Lew Family Secondary School
Gandel Campus
245 Burwood Highway (enter via 87 Station Street), Burwood

Campus operating hours:

Monday to Thursday               8.50am – 3.30pm

Friday (Summertime)              8.50am – 3.30pm

(Friday Wintertime)                 8.50am – 2.55pm

Buses leave 10 minutes after the final bell.

The Mount Scopus calendar for the coming two years is accessible on the website by clicking here.

On the day prior to the start of the school year there is an orientation session for all Year 7 students. Details are outlined further down in the information. Timetables are issued to students once they commence.

Shortly after the school year commences, an evening information and orientation session is scheduled. This provides the opportunity to meet the teachers and leadership team and to learn about the program for the year.  

Parent information evening - Wednesday 15 November, 2023

We invite you to attend an information evening on Wednesday 15 November per the details below. 

For those who may not be familiar with the Lew Family Secondary School, there will be a tour of the campus preceding the session. This follows on from the tours for all current Year 6 students. 

Tour time: 6.45pm           Meet in the Rose Hall / Synagogue Foyer

Session time: 7.30pm     Meet at the Milford Hall, near the Main Reception

This will be an opportunity for you to meet the Head of Year, who will be responsible for the cohort for Years 7 to 9, to learn about life in the Secondary School and to hear from key staff who will be working closely with your children during the coming school years.  

To assist with our planning for the evening, please advise the number of people who will be attending via the link below.

Year 7, 2024 parent information evening registration

Transition Day - Thursday 16 November, 2023

All new students who will be entering Year 7 next year are required to attend the Transition Day, where logistically possible.

The day will include a number of activities, and opportunities for all students, both current and new, to spend time together. 

New students will have some assessments in the morning to ensure we can place them as well as possible from Day 1.  

Current SFPS students will follow their normal timetable in the morning.

New and current students will come together for lunch which is provided by the College. 

The afternoon will be spent in mixed groups in the Secondary School for a variety of activities led by Secondary teaching staff, allowing all students to further familiarise themselves with the campus.

Only students whose place acceptance documentation has been returned are able to attend this day. Lunch will be provided, however a snack for recess will need to be brought from home. 

Visiting students can wear casual clothes, including runners for a PE activity. Please return the Permission Form by Thursday 10 November. 

Information for visiting students regarding bus stop and times will be provided after the permission slip has been received.

Orientation Session - Wednesday 31 January, 2024

As the transition from Primary to Secondary school is a major one in a student’s educational journey the Year 7 students will have a special orientation session on the morning of Wednesday 31 January 2024 between 10.00am and 12.30pm which has proven successful in past years in putting our students at ease as they enter their secondary school years. This is the morning prior to the official start of the school year for all other year levels. All new students should arrive by 9.45am as they will need a photo taken.

This session is mandatory and all Year 7 students are to attend in full school uniform. This session is for students only so parents may not remain at the College during the time between drop off and pick up. Students should bring their school books with them which they will be able to pack into their locker. Please ensure they bring a lock for their locker; a combination lock is recommended to avoid misplacing keys.

During this orientation session their Head of Year, who they will have met at the group orientation in November, will introduce them to their Mechanech (home room teacher) and learn about this program which provides pastoral care to each and every student. They will also find out their class allocation; learn the tools on how to track homework and assignments that are due; be allocated their school locker; learn their way around the Secondary School; and meet key personnel who will be responsible for various aspects of school life over the coming years. Please note: students must bring their device (tablet or laptop) with them so they can be logged on to the Scopus network, ensuring that it is fully charged up.

Project B'Yachad

Scheduled during Term 1, this program buddies groups of Year 7 students with Year 10 madrichim. Along with a range of bonding activities, the older students provide a sounding board for concerns and questions from everything about being organised to extra-curricular activities, and allow the Year 7 students to benefit from the voice of experience.

New Parents Welcome

First time parents at Mount Scopus in all year levels are invited to our New Parents Dinner scheduled to be held just prior to school commencing. In 2024, this is planned to be held on the evening of Monday 5 February. This allows the opportunity to meet some of the College Leadership Team, as well as other new parents.

Parent orientation and social evening

A Year 7 parent orientation evening is scheduled for Tuesday, 13 February, 2024. This session includes an opportunity for continuing and new parents to mingle prior to the information session commencing, where parents will meet their child's Mech teacher, see their classroom and learn more about the day to day running of the school.

Parent communication

Your child’s teachers will contact you shortly after your child commences. Teachers are available to answer any queries about your child throughout the year and are best contacted by email or via a phone call or message.

Students will receive a comprehensive academic report in Terms 2 and 4, and a monitoring report, which has marks rather than comments at the end of Term 1. The parent / teacher meetings are held in Terms 1 and 3.

Progressive reporting throughout the year communicates the schedule of student assessments. Parents can access the results at their leisure via the Parent Lounge (see the Websites, Apps and Portals tab).

What students need to know....

Below summarises some of the starting information; further details are supplied in later pages.

• Blazers (and kippot for boys) are required to be worn at school assemblies, including the Welcome assembly on Day 1.
• Year 7 students receive their class lists, meet their Mech teachers and are allocated their locker at their orientation session prior to Day 1 (see Year 7 tab below).
• Students joining the bus service receive their bus card on or around their first journey.

For students who are not commencing at the start of the school year, there are some differences with the processes.

• Teachers will make contact after your child commences and are available to answer any queries about your child throughout the year and are best contacted by email or via a phone call or message.
• Please note that teachers are not required to teach any topics to new students that have already been taught at Mount Scopus. New students are required to learn content that they may not have already covered when transferring from another school.
• Where relevant, we shall try to determine if some texts and resources are no longer needed prior to parents placing their orders; please contact Enrolments prior to ordering.

Students will receive a comprehensive academic report in Terms 2 and 4, and a monitoring report, which has marks rather than comments at the end of Term 1. The parent / teacher meetings are held in Terms 1 and 3.

Progressive reporting throughout the year communicates the schedule of student assessments. Parents can access the results at their leisure via the Parent Lounge (see the Websites, Apps and Portals tab).

Progressing from primary school to secondary school can be anticipated with excitement and nerves at the same time. It is a significant step in a student's educational journey.

Students progressing from Year 6 at SFPS to Year 7 will be familiar with many aspects of Scopus that they will continue to be involved with. Over their time at SFPS they will have used a range of facilities in the secondary school, and that continues throughout their orientation and transition program, including the allocation of older student mentors to help them adjust.

What stays the same?

• Bus usage
• Wide range of extra-curricular activities
• School uniform (although the College blazer is a compulsory uniform item in the secondary school)

Other aspects will change considerably. The information below outlines some of these changes:

What changes?

• Less direct parental involvement
• No longer just one class teacher or one classroom
• Sport uniform - no house coloured top
• No longer use Toddle - you may wish to download memorable items from your child's portfolio as you will lose access at the end of Year 6. We recommend doing this from the parent log in using a desktop or laptop.
• Students may line up to purchase food directly from the Caf although sameday online ordering lunch via Flexischools is still available until 9.30am 
• Homework requirements
• Photocopy card supplied

Each year we ask our Year 7 students how they felt about their transition into secondary school; the vast majority tend to comment that due to the caring and approachable nature of their teachers and Head of Year, they transition well and feel settled into secondary school within the first month, although some students can take around two terms to really settle in.

After the first month, if you or your child have any concerns about the transition then you should contact your child's Head of Year. This will ensure that any problems are addressed early rather than build up into seemingly insurmountable issues.

BYOD program

All students from Year 6 onward will be required to have their own device with a full operating system (Mac OS or Microsoft Windows). Complete information about the program and requirements, as well as technical requisites of the devices, are available below. Please ensure you read it in full before purchasing a device for your child.

2024 Year 7-12 BYOD Requirements

Please also review the list of required apps on the form which should be downloaded to your child's device before they commence school. 

Book supplier

Campion Books is the designated supplier for Mount Scopus Memorial College. Information regarding booklists and resources for all year levels is now available via the link below. Ordering opens on Monday 13 November. Parents new to the College will be contacted with their Parent Lounge credentials during this week.

2024 LFSS Resource Lists And Device Program

There is a lot of information pertaining to this process so you will need to read it carefully and follow the Campion account set up in sequence.

Orders placed before Friday 8 December 2023 include free home delivery.

Books / e-learning resources 

For certain year levels the resources will contain options of eBooks or hard copy books. At the start of the new school year secondary students will be directed how to gain access to their electronic textbooks. 

Unless directed on the booklist, it is a family’s choice whether a hard copy text book is purchased in addition to eBooks.

It is the responsibility of students and parents to ensure that elective subjects have been confirmed prior to purchasing the text resources. 

NB: Students will require their College email address to be able to access and download their e-learning resources.

Years 7 and 8 lists - Mainstream / Hebrew Bilingual Program

There are two booklists listed for each of Year 7 and Year 8. One is for the Hebrew Bilingual Program only and one is for all other students. This has been designed to remove any confusion about what resources are required for each stream.

Second-hand books

If considering purchasing second-hand through any source, please note any instructions on the booklist about restrictions on buying second-hand items (mainly workbooks) and the eBook requirement, as eBook licenses are generally not resellable.

Second Hand Textbook 'Buy, Swap and Sell' FB page

A Facebook Page for Scopus families to buy, swap and sell second hand secondary school textbooks has been established. It is called 'Mount Scopus buy, swap and sell books' and a link to the page is below.

Buy, Swap and Sell FB page

It will provide an opportunity to save both trees and money and unclutter your cupboards. 

Standard rules apply:

• Please be honest about the quality of the books - be descriptive and include the book edition
• Please be reasonable about the prices
• Please obey standard sales rules of online sales
• Buyer beware - editions change ALL the time. Please check your purchases carefully.

NB: This FB page is ONLY for school textbooks, NOT uniforms. Please continue to support the Posh Opp Shoppe on Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick for second hand uniforms.

Master Talmud elective

For those interested in extension in Jewish Studies, Year 7 and 8 students can choose to join a multi-media Master Talmud class which offers stimulating discussions about a range of issues raised within the texts. This class does not require previous knowledge of Talmud.

In Year 7, students doing the Talmud stream will miss one Jewish Studies class and one Hebrew class per week, and will also need to attend one early morning class each week, requiring them to travel on the early bus.

For further information, contact Rabbi Shamir Caplan on 9834 0000 or scaplan@scopus.vic.edu.au. Registrations are due by early November.

The information relating to school uniforms is available by clicking here.

There are details of which items are compulsory and optional. The Summer and Winter uniforms are permitted to be worn all year round.

Students will also require a sports uniform which includes a sports top, sports shorts, sports jumper and tracksuit pants. The student’s house will be confirmed before they commence however in secondary school the students all wear the same Scopus sports top.

Uniforms can be purchased from Dobson’s at 667 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn or can be ordered online at www.dobsons.com.au.

The early bird sale ends Sunday 29 October.

The Scopus wet weather coat is an optional item and available for purchase directly from the College, via the Sports Office on an ad hoc basis, subject to availability. Announcements are made at school regarding sale dates.

Second-hand uniforms are available for purchase at the Posh Opp Shoppe at 484 Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick with proceeds going towards the JCAS (Jewish Children’s Aid Society) which helps integrate children with disabilities into Jewish day schools.

The JCAS strongly believes that every Jewish child has a right to a Jewish education regardless of their special needs. In addition, and just as importantly, a whole generation of school children are educated to embrace difference and welcome all Jewish children into the community. Mount Scopus College supports the JCAS and benefits from the support of disadvantaged students.

The Posh Opp Shoppe is open during the week which will allow parents to shop without making an appointment.

Mount Scopus operates a private bus network. Families can choose to use the bus on a permanent or casual basis.

• Permanent usage incurs an annual charge, billed alongside the school tuition fees. Students can travel on their standard permanent route OR use the early or late buses as required for school activities.
• Casual users are charged per use (currently $12 per trip) and have access to an online booking system. Casual users are not charged to use the early or late bus to attend an activity run by the College.

All students are required to tap on and tap off the bus for each journey with their bus pass that is provided to them when they start using the bus.

Important: unless you advise otherwise, your child will automatically be booked as a permanent user of the bus and the transport levy charged. To opt out please email Wendy Saffer by Monday 4 December. 

Bus route information

Bus routes, including bus stop and times information are reviewed each year in line with the changes to the distribution of addresses of families at the College using the bus service. The bus stop details will be made available via the bus portal in December, to allow plenty of time for parents and students to familiarise themselves with the location of their stops prior to the commencement of school.

Accessing bus route information

• a notice is issued to parents once the information is available on the portal;
• Click here to access instruction on Boarding the Bus (p1) and creating an account (p2). 
• families will need their child's Student Code to be able to set up a new account; this code is available via Parent Lounge (see the Website, apps and portals tab for further details); 

Tip: On occasion, students may need to use the early or late bus services which have two routes each. To determine the most convenient route / stop to use parents can refer to the map on the portal.

Details and links on how to set up the parent and student accounts will be sent out separately for new students in the coming weeks. 

Winter Friday afternoon drop off times 

On Friday afternoons in Terms 2 and 3 and some other days as advised during the year, drop off times will be approximately 35 minutes earlier than the advised standard drop off stop time in line with the earlier starting time for Shabbat. 

We understand that moving to a new school can be daunting for some students so we aim to meet reasonable requests for new students to be placed with someone who they may know.

As Year 7 sees a large influx into the College we ask parents of incoming NEW Year 7 students joining from other schools to complete a class placement survey. 

Year 7, 2024 class placement survey

This needs to be completed no later than Friday 3 November, 2023 to ensure your child is taken into account for the class placement process.

Students in Year 7 receive their class list and timetable during their orientation session prior to Day 1, or, if commencing after the start of the school year, on their first day at school.

We will also require parents of NEW students to send in the end of year school report by Friday 15 December.

Hebrew placement

Hebrew classes are streamed according to level of ability and previous knowledge of the language. If a student’s ability is not aligned with the class they have been placed in then the opportunity exists for them to be moved to an appropriate class.

In the first instance, class allocation (other than into Bilingual) is based upon feedback from parents via documentation and in the family meeting, as well as from previous school reports (where applicable). 

Class contact details

Class lists and family contact details for the year group will be made available to parents in the Parent Lounge once school commences. These lists are only to be used for contacting other families for invitations and the like. They are not to be used in any way for commercial, fundraising or other purposes. It is up to parents to share their details via the Parent Lounge so if contact details are not visible it means the parent/s have chosen not to share them. If a student is listed twice then it means their parents are separated and we encourage invitations to be issued to the details of both parents to ensure the child does not miss out.

Parent communication

In the secondary school your child will be involved with various staff for their pastoral care as well as their education.

For pastoral care, your first point of contact is your child's Mechanech/et (homeroom teacher).

Overseeing the year level is the Head of Year who liaises closely with both Student Services and the Deputy Principal, Secondary School.

For educational queries, please contact the subject teacher directly. Teachers are availablebyo to answer any queries about your child throughout the year and are best contacted by email or via a phone call or message. Staff will endeavour to make contact within two business days, but generally earlier.

Students will receive a comprehensive academic report in Terms 2 and 4,which include the assessment descriptions. A monitoring report, which has marks rather than comments is issued at the end of Term 1. The parent / teacher meetings are held in Terms 1 and 3. 

One of the hallmarks of a Scopus education is the vast range of extra-curricular programs on offer.

Whilst some take place during the course of the school day, others happen out of hours. To enable these to happen, the College operates two early and late bus routes which are available at no extra cost for both permanent and casual users to attend an activity run by the College.

The types of activities on offer will vary throughout the year, but may include the following:

Before school

• early morning prayers (mandatory for all Year 7 boys for one semester)
• optional girls prayer service and breakfast group
• cross country running
• swimming
• gym
• orchestra rehearsal
• maths boot camp
• enriched Jewish Studies classes

After school

• homework club
• play rehearsal
• musical rehearsal

Performing Arts

Private music tuition

Mount Scopus operates an extensive music program with a range of performance opportunities.

Private instrumental and vocal tuition is available to take place at the College during school hours, or in some cases, after school, pending the teacher's availability. During school hours, students are withdrawn from classes on a rotating basis so they do not continually miss the same class.

Tuition is available in a wide range of instruments, including, but not limited to the following:

• Piano
• Voice
• Violin
• Cello
• Drums
• Flute
• Guitar
• Saxophone

Music scholarships are awarded each year to students in the secondary school, based on ability, which either cover, or contribute to the cost of the music tuition. The scholarship auditions are held on a Sunday in Term 3 each year. Contact the Music department for further details.

College Musical

Every year LFSS stages a major production in the form of the College musical in Term 1. The announcement of the musical takes place around August, and is an event in its own right at the College - click here to view the latest announcement.

Once the College has received all the required place acceptance documents for a student they become eligible to audition for a role in the musical.

If your child will be absent from school parents will need to acknowledge their child’s absences online, as well as to notify the college in advance of any planned absences.

All student absences need to be acknowledged by parents via Parent Lounge. Where the College hasn’t been pre-notified through Parent Lounge of a child’s absence, the system will generate a notification within Parent Lounge asking for the absence to be acknowledged; this is usually around mid-morning. Rolls are marked twice daily, morning and afternoon. If by 11 am, a child’s absence has still not been acknowledged, a subsequent notification will be issued via SMS asking parents to log in to Parent Lounge and acknowledge.

Absence Notifications

Parents can notify the College via Parent Lounge of their child’s absence, either on the day, or for a future date during the current term. Absence notifications can be made at any time, including after hours and on weekends and ideally should be done as soon as possible before the child is due at school.

When notifying the College parents will be asked to advise the type of absence

• Absent From School (where the child will be away for the whole day)
• Late for School (where the child will be at school but is arriving late) or
• Early Departure (where the child will be at school at the usual time but needs to leave early)

Parent will also need to select the reason for their child’s absence and are able to attach supporting documentation eg doctor’s certificates if required.

For compliance purposes all notifications are reviewed by staff before being processed into the attendance system and similar to our current manual system, parents may be contacted if staff have any questions or if more information is needed.

Below please find links to guides on how to use the attendance portal on parent lounge. There is one for accessing on a computer and one for accessing via mobile phones as the screens are slightly different.

Parent Lounge Absence Notifications Instructions

If your child is arriving late to school then they will need to register at the sign-in kiosk in the Secondary Office.

Students are expected to have a minimum attendance rate of 90% across the school year. This means that being absent for more than 18 days in one school year would fall short of this attendance rate.

Participation in a school organised event, such as school camps or optional trips is not considered to be an absence from school. This means that any other absences including participation in external programs or family holidays during school term, along with ad hoc sick days all count as days absent. Where possible, the College discourages parents from organising family holidays during school term.

Teachers are not required or expected to offer catch-up lessons to students who are absent from school for parent excused absences, such as family holidays. The responsibility lies with the student to catch up on the content they have missed.

In the case of an extended illness, parents should contact the Head of Year as early as possible to discuss a study schedule where appropriate. Teachers will try to assist students who have missed classes through illness.

Student Photos

Class and individual student photos are generally taken in Term 1. All students commencing after that date will be sent by their Mech teacher to Reception to have their individual student photo taken shortly after they commence.

Student Cards

Students are provided with a student card with photo ID that contains credit for photocopying. These are provided to all students in Years 7, 9 and 11. Students entering into Years 8 and 10 will be given their card. 

These are provided for current and new students after the Student Photos have taken place. A temporary card is available from the Secondary Office for senior students if required within the first couple of weeks. 

There is a cost to replace the student card if it is lost.

Bar Mitzvah Program / simcha register

The College runs meaningful programs for students approaching the age of Bar or Bat Mitzvah. The Bat Mitzvah program will have taken place for girls in Year 6. For boys, Rabbi Avrohom Goldberg is available to provide individual tuition to learn the Parsha, Haftora, Brachot and relevant prayers, as well as helping understand the meaning of the Parsha, and support for the Dvar Torah/speech. He can also assist in working out which is the correct Parsha for boys, and help find a Shul where this special occasion can be celebrated. Boys in Year 7 are required to attend the early morning minyan for either the first or second semester (two terms) depending on their date of birth (even if their Bar Mitzvah has already taken place), where they are involved in running and learning about the service. In the week prior to the call-up, the family is invited to attend the minyan at the Shul at the Gandel Campus, Burwood followed by a breakfast.

The Parents Association coordinates volunteers who run the Simcha list to avoid clashes in scheduling Bar and Bat Mitzvah functions within a cohort. It is not compulsory to register. Please note that not all parents do register their simcha and not all parents will invite the whole year level. This will vary from family to family.

Contact the PA Administrator for further details.

Sports House

Houses are used in secondary school for some sports activities, as well as House Plays and on occasion for other events. New students are allocated based on balancing student / gender numbers within each year level in each house. Returning students will be placed in their old house, and siblings will be allocated into the same house where possible.

Cafeteria

The Scopus Cafeteria is milchig, under Kosher Australia supervision. 

It offers a range of cold and hot menu options that change seasonally and have alternating daily specials. Dietary requirements, such as gluten and dairy free, are also catered for.

The Caf is open for students attending before school activities, and remains open until the buses depart to allow those remaining for after school activities to purchase a snack.

Nut policy

The College has an ‘Allergy Aware’ policy. Staff and students are strongly encouraged not to bring nut or nut based products onto the College Campus, however this cannot be guaranteed. All anaphylactic students are strongly encouraged to question the ingredients of all foods they eat.

The College cafeteria and camping programs are ‘Nut Free’ as are all special school celebrations/activities catered for by the college.

Illness and medication

For your own child’s benefit, and the well-being of other students and staff please do not send sick children to school or kinder. An unwell child will not be able to concentrate or learn effectively, and conversely, risks becoming more unwell and delaying their recovery by not being able to rest.

Medication will only be administered for chronic illnesses, asthma or anaphylaxis. If your child requires other medication then they are not deemed well enough to be attending school.

Medication and applicators for chronic conditions and / or allergies, such as Epi-pens, asthma puffers are required to be kept at the Health Centre. Condition management plans are required as part of the mandatory documentation for students with chronic conditions such as Asthma, Epilepsy or Anaphylaxis.

Immunisations for Year 7, 2024

The Year 7 students will be having two immunisations, being the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine and the Diptheria-tetanus-Whooping cough booster vaccine (also known as Boostrix).

In Term 1 next year an online form will be issued for you to consent to whether your child is having the immunisations or not. Whitehorse require all forms to be submitted.

The date for the immunisations is 26 July, 2024.

Fee statements

The initial fee statement and policy is sent out in mid-January. It will detail the amount due for all children in the family enrolled at the College, including tuition fees, security levy and transport levy where appropriate. It will also include any subject specific levies, such as those pertaining to electives or to the Hebrew Bilingual program. 

The statement is for the annual fees payable and will be reissued every quarter, with the amount already paid appearing as a credit. 

A direct debit form is included.

Fees are payable via Parent Lounge.

Parent involvement

As students grow and progress into secondary school, they are encouraged to be more independent and responsible for their learning. Communication with parents has been outlined above however opportunities remain for parents to be meaningfully involved in events such as careers day, or share their expertise via the College Council which acts as an advisory body to the Principal in the areas of direction, philosophy and policy.

School song

The School Song is sung at all school assemblies. A recording is available by clicking here and the lyrics are outined below. 

We sing with joy and celebrate
We thankfully voice our praise,
Mount Scopus College guides our fate
Throughout our student days.
To grow in knowledge is our goal,
In body, spirit and soul.
From Israel to heed the call
And find ourselves a role
Australians loyal and proud!
As Jews, complete, unbowed!
Prepared to meet life's challenges
And stand out from the crowd.
With knowledge, wisdom, courage, faith,
Bequeathed by those before,
For life's adventure well-prepared,
Our future safe and secure.

LFSS Key Contacts

Once your child commences, the following are the key contact details you may require.

Principal’s Office:                            
Dan Sztrajt                           9834 0005

Deputy Principals:

Deputy Principal, Secondary        

Kate Major                             8888 8503

Deputy Principal, Director of Alter Family School of Jewish Studies and Ivrit

Matti Borowski                      9834 0003

Main Reception:                   9834 0000

For general enquiries at the College
To contact financial and clerical administrative staff
To contact Health Centre

Lew Family Secondary School:     8888 8500

To contact specific heads of faculty
To contact all Secondary staff

To contact Secondary Student Services

To contact VCE Co-ordinator
To contact Heads of Years 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12

Transport Office - email contact preferred transportoffice@scopus.vic.edu.au