GENERAL NEWS

MANNERS MATTER....but currently we have a problem!

At St Nicholas we recently undertook some ‘secret missions’ to collect data about our students using manners. The following results will possibly surprise you. 

On a random day at the canteen, through secret tallying, it was revealed that only 29% of the students who Mrs Harding served used the words ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ without a reminder. Sadly that means 71% of students did not use their manners. 

Similarly, of all the students who interacted with our Admin Ladies at the office over a day (to deliver a message, to receive medication or first aid, to hand in/collect their phone etc) only 20% used manners unprompted, meaning 80% did not.

In a random Infants class when books were handed out to students by their teacher, only 29% said thank you without being reminded, whilst 71% took their book with no thanks. Similarly, when a staff member stood at the door of a primary grade and cheerily said “Good morning, have a great day” as the students filed in, only 19% responded.

We know our students can do better, so as a result of this all our staff are currently committed to  placing a huge emphasis and high expectations on “Manners Matter” at St Nicholas. You might have even noticed the lanyards we are wearing as a visual reminder for the students. The good news is, that after just a week or so, we are already seeing greatly improved results, which shows what an impact a consistent approach can have. Through our positive parent partnership we are calling on all our parents to support this at home.

Below is our current focus:

ICAS TESTING

ICAS testing enrolments have closed. Below is the schedule for the students in Yr 4- 6 who have enrolled. NB: Students who are sitting the Spelling test will need to bring their headphones.

NEW OFFICE FRIENDS

Subject: 🚨 URGENT: Two New (Googly-Eyed) Team Members Need Names! 🐠👀

Hey St Nicholas,

We are thrilled to announce that our office family has expanded! We have adopted two slightly confused-looking, black googly-eyed goldfish.

They are currently settling into their new aquatic setup, but they are suffering from a severe identity crisis: they don't have names yet.

Since they'll be handling high-stress tasks like staring blankly into space, swimming in tiny circles, and silently judging our daily coffee intake, we need your help giving them the quirkiest, funniest names possible.

Got a brilliant idea? Send your best (and weirdest) name submissions directly to sntadmin@arm.catholic.edu.au!

May the best names win! 🏆

LOST PROPERTY

As you can see from the photos below, we are having an increasingly growing problem with Lost Property at St Nicholas.  Whilst staff very regularly attempt to sort and return belongings, we are finding that the majority of these items have not been labelled.  We are asking for your support in ensuring that every single item of clothing, lunch containers, drink bottles etc are clearly labelled. As parents and teachers, it is important that we not only encourage our children to take responsibility for their belongings, but also to be independent in seeking to locate items should they be misplaced.  We appreciate your support with this. 

WINTER UNIFORM

All students are now expected to be in their full winter uniform. Please note that this includes a tie and a hat. 

VERITAS AWARDS

Our Veritas Awards stem from our school motto - ‘Veritas’ - meaning truth. The Veritas Award is awarded to students who have been consistently displaying citizenship, leadership and/or Christian Living. Students receiving a Veritas Award are those students who have displayed our ‘Rules for Living’ in their everyday interactions. We announce our Veritas award recipients at Friday morning assemblies every fortnight. Congratulations to David Ngwu, Percy Salariosa, Georgia Leys, Lottie French, Mackenzie Henn, Elsie Gibson, Maddison McDougall, Ava Summers and Jessie George. 

PUPIL FREE DAYS

SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS

Supervision of students does not begin until 8.15 am each day.

St Nicholas School gates will not be open until the arrival of the first school bus at 8.15 am. It is not appropriate for children to be at school before this time with no supervision. 

If your child/children require care before 8.15 am, we recommend contacting Esteem Kids Before and After School Care, which operates on the grounds of St Nicholas School.                 

NCCD INORMATION