Principal's Report
Dear Parents, Students and Friends,
We began this morning with a whole school Pentecost Mass. Miss Holmes and our Foundation class helped Fr Benneth lead our celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the true birth of our 'Church'. With Jesus now gone for nearly 2000 years it is our role to be his eyes, hands and heart. This morning Fr Benneth spoke about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in his homily and the need for unity and 'oneness'. One of the great blessings a Catholic school has over local schools is a shared belief in something other than ourselves. There can be a real focus on 'me' and 'mine' instead of 'us'. I also think we need to remember that being part of St Anne's Primary School means we are automatically part of the St Anne's Parish community and your involvement regularly there is important in developing your children's understanding of their faith.
We thank John Paul College for hosting our Year 5 students on Tuesday so they could learn a little more about how secondary schooling works. Moving to secondary school can be a challenging and anxious time for students and opportunities such as these help to 'smooth' out some of the possible worries your children may have.
Approximately a dozen of our students competed at Hastings in the divisional cross country on Wednesday. I have not heard whether any of those students won their way through to the next level of competition but nonetheless it is a mighty achievement to run at the level they did.
Looking ahead to next week we have our annual Italian Day on Wednesday and we thank Signora Morina for her preparation with this. It is really proving to be as highlight of our yearly calendar.
We also continue our prayers for all the children of the Parish making their First Eucharist over the next two Sundays. Father Benneth has instituted two special Masses on Sunday 16th and Sunday 23rd June so that the focus can be on our First Communicants and their families sharing this important Sacramental time together. In particular we pray for our St Anne's students- Alexander, Elijah, Kassandra, Maryhanna, Mason, Oscar and Zaira.
When any health issues, allergies etc change for your students I thank you for updating this on your child's Caremonkey profile. It is also very important to let the office know so we can directly adjust the enrolment forms and the first aidrecords in the office.
God’s blessings in abundance to you all and stay safe on this long weekend. We look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday.
Rod Shaw,
Principal
School Attendance and Unexplained Absence
Please ensure you contact the school if your child is going to be absent by leaving a message on 9786 4736 and press 1.
If you are running late, (after 9:00 am ) please attend the office to sign your child into school.
As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences will be:
Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a phone call or text message.
If parent does not reply or is unreachable the emergency contacts will be contacted by the school.
If there is still no response, and the school feels that the child is in danger, the police will be contacted.
Ongoing unexplained absences or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in
a formal conference being organized. Unresolved attendance issues will be referred to D.H.H.S.
This is a legal requirement.
NCCD FUNDING FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) On School Students with Disability
What is the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data? Schools must now complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) every year. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disability.
Who is counted in the data collection? To count a student in the NCCD, schools must think through some key questions:
1. Is the student getting help at school so that they can take part in education on the same
basis as other students? 2. Is the help given because of a disability? The word ‘disability’ comes from the Disability
Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) and it can include many students? 3. Has the school talked to you or your child about the help that they provide? 4. Has the school kept records about the help they provide, the student needs and the reasons
that the student needs this help? The school will need to keep copies of tests, student work, assessments, records of meetings, medical reports or other paperwork and information about how the student’s learning is moving along over time?
Once the school decides that the student should be counted in the NCCD, they then choose a disability group and one of four levels of help that has been given to the student.
What does word ‘disability’ mean in the NCCD? In the NCCD the word ‘disability’ comes from the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA). There are four types of disability that the school can choose from; sensory, cognitive, social-emotional and physical.
Many students that need help at school can be counted in the NCCD. For example, students with learning problems, e.g. specific learning disability or reading difficulty (sometimes called dyslexia), health problems (e.g. epilepsy or diabetes), physical disability (e.g. cerebral palsy), vision/hearing loss and social-emotional problems (e.g. selective mutism, Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety).
Letters from doctors or specialists can be very helpful for schools as they plan how to support students with their learning. Schools do not need to have these letters before they can count a
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student in NCCD. Teachers can use all that they know about the child’s learning and the records that they have collected over time to decide if a student can be counted in the NCCD.
What sort of help does the school give students? Students need different types of help at school. Some students need a little help sometimes while other students need a lot of help nearly all the time. The type of help given depends on the needs of the student. The help can include changes to the school buildings or grounds (e.g. ramps or things like special desks or chairs), extra teacher help in classes, special learning programs, changes to the work they give the student or extra adult help.
How will the NCCD be different this year? All schools have been counting students in the NCCD since 2015. The government will use the NCCD data as part of the funding to schools.
What will the school need to know about my child for the NCCD? Schools work together with families to understand the needs of each child. It is helpful if families give their child’s teacher a copy of any letters or reports they have. The letters or reports will help the school understand the child and the help that they might need. Letters from doctors, psychologists, speech pathologists, doctor, and occupational therapists etc. can be very helpful for schools. These reports along with information that the teacher has (i.e. school based tests, your child’s work and learning plans) helps the school to understand and meet the student’s needs.
What happens to the NCCD data? Who will have the NCCD information? Each school principal must check the NCCD data in August of each year. The school will give the information to the Catholic Education Office. The school will work with the Catholic Education Office to make sure that the NCCD data is OK before they give the data to the government. The government will not be given the names of any students or any letters or records. Please ask your school for their privacy policy if you need to know more.
Does the school need me to agree with them about counting my child in the NCCD? Amendments were made to the Australian Education Act 2013 and Australian Education Regulation 2013). Schools do not need you to agree to let them count a child in the NCCD. You cannot ask the school not to count your child.
Where can I find out more? Please contact your child’s school if you have further questions about the NCCD and/or refer to the national NCCD Portal.
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