Dear Families,
Positive about the school/learning experience
The whole school is now back in face-to-face learning (after two weeks of online/remote learning for our Year 2-6s), and it is great having everyone on board.
I congratulate you in preparing your children well for the start of this school year. As you are no doubt aware, establishing sound routines to support your child’s readiness for learning each day are essential. Arrival at school on time, by 8:40am, is an important first step, in ensuring your child is ready for the day ahead.
Be optimistic about the school and learning experience – your reaction and attitude will rub off onto your child. To get the conversation going about your child’s day at school, try asking the following ‘after school’ questions: What was the best part of your day? Tell me something interesting that happened at school? What is something you learned today? How did you help someone?
We need to be realistic and know that on some days at school (just like in our own lives), there are going to be dilemmas; is it conflict with a friend, not understanding the content for a respective subject, etc. Again, your outlook and comments are important in these situations. Remain calm and level-headed; remember there are always two sides to a story; focus your questions so your child is doing the problem solving (not you doing it for them). For example, questions such as: ‘what needs to happen to improve the situation’; or ‘what can we do to fix this?’ can be helpful and empowering. Your child needs to know you are there to support them. Be patient and give your child opportunity to answer.
Communication is an essential element in any healthy relationship – school/home dialogue is no different. Therefore, sound discourse with the school, in particular, your child’s teacher is paramount to having a successful year. As a parent/carer, we are our child’s advocate. However, I believe we shouldn’t ‘rescue’ our children when something goes wrong. This will not help our child in the long run. If we want our children to be resilient and independent beings, they need the opportunity to develop such skills. We need to give our child the chance to think creatively and proactively. The results for our children, are that they will develop sound strategies when faced with problems, and ultimately, this will help them as they become adolescents and adults.
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
The Annual General Meeting of the School Board and Parents and Friends (P&F) Committee will be held on Thursday 3 March 2022, commencing at 7:00pm (in the Gymnasium).
The Board and P&F are your foremost parent representative groups and help make decisions on behalf of all families and children within the St Joseph’s School community.
School Board meetings occur monthly (twice per term), usually on the third Wednesday of each month. Parent representatives are elected to the Board for a 2-year term (with a maximum 6-year tenure).
There are three positions available on the School Board this year. A nomination form is included with this newsletter. Nominations will close on Friday 25 February at 5:00 pm.
On the other hand, the Parents and Friends has no restrictions to the number of parents who wish to be involved in this proactive group. P&F meetings are open to all parents (dates and times of meetings will be confirmed, but typically occur once a term).
Parking, road safety, driver etiquette and being friendly to our neighbours
School drop-off and pick-up times are busy for everyone. The endeavour is for this to happen in a safe and courteous manner. Please demonstrate consideration and patience, as well as travelling slowly around the school, especially where marked (no faster than 25 km/h).
As a result of the busyness at drop-off and pick-up, finding a car park next to the school gate can be tricky. I recommend to find a park a little further away from the school, where you will not only discover that it is easier to locate a parking space, but also opportunity for some exercise with your child/ren, and an extra chance to ‘connect’, as you walk your child to and from school. You could even plan to meet with another family at a designated point (for example at Payneham Oval), and then walk the 5 or 10 minutes to school.
Additionally, please be considerate of our neighbours, which includes not parking or standing with your vehicle in their driveways. Lastly, kindly ensure your child(ren) are keeping out of residents’ gardens. Thank you for your anticipated attention to the above.
School Uniform
The students are looking very neat and professional in their uniforms. Wearing the correct uniform brings a great sense of belonging to the community as well as pride in one’s appearance. Let’s work together to ensure it is sustained.
A reminder, students are to wear their school hats during Terms One and from the 1st September. Wearing the sport uniform is only to occur on the allocated days (as indicated by your child’s classroom teacher).
Student Mobile Phones and Smart Watches
For students who bring a mobile phone to school, the protocol is that at the beginning of the day, the phone is handed to the class teacher. At the end of the day, students have their phone returned.
If a staff member needs to make contact throughout the day, we will communicate through our usual channels. Likewise, if you need to make immediate contact with your child, please ring the school.
We are currently reviewing our ‘wearable technology policy’ (i.e., smart watches at school), and will provide you with the particulars soon.
Nut allergies
St Joseph’s School tries very hard to create a ‘nut free’ environment. There are a number of students across the various year levels in our school who will suffer an extreme adverse reaction — life threatening in some cases – if they come into contact with any food product containing the slightest trace of nut substance. For that reason, we ask parents/carers to avoid sending nut products to school. When classes have ‘shared lunches’ parents will need to be mindful that the plate of food that is being sent to school is ‘nut free’. We appreciate this could be an inconvenience as some children love peanut paste, Nutella and other nut-based spreads. However, for the safety and wellbeing of our children, we need to adhere to this practice.
Food allergies
Incidentally, in a typical classroom at least one student is likely to be affected by food allergies, and for reasons that are not completely understood, the number of children with food allergies is increasing. About 20% of students with food allergies (1 of 5) will have a reaction while at school. A food allergy is an adverse immune system reaction that occurs soon after exposure to a certain food. As children get older, allergen avoidance becomes complex, as they desire to fit in with peers and navigate social activities. Therefore, the rest of the school community needs to be vigilant, to ensure that all children are not placed in awkward situations whereby they may experience a severe reaction. For these reasons, we discourage students sharing food and touching other people’s food.
Advance notice – Student Free Day, Friday 11 March 2022
On the above date, staff will be engaged in a whole day of Professional Learning (with the other Eastern Catholic Primary Schools), and therefore will be a Student Free Day. OSHC will be available.
COVID-19 Update
Unfortunately, we will have children who will test positive to COVID-19. This may impact on the child’s class mates and their Class Teacher (and ESOs). When we are notified that a child has tested positive, the families of the child’s respective class will be notified (via our Skoolbag or Seesaw app).
Obviously, class teachers and ESOs may also test positive from their interaction within the school community, or may be exposed to family members who have tested positive. We will endeavour to engage the appropriate temporary staff for the period of the staff member’s quarantine time.
To keep ourselves and others safe, in line with SA Health and Catholic Education South Australia (CESA), please ensure you:
- aim for a prompt drop-off and pick-up;
- do not congregate with others in the community;
- continue to have your child focus on good hygiene and hand washing;
- keep your child(ren) home when they are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms and have your child tested for COVID-19, notifying us as soon as possible if your child does test positive for COVID-19.
Congratulations
Lastly, I share with you the following ‘good news’ and offer my best wishes to:
- the Jerkic family (Arlia, Preschool), on the birth of a boy, Andre; and
- the Saifuddin family (Jamila, RK), on the birth of a boy, Adam.
Wishing you well!
Simon Mechis
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