Welcome to the new school year of 2020.  We have begun the year with enthusiastic students and staff. Below you will find some every day procedures that will be helpful as parents and carers to learn the daily routine of the school.  With a student population this year of over 950, you can understand that routine is very important to the smooth running of the school. 

The following are a list of procedures, which if followed correctly, will enable us to serve you in a friendly, efficient, professional manner at all times as well as allow students to focus on their learning.

EARLY LEAVERS
If you need to collect your child early from school, please send a note in with them in the morning, which they will bring to the office before school. Students will receive an Early Leaver stamp in their diary providing them permission to leave class.  They will meet you at the office and there is no waiting for anyone.  It is very difficult to get a child out of class on short notice.  It is a disruption for the teachers and the rest of the class.  If a student is at sport, or doing a practical class then they can be difficult to locate.  If you find you need to pick your child up urgently please ring the school before you come in to give us time to locate them.  Notes are needed for audit purposes, so you will be asked to provide a note every time your child is late to school, absent for any reason or leaves early.

It would be appreciated if any change to after school travel arrangements to be communicated to your child is received by the office no later than 2.30pm.

NOTIFYING AND EXPLAINING STUDENT ABSENCES

Our new Compass Communication App allows parents to notify the school of student absences. Please click here for further details.

SCHOOL TIMES
Please ensure your child arrives to school on time.  School begins at 8.30am each morning.   If they are late they must report to the office to be signed in or they will be marked absent on the roll. 

LOST PROPERTY
A real concern is the amount of lost property that comes into the office.  There are a number of uniform items each year that end up being sent to St Vincent de Paul as they have no names on them and students do not come to claim them.  We cannot return items if they are not clearly labelled.  Please put your child's name on all of their uniform items, especially blazers and sports track suits.  Hats are another item that often come to the office with no name.  Do not think because they are now in high school they will not lose things!

CAMPS & CARNIVALS
With the upcoming camps and carnivals, please label all items that your child takes to camp so everything will be returned to them if it gets mixed up with other students' belongings. Please follow the provided ‘what to bring list’ on camp notes so students have the requirements but not take too much.

ILLNESS
If your child becomes ill during the day you will be phoned to come and collect them.  Students who are not well enough to be in class must go home.  Please ensure we always have your updated telephone numbers.  Students are not to use their mobile phones to ring you if they are sick. Medication (including Paracetamol) will only be administered if supplied to the office with a Medical Consent form.

VALUABLES AT SCHOOL
Students are encouraged not to bring valuables or money to school.  The school is not responsible for loss or theft of valuables whilst students are at school.  All students are advised to keep valuables with them at all times, either in their pockets or in a pencil case in the classroom.  Due to WHS regulations all bags have to be left outside of classrooms. 

ELECTRONIC DEVICES
Mobile phones and other electronic devices are permitted to be used before and after school however they are not to be used during school hours and must be switched off.  If a student is found to be using these items they will be confiscated.  The first confiscation is classed as their one and only warning, they will have the item returned to them at the end of the day. The second confiscation will result in the phone/electronic device being stored in the school office and the student will be required to attend a playground withdrawal before collecting their device the next day.  Third and consequent confiscations will be treated as an act of defiance and dealt with accordingly.  Parents are asked not to phone their children on their mobiles or to send them text messages during the day.  If you need to get an urgent message to your child please ring the school office and we will relay the message for you.

EXCURSIONS
All monies for excursions, fees etc are to be brought to the office immediately when the child comes to school, or at lunch/recess time.  Receipts will be issued for all money paid to the school.  Payment for some excursions will be able to be done on-line.  This will incur a 30 cent administration fee.  Information regarding this is available on our website via the Excursion Letters & Payment link.  Excursion notes can also be downloaded from this section of the website.

All monies and permission note must be submitted before the due date or the student may not be permitted to attend the excursion. The office will not accept notes past the due date without prior approval from the Assistant Principal.  Notes must be submitted together with payment or online receipt details attached.

If there is any concern over the cost of an excursion or the ability to pay, please contact the Principal’s Secretary via the school office.  No child will be excluded from any compulsory excursion due to money constraints, however students or parents must inform their coordinator or appropriate person before the due date.

FAMILY INFORMATION
Please ensure that you advise the office of any change in family circumstances or contact details including email addresses, telephone numbers and residential and postal addresses.  This will assist the school with the communication process throughout the year. Important messages will be sent out via Compass and email so it is essential that the school is informed of current email addresses. Carers of students who travel on school buses are now required to update address details online via the Transport NSW website, apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/updatedetails.

NEWSLETTER
The school newsletter will be emailed to parents on Fridays and available via the school website.  A hard copy may be obtained from the front office.  We are trying to cut down on the number of newsletters that are printed. If we have your email address, you will receive a newsletter notification each week.

SCHOOL POLICIES
Please refer to the school website (via the Admin menu) or student diary, for school policies regarding jewellery, shoes, uniform and the consequences involved in non compliance with these policies.

Please do not hesitate to contact the St John’s School Office via email, info@sjedow.catholic.edu.au or by calling the office at any time if you have concerns.

NEW STUDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

This year St John’s has moved to Compass, a new student management computer system replacing Sentral and Skoolbag communication applications.

Portal Login details were mailed to Parents/Carers yesterday and should be received today or early next week.

You are advised that unless we are informed otherwise (eg by providing a copy of court orders), the school assumes that both parents retain a shared and equal parental responsibility for their children. This means that the school will recognise that each parent has equal opportunities, duties, obligations and responsibilities in relation to matters involving their children’s education at St John’s.

With this in mind, both parents, whether residing at the same address or not, will receive their own individual login details. This is in accordance with policy guidelines stipulated from the Catholic Education Office, Wollongong.

Likewise, both parents will also receive copies of communication regarding their children and absentee notifications via SMS.

Should you have any concerns regarding this information, please contact the school as soon as possible. If there are court orders a copy must be provided.

STUDENT REQUIREMENTS FOR 2020

Please click here to view the student booklists and requirements for each subject and grade for this year.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE UNIFORM EXPECTATIONS FOR 2020

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE UNIFORM REQUIREMENTS FOR 2020

PRE LOVED UNIFORMS