Dear SCA Parents and Carers,

This Friday afternoon Semester 1 School Reports will be available through the COMPASS portal. These reports are written for and addressed to parents, not students. There are many ways that students receive feedback about their academic progress through the day/week from teachers. This report is a way of summarising student progress to date against the Australian Curriculum and in line with Australian Government expectations on reporting to parents.

I encourage you to read it before your child does and then choose to share those aspects that are relevant with them. When you look at your child’s report the first section to focus on is the Engagement with Learning. To me these are what make a person successful in life: the ability to work cooperatively with others, consider different perspectives when working with others, to take responsibility for and manage behaviours appropriately and to manage one’s time are all skills and attitudes that one can learn and apply to every area of life. Learnt during the childhood years these can shape one’s life far more than receiving A’s in each subject.

When reviewing the report with your child you may wish to use the following language. Though the grade indicators are printed on the report, the following may be more meaningful to children.

An E is a starting point, rather than a fail. It means a child is working on the same tasks as everyone else, but is finding Everything in that area a challenge.

A child receiving a D is Developing skills but needs some more support and Direction.

The child who receives a C in a given area is Consistently Coping well with work he or she Can do by themself.

A B is Brilliant because he or she can do a superb job, all By themselves, all the time.

To get an A is Absolutely Amazing because a child’s work would have to be Awesome All the time.

I am sure that each child will be able to celebrate their successes as well as set goals for next term and beyond.

I suggest also talking to your child/ren about their strengths. Strengths are not always necessarily what a person is very good at with hard work. Strengths are the areas in life that one is good at and comes a little easier to them and they feel energised doing! It is good to keep telling children to keep putting their effort and love into their strengths and then find a way to use these to help them in areas that are more challenging. For example, your child may be musical so may find it easier to remember their times tables in a musical way, thus making it a more enjoyable learning experience.

I encourage you to celebrate all that your child/ren have achieved in the academic and non-academic areas. Optional interviews are offered at this time. Please email your child’s teacher if you would like to request a time to meet with your child’s teacher if there is a particular aspect of the report you wish to discuss.

Thank you for your ongoing care and partnership in your child’s learning.

God bless.

Rachel Smith

Principal

Principal’s Notes

Carpark Etiquette

We ask that all parents and carers using our carpark for pick up and drop off please do so with caution. With the increased use of the carpark, we must all work together to ensure the safety of all our students. Please drive slowly through the carpark and park front in into a designated carpark. When reversing please be mindful of those around you and the flow of the traffic. Thank you for your help with this.

Leaving St Clare of Assisi

Don’t forget to let us know if you are planning to leave St Clare of Assisi at the end of the year. (Year 6 exempt of course!) Please use the link below.  We will soon commence the process of planning enrolments and class numbers for next year. 

https://stclareconder.schoolzineplus.com/form/10

Term Three Starting Date – Tuesday 19^th July

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn has declared Monday 18^th July as a pupil free day for all Catholic schools in Canberra. Students will commence Term 3 on Tuesday 19^th July.

School Shoes

Just a reminder that all students are to wear black school shoes with their dress uniform. Sneakers are only to be worn on sports day. Please ensure your child is wearing the correct footwear.

Winter Warmth

It’s probably not escaped your attention that Winter is here. Please help support our uniform expectations by making sure any beanies, jumpers or coats are of the appropriate colour. Please also ensure easily removable items (hats, coats, jumpers) are clearly labelled with your child’s name.

Staff Absences

As winter has begun, we are at that time of the year where there is a lot of sickness around. We have had a number of staff away over the past few weeks due to professional development and illness, unfortunately there are times when we are unable to provide relief teachers due to demand or relief teachers being sick. In these times, we do our utmost to cover the class with other staff members, however there may be situations where your child may be placed in another class for the day with set work.

School Fees

Just a reminder that school fees are now overdue. The Building Fund is currently a voluntary contribution and tax deductible. This fund is managed directly by the CE to be used to pay for the upkeep of our schools. Under the current arrangement, should St Clare of Assisi require a plumber to fix leaking toilets or an electrician to fix the heating or have a broken window fixed, we simply contact the CE and they send the relevant tradesmen. The cost for this is paid by the CE through the CCSBF money (i.e., the building fund). Some of the funds each year are also used to support schools in small projects that they cannot fully fund at school level (e.g., external lighting upgrade, classroom door repairs, heater repairs for us in 2022). Should all our families elect not to pay this fund, then the CCSBF will no longer be viable, and the CE will no longer be able to provide these services. Should that occur, each school would have to introduce an additional levy to fund this specialised maintenance, and I fear this would be an expensive exercise for the school and the families and would not be tax deductible. I encourage our families to support this initiative in order to maintain the condition of our school. Thank you for your efforts in this aspect of our partnership.

Sick Students

If your child is ill, please keep them at home for their own benefit but also so as not to spread illness to other students and staff. Please make sure that your emergency contacts are up-to-date so that we can contact you quickly if your child becomes ill or is injured at school. If your child needs medication at school, you are required to complete a “Request to Dispense Medication” form which is available at the Front Office or on our website. A reminder that students are not to self-administer medication. Medication should not be kept in children’s bags but kept in the Front Office area and staff will administer. All information is then noted in student records. Teachers will not administer or supervise the taking of medication. Please ask your child to take medications to the Front Office upon arrival at school.