Handbook

St Monica's Primary School is a two-stream comprehensive Catholic school serving the community of St Monica's Parish in the Hawkesbury District.

St Monica's Primary is one of the oldest Catholic learning communities in New South Wales, having been established in 1859. Our patron, St Monica, is the patron of mothers and womanhood. Her love of God and family is a love that we strive to live out in our school's Vision & Mission.

The bond between our school and local parish has continued to grow strongly. Our children have been given wonderful opportunities of experiencing faith celebrations through the support of Fr Gayan Thamel, our Parish Priest.

Teacher professional learning continues to be paramount and has led to curriculum changes. The core areas of English, Mathematics, Religion and assessment have been supported by increased resourcing and positive changes in school organisation.

At the centre of all this growth and the catalyst for our ongoing development as a learning community, has been the work, attitudes and beliefs of our teachers. The success of our work in bringing about significant change, has been the result of a professional teaching community that has been prepared to continually seek out ways to improve teaching practice, and matched with energy and expertise to carry out change. This development has been supported by our teaching community examining theory, undertaking professional learning, aligning syllabus to practice, and critically evaluating programs.

Through the ongoing support of our parent community we have been able to purchase a wide range of IT hardware. This allocation of resources has been supported by professional learning initiatives and planning.

Our growth in community has been seen in our Parents and Friends Association, Parent helpers Canteen support and generally, in the high level of participation in school and social events.

In many homes other languages are also spoken. Culturally, our population is mainly comprised of families from Anglo-Saxon, Maltese, Italian and Arabic backgrounds. St Monica's Primary draws its enrolment from a wide geographical range extending from Richmond to Castlereagh, Glossodia, Freemans Reach, Kurrajong Heights and Upper Kurrajong.

In recent years we have focused on empowering our children to be lifelong learners. We have made the learning environment stimulating, supportive, positive and enjoyable.

Our school has modern learning areas where 21st century learning and teaching take place. And technology is used to support learning, with every learning space equipped with Apple TVs, Chromebooks, laptops and iPads.

Mrs Melissa Beggs - Principal
Mrs Annemarie Bond - Assistant Principal

St Monica's enjoys a warm and supportive relationship with our Pastor, Father Gayan Thamel. Class liturgies are celebrated regularly along with numerous whole school gatherings. The school supports a parish/family-based sacramental program.

Our Parents and Friends Association is a proactive group supporting and participating in school initiatives. Parental involvement takes a high priority.

The following section contain the P&F goals and are a true indication as to the role and vision of our P&F Association.

The P&F Association Goals have been set in 3 key areas:

Community Goal
The P&F create mechanisms for fundraising via activities in supporting school needs.

• Co-ordinating fundraising
• Formation of fundraising committees
• Fete in co-operation with the Parish
• Co-ordinating social events

Supporting Learning Goal
The P&F support the learning agenda of the school and assist the Principal in determining priorities for purchasing resources through P&F fundraising initiatives. The P&F represent the school at the Diocesan Parents Representative Council.

Building & Grounds Goal
Promote an improved school environment with creative use of space for the provision of safe learning areas. In past years the P&F has funded and provided:

• turf
• additional seating
• softfall for playground equipment
• shade Cover
• refurbished cricket nets
• electronic signage
• a refurbished Library

At St Monica's we strive to create a balance between the programmed curriculum and catering for a wide variety of children's interests.

Over the years we have been proud of the children's participation in Choir, Voice of Youth speech contest, and local Anzac and Remembrance Day Services.

In sport, children have represented our school in rugby league; soccer; basketball; netball; and zone and diocesan carnivals in athletics, swimming and cross country.

A very successful Peer Support program for all children is led by Year 6 who have been trained as Peer Support Leaders. This program builds upon the esteem and confidence of children within our community.

Students at St Monica's participate in Crunch and Sip, a healthy eating program. It encourages children to choose vegetables and fruit as the first choice for a snack, and water as a thirst quencher. Many teachers opt to have Crunch and Sip mid-morning, to break up the first long learning session of the day (8:50-10:50). Crunch and Sip encourages students to learn lifelong healthy eating habits and to develop an understanding that a balanced and varied diet is important for good health, both now and in the future.

Before School

To support the needs of children and lesson flow, punctuality is paramount.

• There is no supervision for children who arrive before 8:20am
• From 8:20am the parish car park is available for staff only
• We ask parents not to use the parish car park when bringing their children to school
• The driveway is closed between 8:20 - 9:00am and 3:00 - 3:30pm for the safety of the children
• Parents are asked to drop their children off at the Francis St gate, and encourage independence by letting the children walk into school on their own and placing their own bag outside their classroom.

Late Arrivals
In line with Child Protection Guidelines, if children arrive late to school they must be accompanied by an adult to the school office, where they are to sign a "late note", which will then be filed for audit purposes.

After School
Parents are asked to collect their children from the designated areas, after the second bell. At 3.20 all children will be moved to the hall. Parents are respectfully reminded that due to WHS and Child Protection requirements, children are to be collected from school at the end of the school day at 3:10pm. While it is understood that, on occasion, parents might be running late, this should be the exception rather than the rule. The school grounds are not a place for socialising at the end of the school day due to the high number of people on-site.

At 3:20pm the Bourke Street gates are locked and any remaining children are walked to the Hall.

If there is any change in your family and child's timetable, please communicate these changes to your child's teacher or the school office as early as possible.

During School Hours
When children are collected during school hours, and to ensure the safety of all children and effective communication, parents are asked to sign a leave form at the office, where their child will be called to meet them.

Road Safety
Parents are requested to be most particular about observing road safety at school entrances, by using the pedestrian crossing. If picking up your child in Francis Street, please do not park in the Bus Zone.

Parking in the church grounds is not permitted at any time.

Bicycles
Bicycles must be wheeled within the school grounds at all times and parked in the approved area only. Children must wear approved safety helmets as stipulated by NSW Road Safety Laws.

Extended Leave
For students who take leave from school for 5 or more days at one time e.g. family holidays during the school term, parents must complete and submit an "Application for Extended Leave," which is available from the office. Relevant travel documentation such as an eticket (in the case of flight bound travel) or itinerary (in the case of non-flight bound travel within Australia only) must be attached to the application. The Principal will then complete a "Certificate of Extended Leave" which should be taken with the student whilst on leave. This is a requirement of the Education Act (1990). Less than 10 days absence need to be advised in writing to the class teacher. If the Principal declines this application (i.e it is not within the best interest of the child to take leave and be absent from school), a letter notifying parents that the application has been declined would be forthcoming from the school.

Illness
If, through illness or other reasonable cause, your child is absent, please supply a written explanation to your child's teacher the first day your child returns after such an absence. If no explanation is received, the absence is recorded as unexplained. It is a legislative requirement that all schools maintain an accurate, up-to-date attendance register. These details are audited each year and absences noted.

Accidents
In case of sudden illness or accident at school the staff will make every effort to contact parents. Please make sure that the school is informed of any change in contact telephone numbers. In serious cases, an ambulance will be rung and parents will be contacted. (e.g. child taken to hospital etc.)

Children are expected to participate in ALL school activities. Exclusion from any activity, such as sport, fitness and P. E. program, inability to wear correct uniform etc. requires a note from a parent.

Requests for appointments with staff are made through the school office. Please be mindful that teachers are busy preparing for the school day and teaching however they will respond to requests in a timely manner and arrange a mutually agreeable time as soon as possible.

At St Monica's, we value the assessment and reporting process as an integral and valuable part of the school and home partnership. During the year, there are both formal and informal opportunities for parent, teacher and student communication. These can include parent teacher meetings, personalised planning meetings as well as meetings arranged by either the teacher(s) or parent/carer. The stage teacher is available to parents throughout the year, and appointments can be made through the school office.

At the beginning of each year, parents have an opportunity to meet with their child's teacher to discuss their needs and goals for the year ahead.

A written report is sent home at the end of Semester 2 and Semester 4. Formal parent teacher interviews are held after Semester 2 reports are sent home to discuss progress and continuing goals and next steps in their learning.

National Assessment
Children in grades 3 & 5 sit for the NAPLAN test in May for Numeracy and Literacy. Parents receive a detailed report following these tests.

The school's Behaviour and Wellbeing Policy is based on our Mission Statement of upholding the dignity of all children who are a part of this community.

The policy provides clear guidelines and rationale when dealing with children who require support in regard to their behaviour. At all times, concerns for children's behaviour will be monitored and reported to families so that children can be supported both at school and home.

A copy of our Behaviour and Wellbeing Policy is available upon request.

All K-2 children are eligible for a free School Opal Card, however, for Primary children in Years 3-6 to be eligible, they must live outside the 1.6km radius surrounding the school, as set by the Department of Education. Some children have had their passes taken because of poor behaviour. Please explain to your children what is required on the bus, such as no standing; no leaning or spitting out of windows; no eating, pushing, yelling etc.

Kindergarten bus children will be paired up with a Stage 3 child who catches their bus. This older child will assist the Kindergarten child to find bus lines, their bus stop etc.

The library is open at lunch for quiet reading, drawing and games.

Students are encouraged to borrow weekly from the school library.

In order to borrow from the library, all that is required is a library bag big enough to hold a book. These may be purchased through the office if required. Lost or damaged books must be replaced.

All books are to be returned promptly at the end of each term and particularly at the end of the school year.

Please make time each day to listen to your child read, or read to him/her yourself.

The canteen is open at recess from 10:50 - 11:30am and at lunch from 1:30pm - 2:00pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The method for ordering is online through the Qkr App.

The canteen's purpose is to provide a wholesome lunch for the children. Orders can be made online up until 8.30am on the required day. Lunches will be delivered to the classroom. Children may also buy extra treats from the canteen at recess and lunch.

Parents are advised not to send children to school with large sums of money.

It is a diocesan requirement that parents who volunteer at school must complete the CEO Online Child Protection Module.

This training is available online at: http://childprotection.parra.catholic.edu.au/volunteers

• Open the module by clicking on the Volunteers link
• Click on Volunteers
• Please complete both Step 1 and Step 2 of the module
• After you have successfully completed the module, an email notification will be sent automatically to your email address and to the school email address. This email notification is a confirmation that the training has been successfully completed.
• A notification of successful completion of the module will be sent via email to the school and also to your email address
• This online training must be completed every 2 years.

Building Child Safe Communities
'Building Child Safe Communities' is a new initiative developed by Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta that enhances our commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all students in our care. It is now a requirement that all volunteers and contractors complete an online undertaking form that confirms expectations in relation to behaviour whilst volunteering or contracting at schools, Catholic out of Schools Hours Care, and Catholic Early Learning Centres. This undertaking form also seeks to determine the suitability of volunteers and contractors by requiring them to declare that they do not have a criminal history involving children. Visit CEDP public webpage http://www.parra.catholic.edu.au then click on "Child Protection Training Forms' (halfway down page on the right hand side). You will receive a confirmation email once the form has been submitted. Your details are maintained confidentially in a central database and a copy of your confirmation is emailed to the location where you are volunteering.

Working with Children Check (WWCC)
If parents and carers who do volunteer work at the school, are part of a formal mentoring program e.g. sporting coaches, music teachers, or involved intimate personal care of children with a disability, the parent volunteer must complete a Working With Children Check.

As with other state and territory models, the NSW Working with Children Check allows parents to volunteer in activities that involve their own children without needing a Check. However, this is NOT a blanket exemption for all parent volunteers. Fact sheets and resources are available from www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/check.

There are only two exemptions for parent volunteers, and they are:

• Volunteering by a parent or close relative of a child in activities for the child's school, early education service or other educational institution
• Volunteering by a parent or close relative, with a team, program or other activity in which the child usually participates or is a team member.

If the volunteering work fits either of these descriptions, the parent does not need to get a WWCC. For more information, see the Child Protection (Working with Children) Regulation 2013.

Website

The St Monica's website is a valuable source of information for our current parent community. Families can access the parent handbook, relevant school policies, school notes, forms and upcoming events.

Facebook

Keep up to date with all that is happening by following us on our Facebook page to see learning in action.

Skoolbag is our primary parent communication tool for day-to-day operational matters, upcoming events, notices and notifications so it is essential that all parents download the app.

The free app keeps families informed with real-time communications and can be downloaded to your mobile device, including a tablet, from the App store (iphone/ipad) OR Google Play (Android). Once downloaded, search for St Monica's Primary - Richmond and click on our name. It's a great way to keep informed when it matters!

Notes To School
Notes sent to the school should be in a sealed envelope on which is clearly printed what the notes are for, along with the child's name and grade.

When there is a school excursion/incursion, permission is required from the parent/carer for their child/children to attend this event or excursion.

It is important that we receive a permission slip signed for each individual student. Therefore, please do not enter all your children on the one permission slip, unless stated. These slips go back to each individual class for archiving. Please ensure the original permission note is used, no hand written notes.

Messages To Students

If for some reason students need to be given messages,eg change of pick up arrangements the office should be contacted no later than 2.45pm to ensure that messages are given to the students before home time.

Newsletter
A school newsletter is published fortnightly. These newsletters report dates, events and news regarding school activities. Please ensure you receive and read your copy each week. Extra copies are available from the office and are also published on our website www.stmonicasrichmond.parra.catholic.edu.au. Parents are encouraged to subscribe to our eNews which is located on the website, this ensures that your newsletter is sent directly to your email address. Paper copies will be given to your child if requested.

Mobile Phones
Mobile phones are not recommended for children at school. However, if they are absolutely necessary it is the child's responsibility to take care of them. They are to be turned off during the day and kept in the students bag in the classroom.

In the event of North Richmond, Yarramundi or Windsor Bridge being flooded - families affected by the closure will remain at home until the bridge's reopen.

Advice for parents will be communicated by our Facebook page and the Skoolbag tool.

The school will remain open unless otherwise directed by CEDP

Head Lice
Children with head lice will be isolated from their class mates, and parents will be contacted immediately. Coordinators may inspect children's hair at their discretion and will receive the full support of the Principal. Children may return to school after treatment with a written note from their parents, indicating what treatment has been given.

Medication Administration
Some children attending school need medication to be administered during the school day. All medication must be sent to the office and will only be administered if the authorisation forms are completed by parents and forwarded to the office.

Parents should supply exact dosage size tablets and mixtures in the original container, which is clearly marked with:

• Prescribing Doctor's name
• the name of the child
• the dosage and measuring device eg. measuring cup
• the time the medication is to be given

The name of the tablets or medication should be clearly marked on the container, particularly when the tablets are to be kept at school for any period of time. A disclaimer is also to be signed by the parent/guardian. (A "Medication Advice" form is available from our school office, or our website under 'Notes and Forms').

Please note:

• All care but no responsibility is taken
• If medicine is to be given at certain times, the child must be told by the parents at what time they are to go to the office and receive it
• Children diagnosed with ADD or ADHD also require a letter from their doctor to the school, advising of dosage and times medication is to be given
• If dosage or medication is to be altered, this must accompany a letter from the doctor authorising the change. Standardised forms for administration of prescribed medication will be given to parents.

Following guidelines from the Catholic Education Office, only prescribed medication will be administered by school personnel.

Sick Children
To minimise the spread of infection, if children are sick we recommend that they stay at home until they are fully recovered. A note should accompany your child on their return or complete the "Absentee Form" on the Skoolbag app.

Protection Against Infectious Diseases
The Department of Health recommends that children entering school should be immunised. This is particularly important because your child will be coming into contact with many other children and infections can spread very easily.

Children starting school who have not already had booster immunisation should have:

• One booster injection against diphtheria and (CDT), and
• One booster dose of polio vaccine by mouth (Sabin)
• One injection of measles/mumps vaccine if they have not already had measles or been immunised against the disease.

Immunisation is available from your family doctor, from many council clinics and from some community health centres. Date and times of clinics may be obtained from the council.

It is important to obtain a record of your child's immunisation from your doctor or community health centre. This record needs to be presented to the school office when your child has completed the required course of immunisation. This is necessary, as new health regulations require any child who has not been immunised to remain at home for the duration of any outbreak of the above infections.

Parents must seek medical advice if an infectious disease is suspected. Many of these diseases require that the patient (and sometimes contacts at home) be excluded from school for varying lengths of time.

In all cases a medical certificate is required before the child can be allowed to return to school.

All outer clothing which children may require to remove should be clearly labelled with the child's name.

If your child loses an article of clothing, please follow this up with an enquiry as soon as possible to the teacher who will make every effort to locate it. If parents are satisfied that the lost item is not in the classroom, they are at liberty to check the lost property basket.

Each year we have a large stock of unclaimed clothing and other articles, for which the school does not accept responsibility.

Unnamed clothing remaining in the lost property at the end of a two-week period is donated to St Vincent de Paul or our Second Hand Uniform shop.

If a child loses an article on the bus, it is the parents' responsibility to contact the bus company to enquire about the article.

Tracksuits

• Are available through Brynorms.
• The tracksuit pants can only be worn on sports day over sports clothes.
• Mandatory school backpacks are available from the school office.

Uniform Policy

• All clothing is to be marked with the child's name
• No coloured sneakers or gym boots to be worn
• Joggers (predominately white) are only to be worn on sports day
• Black leather polishable shoes (with flat heels) for girls and boys
• School hat and/or cap is available from school office or Brynorms.
• Only school hats or caps may be worn.
• Children must wear school hats all year. (No Hat, Play in Shade!)

Uniform Shop
All new items of the school uniform may be purchased from our supplier:
Brynorms
Shop 2/328 Windsor Street
Richmond
Phone: 4501 1143

Opening hours are Monday - Friday 9:30 - 4:45pm  and Saturday 9.00 - 12:45pm

Second Hand Uniform Shop
Volunteers run the secondhand uniform shop. Details of open times are advertised each term.

Students are to be neatly and cleanly dressed and presented at all times. Shoes should be clean and well presented.

Boys hair is to be neat and tidy, off the collar, of consistent natural colour, of gradual even grade and all extremes of fashion are to be avoided. Hair of shoulder length is to be tied back from the face.  Fringes and other lengths of hair are to be off the face and out of the eyes.

Girl’s hair that is longer than shoulder length, is to be tied back from the face. Fringes and other lengths of hair are to be off the face and out of the eyes. The colour should be a consistent natural colour and extremes of fashions are to be avoided.

Jewellery & Accessories
Apart from one pair of sleepers or small plain studs and a wrist watch, jewellery is not permitted for safety reasons. A chain with cross or religious medallion may be worn under the uniform.

• No rings
• No nail polish
• No make-up
• Ribbons, hair slides, scrunchies - if worn should be royal blue and/or school material.

Lapses in Wearing Uniform
Parents will be notified and their co-operation sought for any lapses in the wearing of correct uniform.

All visitors or volunteers assisting with classroom teaching programs, must report to the school office, register their details and receive a Visitor's Identification Label. Once your visit has concluded, exit details must also be completed.