Welcome to the Semester 2 update of this important edition of our Newsletters.

As a way to launch the semester with all members of our community on the "same page", this Newsletter is designed to provide you with a guide to handling some of the everyday things that arise during our school day. It would greatly assist us if you could familiarise yourself with the procedures and follow it whenever possible to ensure the safety of our children and the smooth operation of school administration.
Admittedly, there is a lot in this newsletter but that it understandable as we attempt to navigate the learning journeys of 352 students, a community of 239 families and a staff of more than 40.

Thank you for taking your time in reading through these details. Once done, you can use the headings above this introduction to navigatequickly to a particular area that you wish to clarify throughout the year. Perhaps come back to it when it becomes relevant.
If you have ever seen the inner workings of a clock, you'd know that there are countless gears, cogs and mechanisms working "behind the scenes" in order to give the serene calm of the actual clock face. Our school is much the same. The more efficient we can run these processes, the better we can settle into our clock face - teaching and learning.

Arrival at School

Supervision begins at 8.30am. Parents, please note that staff onsite prior to this time do not have duty of care for students. Our gates will be open but families are encouraged to use OOSH or if it is a reasonably short time frame, students are to sit quietly along the seats at the staff room. I appreciate morning schedules are tight and thank parents for avoiding this option as best they can.  

Student arrive between 8.30am and 9am every morning. 

Student arriving from the Main Road Gate are to proceed up the fenced path, carefully crossing the top zone of the car park into the main school entrance.

Students entering via Durham Drive, will use the pedestrian gates at the lower half of the car park and enter the school around the bottom of the hall and through the COLA. This is to remove the practice of wandering through the full length of the car park. Please note the car park is closed to traffic at 8.30am in order to reduce the risk further but in the interest of safe practices and habits, we believe it unwise for young people to regularly walk through any car park unless necessary. 

Afternoon Dismissal 

Our priority at dismissal every day is the safety of all our children. It is however a very hectic and often stressful time as teachers try to ensure that all children are safely directed to their afternoon routines. We ask parents to familiarise with the different dismissal options outlined below and ensure they are clear in directing thier children as to where to go. 

2.55pm Preparations begin for dismissal. Students to porceed to their designated lines. 

3pm Students are escorted to the designated pickup points or buses. 

The Map below shows you the different dismissal points and the description below document clarifies processes at each of these points. 

Pedestrians: Line up at the Canteen and get walked out the front gate and across Main Road. This line will move off after the Car line has dispersed.  Parents to wait on the opposite side of the road to the school. We ask that while parents are able to wait with their car (up the hill), they at least stand outside the car and provide a wave to the teacher who will direct your child up to you. IF any secondary road needs to be crossed to where you are parked, the teacher on duty will ensure this is done safely once the main road has been crossed.

East (Gate) Walkers: Line up at the back of the COLA and get walked out to Durham Dr. One teacher will stay with children gathered on the western side of the road. A second teacher will cross students at the Pedestrian sign and then direct students from there. Parents can wait on either side of Durham Dr. If you wish to remain with the car it would need to within sight of the teacher on duty. We ask that you stand outside the car and wave to the teacher who will then direct your child to you,

West Walkers: Line up on the deck near Yr 5 and get walked out the West End Gate to Argyll Crescent.

St Nicholas OOSH: Go straight to the hall and get their name marked off. We ask that you maintain clear communication with St Nicholas OOSH to ensure your child is on the St Nicholas OOSH list as you wish or removed from the list that day if you have made that change.

All bus lines (including external OOSH): Line up under the Cola with teachers. A teacher will supervise until the bus arrives and students are safely onto the bus

At St Benedict's we see communication as a tiered system that allows parents to gain the information they need at the right time. 

1-1 Communication with classroom teacher

We are committed to maintaining clear, consistent and open lines of communication with parents.

Parents are always invited to email their class teachers any enquiry or seek clarification on and issue or concern. Please note that staff will be able to respond to your emails within one business day of its arrival and will always answer within reasonable work hours. We ask parents to keep in mind that teachers will generally be in front of the class during the school day. They will generally attend to their emails prior to or after the school day. 

Parents are able to contact the school to organise an opportunity to speak directly with a classroom teacher. They will call back to arrange a meeting to discuss your concerns in more detail. 

Weekly Newsletters

Our school newsletter is published online every Tuesday. Parents will receive a link via COMPASS.  

Our Newsletters are the usual means of informing parents of what is currently happening at school, the big ideas and the forward planning. 

Newsletters are archived on the school website and can be accessed using the Schoolzine archive link. CLICK HERE

COMPASS for Laptops, Tablets and Smartphones

We primarily use the COMPASS app to run our integrated calendars for the staff and parents. We place alerts and reminders to parents so as to minimise paperwork (notes sent home).

COMPASS is a student management system that allows connected management of student attendance, excursion activities, school events, student wellbeing and reporting to parents.

COMPASS can be accessed via laptop/computer, tablets or smartphones but parents need to be aware of what each platform has the capacity to do (obviously the computer based COMPASS website has more facilities than the phone based app.) All parents are provided a COMPASS login and password. Please contact the front office if you wish to reset your access to COMPASS.

Website and Facebook

We use our school website and Facebook page as a platform to promote and connect with the broader community.

The website contains information about our school as a whole. It gives any visitors a snapshot into our school history, core values, identity, vision and mission. It provides a brief outline of the types of learning we focus on and different initiatives we may be undertaking throughout a given year.

Our Facebook pages celebrates events as they occur and provide an immediate “Good News” platform for all of us to share with our Facebook connections.

Below is a pictorial view of the tiered communication platforms here at school. 

It is critical that all parents/ guardians are able to access COMPASS throughout the year.

We use this app as the core communication platform. We use it for immeidate communciations to the parent body (whole school, class or individual emails), we run the daily calendars through it, we create events for school excursions/carnivals that need parent permission to be completed via the app, and we use COMPASS to provide you with updates about your child's progress and acheivement in their learning via school reports and parent teacher meeting bookings. 

We ask all parents to have COMPASS accesible on their phone/device at all times in order to remain up to date with their child's learning journey and life at school. We will be able to assist any parent needing to access their log in and password to launch it for 2024. Please just contact the office. If by some chance, compass starts to get glitchy, we find it often helps to uninstall and reinstall the app.

Below is a visual of the essential ways we use COMPASS as the core parent/student management system. We hope it assists in raising the profile of COMPASS for all parents. 

Probably the most immediate communication you would seek with the school is to advise of an absence for your child. There are two categories outlined below, the most common being the first. 

Full Day Absences—Less than 10 days
How to inform the school:  Please advise your child’s absence before 9:00 am by one of the following methods:

1. Use the COMPASS app under your child’s own profile to complete an absence notification. This is the preferred method as your information updates the student management system automatically and the teacher is informed through that same system.
2. Should you be unable to use the preferred COMPASS app, please phone the school and the administration staff will complete it on your behalf. Please do not email the teacher of the absence as they are likely to be teaching and not receive the email until after school, when the day has already passed. 
3. If the school does not receive a notification of absence, it will be marked as unexplained after the day has passed. 
4. If no explanation of your child’s absence is received after two weeks, it is archived as an Unexplained Absence.  
5. There is a mandated reponse plan that schools follow to support students presenting with habitual unexplained absences. The pattern of concern and  contact with home begins after 3 days unexplained so it is critical parents explain each absence. 

Longer Absences (over 10 days)

The basic premise regarding school attendance is that “It’s not ok to be away.”  However, if you intend to take leave from school for more than 10 days, parents are to required to complete an Application for Extended Leave Form.  These days of leave will still appear as absences in school documentation and reports. They will be recorded as per your explanation, for example, family holiday, business, or bereavement but they will still count as absences. Any extended absence requires a commitment from parents to support the student’s education while absent from school, particularly in English and Maths. These extended leave periods should not become habitual and should not exceed more than one a year unless under extenuating circumstances. 

Partial Absences (Arrive Late or Leave Early)

If you arrive after 9am or leave before 3pm you must attend the school office to electronically sign your child in or out (we do allow a 5 minute window after 9am but this is to alleviate inevitable school traffic that can cause delays).

Signing in a child as late or leaving early is a requirement by law. It is important to stress that only an adult can complete this process as it a legal document. We understand that if you are running late, it is tempting to drop children at the gate BUT we are required to have an adult sign them in. Similarly, if you are signing your child out early for the day, please go to the office and NOT the classroom. We will contact the classroom and your child will come to you.

Attendance Alerts 

The schools is requere by law to monitor attednace and alert parents should attnadnce data reach levels of concer (see Table below) in the hope that we can support you and your child to be at school as much as is possible. Open communciation regaring attednace helps this partnership. 

Below is a summary of the uniform requirements at St Benedicts Edegworth for your reference. We thank parents in advance for your support in ensuring all students enrolled at St Benedicts are able to wear their uniform with pride and a sense of belonging.

A note that all students are currently wearing the Winter Uniform Option. This wil continue until at least the end of August. I will confirm the date to opt back to Summer Uniform  closer to this time. 

School Canteen - General Procedures

The school Canteen operates on Monday, Wednesday, Thursdays and  Fridays. The more volunteers, the more often this can be a regular opening. 

A current menu and price list will be shared throughout the term via the newsletter.

Ordering Lunch and Snacks at our Canteen 

ALL Lunch Orders and any preferred snacks are placed and paid for via the Qkr App (instructions attached below).

Students are invited to purchase over the counter sales of Snacks ONLY.

The canteen will only be open for over the counter sales during the first breaks each day (Recess fro Primary and Lunch for Infants). We want to allow the volunteers to finish their shift in reasonable time frame. (Half day only) 

The Qkr order is printed out and placed onto a paper lunch bag for each child. 

The lunch orders are placed in class baskets ready for collection at the designated break when the students are to eat their lunch.

The staff at St Benedict's Edgeworth are committed in their partnership with parents in providing the best education for the students in our care. We understand that questions, queries and concerns often arise for parents seeking the best outcomes for their children in a safe and supportive environment. 

Our school adheres to a CSO Complaints Framework which guides the way parents can raise concerns and the school responds to them, working in partnership for a positive solution to the situation.   

The following is a good rule of thumb on where to begin should you wish to raise any concerns or clarify any information.

1. The first port of call at such times should always be with teachers themselves via a phone call to chat or organise an appointment or an email. Please be mindful that the staff are committed to responding to emails within 1 working day of your enquiry.
2. If you do not feel the situation is adequately resolved, we ask that you contact the executive team and allow us to investigate and address your concerns.
3. Of course, there are steps beyond that should you still have concerns. However, it it is our hope and commitment that together we can resolve the problem to make for a better experience for your child and make this school the best it can be.

All steps are unpacked in the attached documents which are drawn from the CSO policy and procedure in the link below.

Our school has a fully embedded online fiance management system that will be aligned with best practices for minimising the need for money exchange within the school. The handling, storing and banking of cash presents challenges for WHS and safety/security so it is becoming common practice to reduce if not eliminate cash within our schools. 

1. School Fees are be billed for the full year in February of each year with clear instruction of when payments need to be made.
2. Preferred payment will be via regular direct debit or bpay/ funds transfer - online, in person or over the phone. Any cash payments for school fees must be paid in person by an adult and should never be sent into school with a child. 
3. The 2024 School fees will have the cost of planned excursions, carnivals, incursions, specialist sports coaches etc built into the yearly resource fee. The exact schedule is included int he lonk below but there will be more about this in next weeks newsletter and unpack exactly what these all in one fee encompasses.  
4. 
   The community of St Benedict's Edgeworth are already using Qkr App as a platform to pay for canteen purchases and P & F Fundraising. In 2024, students are only allowed to make cash purchases at the canteen for their iceblocks and drinks (Lunch orders remain on Qkr ONLY - parents can still order and pay for the iceblocks and snacks on Qkr as well). 
5. 
   From 2022, students wishing to order Book Club will do so via an online link (Book Club LOOP) that is paid for via credit card. No written orders and cash will be processed by the school. 

With all the above practice in place, there should be minimal reason for a child to have cash at school. If there are times when a child has cash at school (for example, if they made it to the Regional Swimming Carnival and need to pay the $10 fee), please place all money in an envelope.  Write your child’s name, class and reason for the contents. Having said that we are more than happy for parents to pay these costs by tapping or over the phone. 

If cash is used, clearly marked envelopes with money inside alleviate confusion if the envelope is then dropped.  Additionally, the office is very busy each morning so students simply need to hand the envelope to office staff rather than explain the purpose, their name, their class etc. 

Medical Conditions

Anaphylaxis:

There are a number of students at St Benedict’s who have life threatening anaphylactic allergic reactions to all nuts and peanut products. Families are asked not to send peanut butter, Nutella, sesame seeds, loose nuts, muesli, nut chocolate bars or any products containing any type of nuts to school. The children are NOT to share food at school.

Administering Medications at School

The school recognises that students may require administering of medicines for short term illnesses and/or long term conditions and we are committed to supporting families in enabling this to be done at school. However, it is essential that the procedures in place are strong and non-negotiable to elliminate the potential for confusion and error in a busy office especially with a school our size.

Below is a outline of the key components of the Adminstering Medicines in Schools Handbbok 2023 that parents of children who receive medication at school to read through as relevant. 

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle has an absolute and abiding commitment to promote the safety, welfare and wellbeing of children. All staff are aware of their mandated obligations and responsibilities in protecting the students of our school and other schools from abuse or neglect. 

The Children and Young Person’s (Care and Protection) Act 1998 

As teachers in the state of NSW we are required by law to report certain information to Family and Community Services (FaCS). Reports to the Child Protection Helpline (Ph. 133 111, 24 hrs/7 days) must be made where we have reasonable grounds to suspect that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm and our concerns are current. Risk of significant harm may occur from a single act or omission or to a series of acts or omissions. 

 The Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 

Under this legislation people who work in a paid (or volunteer) capacity in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle are required by law to have a Working with Children Check Clearance. This ‘Clearance’ can be obtained from applying online at check@kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au.  

With the collection and updating of details as well as other regular procedures such as medical information and even using names/ photos in newsletters, it is timely to provide parents with a copy of the CSO's commitment to collection and use of information. 

In short, our responsibility regarding the collection of your details is that it is stored securely and accessed for the purposes for which it is collected - the education of your child. The document below unpacks how we might do this.