Term 1, Week 2 Bulletin
Term One Week Two Bulletin
Dear Families,
Welcome back to a new school year. We are so glad to see all of our children come back to school, and they seem to have settled in really well after the holidays.
I hope you are pleased with our new building. We have had some initial teething issues with this, as you often do with new buildings. Please be patient with us as we work with the builder to get these matters rectified.
Today, you would have received an Operoo notice concerning the front gate. Can I ask all parents and guardians to read this carefully. Please be patient and wait for the gate to open if it is closed. There is an intercom you can use installed on the front entrance. Please do not push the gate or force it to open more quickly as you will potentially damage the motor, and this will be expensive to replace. The new gate mechanism is designed to add another layer of security for your children – hopefully, we will never need to use this.
Prayer for the Beginning of the New School Year
We thank you Lord, for all that was good during the summer, for the love of our family and friends, and for the sunshine and warm days.
As we begin a new school year we ask for your help and pray your blessing on everybody in this school. Show us how to work together for the good of all. May we share our talents and abilities to the full and grow in knowledge, wisdom and happiness. Give us the grace to become more like Jesus in the ways we think and behave.
During this school year let us become builders of your ways and instruments of your peace. We ask this school year blessing through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
Prayer from Catholic Education An Irish Schools Trust found at: https://www.ceist.ie/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CEIST-School-Prayer-Book-2017.pdf
Beginning and End of Day Procedures
This year, we have over 100 new families and 16 new staff members at school. It is timely to remind our community about the procedures for the beginning and end of the school day.
- In the morning, children should not be arriving at school before 8.30am unless they are attending KellyClub. The gates will not be open until 8.30am.
- The Exploration to Grade 3 children should assemble in the main courtyard and the Grade 4 – 6 children in the courtyard outside Stage 3.
- Please do not double-park or drop your children in the road. Parents and guardians must park safely before they let their children out of their cars.
- We are asking parents and guardians not to stand in the lines of children as they assemble in the morning. This makes it really chaotic and very difficult to manage when parents are moving between the lines.
At the end of the day, the children will leave at 3.10pm by:
- Gate 1 (near the staff carpark) YELLOW TAG
- Gate 2 (near the main entrance) PURPLE TAG
- Kiss n’ Go (near the staff carpark) WHITE TAG
All children should have a coloured tag on their bag. If you have lost this, please check in the with office. The office staff will be creating an updated list for the new families. If you are not sure which gate you have selected, please contact the admin office. We would ask parents and guardians not to change the gate you have selected as this is confusing for both the children and staff and can create anxiety if the child is at the wrong gate or a staff member thinks they have lost a child.
If you are collecting your children from Kiss n Go:
- it would be helpful if you could ask the admin staff to create a sign with your family name for your car so that we can identify you quickly and get your child to your car. When you are using Kiss n’ Go
- please do not get out of your car to collect your child as this slows the process down and causes delays.
- parents and guardians using the Kiss n Go need to go around the block to enter the Kiss n Go to enter from Brewer Way from the south. Please do not jump the queue or enter the wrong way as this causes frustration to parents and guardians who are already waiting.
Beginning of Year Mass
Tomorrow, we have our traditional beginning-of-year mass at St Anthony of Padua for all our Grade One – Six students. We would love to see lots of parents and guardians at St Anthony’s Church to celebrate with us.
I have always been very aware that we are not located next to a Catholic church like most Catholic primary schools, so our children do not often get the chance to celebrate mass in church as a school community. We only do this for the first and last mass of the year. It is an expensive endeavour to get all the children to and from church, but as a Catholic school, it is vital that we give our children this faith experience.
I have a concern that some parents and guardians are choosing to opt out of this event and keep their children home for the day. The Catholic identity of our school is our cornerstone; this was clearly articulated to parents and guardians at the time of enrolment. It is a condition of our school that all students, irrespective of their faith background, participate in all the Catholic faith aspects of our school other than the celebration of the sacraments, which is only for baptised Catholic children. The beginning and end-of-year masses are required school events, and parents and guardians must send their children to school on these days. We need parents and guardians to complete the excursion permission slips when they are sent home by Operoo, as we cannot take children off-site without this having been provided.
2025 Sacrament Program:
Any students in Grade 2, 3 and 5 who wish to participate in the 2025 Sacrament Program and are yet to enrol need to get in touch with Jay Russell (jamien.russell@slweirviews.catholic.edu.au) as soon as possible to complete the enrolment form and payment.
Student Absences
Parents and guardians must inform the office if their child is absent from school. If you have not done this by 9.30 am, our admin team will send you an Operoo to check they are absent. Please ensure your contact details are correct so we can contact you. If this information changes, you must inform the office straightaway.
Under the terms of the MACS Attendance Policy, I am required to determine the reason for a child’s absence. I can only approve a student’s absence as an approved school absence if this has been communicated to me by email, and I can determine that the reason is valid. Please try wherever possible to avoid booking holidays during school holidays. If families repeatedly do this, I will not be able to authorise this. This will consequently be marked on our records as an unapproved school absence.
UPCOMING DATES
February
06/02: Exploration Students Return
07/02: Whole School Mass at St Anthony of Padua G1-6 @ 11:30am
10/02: Deaf Awareness Auslan West ½ School
11/02: Deaf Awareness Auslan other ½ School
12/02: Exploration Rest Day (Exploration Testing Day)
Prayer Service: Grade Two & Three / Grade Four – Six @ 2.40pm
18/02: Welcome Community Picnic
19/02: Exploration Rest Day (Exploration Testing Day)
Prayer Service: Grade 4 – 6 @ 2.40pm
26/02: Exploration Rest Day
Grade Two & Three / Grade Four – Six @ 2.40pm
Eucharist Parent Info Session @ St Anthony of Padua @ 6:30pm
God bless,
Bill Hill
PRINCIPAL