General School News
Students Departing St Mary’s At The End Of This Term
While we have had many new families seeking enrolment for 2023, we have letters from families who are moving and will not be returning to St Mary’s next year. We would like to thank these families for their support and wish those students every blessing for the future. The process for all students departing from the school is:
• Parents/carers advise the principal in writing of the date that their daughter/son is leaving and provide the name of their new school and their new residential address. Please note this is a legal requirement.
• Complete the Student Exit Form.
• Parents/carers pay any outstanding balance on school or other fees and arrange the return of school resources such as library books, home readers.
If your child will not be returning to St Mary's in 2023 and you have not yet informed the school please contact the school office so we can send the appropriate documentation to you.
Please note if your child is leaving St Mary's at any stage, please ensure you download school reports from Compass prior to their last day as your Compass account becomes inactive at the end of their last day. This is relevant for students graduating from Year 6 as well.
Canteen
Please note that the Canteen will not be operating on the last day of school, Friday, 16 December 2022.
As we approach the end of term, some items on the Canteen Menu may become unavailable as supplies run out.
Rapid Antigen Tests
If families are needing RAT's for Covid testing please contact the school as we have a limited number available.
Uniform
Students are reminded to wear the correct uniform, including footwear. It is an expectation that hair is tied back if long and touching the collar. If a student cannot wear the correct uniform, please provide a note to the classroom teacher indicating when the situation can be sorted. Hats are required for all outdoor activities
Clothing Pool
The Clothing Pool is open by appointment every second Friday morning. It will next be open on Friday, 9th December from 9.30 am - 11.00 am.
Please contact the school office on 6772 4441 or smaadmin@arm.catholic.edu.au to book a time. If you are paying for second hand clothing items via Compass, please contact the school first, so that we can confirm that your required size is available.
ATTENDANCE
Attendance Matters
Research indicates that:
- Regular attendance at school is fundamental to student learning. Students who attend school regularly are more likely to achieve educational success and increase their career and life options.
- Student attendance has been identified as an important aspect of a student’s wellbeing and failure to receive an education has been identified as a risk of harm factor.
- Poor patterns of attendance place students at risk of not achieving their educational, social and psychological potential and disadvantage them in the quality of choices they are able to make in later life situations.
- Communities benefit from students who regularly attend school and are achieving. These benefits include greater student safety, community wellbeing, and a sense of connectedness for all.
- Schools, families, and communities can work together to send a strong collective message about the importance of going to school.
- Promoting the benefits of regular attendance to students, teachers, early childhood centre staff, parents, and community groups will help create a culture where regular school attendance is the norm.
Whole day attendance is very important, as is lateness to school and classes.
Lost Property
Please make sure that you check and label or re-label clothing items so we can return items to their owners and please remember to rename items purchased from the Clothing Pool - if the previous owner's name is still on it, we will send it home with them!
Apart from many items of unlabelled uniforms we also have large amounts of unlabelled lunchboxes, lunch containers and drink bottles in our lost property baskets. It is impossible to return these items to students. Unnamed uniform items are donated to the clothing pool.
Head Lice
Please check your children's hair regularly and treat as required if necessary.
Contacting the School & Your Child's Teacher
Teachers welcome contact from parents, if you need to talk with staff please either contact the class teacher by phoning the school – 6772 4441 or email the school on smaadmin@arm.catholic.edu.au.
Arriving Late or Leaving School Early
PLEASE NOTE that all students arriving late, or being collected early for an appointment, MUST REPORT to the Office to be signed in or out by a parent /guardian.
Parents please note that students are not to be collected early from school unless they have an urgent appointment. School finishes at 3:10pm.
Compass entry is not required for partial absences (eg late arrivals or early pick ups). When you bring your child into school or pick them up, entering the arrival or departure in the Foyer Kiosk explains their absence.
School Office Hours
The school office is open from 8.30 am to 4 pm Monday to Friday during term time.
2023 School Travel Applications Are Now Open
Applications for student travel in 2023 opened from Monday 10 October 2022.
Students who need a School Opal card or travel pass for 2023 can apply now. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).
Students who change address, school, campus location, have repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should renew or updatetheir details before the end of term 4.This will ensure that schools can endorse applications, and entitlements remain valid for the start of the 2023 school year.
If a student's distance eligibility has changed based on their grade (i.e. grade two to grade three), the system will automatically update their entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, we will send an expiry notification via email.
Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.
Term Bus Passholders will receive a notification to re-apply.
Students living in rural and regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the start of the new school year from their nominated transport operator. It may come via the school or be sent directly to them at home. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.
To update your information, please visit:
apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updatedetails#/updateDetails