PARENT & COMMUNITY
Involvement
Parent and community involvement is a major part of our culture at St Joseph's. Every parent within the school is automatically a member of the Parents and Friends Association. The P&F are an important and integral part of the school.
The job of the P & F Association is varied, but include many of the following activities:
Social – including welcome BBQs, wine and cheese nights, state of origin nights, class dinners etc. – anything that brings parents together for a fun time and to get to know other parents and form community.
Pastoral activities – a very important part of community – these might include casserole bank to assist families with disruptions eg. births, deaths, illness etc., lifts to school in some cases, send sympathy cards where appropriate etc.
Three areas which overlap are resourcing, finance and fundraising.
Resourcing – providing 'things' for classrooms or the whole school generally (books, art supplies, desks, shade sails, music equipment etc.)
Financing – pay for buses to take students to activities or camps etc., fund extra music or choir lessons etc.
Fundraising – fetes, art shows, Mothers' and Fathers' day stalls etc.
SCHOOL > PARENT COMMUNICATION
APPOINTMENTS WITH TEACHERS
Parents are encouraged to maintain contact with class teachers for the purpose of discussing their children’s progress. Teachers should be given sufficient time to prepare for interviews in order to make them as productive as possible. Appointments with the teaching staff may be obtained either directly or by contacting the school office.
On Tuesday afternoons from 3.15pm teaching staff are involved in their weekly meeting. Please note that teachers are unavailable during this time and are required to attend these gatherings. Thank you for your support in allowing us this important time.
NEWSLETTERS
The newsletter is distributed weekly via email and paper copy. Please ensure the school has your current email address for distribution or subscribe below:
SOCIAL MEDIA
The St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School uses Facebook to share and celebrate the many great things that occur at St Joseph’s. This platform is also used to convey messages and reminders to families of the school. Media clearance permission forms must be completed for students to be featured on our Facebook page.
NOTES TO PARENTS
Accounts, notices etc are sent home periodically. The eldest child in each family will be given such notices and parents should regularly check that important notices are not left in children’s school bags. We aim to send most notes to families electronically.
At times a return slip or response is required and your immediate response to such requests is greatly appreciated.
REPORTING
Throughout the year St Joseph's Catholic Primary School will conduct formal reporting with parents including;
-
Parent Information Sessions – Week 2, Term 1
-
Parent Teacher Interviews – Week 9/10, Terms 1 and 3 (or as required)
-
Report Cards – Final day of Term 2 and 4
PARENT > SCHOOL COMMUNICATION
STUDENT RECORDS
It is important that the administration retains up to date records of each family in the school. Therefore, we ask that the school office be informed of any variation in any of the information we have on record. In particular, the following variations should be notified:
-
Change of address
-
Change of email
-
Change of telephone contact numbers
-
Change of emergency contacts
-
Change of family doctor or dentist
-
Serious health conditions or changes to Action Plans
NOTES / MONEY ETC. TO SCHOOL
Messages, notes, money, etc can be delivered to the school office via the ‘class bag’. The class bags provide ‘bulk delivery’ of messages from the classroom to the office by 9.00am each day.
ABSENTEE NOTIFICATION
If your child is away from school, please contact admin or your child’s teacher via email or phone. Text messages or messages through social media platforms will not be accepted. If the school has not been advised of absences by 10am an automated text message will be sent to student contacts asking you to contact the school.
TELEPHONE CALLS
Please note that routine calls to teachers should be restricted to non class times as teachers will not be called away from their classes to answer the telephone. Messages for children will be taken regarding their transport / collection from school and emergency situations only. Please note that these messages must come through the office.
