Bushfire At-Risk Register and the Category 4 List
School Preparations for the Bushfire Season
Each year, we undertake a range of activities to ensure the safety of our school and to prepare for bushfires and grassfires.
An important part of this process is communicating to parents what will happen when certain fire danger ratings are issued to help ensure the safety of students and staff.
Our school has been identified as being at risk of bushfire or grassfire and is a Category 4 school.
Our school will close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating in Central fire district.
Closure of the school due to a Catastrophic fire danger rating will be enacted when the Bureau of Meteorology forecast and related public safety messaging are confirmed. Due to uncertainties in the forecast, the timing of this confirmation may vary. Information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to you by Compass.
It is also important to be aware that:
- No one will be on site on days where the school is closed due to a forecast Catastrophic day.
- All bus routes that travel through the Catastrophic area will be cancelled.
- School camps will be cancelled if a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast for fire weather district in which the camp is located, or if the travel involves passing through areas that have Catastrophic fire danger, or on advice by Department of Education.
As part of preparing our school for the fire season, we have updated and completed our Emergency Management Plan and any maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire.
What can Families and the School Community do to help us prepare?
- Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone numbers.
- Keep in touch with us by regularly reading Compass notices, reading our newsletter, checking our website (https://www.elevationsc.vic.edu.au/) and talking to school staff.
- Make sure your family’s bushfire survival plan is up-to-date and includes alternative care arrangements if our school is closed due to Catastrophic fire danger. Further information can be found on the CFA’s website.
- Action your family’s bushfire survival plan if your own triggers are met.Your family’s safety is critical, so please let us know if you are actioning your bushfire survival plan and if your children will be absent on these days.
- If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s bushfire survival plan.
Families are encouraged to action their Bushfire Survival Plan on Catastrophic fire danger rating days in their district. The safest option is to leave the night before or early on the morning of the Catastrophic day. On such days, children should never be left at home alone or in the care of older children.
You can find more information on emergencies, warnings and preparedness actions here:
- VicEmergency app – that can be downloaded on your android and iOS mobile devices
- VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226)
- Website https://emergency.vic.gov.au
- Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/vicemergency)
- Twitter (https://twitter.com/vicemergency)
- ABC local radio, Sky News and other emergency broadcasters
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the department’s policy?
The Department of Education annually assesses the fire risk of all schools and early childhood services with the support of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). They are allocated a category of risk (categories 0 to 6). Schools and services that are Categories 0-3 are published on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR). Schools at some risk of bushfire and grassfire are published on the Category 4 List.
The department’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness Policy requires all schools and early childhood services on the BARR and the Category 4 List to close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district. All school bus routes which travel in or through a district with Catastrophic fire danger must also be cancelled.
The policy also requires that schools at the highest risk of bushfire (those in Categories 0, 1 and 2 of the Bushfire At-Risk Register) enact pre-emptive action plans based on the fire danger forecast for their Local Government Area (LGA).
Who issues fire danger forecasts?
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) provides public fire danger rating forecasts each day of the fire danger period using fire weather district areas. In Victoria, there are 9 fire weather districts, which are based on Local Government Area boundaries.
The department uses these forecasts when supporting schools to enact their pre-emptive bushfire actions plans.
School Saver Bonus
The big news we are all talking about is the School Saver Bonus – SSB. At the end of November all parent A of our students will receive an email from the Department of Education with your unique login codes to access the portal for each of your children. Only one parent will receive the email, so carefully check your emails, junk as well to ensure you receive the email. You will receive an email for each of your children. If is very important to think carefully about how you wish to allocate these funds, vouchers for uniforms, vouchers for textbooks, or wish to allocate against future excursions in 2025.
Once you have locked in your request, this is fixed and cannot be changed. So think and plan carefully. You will have until June 30th to spend the vouchers, after which time they will revert to the school to use for excursions.
The staff at the College will endeavor to assist families where we can, but the system has been designed that parents are in charge of the decision making process and schools do not have access to the portal.
Further information is expected to become available around mid November and will be available in 14 different languages to assist our families where English is not their first language. There will a helpline phone number and a dedicated email address at the Department for families who need additional help
2024 Parent Payments
The 2024 parent payments are still available on Compass under Payments Centre. Parents are able to change the amounts listed to an amount they are comfortable to pay. Currently we have received more funds than we have since our opening year, and almost reached our budgeted amount, we currently are at 91% for our other contributions, however, whatever parents can pay will add to our ability to resources our programs.
2025 Parent Payments will be out sent home and published on Compass early December and not due for payment until the start of the 2025 school year.