College Matters

Supervision of Students

Could I take this opportunity to remind parents and students of the following:

The College Library is open between 8.00am and 4.00pm each day for our young men to study.
Parents are reminded that other than in the Library, teachers are not on duty until 8.15am.
Students are dismissed at 3.15pm and should leave St James College at this time, unless required for some supervised activity.

It should be noted that there is no supervision either at the school or in the school grounds prior to 8.15am or after 3.15pm and even if teachers are present at the school, they are present for other reasons and cannot perform supervisory duties before, or after, the allotted times.

It is also not the role or responsibility of the office staff to supervise students at the end of the school day. By Year 7, it would be expected that all students should be mature enough to wait for parents on Bignell Rd, outside the designated “No Standing” areas.

Mr Patrick Janes

Deputy Principal

Collecting Students

Occasionally, parents need to collect students during the day from the College for family reasons and appointments. In these situations we ask that a note be sent with your son to be given to the homeroom teacher. The student will be permitted to leave class to wait for your arrival at the College Office. Students need to be “signed out” of the College by a parent or guardian.

Sometimes parents make appointments during the day for their sons unbeknownst to them, or, due to patient cancellations, may have an opportunity to take their son to an appointment. This means that parents arrive at the office to collect their son during school time. It can take up to 15 minutes to locate your son and collect his books and bag, particularly if he is involved in electives at the time.

In this situation, please call the office before you arrive so that we can endeavour to have your son packed up and waiting for you at the College Office. This avoids time delays for you.

Parent/Student Communication During School Hours

I would like to take this opportunity to remind families that St James College Policy requires communication between parents and students to come via the St James College front office. While we acknowledge the relative convenience of direct contact, it becomes very difficult to manage student movement, departures and sickbay if the office staff are unaware of what is going on.

The following is taken from the St James College “Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Usage Procedures” signed by all parents and students at the beginning of each school year.

“Students and parents are asked not to contact each other during school hours using PEDs. In case of emergency or illness, the St James College Office remains the only vital and appropriate point of contact and can ensure students are reached quickly and assisted appropriately.”

I thank parents and students for their cooperation in regards to this matter.

Electronic Devices

All Electronic items brought to St James College, including mobile phones, must comply with the St James College ICT Procedures and Policies signed by students and parents at the beginning of each school year.

Parent / Guardian procedure if a student is unwell or injured at school

From time to time, students can be unwell, injured or have a bad day at school.

Recently, many students have taken it upon themselves to directly contact their parent / guardian to be picked up from school.

This situation is poses a security and responsibility risk at the College.

All students are asked not to contact parents via email / SMS / phone call.

If your son does contact you, please advise them to talk to a staff member and follow the procedure below. Please do not agree to collect them from school.

The security and duty of care of all students is our highest priority.

Students, families and staff must work together as a team to ensure that these important procedures are followed consistently.

Procedure if a student is injured, unwell or mentally struggling during the school day:

Student must alert their class teacher of their situation and ask to go to the front reception.
If in the yard, go straight to front reception to tell staff of their situation.
Administrative staff and / or teachers will assess the situation.
If the student needs to go home, staff will make that decision and call parents / guardians.
Student waits in the sick bay / front reception to be picked up.

Riding Bikes

Young men who ride bikes to St James College are reminded to observe all road rules while on the road.

The streets around St James College are extremely busy, before and after school. Our young men must always be wearing an approved bike helmet that is done up. While at St James College, all bikes are to be placed in the bike area. All bikes are to be locked.

Use a good quality lock and lock your bike to the bike rails or a friend’s bike.

If for some reason you need to leave your bike at school overnight, please see Mr Janes or Mr McMahon who will arrange for it to be stored in a secure facility.

Mr Dan McMahon

College Coordinator