APA News
Dear Parents and Carers
It is with excitement and gratitude that I write the first newsletter of 2025. Welcome back to all our SSPS families and a very warm welcome to our 78 new Preppies and the 25 new students joining our community. We thank you all for choosing to be a part of SSPS and look forward to journeying with you across the year as we strive in ‘faith, learning and life’. It was lovely to see the SSPS community out in force last night at the Welcome BBQ. Thank you to the parents who gave of their time to assist.
Parent Engagement Network
We extend a warm invitation to all parents in our community to the first meeting of the Parent Engagement Network (PEN). The PEN meets once a term and provides an effective avenue for parents and families to come together to be informed, consulted and explore in relation to school planning, policy, decision making and education programs. It is also an avenue for parents to engage in activities, projects and events that help to build the SSPS community. Everyone is welcome to PEN meetings and we are always looking to encourage new people to attend. They are usually conducted in Week 4 of each term. Our first meeting will be on Thursday the 20th of February at 5pm beginning with the AGM and followed by the general meeting.
Parent Teacher Interviews
Thank you to all the parents who were able to meet their child’s teacher and discuss their child from a parent’s perspective this week. This is a new a practice for our community, and one that may take some time to get used to for both teachers and parents. The benefits of establishing collaborative and respectful relationships between teachers and parents early in the year, however, is worth the investment. Once these relationships have been established regular and timely communication is the goal as the year progresses.
Assembly 2025
This year we will be celebrating assembly on Monday mornings on odd weeks of term. Parents are always welcome to attend. During assembly class awards will be given out towards the beginning of assembly to enable parents to leave if they need to. Assembly will start next week (Week 3) on Monday the 10th of February at 8.40 in the Mercy Centre.
Morning and Afternoon Routine
It has been wonderful to see so many parents in the school grounds. In the first couple of weeks of each new year we expect that this will be the case as everyone settles in. It is important that the community is aware of the procedures that are in place to ensure your children are safe and supervised when at school.
- There are teachers on duty in the Boulder Area, Primary Oval and Prep playground from 8.10 every day. From this point on children will be supervised and parents are welcome to leave as they need, up to, and including, 8.25am when the whistle blows to line up.
- It is very important that no students are on the primary oval prior to 8.10am, even if their parent/guardian is present. This is a duty of care issue that is important to adhere to. Year 1 and 2 parents who bring their children to school prior to 8.10 are welcome to wait with their child on the cement area near the lift and 1W classroom or in the Boulder Area upstairs where all students without an adult wait prior to a teacher’s arrival.
- At 8.10 the teacher will escort all Year 1, 2 and 3 students down onto the oval. Once the teacher is on the oval we encourage students to leave their bag on the tiered seating and have a play either on the oval, on the Ninja Warrior course or the junior playground prior to the whistle blowing.
- Year 4 – 6 students can play in the Boulder Area from 8.10 (handballs are popular!) until the whistle blows and they line up in the Mercy Centre.
After school it is important that children move to their pickup point swiftly.
- In the shed, students are sitting in alphabetical order based on the first letter of their last names. They are getting better each day at this, and it is hoped that parents will also be able to find their child more easily if they physically come into the shed. If you do this, you are welcome to walk across the front of the shed towards the oval, walk along the yellow line to find the marker with the letter of your child’s last name and then hopefully your child!
- If you are picking up your child and are on the grounds, we ask that you please leave promptly. Playing on the play equipment or in the Prep playground is not encouraged after school.
Stop Drop and Go Etiquette
Just some reminders for using the Stop, Drop and Go.
- Please ensure that when you turn into the driveway there is room for you to drive your car fully into the line. Sitting on the road in front of the driveway or blocking the nature strip is illegal. Police have patrolled the school zebra crossing, regularly issuing fines for this practice.
- We acknowledge that small children take time to learn how to load themselves into their car and put their seat belts on. At times, an adult may need to help this process, however, please be mindful that holding up the line for significant amounts of time creates a knock-on effect. Building independence with this practice is an important skill to develop if using the Stop, Drop and Go.
- Patience is a quality we all need to practice in the pickup line. It really is a small amount of time in our day when we consider that most days by 3.25 you would not even know that the area had been so busy with cars and children.
Please reach out if you have any questions around the procedures detailed above. My email adress is Katie.Hauser@twb.catholic.edu.au. I hope you can enjoy some relaxing time with your child this weekend after their first five-day week of school for 2025!
Katie Hauser