Principal's Message
Dear parents, students and families,
Tuesday saw our students learning to Bush Dance as part of their Arts Curriculum. That evening our families had the opportunity to see what their children had learnt during the day and enjoy some fun together. Thanks for those who were able to attend, those that had a picnic beforehand and Mrs McKenzie and Mrs Winduss for your organisation.
Yesterday we had a student-free day for our staff, who were joined by the staff of St Francis Xavier PS. We worked with leading educationalist Glen Pearsall on enhancing teacher classroom management. Thank you for making arrangements for your children around this.
Today our Fire Carriers were at JPC and our new Fire Carriers were commissioned in their roles as well as joining in on a number of other activities. Today and tomorrow we are using the hall to hold Berry St training, which underpins our wellbeing approach. We have approximately 40 staff from the JPC Cluster here for the two days which includes a number of our staff who are receiving training.
Monday 24 February at 9.15am is our first OPEN MORNING for prospective 2026 Foundation enrolments. It is exciting to know of the very large number of families potentially wishing to join our community with over 50 expressions of interest so far. These tours are aimed at new parents wanting to join our school community for the 2026 year. Please let anyone you know who may be considering our school for their child/ren to ring the office for further details. If there are any further siblings due to start next year please contact the office.
A final reminder that we are holding our Parent-Teacher meetings for Years 1-6 on the afternoons of Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 February between 3.40 and 6.00pm. Parents are to meet with your child's class teacher on-site as we feel it is important that relationships are established face to face. You can book your 10 minute timeslot between 3.40-6.00pm at https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au and enter the event code 4qea4
The aim of these meetings is for you to share as much information about your child with the teacher, look at some potential goals and to discuss how your child has settled into their 2025 class. Mrs de Veer will be doing her interviews on-line from home and she will provide further information to her class via Seesaw. I thank Ceri for being prepared to do this as she recuperates.
The following week our Year 5/ 6 students will be at CYC Urban Camp from Monday 3- Wednesday 5 March. Shrove Tuesday is Tuesday 4 March and Lent commences on Wednesday 5 March with Ash Wednesday. Thursday 6 March is the Preparation Evening for students and families receiving First Reconciliation in the Church.
God Bless and have a great week.
Rod Shaw
Principal
School Attendance and Unexplained Absence
Please contact the school if your child is going to be absent by leaving a message on
9786 4736 and press 1. Please give details of your child’s name and class with areason for their absence such as: unwell, appointment, holiday or family reasons. Alternatively an email can be sent to office@saseaford.catholic.edu.au with cc to the child’s teacher.
If you are running late, (after 9:00 am) please attend the office to sign your child into school and collect a late pass.
If you are picking up your child early you will need to collect them and sign them out from the office.
As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences:
Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a text message.
If parent does not contact the school after receiving the text message, the school will contact the parent by phone. If the parent 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.
Democratic Principles
The six (6) principles of Australian democracy include:
(a) elected government; and
(b) the rule of law; and
(c) equal rights for all before the law; and
(d) freedom of religion; and
(e) freedom of speech and association; and
(f) the values of openness and tolerance