Principal's Message
Dear Parents,
Welcome to our new kinders, their families and all the new students to St Anne's. It’s great to settle into our routines.
Thanks to Chris Lewis, Jason Hollard and staff for their organisation of the Swimming Carnival yesterday. We had perfect weather for a great day of competition. Congratulations to all our students who competed. The presentation of ribbons and the winning House Team will be held in the school hall on Wednesday, February 14th at 2:45pm. Families are welcome to attend.
Our Teacher/Parent conferences for Yr 1-6 students are coming up next week. This is a great opportunity to meet your child’s teacher and discuss any relevant information in regard to your child. A reminder that this interview is not for the teacher to give feedback on your child’s progress but an opportunity to meet and discuss any specific needs or just to meet and build a relationship with the teacher. I hope all our parents will take up this opportunity next week. Bookings may be made via your Compass Parent Portal.
Today is Shrove Tuesday and all students will be offered a pancake at recess. Tomorrow our Kinder to Yr 2 students will be receiving the ashes for Ash Wednesday in a class Liturgy, while our Yr 3-6 students will attend Mass at Sacred Heart Church at 9.30am.
Keep smiling and have a great week, Bede
Key Dates - 2024
- Tuesday 13th February - Shrove Tuesday
- Tuesday 13th February - HotDog Day orders due by 3pm (for Hot Dog Day on 16th Feb.)
- Wednesday 14th February - Ash Wednesday - Yr 3-6 Mass @ Sacred Heart 9.30am
- Wednesday 14th February - Swimming Carnival presentation, 2.45pm in the hall
- Wednesday 14th February - Book Club Issue 1 orders due
- Friday 16th February - HotDog Day (order via Qkr! App, by 3pm 13 Feb)
- Tuesday 20th & Wednesday 21st February - Yr 1-6 Parent Teacher Conferences 3.30-6pm
- Wednesday 21st February - Library Lovers' Day competition entries due
- Thursday 22nd February - Opening School Mass 11.40am in our school hall
- Wednesday 28 February - School fee Instalment Agreements due (otherwise fees due for payment in full by 29th Feb) see details below.
- Wednesday 6th March - School Photo Day
- Friday 22nd March - Gold Cup Half Day Holiday (Students do not attend as staff complete PD in the morning)
- Wednesday 27th March - Stations of the Cross (details to follow)
- Friday 29th March - Good Friday holiday
- Monday 1st April - Easter Monday Holiday
- Friday 12th April - Last day of Term 1
Canteen News
Qkr! App
There have been some ongoing issues accessing the Qkr! App on new android phones. Qkr! are aware of the issue but have not provided a solution to date. If you are experiencing difficulties with the App, please access the Qkr! website on a browser (eg. Google Chrome) on a computer or on your phone via the link below.
Volunteering at school
We are very grateful for the assistance that parents/grandparents provide in our school. Any helpers/volunteers (including canteen, sport, event fundraising and classroom helpers) will need to either -
- Provide the details of their Working With Children Check (if they have one). We require full name, date of birth, WWCC number and WWCC expiry date. These details may take several days to be verified before a volunteer can help in our school, so please email this information to the office (sana-info@ww.catholic.edu.au) well in advance.
- Complete a CEDWW Volunteers Declaration and show an identity document (eg. drivers licence). These forms are available from the office. This declaration needs to be completed annually, therefore anyone who completed a form last year will need to complete a new form.
It is worth noting that a WWCC for volunteers is easily obtained through Service NSW, is free for volunteers and lasts for five years. Check out further information here.
School Fees
School Fee statements have been emailed to families. Please contact Tina in the office if you did not receive your statement (anyone with a 'Hotmail' account may need to check their Spam folder).
School fees are due to be paid in full by 29th February 2024, unless you elect to pay by instalments (weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments). If you choose to pay by instalment, please follow the 'Instalment Agreement' link in the fee email to select your preferred option, before 29th February. Please note that BPAY is our preferred payment method, your BPAY reference can be found at the bottom of your statement.
Medication / Medical Conditions
Every year, we require updated medical plans for our students. Therefore if your child has Asthma, Anaphylaxis, etc, you will need to supply an updated plan, supplied by your child's doctor, to the office.
We also need all Medication Consent forms to be updated for 2024. Therefore if your child takes any medication at school (eg. for asthma, hay-fever, etc.) you will need to complete a new form. Parents need to supply any medications required for their child. Please note that any prescribed medication must be provided to the school in the original, labelled packaging supplied by the chemist. Medication Consent forms are available from the office and must be returned to the office, with the relevant medication, by the parent/carer.
Safer Internet Day
Last Tuesday there was a focus in class on online safety. Our students took part in online webinars, safer internet activities and class discussions. Click on the link below to find some very useful resources for parents.
Swimming Carnival Yr 1-6
Book Club
Copies of the Book Club catalogue #1 were sent home last week, orders are due by 9am on Wednesday, 14th February. The current issued can be previewed here.
Library Lovers' Day Competition
Tomorrow (14th Feb) is Library Lovers' Day. To celebrate, students may enter our Library competition to win one of four $20 Book Club vouchers. Entry forms were sent home today, entries are due back next Wednesday, 21st February.
RE News
Gospel for Ash Wednesday
In the gospel for Ash Wednesday, Jesus says that we should do good deeds to please God, not to show off to other people and get their approval. God can always see us and will reward us for the good things we do. In the same way, we should go to a quiet place when we pray so that we can focus on talking to God, rather than focusing on the people around us. God always hears us and will reward us.
The Gospel
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 6:1, 5-6
Your Father, who sees all that is done in secret, will reward you.
Jesus said to his disciples: "When you do good deeds, don't try to show off. If you do, you won't get a reward from your Father in heaven. "When you pray, don't be like those show-offs who love to stand up and pray in the meeting places and on the street corners. They do this just to look good. I promise you that they already have their reward. "When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you."
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflecting on the gospel - discussion
- What happens to caterpillars? They change into butterflies.
- What are we supposed to do during Lent? We try to change too.
- We try to give up our old ways, become more like Jesus and love others more.
- What are some things you can change as an individual or as a family this Lent?
Sport News
Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival Presentations
Presentation of ribbons, the winning House Team and notes for Deanery will be presented on Wednesday, February 14th at 2:45 in the school hall. All are welcome to attend.
Bus Travel in 2024
- St Anne's students who had a bus pass in 2023, and remain eligible, should automatically receive a new pass for 2024 (there is no need to reapply).
- A new application will need to be submitted for any student who is applying for the first time, or if the request relates to additional travel entitlement because of new shared parental arrangement (e.g. joint custody). These applications can be made here.
- Students who have changed their home address will need to have their details updated here.
Absences for after-school-care
If your child attends after-school-care and they are absent from school, please remember to advise the care provider. We often have providers waiting/searching for children who are absent from school.
Extended Leave
A reminder to families that if your child will be away for 10 or more consecutive school days (eg. for a family holiday), then you will need to submit an 'Application for Extended Leave'. See the 'Compass Attendance' information towards the end of this newsletter for further details.
Uniform Shop
Our Uniform Shop is open each Friday from 3-3.30pm. Please email sana-info@ww.catholic.edu.au with your requirements if you can't make that time and we will pass your request on to Luisa to process.
We have lots of good quality second hand uniform items for sale as well as new hats, bags and art smocks.
Qkr! App
Our Qkr! App is the platform that we use to process transactions for our Canteen Orders and some special events, like the School Disco.
Qkr! is an efficient and accurate way of tallying our daily canteen orders and a brilliant time saver when collating and organising our students' lunch orders.
Recently we have had several students report that they have not received their lunch orders, only to find that the canteen has no record of their order. We would suggest that parents check their receipt on the Qkr! App to ensure that their order has been processed for the correct date and for the correct menu items and quantity.
Compass School Manager
Our Compass School Manager is the platform that we communicate with parents about all aspects of their child's school life. Our school attendance, calendar, news feed, student reports, parent teacher conference bookings, event consent/payments and many other services are accessible.
We strongly advise all parents to ensure that they have access to their Compass account on a mobile App or a desktop computer. All parents are issued a username and temporary password when their child is enrolled at St Anne's. If you are experiencing any difficulties accessing your account, please don't hesitate to contact Karon on grimmerk@ww.catholic.edu.au.
Compass Attendance
A reminder that all students who arrive at school after the morning bell at 8.55am, must be accompanied by an adult into our office to sign in on our Compass kiosk. This is a legal requirement and students may not sign themselves in. You will now be asked to provide a reason for the late arrival.
If you are picking up your child during the school day, for any reason eg. medical appointment or early departure, please send a written note in with your child to their teacher with all relevant details. Compass can not be used to notify teachers of early pickups. Compass is only to notify the school of full day absences. If you arrive at school to collect a child without prior notification, please allow extra time to locate your child on the school grounds, especially during break times and when at music, science or sport.
Parents/carers are required to submit an attendance note for any full day absences of their child from school. This can be done in the Compass App or in the Compass portal online. Please ensure you provide all the relevant details for why your child/children are not at school, as any notes added without a comment or details will be recorded as an unjustified absence. Please see the relevant link below for guidance on how to record an absence on the Compass App.
When families take students out of school during the school term for holidays, there are strict legal requirements that need to be met. If a student is going to be absent for up to 9 days, no formal application is required and parents may enter the absence on Compass under the 'Travel' option. If the absence is for 10 days or more, an application is required to be completed by parents prior to travel and approval will be required by the Principal or officials from CEDWW. If the leave is 21 days or more, parents are required to provide an educational plan to the school for approval. Extended leave forms are available from the school office.
Past Newsletters
- Term 1 Week 2 - https://new.express.adobe.com/webpage/xjZOLa0hKtUQF