Newsletter Term 1 Week 2

Dear Families,

Fruit is back!  There has been a change to Government policy and many (but not all) suburbs around Henley Beach allow for the movement of fruit again.  If you live around West Lakes though this is not the case.  See the separate Fruit Fly article in this newsletter or check out the website www.pir.sa.gov.au for the full details.

Our first week at school has been very successful as we devote the week to social and emotional learning.  This is the beginning of the work, we will be doing this year, under the banner of student wellbeing which will be a focus in our school.

PARENT TEACHER CHATS
Next week we will be offering an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher.  You will have received an email on how to book a time today.

VOLUNTEERING AT STAR OF THE SEA
We are very happy to have volunteers assisting teachers and the school.  Volunteers add to the quality of what we are able to offer at the school.  The process for becoming an approved volunteer is a three step process:

1. CESA police check or Working With Children Check
2. Induction course
3. RAN training for volunteers

We are beginning this process for new volunteers for our school and all the information can be found in this newsletter.

PLAYGROUP
Our very popular playgroup began this week.  It is again held on Tuesdays in the Parish Hall.  The group is run in conjunction with the Parish and is for Parents, Grandparents and care givers.  Books are essential and further information can be found on the school website.

SCHOOL HOURS
Just a reminder that children are welcome at school from 8:20am, when our gates are opened and a teacher is on yard duty.  At the end of the day we supervise children in the yard till around 3:25pm.  Any remaining children are then seated in the front office and should be picked up no later than 3:30pm.

CARS AND CHILDREN
The safety of our children is paramount to the operation of any school and where our children and cars share the same space every care is needed.  We make many appeals to parents about parking, kiss and drop etc.  Sometimes we have neighbours and their visitors or workmen not paying attention to the parking signs.  The council are quite vigilant at checking around our school over the first few weeks and I have already seen a number of police patrols before and after school.

TERM 1 NEWSLETTERS
This term we will be publishing newsletters in weeks 1, 2, 5, 8 & 11.

Have a great weekend.
Damian Weeks.

The department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) has updated its information about fruit fly restrictions in South Australia.  This might change the types of fruit and vegetables your child can bring to school/preschool/child care.

New colour coded maps for metropolitan Adelaide and Riverland residents show the red outbreak areas, yellow suspension areas, and green areas not affected by fruit fly.

Our school is located in the yellow suspension area.

If you live in the red outbreak area:

Your child must not bring any fresh fruit or vegetables on this list to school, preschool or child care. This applies even if it has been cut up.  Instead, PIRSA has provided a list of alternative fresh fruit and vegetable options suitable for lunch and breaks.

If you live in the yellow suspension area

Your child can bring any type of fresh fruit or vegetable to school.

If you live in the green not impacted area

Your child can bring any type of fresh fruit or vegetable to school, preschool or child care.  All fruit or vegetables on this list must be eaten and disposed of at our school, preschool or children’s centre. These items cannot return home at the end of the day and will be disposed of safely at our school centre’s grounds.

Grated, dried, frozen, cooked or pureed fruit and vegetables of any kind are acceptable in any area.

We appreciate your cooperation as we help protect South Australia from fruit fly.

STAR OF THE SEA SCHOOL IS ALLERGY AWARE

We are concerned about the safety and well-being of all our students. Many of you will know someone who is affected by anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. Our school does its best to be an allergy aware school. Staff have had training in severe allergy management and we have implemented lots of strategies to help keep students at risk of anaphylaxis as safe as we can. We have a number of students who live with the risk of anaphylaxis to foods and insect stings. Whilst these children are being taught to care for themselves at an age appropriate level, we ask that you help us educate your child on the importance of not sharing food with others, washing hands after eating and calling out to an adult if they think their friend with allergies is sick. With increased awareness and understanding of anaphylaxis, you will be able to help protect those around you.

A food allergy is an immune system response to a normally harmless food protein that the body believes is harmful. When the individual eats food containing that protein, the immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals, triggering symptoms that can affect a person’s breathing, gastrointestinal tract, skin, and/or heart. Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergic reaction and is potentially life-threatening. It must be treated as a medical emergency, requiring immediate treatment and urgent medical attention.

As school routines begin to take shape you will notice that homework will beginning to appear, the majority of which is reading.  The importance of reading cannot be underestimated and has been the topic of thousands of pieces of research.  For example, in a study of the out-of-school activities of fifth graders, Anderson, Wilson, & Fielding (1988) found that time spent reading books was the best predictor of a student’s reading proficiency.  Some examples from the study are…

• A student reading at home for 2 minutes a day would read 100 000 words a year and would be in the bottom third of reading ability when compared with all 10 year olds
• If that student increased their reading by 10 minutes a day, they would bump up into the top third of reading ability when compared to all 10 year olds
• Those students in the top 10% of readers, when compared with all 10 year olds, read for 21 minutes a day, reading nearly 2 million words a year away from school

Please keep in mind that when children bring home readers they should be quite easy for them to read.  The rule of thumb is no more than 5 errors per 100 words, this is because the aim of reading is to comprehend the text.

SKOOL BAG application is our major link to families delivering school alerts, information as well as our new electronic version of the school newsletter instantly and directly to your smartphone and/or tablet.  In your devices “App Store” search for “SkoolBag” and follow the very simple instructions.

STAR OF THE SEA SCHOOL FACEBOOK SITE
This year we are continuing our Facebook site to celebrate some of the fantastic things happening around our school.  On Facebook you can search for our site by using Star of the Sea School.

All School fee statements will be distributed very soon.

School fees are charged based on numbers of students in a family attending Star of the Sea School. For the first child, the annual fee is $3,775. For two children, the annual fee is $6,795 which is a saving for sibling discount of 10%. For three children, the annual fee is $9,060 which is a saving for sibling discount of 20%.  

Annual  Fees are payable by -

            Minimum of one third to be paid on or before 9/4/2021        (end of Term 1)

            Minimum of two thirds to be paid on or before 2/7/2021      (end of Term 2)

            Fully paid by 24/9/20 21                                                        (end of Term 3)

Unless a direct debit payment has been arranged.

The following payment options are available -

  Cash   -    Cheque      -     Visa     -     Mastercard     -   Direct Debit   -    BPAY   -  QKR 

Regular direct debits from either bank savings/cheque accounts or credit card is an easy and preferred option. Please see the School Office if you wish to arrange this option.

Irregular payments can also be paid via the QKR option too.

The annual cost for the School Capital Levy is $300 per family.

Parents/Caregivers who have contributed $300 or more to the Planned Giving Programme of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, Henley Beach for the 2021 calendar year may apply for a full rebate of the School Capital Levy.

Application forms are available from the School Office. You will need to take the form to the Parish Office for approval.

Financial assistance for low income earners via the Government scheme called, School Card will continue to be available for those families who qualify.

Please see the following table to assess if you are eligible to apply for this scheme. If you think you are eligible, please phone me in the School Office to set up an interview to complete the paperwork.

If at any time you have difficulties meeting this schedule, or have any queries, please contact me to discuss the matter on 8115 7400 or email janeleonard@star.catholic.edu.au

Jane Leonard
Finance Manager

Welcome to 2021!  Its amazing to think it is almost 12 months since our whole CV-19 outbreak began.  Last year many of our carnivals were cancelled but we are hoping with a few adjustments that we get to take part in all carnivals this year. 

Our year began with our SOS Swimming Carnival which was held yesterday.  Congratulations to McAuley who were our carnival winners and to all students who took part in the Carnival.  Students once again did exceptionally well.  Thank you to all parents who supported the day whether it be with transport, official duties or spectating.  We do have a very special community!

Emails will go out between now and tomorrow to students who have been selected to take part in the SACPSSA and SAPSASA swimming carnivals and team lists are on the Sports office door.  Well done to all students who have been selected.

A reminder to all families that all sporting information will come out through the Skoolbag app, if you do not have this app please feel free to see the office staff for support and all registrations are made through QKR.  If you do not have this app once again the office staff are a great resource.  Once you have registered using QKR please ensure that the registration has gone through by checking the receipts section in the app.  If you do not have a receipt, then it hasn’t gone through. 

The cricket, netball and basketball teams have gone out through email.  If you have registered your child and not received an email, please contact me.  Once we know when games begin you will hear from your Team Managers and Coaches.

Here’s to a smooth sailing 2021.

Kristen Victory
Sports Coordinator / Teacher