Attendance Matters: At this time of year, it is often easy to think that a few days at home, or an early holiday won't matter to the children, as they are near the end of the year. However Attendance does matter! Children need to be at school each day it is open, unless ill or otherwise not able to attend. All schools are legally responsibility for the education of all school age students in NSW, and we have been tasked by the Government to act in accordance with these laws,

making sure we account for each of our students on every day the school is open. Therefore, parents are required by law to let the school know where students are when they are not at school. If they are sick or need to be away for family reasons, this needs to be recorded for each day using the Compass App. A medical certificate is required if a child is away for either an extended period of time, or if they are away often for medical reasons. If this is the case, we would also require a medical plan from their doctor so we are able to support their medical needs. Extended holidays and other absences from school require Principal approval. It is expected that students will have an attendance rate of above 90% each year. Even with this high percentage, this means that students will have missed over 4 weeks of learning throughout the year, which is almost half a term. This can lead to gaps in a student's learning and problems catching up in future grades. Attendance is a very important part

of supporting the continued learning journey of all students, and should be given priority when making family commitment decisions. For further information on attendance, please contact the school or visit the NSW Government website on Attendance: https://education.nsw.gov.au/schooling/school-community/attendance-matters-resources-for-schools/compulsory-school-attendance

End of Year Grade Rewards Days: Each year the grade teachers organise a special activity for each Grade to thank the students for working hard and following the school expectations throughout the year. We call these days our "Celebration Days". These will take place for all grades over these last few weeks of school. As we usually go off site for these days, it is expected that students will represent McAuley well by their behaviour and attitude. Unlike excursions, which are based on Curriculum links, these days are not linked with learning, therefore if students are not showing they can follow the school expectations in the classroom and on the playground, they may not be eligible to attend these special days. Any student who may miss out on these activities will be advised, and parents will be contacted to alert you to the risk of your child missing this lovely end of year social activity with their grade. Please remind your children of these school expectations.

Year 5 Leadership Retreat and Leadership Day: This week Year 5 are working hard in their preparation for their leadership roles next year. Today they begin with a Retreat, run in conjunction with students from James Sheahan, and on Friday they will attend a Leadership Preparation day aimed at equiping them with the skills needed to fulfill leadership roles next year. We wish our Year 5 well as they begin this important process.

Year 7 James Sheahan Orientation: The Year 7 Orientation day at James Sheahan will take place tomorrow, 28th November. Details of this day have been sent to families of all students who will be attending James Sheahan next year. Any students who are not going to Sheahan are asked to come to school as usual and work will be provided.

Lockdown and Evacuation Drills: Last week students undertook both Lockdown and Evacuation Drills, as we do each term. I was very impressed with the calm and quick manner in which all students moved to our Evacuation Assembly Point, as well as the quick response to our Lockdown Drill. Congratulations to all students (and teachers!) for their preparedness in case of an emergency.

Thank You and Good Luck Miss Nicholson! This Friday is our last day of enjoying Miss Nicholson working with our Year 3B students. It has been wonderful having Miss Nicholson at McAuley and as part of our teaching and learning over the past few weeks. We wish her well as she completes her studies and enters into the wonderful world of teaching! Thank you for all you have brought to McAuley!

Year 3 Fire Truck Visit: In keeping with our 'emergency response' theme, Year 3 had a visit from the local Fire Brigade on Monday. They brought their Fire Engine and gave demonstrations of how quickly fires can spread and how to manage situations. Thank you to all involved in organising this very important demonstration. I also think they managed to squeeze some fun into the visit as well!!

Kinder-Year 2 Gymnastics: Over the last few weeks our Kinder, Year 1 and Year 2 students have had a wonderful time working through a gymnastics course, brought to the school by Central West Gymnastics. We have been very grateful these professionals have been able to visit the school and engage our students in high quality learning in this area. Thank you to all involved. Now that this course has concluded, we look forward to another experience next year.

Year 1 and Year 2 Intensive Swimming Course: Australia is a wonderful country surrounded by water, with many opportunities for engaging in water activities both inland and on the coast. Unfortunately, there are also many risk factors with people not being prepared when entering the different waterways, and the risk of drowning seems to be increasing. As a response to this, we are offering an intensive swimming course for our Year 1 and 2 students. This is a costly exercise, therefore, with the support of our PACE Group, we are able to offer an intensive swimming and safety course to some of our students. Throughout Week 9 (9th December to 13th December), students in Year 1 and 2 will visit Kinross pool each day for a swimming course designed at increasing their skill and safety level around water. We thank Mrs Flynn, Mr Hudson, the PACE Committee, Kinross and all involved for this great opportunity.

Final Kindergarten 2025 Orientation: This Friday we will host our new Kinders for next year for the final time. Over the past few weeks our new little people have been becoming familiar with our classroom and playground, as well as the teachers who will be with them next year. Thank you to all involved in this huge undertaking, and we look forward to having our new little people with us full time very soon!

Responsible Pet Ownership: This Friday we welcome Pauline and her dog from the Responsible Pet Ownership Program, who will work with all students in Kinder to Year 2, showing them the correct procedure when approaching strange dogs, and how to safely interact with dogs. This is an excellent program, which we engage with each year. We look forward to Pauline's visit this Friday.

Have a wonderful week!

Robyn Petty

Assistant Principal

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