From the Assistant Principal

Dear families, 

Welcome to the start of a new school year! We are thrilled to have you and your children as part of our school community. As we embark on this journey together, our dedicated team is committed to providing a nurturing and enriching environment where every student can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. We value the partnership between home and school and encourage open communication to ensure the success of each student. This year promises to be filled with exciting learning opportunities, engaging activities, and meaningful connections. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with you to make this school year a rewarding and memorable experience for your child. Here's to a year of growth, discovery, and achievement!

2024 Theme

This year we have a special theme to help focus all that we do at St Patrick's. This week, teachers have started to unpack what this means as a school community; both academically and socially and are discussing what this can look like both in the classrooms and on the playground.

To 'Grow in Strength' means that we:

• Strive for academic excellence
• are an inclusive community who welcome and embrace new enrolments
• invest in improving the physical environment, hence creating a more conducive learning environment
• value the relationships between teacher and teacher, teacher and student, teacher and parent, student and student and highlight these relationships as paramount to our success as a learning community
• provide extra curricular opportunities to allow students to excel in a variety of ways including sport, the arts, music, dance, drama and Science to name a few.

IMPORTANT SCHOOL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Please ensure you are aware of the following linked policies and procedures which have been recently updated. Each policy is also briefly outlined below.

EMAIL POLICY

• All emails to the school, including those for teachers, MUST be sent to the school’s admin email address, info@stpsutherland.catholic.edu.au. These emails will be read by members of the leadership team prior to being answered or forwarded to relevant staff members and responded to when required. All emails will be kept on file.
• Emails are responded to within a timely manner, as indicated on Sydney Catholic Schools - Communication between school and home document. This states that - “For non urgent matters, staff including teachers, will return your email within three working days during the school term. School staff are not required to return emails at nights or on weekends, and generally will not be checking emails during these times.”
• Emails should be brief and informative. Emails work best when they are positive. Avoid sending negative or confrontational emails. 
• Email should not be used to discuss a sensitive issue. Issues that require immediate action or relate to a concern or problem, should be dealt with in person (preferred) or over the phone.  Please contact the office to arrange an appointment with your class teacher.

MOBILE DEVICE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

The following procedures will be in effect from Monday, 5th February.

School Procedures for Stage 3 students:

At the commencement of the school day:

1. Students will surrender their mobile device to the class teacher
2. The device will be placed in a secure container with other student devices within the classroom
3. At the end of the day, students will collect their device from the class teacher prior to dismissal.

School Procedures for Kindergarten - Year 4 students: 

Upon arrival at the school:

1. Students will place their mobile phone in a labelled ziplock bag and sign in their mobile device to the office 
2. The phone will be placed in a secure container with other student devices within the office
3. At the end of the day, students will collect their device from the office prior to dismissal.

For watches and other transmitting devices:

1. Apple watches and other smart transmitting watch devices MUST be switched to Airplane mode before a student enters the school grounds.
2. If a student uses their device during the school day for purposes other than telling the time (e.g. sending a message, playing a game, taking photos etc), the device will be taken from the student and stored in the office. A note saying that the student has breached our school Mobile Device Policy will be sent home and the student will not be allowed to bring their device for a week.

HOMEWORK POLICY

Please see our REVISED 2024 Homework Policy.

Please take note that teachers are not expected to give lengthy feedback on completed homework. In-depth and timely feedback is provided directly to the students based on class task completion.

Each grade will outline their homework expectations with their families.

UNIFORM POLICY

Please see our Uniform Policy attached above. 

As a school we take pride in our students representing our school by wearing the correct uniform. If for any reason your child is unable to wear the correct shoes to school, please contact your classroom teacher in writing to let them know.

A gentle reminder that haircuts on boys should be short and neat and any hair longer than the collar will need to be tied back (boys and girls)

Jewellery is to be limited to small stud/sleeper earrings, a thin necklace with cross and a watch only. 

Thank you for your ongoing support with ensuring your child is wearing the correct uniform.

ACCEPTABLE USE AGREEMENT AND BYOD PROGRAM

Today students received a 2024 Acceptable Use of Technology Agreement. This includes both personal and school based devices. Please read with your child, sign both the student and parent sections and return as soon as possible. Students will not be allowed to use any device at school until this is returned. 

Our BYOD program has recommenced for students in Years 3-6. If you need any help in sourcing a device or any technical support, please contact the office. Next week, students who have new devices or are bringing a device for the first time,  will be added to our wifi networks. 

STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY

A friendly reminder that we will have a Staff Development Day on Friday, 1st March. Teachers will be undertaking learning in relation to the Berry St model.

Have a great week, 

Jim Heelis

Assistant Principal