A Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome BBQ 

Our welcome back to school BBQ held last Wednesday was a great success. Thanks to all the families who attended and special thanks to Mrs Rheinberger and Jack Morris for cooking the BBQ.

Family Mass and Laying of Pavers

It was wonderful to see so many families at Mass last Sunday and then joining us at school for the laying of pavers and morning tea. Thanks to our PT & F committee for organising this event and providing a delicious morning tea. We are well underway to achieving our goal of building a strong school community!

SRC

Congratulations to Molly Peach (Yr 2), Hayden Stockwell (Yr 3), Alex Davis (Yr 4) and Zeb Allan (Yr 5) for being elected by their peers to be part of the Student Representative Council (SRC). 

School Policies

For a school to run efficiently we have many school policies to guide our everyday procedures. It is important parents/carers are aware of these policies and procedures and know how to access them when the need arises (The main policies can be found on our school website). I will also briefly highlight some important policies in my newsletter section over the next few weeks beginning today with our Attendance Policy. 

As per the NSW Education Act (1990) and CSO Attendance Policy (2021), it is a requirement that all absences must be explained in writing within seven days of the absence. Regular school attendance is crucial to student success so I encourage parents to support our school procedures by:

• Using Compass to inform the school if your child is away or will be away for any reason. 
• Ensuring your child comes to school on time and stays all day. Late arrival makes it more difficult for a child to settle in class. Leaving class early results in students missing out on important information to help them prepare for the next school day. Each lesson missed can contribute to gaps in learning and students falling behind in their learning. 
• I also encourage parents to not book holidays during the school term. The current CSO policy, for leave between 10 -100 days, states “Family holidays and travel are no longer considered under the exemption from school procedures. Travel outside of the set vacation period is counted as an absence."

It is not too late to improve your child's attendance rate.

Special Visitors from Catholic Schools Office

Last Friday we had a visit from the Director of Catholic Schools, Chris Smyth and two School Performance Leaders; Katie Hanes and John O'Connor. They were impressed with the learning of our students and the facilities we have at St Joey's.

Have a fun week

Pauline Long

Principal