2024 Term 1 Week 1
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome back to a new year of learning. We hope that you have all settled into the routine of school and that our year will be faith-filled and productive.
I would like to thank Dale, Jas and Hannah for their leadership of the school whilst I was on sick leave. I am grateful for their care and committment to our community, students, and staff.
We welcome new staff to our team this year. Dominique Montford joins us in the role of Assistant Principal Mission and Logan Hanigan joins our team to teach Year 2. We wish them well for a successful school year and look forward to introducing Dom and Logan to you in person very soon.
It was pleasing to see the Year 1 - 6 students eagerly return to school on Thursday showing a wonderful commitment to their learning journey. They have all had a fabulous week of games and getting to know their new classroom space, teachers and friends.
The Kindergarten students will began their first year of schooling with St Mary's on Tuesday 6 February. We warmly welcome the new families and look forward to sharing social gatherings and school events so that we can get to know each other. Thank you for entrusting your child to our care and we commit to ensuring that each child has opportunities to grow in faith, to achieve in learning and to be safe in our vibrant school.
We would like to thank you for your cooperation in bringing your children to school for the MAI and BEST Start meetings last week. These assessments allow the teachers to gain insights into the learning requirements for each child.
I would like to encourage you to keep informed by accessing the school app, newsletters, school calendar and the Facebook page. These mediums are the official forms of communication within the school.
Warmest Regards,
Jacki
UNIFORMS
St Mary's School uniforms are available to purchase from Lowes in Grafton Shopping World. The sports uniform is worn on Wednesday and Friday each week.
Covid 19
COVID-19 is still present in our community.
Students and staff CANNOT attend school if they are showing any symptoms of COVID-19.
If a student is unwell, displaying any COVID-19 or cold and flu-like symptoms at any time, they CANNOT attend school and should undertake a rapid antigen test.
If the rapid antigen test is positive and the student is unwell and/or experiencing any symptoms, they CANNOT attend school.
If the rapid antigen test is positive and the student is feeling well and not displaying or experiencing any symptoms, they CAN attend school but the school is to be informed of the positive test result.
Attendance
- If your child is arriving to the school after 8:45am please sign them in at the office.
- Please use Compass to record full day absentees. Partial absences are recorded by staff when students are signed in and out of the office.
- Students who leave a school event early will have a partial absence recorded.
- A medical certificate or other documentation may be requested where frequent absences due to illness occur.
- Generally, extended leave (greater than 10 days) during the school term would not be approved. These absences are recorded on the roll as unjustified and a completed Form 01 Extended Leave Notification Travel/Other Greater than 10 Days is required.
- In exceptional circumstances parents may complete an Form 02 Approved Extended Leave Application - Travel/Other Greater than 10 Days for consideration by the Principal, explaining why an absence for extended leave is in the best educational interest of the student. The Principal may decline or accept this application.
Road Safety
Getting to school by bus in 2024 - Bus passes
- All students catching the bus in 2024 will need a school travel pass.
- Under the School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS), eligible students can apply for free or subsided travel between home and school.
- For more information about the School Student Transport Scheme and how to apply for a school travel pass, visit https://apps.transport.nsw.
gov.au/ssts/#/ from a desktop computer.
Kiss and Drop Zone in Turf Street
Just a reminder that the Kiss and Drop Zone is currently signed as a one minute parking zone. This means that you cannot park your car in the kiss and drop zone for an extended period. The students arrive at Kiss and Drop at 3pm and are supervised in this zone until 3.20pm. Please consider arriving closer to 3pm for collection.
The Kiss and Drop is designed for you to stay in your car while your child enters the car. If your child cannot open the car door and secure their own seatbelt, you need to park your car in the designated parking areas and walk to the gate to collect your child. Please drive through as far as possible to allow sufficient space for other drivers in the zone. The Kiss and Drop Zone does not function effectively and becomes congested if there are any hold ups or delays.
The school does not request the presence of the Grafton Police to manage traffic at the front of the school. However, there is a regular police presence on Turf Street monitoring the safety of the school zone. Please ensure that you adhere to all traffic signs in the area to avoid fines.
Please check out our school Safe Travel webpage that details all the processes for travel to and from school.
Parking in Hoof Street
There are a small number of parking spaces near the Sunrise Shop (corner of Hoof and Turf Streets) for use by their customers. To assist this small business we suggest parking away from the corner.
Working With Children Check (WWCC)
At St Mary's we are committed to creating and supporting a culture of safety for children and ensuring that children are protected. All employees and volunteers are required to have a current WWCC.
NB - The vast majority of volunteers in schools are parents of a child attending the school at which they are volunteering (eg reading groups, fetes, camps, excursions and canteen) and therefore do not require a WWCC. Exceptions to this are
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volunteers interacting one-on-one with a child not their own,
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working with children who have a disability,
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offering mentoring services,
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when the volunteer is not a parent or close relative.