Acting Principal's Message 

Dear Families,

Week 7 has come and gone very quickly! 

We have had our final transition session with our 2025 Preps which has been hugely successful! We are excited to welcome new and existing families into our community.

There are lots of events happening as we come to the end of the 2024 school year, but as a school we work hard to keep things consistent for students. We continue with our learning, classroom routines and expectations right up until the end of the year. This allows students to know that school is a place where they know what will happen and what the expectations are. Times of change can be challenging for some young people (and grown ups too!) so we work hard to support everyone to be prepared for transitioning to a new year level and new class. Our class placements for both students and teachers are being finalised now, ready to begin the transition program. We have planned for our transition program, starting on the 9th December with an initial meet and greet, then a lunch together on the 11th December. Don't hesitate to reach out to your child's classroom teacher if you have concerns around how your child will transition to a new year and supports can be put in place. 

Staffing Changes

We have some staffing changes to announce for 2025. 

Netty Howe, one of our amazing 3/4 Teachers, is retiring from St Andrew's Primary School at the end of this year. We are very grateful for the 10 years of service Netty has given St Andrew's, and the dedication and care she has shown so many students and families in her time. We wish her every happiness in her well deserved retirement. 

Lauren Quintal, one of our 1/2 teachers, has been with us since she was a fourth year placement student in 2023! We have been so lucky to have her gentle and caring nature supporting our junior students this year. She is leaving at the end of the year to explore the world and other try different parts of the education industry. 

Cathy Bartlett, our very gifted art teacher who has been at St Andrew's since 2019, is finishing up at the end of the year to start her retirement. We have been blessed with Cathy's artistic talents and warm personality and she will be sorely missed. We wish her every happiness as she spends more time with her husband, children and grandchildren. Milena Santoro will be taking over the Art Specialist Classes in 2025. We know she has big shoes to fill but she will be amazing! 

From next year, Nella Lo Presti will be cutting down to one day at St Andrew's meaning we will no longer have our Sustainability program running in 2025. She will be working in classrooms for her one day. 

Daniella Polites is going to be our teacher librarian starting in 2025. She will run one hour lessons, once a fortnight with each class. The timetable will be shared at the beginning of 2025 so you can see what this looks like. She will also work in a classroom for three days a week. This means our specialist program will include,

     - Visual Arts (Milena Santoro)

    - Performing Arts (Emma Cooper)

    - Physical Education (Kayla Puetz)

   - Italian (LOTE) (Maria White

   - Library (Daniella Polites) 

We have also employed some new teachers!

We have employed Bridie Slater and Fiona MacNally as new Prep teachers. 

Bridie is currently a prep teacher and Maths Leader at St James Primary School in Brighton. We know she will be a perfect addition to the St Andrew's team. 

Fiona MacNally currently works at Amsleigh Park Primary School and teaches grade 5. She has experience in early childhood as well as her teaching experience. We know they will be welcomed into the St Andrew's community.

Other Roles

Holly Capomolla has been appointed as our Learning Diversity Leader, along with her Literacy Leader role. 

Trish Lloyd has been appointed as Wellbeing Leader. Trish is incredibly experienced educator and in the Wellbeing and Mental Health Spece, she comes from the Sale Diocese where she is currently working as a Wellbeing Leader and Mental Health in Primary Schools facilitator. We know she will be an asset to the school and support the school to further fevelop the wellbeing practices we have in place. 

Please note this Friday 22nd November is a School Closure Day

All staff will participate in a First Aid refresher course and planning day for 2025.

2025 Annual Tuition Fee

I am writing to provide you details of changes in tuition fees for the 2025 academic year.

Any decision to adjust tuition fees is never made lightly, nor without careful and thorough consideration of our students’ needs and our school’s capacity to provide an education experience that supports every student to flourish.  We are also cognisant of the financial pressures that many families have experienced this year. 

St Andrew's, too, is facing increasing costs in multiple areas of school operations, including WorkCover premiums, Child Safety compliance, risk management, teacher resources and professional learning, and higher central system costs. 

Our tuition fees at St Andrew’s Primary School are also influenced by the Commonwealth Department of Education’s calculation of our community’s ability to financially contribute to the operating costs of our school, known as the Capacity to Contribute, or CTC, which is reviewed annually.

To ensure that we can continue to deliver a personalised, high-quality education that is responsive to the diverse interests and academic, social and emotional needs of our students, it is necessary to adjust our fees in 2025.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the fee increase, or wish to discuss your individual circumstances, please do not hesitate to contact me.  We remain committed to keeping tuition fees as low and affordable as possible, and to working closely with our community to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Thank you for your understanding.  I am grateful for your ongoing support and trust in our school.

Nicole Black

Acting Principal

2025 School Fee Structure

School fees assist the school in meeting the day-to-day costs of operating the school. This fee is charged per family.

Maintenance levies assist with the upkeep of the school. This fee is charged per family and will be removed if the family attends one of the scheduled Working Bees.

Building levies assist with school improvements and equipment purchases. This fee is charged per family.

Camp fees cover the cost of accommodation, food, transportation and recreational activities. This fee is charged per student in year 5 or 6.

Each Year 5 & 6 student incurs a further levy to cover the Inter-School Sports program and bus expenses.

2025 Fee Schedule

* Family-based fees (School Fee, Maintenance Levy and Building Levy) totalling $2,250 may be paid in quarterly instalments, payable as follows:

**Student Levies cover all costs associated with the compulsory curriculum. It also includes the cost of classroom materials and resources for curriculum areas such as Wellbeing, Sports, Art, Sustainability, Library books, the Swimming program, Excursions / Incursions and the provision & maintenance of Digital Technologies. This fee of $745, together with the Inter-school Sports Levy of $50 is charged per student.

Preferred payment methods are Direct Debit / BPAY / EFTPOS (as per details on your statement).

For concession card holders, CSEF eligibility will be subject to the Parent/Legal Guardian’s concession card being successfully validated with Centrelink on the first day of either term one (28 January 2025) or term two (22 April 2025).

Should you wish to pay monthly / fortnightly / weekly or have questions in relation to CSEF, please contact the school office via 9551 5094 or office@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au

Enrolment for 2025

School organisational planning for 2025 is well underway, assuming all students enrolled in Prep to Year 5 will return in the 2025 school year.  If not, I ask that you contact the school office immediately and notify your intentions, 

office@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au This information assists the school leadership immensely with the planning and resourcing for the 2025 school year.

The next Working Bee date is Saturday 30th November

Due to the postponement of our last Working Bee, we will hold it on Saturday November 30th. 

ADVENT

As we approach the year's end, the Advent season is upon us.  This is a time in our Church calendar when we prepare for the birth of Jesus, ultimately celebrated on Christmas Day. 

In the lead-up to Christmas, the four Sundays prior are marked as days to celebrate the Advent season.  At St Andrew’s School, we celebrate and enter into the spirit of Advent through four student-led liturgies during the final weeks of the school term. The liturgies will take place as follows in the School Hall commencing at 8.45 a.m.

All members of our School Community are encouraged to attend and join the students at these liturgies.

Please return ALL Library Books

All borrowed library books must be returned to school as soon as possible.  If you can’t find any books, please contact Mrs Turco in the Library to discuss the matter.

Thank you for your cooperation.

2025 Prep Enrolments

HAVE YOU ENROLLED YOUR CHILD FOR PREP 2025? 

If you have a child ready for Prep 2025, we encourage you to please put in an enrolment form as soon as possible. This will help us with organisation purposes. To access an enrolment form:

• Visit the enrolment section of our school website and download an enrolment form 

• Drop into the school office to collect an enrolment pack
• Email office@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au 

2024 School Calendar 

The 2024 School Calendar is available on the School Website. It can be found mid-way down on the front page under the heading ‘WHAT’S ON’.   We will endeavour, where possible, to remain true to the dates on the 2024 calendar. We recommend that parents regularly visit the school website to see updates on all school events.

Mrs Nicole Black

(Acting Principal)