how Victorian school students are faring.

ORIMA Research will only use student personal information for research purposes to facilitate the administration and data collection of the Attitudes to School Survey. To keep your child’s survey answers private, ORIMA Research won’t include any personally identifiable data in the survey answers file that is provided to the department.

 All data is stored on servers located in Australia, and only staff who are working on the project can access it.

All information collected about your child will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Data and Protection Act 2014 (Vic), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic), as well as the Department’s Schools’ Privacy Policy. Please note that consistent with the above legislation and our policy, there are instances where we may be required by law to share information provided by your child. For example, where there is a threat to your child’s health and safety.

How will results be reported?

The department will only use aggregated state-wide survey data to report on initiatives and this data may also be used in public discussions of issues about student engagement and wellbeing. An example of how survey data has been previously used includes reporting levels of student engagement in the Performance Summary in the Annual Report to the School Community. The department will not share any identifiable student data with any other party.

Your child’s school will only get reports about groups of students. Information about individual students and the student answers data file will not be shared with schools. If there are low numbers of student answers to a question, the report will not show results for this question to protect the privacy of those students.

Your school may share the survey report back to you.

For more information about this survey, including the questions your child will be asked to answer, please visit the department’s survey information page.

If you would like more information or have any concerns about the survey, please speak to your child’s teacher, or contact the department at school.surveys@education.vic.gov.au.

Yours sincerely,

Department of Education, Victoria

Monday 5^th may (all students at Cobden Campus)

Our Be Wise Presentations are designed to change students’ perceptions of social violence…

 **We help students explore ways to resolve conflict that avoid aggression. Violence is never the answer.

 **Through the power of storytelling, we explain the true impact of fighting – for victims, families, friends, and the perpetrators. 

 **With practical examples, we demonstrate how students can prevent a heated situation escalating into violence.

39% of young people changed their attitude to violence after hearing Pat’s story.

Hi, we’re Matt and Robyn Cronin

Our son, Pat, was a gentle natured 19-year-old killed by a Coward Punch in 2016 while helping a mate who was being attacked. 

The force of that punch fractured his skull, causing an inoperable bleed on his brain. 

Two days later we made the agonising decision to turn off Pat’s life support.

After speaking with thousands of students, we’ve seen that teenagers connect to Pat’s story. 

If it can happen to Pat, it can happen to anyone. 

That’s why we started this Foundation. And that’s why we want to share Pat’s story with your student

We are lucky enough to have this presentation come to our school on Monday 5^th May and speak with our students in years 9-12. Please ensure your child attends school on this day .

Empowering students to create a culture that challenges bullying, online and in person. Students are equipped with socially credible strategies to take action and unite together, instead of standing by.

The big idea: “Every single one of us can choose to be part of the solution when it comes to tackling bullying, even in the smallest and simplest ways.”

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Students have a shared understanding of bullying in its various forms, including online, verbal, physical and relational.
2. Students have built literacy about why bullying happens and empathy for those it impacts.
3. Students have reflected on the role they’ve previously played in bullying situations and are equipped with strategies to safely intervene instead of standing by watching.

• PROJECT ROCKIT is endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner as a Trusted eSafety Provider.
• Our workshops are youth-driven and evidence-based, with all learning outcomes aligned to the Australian Curriculum.

Youth Mental Health Roadshow is coming to our region!
Join leading psychologist Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg as he shares practical strategies with parents/carers and educators to best support young people navigate today’s challenges, with a strong focus on student wellbeing and building resilience.

• Warrnambool, Portland, Camperdown, Hamilton, Kaniva & Horsham

• May & July 2025

• Free events

Educator Session: 4:30–5:30pm

Parent/Carer Session: 7:00–8:00pm

To register: https://brophy.org.au/youth-mental-health-roadshow-coming-to-a-town-near-you/

Proudly supported by Brophy Family & Youth Services, School Focused Youth Service, and the Department of Education & Training.