2021 Kindergarten Enrolment Applications

2021 Kindergarten Enrolment Forms are now available from the school office. You may also access the forms from our school website. We look forward to welcoming siblings and new families to our wonderful community.

The enrolement package is available from our school or online at www.dow.catholic.edu.au

Parent - School Partnership Framework

The Catholic Education Office has released a Parent-School Partnership Framework which outlines the crucial relationship between home and school. Please see below a small excerpt from the website and the link to download the framework. The framework will be included in all new enrolments from this year on. All families will receive a hard copy of the framework after its official launch in Week 6.

“We must take note of the changes that have affected both the family and the school, and renew the commitment to constructive collaboration – for the benefit of children and young people” — Pope Francis  

Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) strives to create vibrant Catholic communities of faith and learning and believes this is best achieved when there is a genuine partnership between home and school.

https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/for-parents/parent-school-partnership-framework

2020 School Fees Information

Please see below a message from the Catholic Education Office in regards to the new process for School Fees.

School fees have been invoiced to families and they are available to view in the Compass Parent Portal.  We anticipate that school fee statements will be issued by email within the next 10 days. We apologise for the delay in distribution of statements, which was unanticipated and due to system issues.  For your information payment requirements are as follows:

• For families who pay annually, payment in full is due on 28 February 2020.
• For families that have submitted a Request to Pay by Instalment or who previously had a School Fee Agreement in place, a schedule of the required payments and the due date will be issued with school fee statements.  The first instalment payment will be due on 28 February, 2020. Parents may commence payments earlier if they wish, however, it is important that any existing regular payment is equal to the instalment amount provided on the schedule and that payment is made on or before the due dates on the schedule.  Reference should be made to the Request to Pay by Instalments on the school’s website for conditions relating to payment in this manner. 
• For families who have a Fee Concession in place, you will be contacted prior to your review date to complete annual documentation and arrange an interview with the Principal.  If you have a current payment plan in place, and you are unable to increase your payments to meet your 2020 school fees, you may continue to make these payments until your next review date.
• Parents should be aware that our new accounting system will send automatic reminders for overdue payments.

The following documents are available on the school’s website for the information of families:

• Diocesan School Fee Management Policy
• Diocesan Frequently Asked Questions
• Diocesan Request to Pay by Instalments
• Information regarding school Fees at our school

Meet And Greets

Meet and Greet conversations will be held next week (Monday 17th February - Friday 21st February) for all students Year 1-6. This is your chance mums, dads and carers, to value add to the teacher’s knowledge at the start of a new year. 

How can you support Meet and Greets?

• Please arrive on time for your conversation
• The side gate will remain open next week from 8am - 9am and 3:20pm-6pm to allow parents easy access to classrooms.  NB Parents are responsible for the supervision of children on the school site before and after school hours 
• Don’t forget to bring the Parent Questionnaire 
• Teachers will have back to back bookings.  A reminder that the Meet and Greet conversations are 10 minutes duration, so if necessary, please make an appointment for a longer chat at another time.  

P&F AGM and General Meeting

The St Michael’s P&F meeting will be held on Thursday Week 4, 20 February starting at 7pm. We look forward to having you join us as we discuss how we can work together in supporting all our children. 

TEA AND TISSUES THANK YOU

Thank you to our year 1 parents for providing the food and serving for the Tea and Tissues morning tea for our Kindergarten families. It was much appreciated by all and a lovely way to start the first day of Kinder for our families.

Save the Date

After our school opening mass on Friday 28th February the P&F will be hosting a Welcome to St Michael’s Morning Tea in the hall. This is a great way to meet other families and welcome in the new year as a community. We hope you can join us for a cuppa and a chat.

Compass

Please ensure you have the Compass app installed on your devices as this is only way messages and permission notes are now communicated. Turn on notifications so that you get all the information you need. If you have any issues please see the office.

Car Pick Up and Drop Off

Please ensure that you follow the road rules when using the drop off and pick up zone outside the school. This is a drop off and pick up zone only, it is not for parking. Pick up begins from 3.20pm and children will be escorted to the car, drivers must remain in the vehicle. 

We have had multiple complaints recently from the community about the bank up of traffic. A reminder that the procedure for pick up is that if a spot is not available in the line you are to drive around the block and come back to the line. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

It is a girl!

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Dutaillis who welcomed the birth of their beautiful little girl, Eve Louise Dutaillis. A healthy bundle of joy on December 26. They are all settling in to family life very well.

HOME AND SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

If you would like to contact your child's class teacher for any reason (no matter how big or small) you can either:

• Check in at the office and ask if the teacher is available. If they are available the office staff will let you know where to meet them. If they are not available you can either leave a written message or leave a message for them to call you back.

• Phone the office and ask to speak to the teacher. If they are not available the office staff will leave a message for them to call you back (You may find that it is a better option to make a time to chat face to face)
• Email the school at info@smtdow.catholic.edu.au with the subject “Attention (insert teacher name)” and the office staff will forward the email to the teacher – please follow this process in regards to emails. Please do not email staff directly.

Cybersafety at St Michael’s 

Tuesday 11th February was Safer Internet Day. It is a worldwide event that raises awareness about online safety and encourages everyone to help create a better internet. 

This term students have engaged in lessons with their classroom teacher about Cyber Safety and Digital Citizenship to ensure your children are developing the necessary skills to be safe online. 

The esafety website has excellent resources for parents and carers to start the conversation at home. 

Mrs Belinda Hughes - Principal