From the Assistant Principal 

Dear Families, 

Welcome to 2026. I hope you had an enjoyable break and are looking forward to a wonderful year at St Patrick's.

AFTERNOON DISMISSAL REMINDERS

As we welcome new families to our school it is timely to review our afternoon dismissal procedures. 

Parent Pick Up: 

All students who are on parent pick up will assemble on the quad. At 3:10 a teacher from each grade will walk classes up the ramp to the asphalt area. We kindly ask parents to stand back on the grass area so that teachers and students can easily look for their parent. We ask parents using parent pick up to enter and exit through the bottom gate (Flora Street) to assist in leaving the top gate (Belmont Street) free for turning circle. If you have a child in Kindergarten who is on parent pick up please write a ‘P’ on their hand.

STUDENT FROM ST PATRICK'S COLLEGE WHO COLLECT YOUNGER SIBLINGS SHOULD WAIT ON THE GRASS AREA WITH PARENT PICK UP PARENTS UNTIL STUDENTS ARE DISMISSED. They are not permitted to approach siblings on turning circle or the Quad prior to 3.10pm.  

Turning Circle: 

If your child will be using  turning circle then he/she needs to be able to independently enter the vehicle and place their seatbelt on without assistance as cars cannot stop on the turning circle and all persons must remain in the car, with the engine always running. If your child is attending turning circle, please have a A4 sign with your child’s first name and last name or class to hold up as you enter the cul-de-sac so the teacher on the microphone can call for your child. Children will be seated under the COLA and are asked to listen for their name to be called. Students should not open car boots or enter or exit the car from the driver's side door.  If you have a child in Kindergarten who will be using turning circle please write a 'T' on their hand. 

The traffic management plan from Sutherland Council is attached below for your perusal:

Afterschool Care: 

Students attending After School Care (OOSH) are to sit with their grade on the quad until a staff member of OOSH collects them. If you have a child in Kindergarten who is attending after school care please write an ‘A’ on their hand. 

Bus: 

Students catching the bus will line up outside the office and walk down to the high school to access the bus stop. If you have a child in Kindergarten who is catching the bus please write an ‘B’ on their hand. 

Walkers: 

Students who have permission from their parents to walk from the school grounds sit with their grade on the quad. Students will walk with their teacher with the parent pick up lines and exit via the bottom gate at 3:10 pm.  

Thank you for your support in ensuring that our students remain safe during our afternoon dismissal.  If you could kindly pass this message on to grandparents, older siblings, including students from the college and other adults who collect your children in the afternoons so that dismissal runs smoothly, it would be greatly appreciated.

IMPORTANT SCHOOL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Please ensure you are aware of the following linked policies and procedures which have been recently updated. Each policy is also briefly outlined below.

EMAIL POLICY

• All emails to the school, including those for teachers, MUST be sent to the school’s admin email address, info@stpsutherland.catholic.edu.au. These emails will be read by members of the leadership team prior to being answered or forwarded to relevant staff members and responded to in as soon as possible. All emails will be kept on file.
• Emails are responded to within a timely manner, as indicated on Sydney Catholic Schools - Communication between school and home document. This states that - “For non urgent matters, staff including teachers, will return your email within three working days during the school term. School staff are not required to return emails at nights or on weekends, and generally will not be checking emails during these times.”
• Emails should be brief and informative. Emails work best when they are positive. Avoid sending negative or confrontational emails. 
• Subject should be Attention: (name of staff member) - so that it can easily be directed.
• Email should not be used to discuss a sensitive issue. Issues that require immediate action or relate to a concern or problem, should be dealt with in person (preferred) or over the phone.  Please contact the office to arrange an appointment with your class teacher.
• For students with Diverse Learning plans, our engage.1908@stpsutherland.catholic.edu.au can be used to email Mrs Augustus directly. 

LATE ARRIVAL AND ABSENCE REMINDERS

Just a reminder that a student is deemed 'late' for school once the bell goes at 8.47am. This is when Compass registers the start of the school day. Teachers mark the class roll as soon as possible after this time. 

Students who arrive at school after this time MUST enter through the office, even if the Turning Circle gate is still open. Parents will need to sign your child in with the reason that they are late. 

A notification automatically goes out through Compass at 11.00am if a student has not been marked as present on the roll.  Most classroom teachers will update rolls if students arrive late, but when a relief teacher is in the room, a paper copy of the roll is sent to the office by 9.00am and late arriving students are not re-marked on the class roll. This is why you may receive a notification like this.

If your child is absent from school, the best way to indicate their absence is to wait for the SMS message and follow the link to record the reason for the absence. Students who have been marked as not present and no explanation has been received within 7 days, are then marked as an 'unjustified absence' on the Compass roll. The best way to avoid this is to add the reason as soon as possible following the absence. We send regular reminder notes to students who have recently been absent where no reason has been added to Compass prior to marking the absence as unjustified. 

MOBILE DEVICE POLICY AND PROCEDURES

School Procedures for Stage 3 students:

At the commencement of the school day:

1. Students will surrender their mobile device to the class teacher
2. The device will be placed in a secure container with other student devices within the classroom
3. At the end of the day, students will collect their device from the class teacher prior to dismissal.

School Procedures for Kindergarten - Year 4 students: 

Upon arrival at the school:

1. Students will surrender their mobile device to the class teacher or take to the office (teacher discretion)
2. The phone will be placed in a secure container with other student devices for the day.
3. At the end of the day, students will collect their device before going home.

For watches and other transmitting devices:

1. Apple watches and other smart transmitting watch devices MUST be switched to Airplane mode before a student enters the school grounds.
2. If a student uses their device during the school day for purposes other than telling the time (e.g. sending a message, playing a game, taking photos etc), the device will be taken from the student and stored in the office. A note saying that the student has breached our school Mobile Device Policy will be sent home and the student will not be allowed to bring their device for a week.

Don't forget - students are not allowed to use mobile devices on site. If you need to make changes to afternoon pick up arrangements, please contact the office, rather than directly through your child.

WHOLE SCHOOL REWARD SYSTEM

Our whole school reward system are as follows:

·  10 tokens or rewards = One Bronze Award

·  10 Bronze awards = One Silver Award

· 3 Silver awards = One Gold Award (Students will ONLY receive a GOLD award and not the 3rd silver)

·  3 Gold awards = One Diamond Award (Students will ONLY receive a DIAMOND award and not the 3rd gold) and morning tea with the Principal.

You will receive a Compass Notification when your child receives a Silver or Gold award. You will be contacted via the phone if your child is receiving a Diamond award. Silver, Gold and Diamond Awards are handed out at assemblies which will take place on Friday afternoons from 2:15pm.

You will also receive a Compass notification if your child is receiving a class award that week. We are unable to hold over any class awards if you cannot attend the assembly.

AMADEUS

Amadeus begins tomorrow, Friday 6 February, for students in Year 4-6. Year 3 students will receive their instrument allocations over the coming weeks. 

UNIFORM

All students should be in the correct uniform each day. This includes appropriate footwear. A copy of our policy is below.

HAIR STYLES

Hair styles should be appropriate. Please check the school policy for more details.

HAIR THAT IS SHOULDER LENGTH AND LONGER(BOYS AND GIRLS) SHOULD BE TIED BACK AT ALL TIMES. 

Have a great week,

Jim Heelis

Assistant Principal