Handbook

Dear Parents,

As part of the community of St Finbar’s, this handbook shares with you information related to organisational procedures, but it also introduces you to a vision of the school that directly affects your child. Like all visions, it is something we aspire towards and never quite capture. With time, it changes form and direction as parents, children, staff, Principal and pastor add to it, their own perspective.

By sending your child to St Finbar’s, you have openly, and at personal cost, affirmed your belief in the basic values of a Christian Education. Your home, of course, is your child’s first classroom and their first Church. We, as a staff, attempt to build on the values and skills that you have taught your children.

We want to assist you in preparing your child for the vastly different world and the challenges that are ahead of them.

Your child’s management of life will require the skills of being able to read and write and be numerate. They also will need to be good researchers, critical thinkers, problem solvers and have an ability to work within a team. We seek to challenge all children to strive for personal best.

I invite each parent to consider themselves an essential member of the school community and I pray that you will always know hospitality and friendliness within this Church community. It is only when we experience this openness that we live the promise of Jesus that ‘where two or more gather, I am there too’.  May we recognise Him in the ways He walks with us this year.

Thank you for entrusting our school with the education of your child – it is a privilege to share this journey with you.

Yours in education,

Robyn Clarke
Principal

Holy St Finbar, ask the Lord to bless our school we pray.
St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, lead us in God’s sacred way.
May your spirit guide us in faith, truth and knowledge,
As we strive to be all that we can be,
Serving our parish school community.

School prayer launched St Finbar’s Day, 25th September 2006
Written by Kathryn Bowler, Patrick Bowler, Leann Duff & Gretel Turl

Faith Truth and Knowledge

© 2010 by Amanda McKenna – Willow Publishing Pty Ltd

Verse 1

When the railway came through Dharug Land
the immigrants came with their families
Then the Josephite Sisters
heard the call to lend a hand
from St Finbar’s Community
And each new generation
join their voices to our song

Chorus

Singing Faith, Truth and Knowledge
as together we learn and grow
With Faith, Truth and Knowledge
we will take the love of Jesus to the world

Verse 2

We are called to be people of peace;
to share what we have and to do our best
where the flowers and animals
find a home among the trees
in the mountains we share with our friends
And each new generation
join their voices to our song

Chorus

Singing Faith, Truth and Knowledge
as together we learn and grow
With Faith, Truth and Knowledge
we will take the love of Jesus to the world
to the world
to the world

When a child has been absent from school, a written note of explanation is required by the class teacher; not a telephone call.  This is a legal requirement that informs the legal record keeping of the class roll.

Parents are reminded that frequent absence or lateness is an obstacle to learning.

The Principal must be informed in writing regarding intentions for absences from school for periods of a week and over for family holidays.

In maintaining a safe and supportive environment, St Finbar’s adheres to the principles and practices of CEO Anti-Racism Policy. If any student or parent has concerns pertaining to matters of anti-racism, they should contact the Assistant Principal or Principal.

If you have any concern about your child, please see your child's teacher first. Discussion with the class teacher can only be held outside school hours, and by appointment. When there is a concern about your child, an appointment will be arranged to see how both the home and school can work together.

If you are not satisfied with the outcomes of this first meeting, and wish to wish to discuss the matter further, you are asked to contact the Assistant Principal. If you continue to have concerns, please contact the Principal by making an appointment through the secretary.

Please refer to the St Finbar’s Complaints & Grievances Procedures for further information.

Should you anticipate a need for more information, a brief note about your concerns would allow the gathering of this information prior to the meeting.

Each year St Finbar's will host 3 School Assemblies per term.  These assemblies will give opportunity for community prayer, the celebration of community news, the sharing of learning and the presentation of PBS4L Learning, Safe, Respectful Awards. Students will also receive recognition for times that have shown their faith in their daily actions. 

The venue will be the Parish Hall.  Parents should refer to the parent calendar shared on our Skoolbag App, to identify when these assemblies will be held and to know which class will lead the item. Assemblies are usually held on weeks 3, 6 and 9 of each term.

St Finbar’s students are expected to take notice of and adhere to the 'Code of Conduct' while travelling on the bus as set out by the New South Wales Department of Transport.

The school's responsibility for children starts and finishes at the school gate; therefore, responsibility for the children's behaviour on the buses is the concern of the parents and the bus company. Serious misbehaviour will be reported immediately to parents for their action.

If you wish to report any concerns regarding student behaviour on a bus please contact the Assistant Principal.

For enquiries regarding the issuing of bus passes, please contact the school’s administration secretary.

As it is most important that the school be able to contact a parent at any time of the day, parents are asked to make sure that any change in address or phone number is made known to the school, including work telephone numbers.

Family Learning Conferences are conducted during Term 1 and Term 2.

Our conference in Term 1 provides families with an opportunity for families to talk about their learning goals for their child and share critical information with teachers that will assist your child to achieve their potential. Teachers will also outline classroom routines and processes. In Term 2, families will have a chance to meet with teachers to discuss their child's Semester 1 Report.

Semester 1 and Semester 2 Reports (June and December) communicate effort and performance in each subject area. After receiving these reports, parents are welcome to make an appointment with staff to discuss any areas of concern or uncertainty.

Staff will communicate with families, at other times throughout the year, to ensure their child is reaching their potential socially, emotionally and academically.

The clothing pool sells good quality second hand uniforms at a very reasonable price. These are available for sale each Thursday morning.

If you wish to sell a uniform item, it may be left at the office. Please indicate your child's name, class and sale price.  Donations of second hand clothing will also be gratefully accepted.

The school newsletter will go home fortnightly, each Thursday, via our SkoolBag App. It is also published on our school website.

It is very important that this newsletter is accessed each fortnight, as it contains important information about upcoming events, school, P&F and parish messages and information from the Principal, Assistant Principal and Religious Education Coordinator.

For safety reasons all parents are asked to pick up their children from the lower playground. Children will not be permitted to leave the school grounds to meet their parents in parked cars. Children are also not to be collected from the classroom door.

On wet weather days, children will be assembled under the shelter on the Infants PLayground and will be dismissed by the supervising teachers. Parents will access this playground via the COSHC Gate, located at the Easterly end of the King Street boundary fence.

All children travelling by bus are required to have an Opal Card or the appropriate bus fare. To be eligible for free travel in Primary, the distance criteria is 1.6 Km radial or 2.3 walking distance from the child's place of residence to the school. Infant children are eligible for free travel. If a bus pass is lost a fee is charged by the bus company for the replacement of the pass.

You can access the bus timetable here.

In case of an emergency the school siren will be activated. All children and adults will be assembled and taken to the Parish Centre. All rooms are checked and rechecked. The class roll is then taken. In the Parish Centre the children will wait until the school is notified by the authorities that it is safe to return to the classrooms.

Only parents or a designated person may pick up children from the Parish Centre. No child will be allowed to go with another person without prior arrangements or a note. The children left will remain with the staff and move wherever the emergency authorities allow us to go. It is better for the whole school community that all children are appropriately accounted for. Well meaning acts of kindness to take neighbouring children home without parental permission would not help the situation and could actually make things worse.

We hope that these procedures are never put to a real test, but rest assured we are prepared just in case.

• Register of Enrolments: when a student under the age of 15 years leaves school with an unknown destination, the school has the responsibility to notify the local DET School Education Area. They must provide the name and last known contact details for the student concerned. If parents remove their child from St Finbar’s without advising of their new school destination, this procedure will be implemented.

• Priority of Enrolment: St Finbar’s is required to follow the ‘Diocesan Enrolment Policy’ giving priority to those students/families outlined in this said policy. This policy is available from the school office.

In an ongoing plan of ensuring student, staff and community safety in the event of an evacuation being required, drills are held each term. Evacuation procedures are displayed throughout the school.

Procedures also exist for the event of a ‘Lock Down’ situation e.g intruder, an abuse situation, community safety action.

During the course of your child's education, there will be opportunities to extend his/her experience beyond the walls of the classroom and playground fences in a structured way.

Today parents and teachers have a greater understanding of how children learn and the curricula strongly supports practical experience as an effective way of developing concepts, understandings and insights so necessary at all levels. The provision of opportunities for pupils to participate in experiences in the wider community setting is a means of integrating and supplementing the curriculum.

In recent years, the practice at St Finbar’s has been to have visiting performing groups to the school, such activities are known as incursions. This helps to balance the time involved travelling and cost of transport with the convenience of K - 6 in-house experiences from a wide variety of sources.

The process for planning an incursion or excursion involves the teacher, in liaison with the Principal, in determining the suitability of the proposal in achieving effective learning outcomes, safety and supervision of children, costing, transport, time involved. We will continue to monitor our choice of excursions, keeping these factors in mind, and at all times, ensuring that they are an integrated part of the classroom work being done.

To fulfil our duty of care for students, notes fully describing the nature of excursions will be sent to parents ahead of time. Permission slips will need to be returned with all the relevant information completed.

Family Learning Conferences are conducted to provide an opportunity for teachers to establish positive partnerships with students and their families around their social, emotional, spiritual and academic needs.  These will be conducted in week 5 of Term 1 to facilitate early parent and teacher communication regarding your child's needs.

Half-yearly and Yearly reports (June and December) communicate effort and performance in each subject area.  After receiving these reports, parents are welcome to make an appointment with staff to discuss any areas of concern or uncertainty.

Communication will also be made on a needs basis,when it is deemed that there are difficulties that need to be brought to the parent's attention. This communication may occur through our school diary, telephone, email or meetings by appointment.

Homework is set for children from Year 1 to Year 6. Homework is designed to develop independence in study habits. In these times of changing family activities and demands upon time, staff have identified the relevance of setting cyclic or contract homework. Such practices allow students and parents to make informed judgements regarding homework planning, completion and scheduling.

Parents are asked to help by providing a quiet place that aids concentration and neatness. If your child is not doing homework, or is spending excessive time doing what is set, please contact the class teacher.

When homework has not been done, or not completed consistently, the parents will be informed by the teacher. Homework will never be used as a disciplinary measure.

Kindergarten do not receive formal homework tasks but are provided with activities that allow them to revise their learning foundations e.g sight words, letters, numbers, simple books.

Homework shall include activities that revise and consolidate class content. The above mentioned times allow for a balance of written work and reading. In the younger years of school, reading should be done aloud. As the children become more confident and independent this can become their own ‘quiet time’ activity. It would also be a great activity for confident readers to read bedtime stories to younger siblings.

The responsibility of supervising the homework is essentially with parents, therefore, if the parent decided that a family celebration or agenda is a more important priority for that night, the school will respect that decision. A brief note from the parents explaining this will help us at the school end.

Any children arriving at school after 8.57 am and leaving before 3.10 pm need a form to give to the child's teacher signed by the caregiver and stating the reason for being later or leaving early. These forms are available from the office.

NO child may leave the school grounds without the explicit permission of the Principal, or, in their absence, the Assistant Principal. Legally, it is very important that this precaution is taken.

If children arrive after Assembly dismissal, they are deemed late and must be accompanied to the office by their parents to complete a Late Note Advice. This is then recorded in class rolls as a legal record of attendance.

All lost property can be found in the school canteen. It will remain here for three weeks and if unclaimed, it will be cleaned and then given to the second hand uniform collection.

A sense of responsibility and care should be nurtured in children to care for their belongings. All clothing and belongings need to be marked clearly with the child's name and labels checked regularly.

Custom & practice if a child does not have any lunch is:

1. Parent will be contacted to provide lunch and / or to make alternate arrangements. If neither parent can be contacted, the family’s local emergency contact will be rung (but we certainly wouldn’t bother Grandma from Blacktown).
2. If none of the above can be contacted, staff will supply lunch from staffroom supplies.
3. Siblings may also be asked to contribute to the lunch of their brother/sister if they have sufficient to share.

If none of the above options solve the problem, the last step is to seek offers of excess food from friends who may have some available. This would only be implemented after checking the school’s medical & allergy database to ensure student safety.

Parents of a child, who is required to have medication during school hours, must arrange to supply such medication to the Principal with written permission and instructions as to its dispensing. Children who take medication at the same time every day must have written instructions from their Doctor. Medication, when not being dispensed, must be securely locked away. Children who are asthmatic need to keep their puffer/ventolin with them. Please see below.

All care must be taken by persons accepting responsibility for the administration of medication and the Medical Sheet in the office must be signed by the person administering same. Any person refusing to accept such responsibility may do so, unless it was a known condition of employment at the time of engagement.

Anaphylactic Students

At St Finbar’s we currently have several students who are anaphylactic – for whom medical plans have been established. These students have procedures for care which all staff are asked to familiarise themselves with.

Asthma

Parents have been asked to fill in, and send back, a management plan for their child.  A copy of this is kept on the child’s file, classroom and casual teacher’s folder.  Medication needs to be kept on the child or nearby at all times.  The school has ventolin and spacers if there is an emergency. 

In the interest and safety of our asthmatic students, aerosol cans (deodorants, body sprays & hair sprays) are not permitted at school.

Stimulant Medication - School Procedure For Administering

When a student is prescribed stimulant medication that is to be taken at school, the school requires a note from the doctor naming the medication and the dosage and time of the dosage. The medicine must be presented in the original bottle/box from the dispensing chemist.  The school requires a week's dosage to be sent each Monday. On CEO advice, we are not allowed to hold a larger supply.  

All medication must be handed in at the school office, where it is kept under lock and key. The secretary is usually the person who dispenses the medication and she keeps and signs a daily diary for any dispensing. The appropriate allowance is paid for this task.

If the doctor advises that the amount of medication or the time of the dosage needs to change, then the school requires a letter from the doctor with advice regarding the changes. Arrangements cannot be changed until the school receives a letter from the doctor.

Our student reward system is linked to our Positive Behaviour Support for Learning program.

PBS4L Tokens

A student’s positive behaviour is rewarded with a PBS4L Token. Tokens are present in all spaces around the school. When providing a student with a Token, it should be acknowledged that they are receiving it for being respectful or safe or a learner. This enforces and acknowledges the positive behaviours that are present in our school

The school day commences with morning assembly. Staff use the time moving from assembly to the classroom to settle children, make contact with them and begin to prepare daily routines and expectations. It is therefore disruptive to these processes when parents accompany the children on these class lines, talking with the children, engaging with the teacher and / or other parents. It is also disturbing / disruptive to those children whose parents do not employ this practice. This practice is not in the best interest of all members of our school and we seek parent support in eliminating this practice.

Parents should not be approaching staff members when they are supervising students. Matters of urgency or importance can be communicated to the teacher / staff member via a written note, or a message left with the Office staff.

All parents or guardians of children attending St Finbar’s School are members of the Parents & Friends Group. The Parent's Group is an incorporated body.

The aims of the Group are:

• to develop a community at St Finbar’s, which is a manifestation of Christ in each of us
• to encourage positive interaction among the members of the school community
• to create a welcoming atmosphere
• to promote a practical Christian community by developing a sense of belonging and caring
• to create an awareness of, and empathy for, the variety of families with their differing needs in the school community, and to establish a supportive network for these needs
• to encourage opportunities for individual growth by promoting involvement in school activities, thus encouraging a cohesive community.

Each year, this group undertakes fundraising and community building activities.

Meetings are advertised in the term calendar and school newsletters. All parents are invited to attend these meetings and to support initiatives.

In the interest of student safety, the Levy Street car park is for staff use only and will be closed between 9:00 - 3:30 pm each day. Parents visiting the school will enter through the unlocked pedestrian gate. This gate is to remain closed at all times.

As a courtesy to others and to our neighbours, when dropping children off at school or picking them up, parents are asked not to park across driveways. Parents are also asked not to park on the footpaths of homes in Tabor & Carmel Streets.

Please note the location of the driveway entry of the Parish House in Levy Street.

Parents are not to park in parish parking lot at anytime as these are for the use of visitors to the parish for business or masses.

Community road safety is the responsibility of all. Parents are required to observe 40km speed zone and parking signs – particularly the No Stopping sign on the eastern side of the Levy Street entrance.

St Finbar’s has a very strong sense of mission as a community founded in the Gospel values. This is actively lived through our care of one another. We have a strong partnership with the parish to ensure the care of all within this community.

At a school level, we are additionally blessed to have an active Pastoral Care group led by parents. This group can assist with meals at times of need and other practical needs when families or individuals find themselves needing ‘a helping hand.’

Parents are invited to refer to the Pastoral Care Policy available by contacting the school office.

In keeping with Occupational Safety and Health regulations and our duty of care for all on the school site, pets should be left at home and not brought to school. This guideline also includes not bringing the family dog to school when dropping off or collecting children.

If children wish to bring animals to school for a special reason we are bound to follow the Animals in Schools protocols. Please contact the Principal or Assistant Principal for relevant advice.

As a diocesan school, St Finbar’s adheres to the policies and procedures of the Catholic Education Office, Parramatta. 

As a Catholic school, committed to celebrating and sharing our faith, we believe it is paramount that parents avail themselves of opportunities to share in the faith life of the school. As the first educators in your child’s faith, following your presentation of them for Baptism, your children will look to you to lead them, and share with them, in this central part of their life.

These opportunities include:

• Monday morning school prayer
• grade and stage liturgies
• special liturgical celebrations & feast days.

At St Finbar’s, we have in place a three year cycle of celebrations, linked to the Church’s Liturgical Years:

If your child attains the honour of representing St Finbar’s at sporting levels above school participation, we will support families by paying the registration costs. Families are asked to pay for any items of clothing required.

For more information visit the PDCPSSC website.

Parents are asked to be mindful that class organisation and lessons commence at 9:00am each morning. Therefore, it is disruptive to the children if they are arriving late on a regular basis.

Broken hours of attendance, regular & frequent late arrivals / early departures are disruptive to the children’s learning and can impact on classroom organisation and the learning of others.

If a child becomes sick at school or meets with an accident, parents will be telephoned and asked to collect the sick child. In the meantime, the child will be cared for in the sick bay. Parents will always be contacted in the event of a suspected fracture or head injury and their direction will be sought.

In an emergency situation, the Principal will assume responsibility for the child until a parent can be contacted, or present e.g accompany child to the hospital.

It is important that parents ensure updated and current contact numbers are on file in the office. Special consideration is needed with mobile phone numbers.

As a Catholic school committed to Christ in our world today, we participate in a number of social justice initiatives. These include the work of Fr Chris Riley - Youth on the Streets, the Glenbrook chapter of St Vincent de Paul, and Caritas Australia.

The Catholic Education Office allows the school four pupil free days per year for the staff to use a block of time to develop school-based curricula or other approved staff development exercise. Even though this can be a challenge for parents, especially when both parents work, they are a valuable way to ensure there is good professional learning for the staff and planning for the school and, therefore, of value for your child's education.

The dates will be available on our school calendar and published via the newsletter.

Formerly known as Discipline Policy

St Finbar’s School is committed to providing a safe and caring environment, which fosters love, respect and genuine concern for the well being of others. With this in mind, the decision has been made to rename this policy so that it reflects the importance of relationships. As people of Christ we endeavour to share his love and peace with one another through our relationships – our school reflects this and so do our student management procedures. Through these procedures we try to develop:

• children’s self-control / self-discipline
• children’s accountability for their own behaviour
• children’s respect for others’ rights including the teachers
• fair and honest treatment of each other
• a cooperative classroom atmosphere.

The school has the following School Expectations for students which encompass all areas of school life:

Be safe    Be respectful   Be a learner

Behaviour Reflection Sheets – completed by students when teacher has identified that their behaviour has not reflected the above expectations.      

• Process which records children’s behaviour and fosters reflection upon the choices made.
  
  
• This process does not just detect the child who is misbehaving but it is a process to help the child realise that there are alternative behaviour choices.
  
  
• Provides data to teachers and parents regarding incidence, frequency and patterns for attention/consideration.

Bullying Policy

• St Finbar’s School is committed to providing a safe and caring environment, which fosters love, respect and genuine concern for the wellbeing of others.
  
  
• Bullying is defined as the ‘planned and repetitive practice of undermining and attacking another person’s self esteem and safety through words, deeds and actions.’
  
  
• Encompassed within our Student Relationships Policy is the underlying principle of respect for others. This is the foundation upon which zero-acceptance of bullying is implemented within our school.
  
  
• St Finbar’s School does not tolerate bullying.
  
  
• Students are taught skills to prevent, and deal with, issues of bullying through PDHPE Syllabus areas.
  
  
• All instances are to be reported to class teachers in the first instance and then to the Assistant Principal should the problem continue, or not be resolved.

Corporal punishment is not sanctioned for use at St Finbar’s by any staff member, parent helper or site visitor.

Parents are invited to familiarise themselves with our Sun Safe Policy which is available on the school website.

The school has adopted a 'NO HAT, PLAY IN THE SHADE' policy. Hats are available from the school office. In the interest of the lifelong safety of our children, the staff will be exercising a renewed commitment to the wearing of hats before and after school. We thank you for your support in this matter.

We understand that there are times when children lose their hats or when that they are misplaced. When this happens please send a note of explanation in with your child giving permission for them to wear an alternate hat until a new one is available. If your child wears a non-uniform hat and does not have a note from you, they will not be permitted to wear it and they will have to sit in the shade.

The school will also be supplying sunscreen in each year group area. The brand of the supplied sunscreen is below, and we ask you to please inform us if your child has any allergic reactions to this brand of sunscreen.

Product Name: Ultra Protect SPF50+ Everyday Sunscreen Lotion Dry Touch 4 Hour Water Resistant.

It was decided that in place of the tuckshop 'special food' days will be held three times a term: Fridays of Weeks 3, 6 & 9. These days will be advertised in the newsletter.

Upon enrolment at St Finbar’s, parents undertake to support the school’s policies and codes of conduct - the implementation of school uniform procedures is one such area. Parent support of this, in the home, is requested, if we are to truly work in partnership.

Home/school communication processes will continue for those children not wearing correct school uniform if a letter of explanation has not been received. This communication also includes letters pertaining to inappropriate hairstyles and hair lengths.

School uniforms can be purchased from our school uniform supplier, The School Locker.

Grooming

• Nail polish is not allowed
• Only plain stud earrings or sleepers can be worn, and only one earring in each ear
• Jewellery may only include a signet ring or one religious symbol on a necklace
  Note: Jewellery guidelines are established for student safety in the playground and on the play equipment, and to safeguard from the loss of special items
• Hair should be clean and tidy and long hair at collar length must be tied back with ribbons of the school colours (sky blue, navy or maroon). Hair colouring is not appropriate for school times. This rule applies to all students.
• No number one buzz cuts, shaved lines cut into hair or any style that might interfere with a child’s concentration or vision. If you are unsure of what would constitute an appropriate style for school, please call the school office.
• No hair ornaments are permissible e.g. beads, additional extensions, decorative clips, flowers
• Shirts are designed to be worn untucked
• Cargo shorts and cargo pants are not part of the school uniform
• Black school shoes must be lace ups or buckles/Velcro. This is a safety matter on our site, due to stairs
• Sport shoes must not be canvas or casual footwear. Black sports shoes coloured sports shoes are acceptable. 

Winter Uniform Period

The official Winter School Uniform period is from the Monday after Mother's Day to the Father's Day weekend. However, children may choose to wear their Winter Uniform from the start of Term 2 to the conclusion of Term 3. During the Winter Uniform period, students are not permitted to mix between Summer Uniform and Winter Uniform.

Compulsory School Uniform

BOYS' SUMMER

• Blue/short sleeve logo shirt
• Grey shorts (Polyester / rayon)
• Grey socks plain
• Black school shoes (Shoes must be completely black - No white soled sneaker shoes are permitted)

BOYS’ WINTER

• School navy sloppy joe with emblem
• School fleecy jacket
• Blue short sleeve logo shirt
• Long grey Polyester/rayon college trouser
• Grey socks
• Black school shoes (Shoes must be completely black - No white soled sneaker shoes are permitted)
• School bucket hat
• Navy Blue scarfs, beanies or gloves may be worn during outside breaks.

BOYS’ SPORT

• School polo shirt with emblem
• School sport shorts
• Navy blue track suit pants
• School fleecy jacket or sloppy joe
• White socks
• Sports shoes (sneakers)

GIRLS’ SUMMER

• Blue check school dress
• Navy Blue short socks
• Black school shoes (Shoes must be completely black - No white soled sneaker shoes are permitted)

GIRLS’ WINTER

• School Navy sloppy joe with emblem
• School Fleecy jacket
• Culottes or Navy Blue girls pant
• Pale blue short sleeve shirt with school emblem
• Navy Blue tights with culottes or Navy Blue short socks with girls pant
• Black school shoes (Shoes must be completely black - No white soled sneaker shoes are permitted)
• School bucket hat
• Navy Blue scarfs, beanies or gloves may be worn during outside breaks.

GIRLS’ SPORT

• School polo shirt with emblem
• School sport shorts
• School Skort
• School fleecy jacket or sloppy joe
• Navy blue track suit pants
• White socks
• Sports shoes (sneakers)

All items are to be purchased from  The School Locker

The NSW Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998 requires schools to ask anyone who is performing a task for the school and may have direct, unsupervised contact with children, if they are a prohibited person. This includes all parents helping in classrooms, tuckshop, uniform pool, excursions and any other activities where they may have direct, unsupervised contact with children.

Our school Mission Statement says: “Our community believes staff, parents and Parish are in partnership with each other in educating children.”

Here at St Finbar’s, we have many people who volunteer their time to help children. This help is invaluable to school and an extremely important part of the school’s culture. The 1998 Act requires the school to ask all volunteers or potential volunteers to complete the ‘Prohibitive Employment Form’. As regulation requires records to be kept indefinitely, I am asking all parents who have been or who intend to be a school volunteer to complete parent volunteer forms.  This will be recorded on a database and kept on file.

Procedure for all volunteers

All volunteers working or wanting to work at the school on a particular day need to report to the school office first. There you will be required to sign in and pick up your identification badge. At the end of the day please return the badge to the office.

Please complete your forms as soon as possible, and return them to the office. More forms are available from the office for parents or other community members who are or wish to volunteer their time at St Finbar’s.  These forms can be filled in at any time, but must be completed and returned prior to any volunteer activities commencing.

Parents wishing to help in classroom activities whereby they are more likely to have 1:1 contact with children also need to complete the Child Protection for Volunteers Training Module.

Parents must complete this course once every two years.  Due to OH & S regulations, young pre-school aged children cannot accompany parent helpers.

Our school website is regularly updated and is a valuable source of information. Families can access this handbook, relevant school policies, weekly newsletters, student matters, class work and curriculum overviews for each grade or stage.

The web address is: www.stfinbarsglenbrook.catholic.edu.au 

Subscribe to our newsletters

St Finbar’s Primary, Glenbrook can deliver our newsletters with all the up-to-date news and upcoming events straight to your email in-box. What a time saver! Sign up now.

You will need to supply full name and contact details. These details are confidential and will never be published.

School Notes

You will also be able to download copies of all the school notes sent home from the Notes & Policies page under the ‘Parents’ menu.

Photo and Multimedia Galleries

We are proud of our school and the students and staff who possess the dedication, talent, and enthusiasm to make St Finbar's Primary such a special place. Photos, videos and other multimedia items showing learning in action at St Finbar’s are regularly uploaded to the galleries on our website under the ‘News & Events’ menu.

Best of all, you can download the hi-res photos to print out for your photo albums!

The school also invites students, staff and parents to submit items for our website galleries. If you’ve got great material showing some of the unique history of the school, past and present, we’d love to see them. Contact us here.

Children need raincoats on wet days! A raincoat needs to be a permanent fixture in each child's bag. Umbrellas are not safe for use on the school site with large numbers of children moving around.

Children are encouraged to bring inexpensive games to school to play during lunch time.

Assessment

This is judgment of a student’s achievement. Today, the main focus of assessment is the progress being made toward achieving syllabus outcomes (see below). Sometimes teachers speak of ‘self-assessment’ which are means by which students reflect on their own learning.

Curriculum

This is the overall range of learning experiences that a school offers through its courses and other activities.

The curriculum is broken into Key Learning Areas (KLAs) – subjects. In the Catholic primary school these are Religious Education, English, Mathematics, Human Society & Its Environments, Science & Technology, Creative Arts (Music, Visual Art, Drama), Personal Development Health & Physical Education (PDHPE).

Catholic schools in the Parramatta Diocese implement curriculum derived from the NSW Board of Studies syllabus documents for all schools across NSW. The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) also outlines prescribed quantity of times to be given to each area.

Outcome

A statement of what a student knows and can do in relation to specific syllabus areas at a certain stage of schooling. Teachers speak of progress towards the achievement of particular outcomes rather than of passing and failing, or marks and percentages.

Program

This may be a teacher’s written plan for implementing a syllabus in a systematic fashion. The word may also apply to a particular initiative that the school will take (eg a swimming program).

Stages

The 13 years of school life are divided into stages. Each has its own desired outcomes written within each KLA. The stages of the primary school are:

Early Stage 1:      Kindergarten
Stage 1:               Years 1 & 2
Stage 2:               Years 3 & 4
Stage 3:               Years 5 & 6

School uniforms can be purchased from our school uniform supplier, The School Locker.

Information about our school uniform requirements can be found in the Uniform section.