Primary School Privacy Information for Parents and Carers

During the ordinary course of your child’s attendance at our school, school staff will collect your child’s personal and health information when necessary to educate your child, or to support your child’s social and emotional wellbeing or health in the school context. Such information will also be collected when required to fulfil a legal obligation, including duty of care, anti-discrimination law and occupational health and safety law. If that information is not collected, the school may be unable to provide optimal education or support to your child, or fulfil those legal obligations.

For example, health information may be collected through the school nurse, primary welfare officer or wellbeing staff member. If your child is referred to a specific health service at school, such as a Student Support Services officer, the required consent will be obtained. Our school also collects information provided by parents and carers through the School Entrance Health Questionnaire (SEHQ) and the Early Childhood Intervention Service (ECIS) Transition Form.

Our school may use online tools, such as apps and other software, to effectively collect and manage information about your child for teaching and learning purposes, parent communication and engagement; student administration; and school management purposes. When our school uses these online tools, we take steps to ensure that your child’s information is secure. If you have any concerns about the use of these online tools, please contact us.

School staff will only share your child’s personal or health information with other staff who need to know to enable the school to educate or support your child, or fulfil a legal obligation.

When our students transfer to another Victorian government school, personal and health information about that student will be transferred to that next school. Transferring this information is in the best interests of our students and assists that next school to provide optimal education and support to students.

In some limited circumstances, information may be disclosed outside of the school (and outside of the Department of Education and Training). The school will seek your consent for such disclosures unless the disclosure is allowed or mandated by law.

Our school values the privacy of every person. When collecting and managing personal and health information, all school staff must comply with Victorian privacy law. For more information about privacy including about how to access personal and health information held by the school about you or your child, see our school’s privacy policy using the ‘Schools’ Privacy Policy’ button below.

Throughout this notice, ‘staff’ includes principals, teachers, Student Support Service officers, youth workers, social workers, nurses and any other allied health practitioners and all other staff at our school. This includes employees, agents and service providers (contractors) of the Department, whether paid or unpaid.

Preventing and Addressing Racism in School Policy

Racism is not tolerated at Pakenham Hills Primary School

Pakenham Hills Primary School is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive environment where racism is not tolerated. Racism harms students’ mental health, learning and sense of belonging. We celebrate the diversity of cultures, ethnicities and faiths of all our students. It is up to all of us at Pakenham Hills Primary School to make our school a place that is free of racism, where everyone feels respected and can learn in a safe and inclusive environment.

What Pakenham Hills Primary School is doing to prevent racism

Pakenham Hills Primary School follows the Department of Education’s Preventing and Addressing Racism in Schools Policy. We are building a culturally safe school with inclusive learning for everyone by working with staff, students, families, carers and communities. We will:

• provide programs that teach about and celebrate diversity, inclusion and the impact of racism to build understanding and empathy
• use practices that support all students to thrive
• implement anti-racism efforts to prevent and address racism effectively
• make sure everyone feels safe, with clear and accessible pathways to report racism
• delivery of professional learning to staff about understanding and addressing racism

What to do if your child experiences or witnesses racism at school

If your child experiences or witnesses racism or religious discrimination at school, please let us know. You can tell your child’s teacher or any of the following school staff members: Rachel Mauger, Jennifer O Donnell and Lisa Holding.

Report Racism hotline

If you don’t feel comfortable reporting racism to school, or you are not happy with the school’s response, you can report racism to:

• the Department of Education’s Report Racism hotline via email racism@education.vic.gov.au or phone 1800 722 476 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
• Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) via email vaeai@vaeai.org.au or phone 03 9481 0800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
• Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) online, via email complaints@veohrc.vic.gov.au or phone 1300 292 153 (Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm).

For additional support following an incident of racism:

• First Nations students, staff or families can contact Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI)
• Jewish students, staff or families can contact the Jewish Community Council of Victoria
• Muslim students, staff or families can contact the Islamic Council of Victoria

For more information about how to report racism to the school, and to get information in community languages, visit this website: Report racism or religious discrimination in schools.

If you need an interpreter to call the school, please use the details available at: Guide for Families: How to use an interpreter to contact your school.

How Pakenham Hills Primary School will respond to racism

When you report a racist incident, Pakenham Hills Primary School will:

• take your report seriously and act quickly
• investigate and respond safely and appropriately
• keep you informed, while respecting privacy
• review the incident to help avoid it from happening again.