St Paul's Newsletter: Thursday 11 February 2021
St Paul's Newsletter: Term 1, Week 3
From the Principal
Dear Families,
Regular communication is absolutely vital in a school, and we pride ourselves on our regular communication with you. It has been a while since we had a school app that we can use to send you notifications, however... We are excited to announce the arrival of Schoolzine - the SZapp. We respectfully request that all parents download (at no cost) the SZapp, find St Paul's Monbulk and register your details. Please download the SZapp to begin receiving notifications. You will then be able to view our calendar, newsletters, report student absences and receive important messages from us! Instructions are displayed below, and also attached as a pdf document if you prefer to download and save or print the instructions.
Parent-Teacher Transition Interviews
Parent-Teacher Transition Interviews will be held on Thursday 25 February. Please note that on Thursday 25 February school will conclude at 1:00pm. Students that catch the bus or go to OSHClub can be supervised by school staff until 3:00pm.
Parents that require supervision for their child before they get on the bus for either home or OSHClub on Thursday 25 February please email Helen in the office - office@spmonbulk.catholic.edu.au.
Face to Face Interviews
It is important at St Paul's that we ask (rather than tell) parents what they want. We were very grateful to receive over 20 responses to last week's parent survey on the format of our Parent-Teacher Transition Interviews. The survey was not designed as a vote, but an opportunity for staff to collect some data that will assist our decision making. Our staff truly value the human connection we have with our families, and as one respondent stated in the comments section, some of us are a little 'zoomed out!' by video conferences. Having said that, 41% of respondents indicated they would be happy with online interviews and we all know there are benefits for both formats. Thank you very much to those that completed the survey, the responses were very reasonable and considered.
In conclusion, we have made the decision to hold our interviews face to face, on the school site in classrooms, and we thank you all for your input. Booking instructions will be sent out early next week.
3:00pm School Pick up
In the morning and throughout the day parents are welcome onto the school site, however, due to our density limits we respectfully request that, for the time being, parents refrain from entering classrooms.
Parents must be mindful that, under COVID-19 Government requirements, any person that is on the St Paul's site longer than 15 minutes MUST sign in at the office. When dropping off or picking up please ensure that you are not on the school site any longer than 15 minutes.
As of this Monday 15 February it is time to end our Covid afternoon pick up arrangements.
I wish to acknowledge the patience that our families and staff have shown since we introduced the system, you have been fantastic. As a staff we are constantly reflecting on our practices and during this week's staff meeting we agreed that we can now safely manage with parents picking children up from classrooms. Obviously, if the Government tighten restrictions throughout the year we may need to return to escorting children to cars as they line up, but from Monday we can take a break.
Parents can come on site, and can come into meeting and office spaces when necessary. However, it is important to note that we do still have a limit to the number of people we can safely have in the school. Under COVID restrictions 1 person per 2 square metres can be in a classroom, meeting or office space. This limit applies to visitors, staff and students. Further to this, anyone on site more than 15 minutes must sign in. This is why we can't have people just coming and going in unlimited numbers and we need to still maintain some limits.
We respectfully ask that parents follow these pick up procedures beginning Monday afternoon:
- At 3:00pm students that walk home or to Woolworths will meet Mr Watt at the bottom of the court where we currently line all classes up. Mr Watt will safely dismiss those students.
- At 3:00pm students that catch the bus home or to OSHClub will make their way to the Church/School Foyer. Young students catching the bus can be escorted by staff to the foyer if necessary. A member of staff will be waiting to safely escort these students to the bus.
- Older siblings that are walking or catching the bus can collect younger siblings from the classroom.
- At 3:00pm, students that remain in the classroom waiting for parents will be supervised by teachers. The teachers will be at the doorways to the classrooms/buildings and when they see the parent, they will call your child out.
PARENTS: If you are picking up your child, please refrain from entering the buildings. We ask that parents wait outside in the following areas:
PREP/1B (Mrs Dietrich and Mrs Ranahan) - Please wait at the playground/oval end of the building, around the stage, maintaining social distance, and the teachers will bring your children out to you.
PREP/1A (Mrs Cook and Mrs Ranahan) & Year 2/3A (Mrs Vermeer and Mrs Curwood) - Please wait in the undercover area, maintaining social distance, and the teachers will bring your children out to you.
Year 4/5A (Mrs McIntosh & Mrs Peels) & Year 5/6A (Carolynne Boyd) - Please wait outside the senior classrooms, maintaining social distance, and the teachers will let your children out of the room when they can see you.
Unfortunately, due to safety and duty of care, the school playground is out of bounds to families at pick up time. We respectfully ask that parents not allow children to play on the playground while waiting, thanks for your understanding.
Secondhand Uniform Shop
Our secondhand uniform shop is managed by Kylie Storer with items being purchased by gold coin donation. If you are looking for items of secondhand uniform please feel free to text Kylie on 0430 546 611 with your wish list. Kylie will be at school on Friday mornings if parents wish to pick up uniform items then.
We are also looking for another parent to assist Kylie with the running of the secondhand uniform shop. If you are able to help out please contact the school office.
The secondhand uniform shop welcomes donations of St Paul's current school uniform items which are still in good condition. We do not accept the old St Paul's round neck jumpers or yellow shirts. If you have any current uniform items you no longer need please feel free to leave your donations at the school office.
Prayer Gathering Assembly - Tuesday: Parents Welcome
This Tuesday 16 February we will hold our next Prayer Gathering Assembly at 2:10pm. In order to allow parents to attend on Tuesday, and the forecast being a very nice 28 degrees, we will hold our Prayer Gathering Assembly outside. We have attempted live streaming for our parents, but due to a number of issues, this has not been successful.
This Tuesday we will present School Leader Badges, Mini Monbulker Badges, SRC Certificates, Class Awards, and Birthday Certificates for January. We will record the Prayer Gathering Assembly and we will email the recording out to parents for those that can not attend.
Ash Wednesday
On 17 February, there will be a Mass for students and staff only to commemorate Ash Wednesday as the official beginning to the season of Lent. The Mass will commence in St Paul’s Church at 11:45am.
Kind regards,
Michael Watt
2022 Prep Transition
Spread the word! St Paul's is inviting 3yo, 4yo and 5yo pre-school children to join our "Ready, Set, Prep!" program. Fortnightly, on a Friday, we will run sessions that give children a "taste" of school life. If you know any families with pre-school children, please encourage them to contact us and register for the program.
School Closure Days:
Please note the following days in your diary. There is NO SCHOOL for students on the following dates:
- TERM 1 - Friday 19 March 2021
- TERM 2 - Thursday 20 May 2021
- TERM 2 - Friday 21 May 2021
- TERM 3 - TBC
- TERM 4 - TBC
From the School Office
Fee statements have been emailed to families yesterday. If you have not received your statements, or have any queries relating to school fees, please contact the school office. Please note, no Health Care Care discounts or CSEF funding has been applied to accounts at this stage.
- 8.30am - 4.00pm Monday to Thursday
- 8.30am - 3.30pm Fridays
- Email: office@spmonbulk.catholic.edu.au
- Phone: 9756 7201
While reducing face to face contact remains a priority, contact with the office is still preferred via email or phone where possible. If visiting the office in person please ensure you are wearing a face mask. Please also note that we can have no more than two visitors in the office reception area at any one time and be mindful of social distancing, thank you.
Health Care Card (HCC) - Fee Discounts
If you have a valid Health Care Card it is important that you contact the school office as you may be eligible for a $500 discount on your school fees. You may also be eligible for additional CSEF Funding. See 'Fee Support For Families' below for further details.
OSHClub
Out of School Hours Care: OSH Club
Newsletter
Enrolments, Bookings and Enquiries
Parents will need to enrol with OSHClub. Please visit https://www.oshclub.com.au/ and click on "REGISTER". You will need to enrol with the Monbulk Primary School service.
Uniform Shop
School Uniform Shop
Ross Haywood Sports - Update:
St Paul's Online Uniform Shop
https://www.rhsports.com.au/product/school_wear/st_pauls_monbulk_ps
With lockdown restrictions easing we are happy to announce that the Uniform Shop at 12/100 New St, Ringwood is open for in person purchases with some restrictions.
For the health and safety of both our Customers and Employees, the shop will be open to one family group at a time. Should there already be customers in the store we ask that you wait outside.
The store is now a CASHLESS STORE, EFTPOS transactions will be the only acceptable method of purchase. We have also closed the changerooms and sample sizes will not be able to be tried on by students in the short term.
We have also made some changes in the shop including perspex screens at the registers and hand sanitisers supplied. We ask that parents please apply this as you enter the store.
Online ordering continues as normal with all delivery options available including contactless pick up as previously mentioned.
Please phone the store on 9870 1377 if you have any further queries.
Secondhand Uniform Shop - Now Open
Our secondhand uniform shop is managed by Kylie Storer with items being purchased by gold coin donation. If you are looking for items of secondhand uniform please feel free to text Kylie on 0430 546 611 with your wish list. Kylie will be at school on Thursday mornings if parents wish to pick up uniform items then. Simply text Kylie first, then after dropping your children off at school, park your car and wait. Kylie will bring your secondhand uniforms items out to your car.
The secondhand uniform shop welcomes donations of St Paul's current school uniform which is still in good condition and for which you no longer have a need. Please feel free to leave donations at the school office.
Community Notices
Information for Families
Below you can find various information including the following:
- Fee Support for Families
- Operoo (formerly Care Monkey)
- Conveyance Allowance
- PTV - School Bus Management System
- CDF Pay - Online School Shop
- NCCD - Nationally Consistent Collection of Data
- Ministerial Order No. 870 - Child Safe Standards
Fee Support for Families
Do you have a valid Concession Card or Health Care Card (HCC)?
If so, you could be entitled to financial support in the form of:
1. Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)
The CSEF is a state government funded scheme to assist eligible families with payments for their child’s camps, sports, and excursion activities run by their school. To be eligible, parents must hold a valid means-tested concession card, see further information on the flyer below.
- Families who received CSEF support in 2020 do not need to re-apply as the application will remain active for 2021. However, if you have an additional student who has commenced school this year, you will need to contact the office to add them to your application.
- If you have not received CSEF support in the past and are unsure as to whether you qualify please contact the school office to discuss eligibility and/or to request an Application form.
2. Health Care Card Holder Discounts
Please note holders of valid and current Australian Government Health Care/Concession Cards may also be eligible for fee relief of $500 towards school fees/levies for the current year. If you have any queries or feel you may be eligible, please contact the school office.
The Catholic System also provides additional funding to the school, per eligible child. The funds for this additional support are provided by Catholic Education Melbourne and can be used to provide a portion of additional fee relief for eligible families.
Operoo (formerly Care Monkey)
Please ensure you login to Operoo to update the Student Profiles for your children—it is essential that we have current medical, contact and family details for all students to ensure our information is always up to date.
Conveyance Allowance
- If you are currently receiving Conveyance Allowance there is no need to re-apply unless you have an additional student who has commenced school this year.
- If you are not sure whether you qualify for Conveyance Allowance but believe you may be eligible please contact the school office to discuss eligibility or to request an Application form.
School Bus Management System (SBMS)
The school bus is managed by Public Transport Victoria (PTV) via the School Bus Management System (SBMS). If you have any questions or wish to apply for a place on the school bus, please contact PTV on 1800 800 007 or visit the PTV website: schoolbusapplication.ptv.vic.gov.au
CDF Pay - School Payment System
NCCD - Nationally Consistent Collection of Data
