Acting Principal's Message 

Dear Families,

Welcome back to a very busy and exciting Term 4. We hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday. Term 4 promises lots of excitement as we enjoy all this Term has to offer and finish the year with lots of learning, fun and excitement! This newsletter has lots of information about the Term so please read below to see what is happening!

Colour Fun Run

Thank you to our amazing P&F for their organisation and running of a very successful colour fun run and sausage sizzle on the last day of term. It was a big job and they ran it with their usual finesse and joy. The event was enjoyed by all! Over $2000 was raised which is an amazing effort!

Prep Transition 2025

This term we welcome our 2025 Preps into our school for the family information night and transition sessions. We are looking forward to making them part of our school community and showing them how amazing St Andrew's is. 

Year 6 Celebrations

As excited as we are to welcome our new students and families, it is also a time to celebrate our Year 6 students as we mark the end of their journey at St Andrew's. They will have their Grade 6 fun day, a pizza lunch and various graduation celebrations to mark this special occasion. 

Allison McKenzie - Resignation & Thank you

We have some staffing changes for Term 4. I wish to inform families that Allison McKenzie, Learning Diversity/Wellbeing Leader, has informed the school that she will be resigning from her role at St Andrew's school from Friday 11th October.  Allison commenced her role at St Andrew's in January, 2024.  We thank Allison for her contribution to our school community, for her care for our children, and for her partnership with the staff and parents.   We wish her all the best for her future endeavours.

We will communicate to families in the near future as to how we best fill this most important leadership role as left vacant from Monday 14th October. In the interim, please send any communication you would direct to her to me at nblack@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au  or Emma Strom estrom@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au  .

Sunsmart Policy

Our Sunsmart Policy requires all of our students to wear their St. Andrew's school hat in term 4. By week 2 we expect all children to have and wear their school hat. Wearing the school hat is not only compulsory during recess and lunchtime, but also before/after school and during Physical Education lessons, sport and other outdoor training sessions.

Reminder - 2025 Classes - Placement of Students

In the beginning weeks of Term 4 the staff begin the process of putting together class lists for the 2025 school year.  The process will be completed with consideration given to:

• The social and academic distribution of the children within the same level across classes
• A gender balance in each class
• Children’s requests for friendship groupings
• Specific placement of siblings and children with individual needs, inclusive of emotional, learning, physical and behavioural needs
• The social needs of children including the working relationships of all children and the desired separation of children who do not have a positive social or learning influence on each other
• An awareness of teachers in the previous academic year.   

To support the placement of our children we ask each child to name five classmates who they work well with.  Children will be reminded to consider children from their current class and from other class settings.  Classes will then be structured with the aim to have each child with at least one nominated friend.  However if the class teacher feels that the choices are not in the best interest of the child then the child will be asked to nominate others.  Parents please note that it is sometimes commented that, ‘My child didn’t get any of their friendship requests from last year’. It is often in this situation that a child’s actual friendship group has slightly or significantly changed from October through to the end of the year and as a result the child feels that their requests weren’t taken into account. 

With approximately 22 children in each class each child is provided with 21 opportunities to either further develop existing friendships or the opportunity to develop new friendships.  To be highly successful participants in our social, school and future working environments it is a most important skill to create new friendships each year, not be reliant on the same close friendship/s each year.  We make every effort to support our children by providing them with supportive environments but at the same time we wish for some form of challenge so that our children can further develop personal life skills by negotiating new friendships. 

As detailed above, there is a significant level of care that goes into establishing the best learning environments, along with social interactions, for our children.     

Parent Requests - Meeting with Leadership

We are aware that some parents may have valid reasons to have input into the placement of their children for the forthcoming year. Should there be numerous requests from parents then the ability for staff to make positive and professional judgements for the best learning environments for our classes is compromised.   Given this if parents have any relevant information that you believe is essential to the grade placement process, I invite you to make contact Nicole Black (nblack@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au) or  Emma Strom (estrom@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au) to share your thoughts for the 2025 year.    Appointments with Nicole or Emma can also be made through the school office.   

Should we need to gain greater clarity on the request as made we will make contact with you to make an appointment to share your thoughts or concerns.   Parents are requested to either submit a request via email or make an appointment by Friday 13th, October.   We will evaluate all requests and make a professional judgement on the placement of the child in question. The final decision rests with the school. 

‘Teacher Shopping’ -  At St Andrew’s School we are blessed with a highly skilled and enthusiastic staff team and we are confident that all teachers will meet the needs of your children. Parents making requests simply as ‘Teacher Shopping’, without any foundation, may not necessarily receive their requests for the new year.  The reference to ‘teacher shopping’ means that, for example, parents have heard positive comments about teachers in the school from other parents and think that teacher may be good for their child.  Likewise a sibling may have had a teacher previously and a parent wishes for their next child to also have that teacher.  We would love to meet all requests but there are other elements around class placements, as detailed previously, which may take priority over a request as such.  As stated above, parents are invited to meet with leadership to discuss thoughts that may be pertinent to 2025class placements but we ask that you take on board all of the above information before making your request.

Term 4 Working Bee - Saturday 19th October

Our next Working Bee will be held on Saturday 19th October commencing at 8.30am till 10.30am. 

Please reply to the Operoo form which has been sent to all families.

We encourage parents with wheelbarrows, shovels, brooms, rakes etc to bring them along for the morning. 

We will advise families via the Skoolbag App early Saturday morning if there is a need to cancel the Working Bee due to wet weather. 

School Saving Bonus information for parents

The Allan Labor Government is making life that little bit easier for families, by providing a one off $400 School Saving Bonus.

Non-government school students who will be in Prep through to Year 12 in 2025, and who are receiving the means-tested Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund (CSEF), are eligible for the School Saving Bonus.

Parents and carers do not need to apply, with the School Saving Bonus being paid to non-government schools for eligible students from late November 2024.

The $400 School Saving Bonus is available for each child. That means an eligible family with three school aged children will receive a total of $1,200.

Importantly, the School Saving Bonus is available in addition to the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund.

St. Andrew’s Got Talent - Tuesday 29th October

 The aim of this competition is to showcase and celebrate our amazing talents! Students will perform in front of the school community.  

All parents and extended family members are welcome to attend.

St Andrew’s Got Talent Performance

When: Tuesday 29th October

Where: School Hall

Junior school at 2:15 pm

Senior School at 3:30 pm

Students not returning in 2025

As we plan ahead for 2025 classes, we ask any families who know that they will not be returning to St. Andrew's in 2025 to inform the school as soon as possible by clicking on the button below and filling in the form or email me at nblack@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au 

2025 Prep Enrolments

HAVE YOU ENROLLED YOUR CHILD FOR PREP 2025? 

If you have a child ready for Prep 2025, we encourage you to please put in an enrolment form as soon as possible. This will help us with organisation purposes. To access an enrolment form:

• Visit the enrolment section of our school website and download an enrolment form 

• Drop into the school office to collect an enrolment pack
• Email office@saclaytonsth.catholic.edu.au 

2024 School Calendar 

The 2024 School Calendar is available on the School Website. It can be found mid-way down on the front page under the heading ‘WHAT’S ON’.   We will endeavour, where possible, to remain true to the dates on the 2024 calendar. We recommend that parents regularly visit the school website to see updates on all school events.

Mrs Nicole Black

(Acting Principal)