Bell Times, Bus Details, Absences, Messages, Holidays

Bell Times

Please be on time when picking your children up from school.

Morning supervision in the playground commences at 8:25 am and we ask that children do not arrive at school earlier than 8:25am please.  

Student Absences

You are legally required to ensure your child attends school every day.  

Please submit student absences on the day of the absence via PAM by 9.30am on the day, to avoid a call or *SMS from the office.  *(Please note that the SMS messages are a no-reply service).  If you are leaving a message on the phone, select option 1, give your child's name, grade and the reason for the absence.  If no reason is provided, Parent Choice will be the default reason for the absence.  If your child has been away for more that three consecutive days, a medical certificate is required.

Please avoid planning holidays or making routine medical appointments during school time and where possible, you should inform the school in advance of upcoming absences.

Family Holidays

Victorian Government regulations state that you must request to take holidays during term time.  Please view the link below for for more information: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/parents/behaviour/Pages/attendance.aspx 

To this end, St Laurence O'Toole Primary School requires that a Holiday Request Form  must be completed prior to holidays that are taken during the school term. 

The Holiday Request Form is available by request from the Principal, Liz O'Loughlin, at principal@stlleongatha.catholic.edu.au  Once this has been filled in and emailed back to Liz,  an acceptance response form will be issued.

The acceptance response form will suggest some things that you can do during your holiday time that have an educational outcome - such as reading a map, taking photos and writing a sentence or two about exciting events as well as collecting and discussing items you have discovered during each day.

Messages For Students

Please email (preferred option) or call with after school arrangement messages for students.  This needs to be done before 2:30pm as the office is very busy leading up the end of the school day.   Please email office@stlleongatha.catholic.edu.au

Bus Passes

The school bus system exists for students to travel between home and school and is not a public transport system to be used for leisure. It is policy that things like sports training and social events aren't allowed for ad hoc travel and bus passes will not be issued for students to use a bus unless it is their normal mode of transport.  

Afternoon Bus Arrangements

All bus travellers are on a checklist which teachers will take out during afternoon bus supervision. If your child is NOT travelling on their bus as usual please make contact with the office on office@stlleongatha.catholic.edu.au or call on 5662 2192 prior to 2:30pm to let us know that  there is to be a change to normal after school bus arrangements.   A note will be made on the checklist and a note put on their classroom tray.  This will avoid teachers waiting/looking for children on their bus travel checklists. 

What happens if your child does not know if they are on the bus?  We go by the bus checklist so if you have not informed us of any changes, the child will do whatever they normally do.  A quick email or phone call to school with changes will alleviate any worry or distress for your child.

Town Bus

This service is run by Winterhalter Bus Lines.  For information regarding the town bus and for prices, please call them directly on 0428 551 145.