Dear Parents,

Our Semester 2 FLCs have pretty much been completed with a couple of teachers needing to reschedule them due to personal circumstances. I thank all parents for your cooperation and your willingness to work with our teachers to ensure the best paths moving forward for all students. 

A parent survey has been sent out and we ask for as many responses as possible to ensure we are using the mode most popular for our parent community. We conducted a similar survey in 2022 with about a 50/50 percent result. To accommodate the split we scheduled face to face meetings in the warmer lighter  months and Google meets in the colder and darker months.  Taking into account the change in our parent cohort and that two years have passed we thought it timely to send a new survey. 

The Glowtastic disco fundraiser has started with the Disco taking a slightly different look to the last one.  The Disco will take place on Thursday 5 of September.

Grades Prep, 1 and 2 will run between  4.30pm-5.30pm

Grades 3 & 4 will run between 5.45pm-6.45pm

Grade 5 & 6 will run between 7.00-8.00pm

Our feedback from last year that the hour for each group was the perfect amount of time. 

Bottled water will be supplied to all students along with a glow stick, glasses and spot prizes will be awarded on the night. We are currently looking at refining the drop and pick up arrangements to ensure the process is as smooth as possible as well as wet weather back up plans. More information will be sent out shortly regarding the pick up and drop off arrangements and other logistics of the night. It is suggested to wear a WHITE top and closed in shoes; to give a more Glow effect on the night with the UV lights! Fluorescent/neon accessories optional.

We ask that parents continue to consistently monitor the use of devices and the platforms their children are on. Many of our students have accounts which have age limits restrictions, many of which are 13 years and over.  We will continue to educate and engage services with expertise in these areas but ultimately parents are responsible for their child’s access and use of devices outside of school on personal devices. 

The grade 6 students have been participating in inter-school sports with other Catholic Schools in our area. Students are playing  Netball, Football and Newcomb. St Catherine’s have 2 teams playing so some students will be travelling off site each week and others will be playing netball and Newcomb at school. Parents are welcome to spectate but are asked to follow the sign in procedures and preferably have a current Working With Children card which needs to be presented at the time of signing in. For child safety reasons, all visitors will be required to remain at the area where your child’s sport is being played and cannot use the student toilets or enter any building other than the administration building. 

We ask all parents to abide by the expectations sent out when wanting to raise concerns over teams, umpiring or process. The Grade 6 students have all signed a Code of Conduct and this will be adhered to with appropriate sanctions to be placed should this Code Of conduct not be adhered to. 

I would like to remind our families of our processes in regards to raising concerns for your children. The first port of call is always the classroom teacher. We ask if it is a detailed or lengthy question, of a sensitive nature or something needing a longer conversation, to please make an appointment  via the office so we can ensure the teacher is available to devote the appropriate attention to your concerns. The classroom teacher may escalate this to the appropriate member of leadership or if a request by parents after first speaking with the classroom teacher. 

Whole School Positive Behaviour Approach 

As a reminder: 

Our Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour Support language is:

• At St Catherine’s we are safe.
• At St Catherine’s we show respect. 
• At St Catherine’s we are resilient.

These values are referred to regularly and explicitly taught in classrooms.

District Athletics

The School Sports Victoria District Athletics for Casey South Division is coming up next week with a squad being selected to represent St Catherine’s. 

This will take place at Casey Fields.

We ask all parents attending on the day who may be wanting to raise concerns over results or the qualifying process to speak with St Catherine’s staff who will clarify or seek clarification for you. 

Building:

Although I still have nothing more to report on the building at this stage, I am aware that there is work going on behind the scenes and once we have information I will share it with the community. 

COVID, other illness and student and staff illness. 

Our school community has again been hit hard by illnesses of all kinds. Our staff have also been hit. We have COVID amongst us and remind all staff and students that if they test positive we recommend that they stay home. If they are unwell or have any symptoms of any kind they should not attend school. 

Any student presenting as unwell will be sent to the sick bay and parents will be asked to pick them up. 

I assure you that splitting classes is our last resort but at times we have needed to do this to ensure the appropriate supervision and consistent learning of all children. 

Absences and Late arrivals 

We ask all parents to enter student absences in the PAM platform or to call the office to inform us of an absence. If children are absent with no communication,  our absentee process is triggered and contact with carers will be made. 

Student access and child safety

We request all students accessing the administration Office and who may be coming in late do so via the SFX driveway. Students are to walk down the St Francis Xavier side of driveway on the footpath and cross at the Chapel crossing behind the bollards. 

We remind parents the driveways are limited to 5 kilometres an hour for the safety of our students. The 5 kilometre speed limit continues through the whole school during pick up and drop off times.  We are continuing to monitor this but will be reminding any parents or carers to slow down if they continue to speed through the school . 

Staff are on hand to assist until just after the bell. All students who are late should be walked into the office by an adult and be signed in for legal reasons. The orange arrows are areas where they need to wait for a staff member as there can be car traffic.

Crossings and Parking

We ask that all students and parents are using the crossings that are clearly marked and manned as these are safe ways to cross the road. The council have also notified us that this is a concern  and have asked that parents and students use the designated crossings when crossing Ridgemont Drive and Meadowlands Way. 
We are aware that parking can be problematic but also ask that parents do not park in the Great Beginnings child care Centre carpark or block the entrances as there are cars coming and going from here at all times. 

Parent Access

We understand that, during COVID, access to the school was restricted. We are trying to provide more opportunities for families to have access to the school. Times have changed about this and we as a school have to adapt. The fact that our driveway goes through the middle of the school grounds also creates many risks in the afternoon to all of the members of our community. 

Please be assured that parents and carers can come onsite and walk students into school in the morning before 8.50am. In the afternoon please meet your children at the rebound wall if walking or parking in the vicinity of the school and coming to meet your children . This limits foot traffic through the school in the afternoon to assist with keeping our community safe as well as alleviating traffic on our driveway and streamlining the student collection processes. 

If  you ever have any concerns or want to chat with staff or leadership, please contact the office to make time to meet that suits everyone. This ensures the correct person is available at a mutually convenient time. 

NAPLAN

The preliminary NAPLAN scores have been released and these have been posted to families of Grade 3 and grade 5 students. Please contact the office if you have not received them. 

Please file these as some secondary schools request these on enrolment. 

The process for accessing this information has changed and is more complex due to confidentiality. It is much easier for all parties, if the original reports are retained and submitted on enrolment application. 

Student Attendance 

Our classes start at 8.50am, students are expected to be at school and ready to start instruction at 8.50am. Any child arriving after this time is late and will need to be signed in by an adult as per legal requirements. If a child arrives late and does not have an adult accompany them to sign them in, parents will be contacted to come and fulfill their legal responsibility.

Any students coming after the bell are impacted as they can miss vital instruction and the beginning of Specialist subjects. Students on scheduled out-of-classroom intervention programs may also miss their session, as many of these start as soon as the bell goes in the morning.

Any student arriving late must be signed in by a parent or carer via the office. This is a legal requirement and we have noticed many more students arriving after 8.50 am.  As a part of our continual review of our processes and procedures, we will be following up with parents and carers.  Classroom doors open at 8.30 am. Students are encouraged to enter the classroom and get ready for the day’s learning then participate in quiet activities until the commencement of instruction.

Regular late arrivals will trigger our attendance/absence processes which means parents and carers will be contacted by classroom teachers at first but may be escalated to other governing bodies. 

You may notice that emails are starting to be sent to those families of students  who regularly arrive late. 

Hats and Uniform 

All students should be wearing the winter uniform as we are well into term 3. Hats are not necessary but recommended. Hats will need to be worn from September 1 inline with sunsmart recommendations.

We are noticing a large number of students who are not wearing the correct uniform and we will be addressing this with the students and after repeated warnings , parents will be contacted.

School closure day

A reminder that there will be a school closure day on Monday 19 August, Professional Learning in the R.E. curriculum. Camp Australia will be running a program for those who need it on that day. Please see the details below. 

Out of School Hours Care Program

Contact Camp Australia if you’re interested in your child participating Out of Hours School care or in the Holiday program offered.

2025 Enrolments

We are currently taking 2025 Enrolments. If you are an existing family please get your forms in asap to guarantee you a spot. Our Prep numbers are increasing fast and we are conducting multiple tours a day. If you know of anyone considering St Catherine’s for their child please ask them to contact the Office for a tour.

Change of Address

Please advise the office as soon as possible if you have had a change of Address.  You can email info@stcberwick.catholic.edu.au  

How Do We Fundraise for our Glowtastic Disco fundraiser?

Fundraising for our Glowtastic Disco Fundraiser is entirely online. Follow the instructions in your child’s sponsorship booklet (which was sent out last week) to create a cybersafe, online profile page at www.australianfundraising.com.au. At the end of the fundraiser you can either order prizes to receive or donate to a cause – Carbon Neutral (tree planting), Great Barrier Reef Foundation (coral planting or turtle protection), The Smith Family (reading support) or OzHarvest (providing meals).

Please note: all cash donations must be converted to online donations before Wednesday 4 September. We cannot accept any cash donations for this fundraiser.

That means that anyone who fundraises $10 or more, can win some REALLY cool prizes! The more donations received, the larger prizes you can receive. You can also mix and match!

The Highest fundraiser in our school goes into the draw to win: ($2,500 Coles card, $2,500 Woolworths fuel card, $2,500 Harvey Norman card, $2,500 Visa card).

And, if you’re the highest fundraising student in ALL of Australia, you can win a PS5 gaming bundle with a new PlayStation 5 Console, VR2 Headset and Sense Controllers!?

There are also Monty prizes up for grabs too – would you like a Monty pencil case or a Monty hatching egg? Become the highest fundraising student from your class to go into the draw to win a one-of-a-kind Monty Backpack!

All the money that we raise together will go towards our Shade Sails for our Jungle playground.

This will be lots and lots of fun, so make sure you get excited! Happy fundraising!

School fees

Our Canteen runs from Wednesday - Friday. To register please follow the following link Quickcliq registration,  then once registered you can login to Quickcliq.  When registering if your child is in Prep you will need to click foundation.  Your UID (student ID) number can be found on the home page of your Simon App. For further information please see the attached flyer.  Ordering cut off times will be the day before at 8pm, to receive your child's order the very Our next day, any orders placed after 8pm will automatically be placed with orders placed the following day, this allows for time to purchase any extra items needed on the day.  For those children with dietary requirements there will be a folder placed in the school office outlining ingredients of certain items. Please see the attached Menu, which will also be available when ordering through Quickcliq.