Student Data Meetings

The student data and goal setting meeting will take place in Week 9 (27 - 31 March) and will follow the same zoom format as last year.  This is an opportunity for the teachers to share with you your child’s strengths and learning needs goals that have been established through the use of a variety of data sets and work samples.  This meeting will replace the Meet and Greet meetings from the past that were held several years ago.

Meet and Greet Meetings are still available for you within the first four weeks of the term either at your request or the request of your child’s teacher. If you would like a Meet and Greet meeting feel free to arrange this with your child’s teacher through the office.  These can either be done via zoom, over the phone or in person.  Please contact the office as soon as possible to arrange a time with your child’s teacher. Quite often these meetings are beneficial should your child suffer from anxiety, there has been a significant change or loss to the family or simply because you would like to directly meet your child’s teacher at the beginning of the year to create a positive working relationship. I am very aware in most cases, such a meeting is not needed either by the parent or the teacher and this is why we have chosen to make this on a needs only basis. You may find that it is necessary to arrange a Meet and Greet Meeting for one of your children but not the other, and that is perfectly fine and understandable. Due to this meeting not being formally timetabled, the same information about homework, timetables, sport days etc will be sent home in a thorough Grade Outline for term one.

Student Supervision

A reminder to all parents that morning supervision begins at 8.30am, when the school gates are opened and afternoon bus supervision ends with the last bus leaving at 4.00pm. Supervision on area two, in front of the canteen finishes at 3.40pm.

Your child should not be dropped off at the office area on a regular basis before 8.30am. Last year some children were at school at 8.00am and were sent to the office. This is beyond our regular hours and is an unreasonable expectation. It would be expected that you take them to ASPIRE like other parents do and pay for this service that is available to you. If you are going to be late for any reason when picking up your children, please contact the school office. The phone is attended until 4.30pm, after this time it will go directly to the message bank and will not be followed up until the next morning. Ringing after this time to make appointments to meet with teachers or members of the Leadership Team would be an unreasonable expectation and will need to wait till the next morning after 8.30am. Teachers have considerable administrative responsibilities to attend to, various meetings, lesson planning to complete and unfinished marking that weighs heavily on them. Please be mindful of this when you ring and expect to speak to them beyond these times.

Protocols When Seeking To Meet With Staff

Last week, even with it being the first week, I had a situation that reminded me to make sure I explicitly state the hierarchy we follow when dealing with matters at the school. Naturally, as a parent, you would usually seek out the teacher first if you are concerned about any matter to do with your child. Should this not be resolved at that point then you would seek a meeting with the Middle Leader assigned to your child’s grade to discuss how to move forward with your concern. Only after this point, should Mrs Brunetta or I be involved. At any point, Mrs Debrincat, our Religious Education and Wellbeing Coordinator is available to support children and parents for many of these matters. If everything went to either the Assistant Principal or Principal first, nothing would be resolved effectively as there simply would be no time to do so with 620 children and 450 families! Also, usually such meetings are not five minute matters and our time needs to be prioritised to the more pressing or high end immediate matters. 

Below are the Middle Leaders responsible for each grade:

• Kindergarten - Mrs Donna Rae
• Year 1 - Mrs Maria Debrincat
• Year 2 - Mrs Catherine Hatter
• Year 3 - Mrs Angela Mourinho
• Year 4 -  Mrs Angela Mourinho
• Year 5 - Mrs Belinda Williams
• Year 6 - Mrs Kristen King     

Haircuts

Please ensure your child's haircut meets the requirements outlined in our school handbook as stated below.

HAIR

Students are required to wear their hair in a neat and tidy manner.  Haircuts should be of an even grade. Hair should be well brushed and combed and it is assumed that hair will not be in such a condition as to invite comment. Ribbons must be school colours. No oversized bows and hair embellishments.

BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING:

• Extreme styles, bleaching, colouring or dyeing of hair are not permitted.
• Gel, mousse and hair spray or other substances should not be used.
• There will be no undercuts, steps or shaved lines within the hair.
• Nothing shorter than a Number 3 comb is acceptable.
• Hair should not extend to cover the eyes or beyond the shirt collar (boys).
• Boys hair should be of a length not to attract attention. ‘Man buns’ are not permitted at St Paul’s.
• Students who do not abide by the haircut requirements will be asked to fix the identified problem.
• Long hair is to be tied back or plaited. Ribbons and bands of school colour are to be worn. 

I will be monitoring students this week and approaching any student who does not meet these requirements.