Virtue of the fortnight : Gratitude
Our virtue of the fortnight is gratitude.
We have gratitude as our focus this time of year because it coincides with Mothers Day and the month of May is dedicated to Mary, Jesus’ mother.
One way we are showing gratitude to our Holy Rosary families at the moment is through our Alumni incentive. Since July last year we pledged to support families who enrolled their children with us if the parents or grandparents used to attend Holy rosary. You can find out more about this initiative here: Holy Rosary Alumni Incentive
Over the next few weeks we will be contacting parents to give them their gift voucher, a sign of gratitude and support to to the Holy Rosary families who have enrolled with us since last July, and who continue to support the 60 + year Holy Rosary tradition in their family.
Catholic Education Fee support
Did you know that as part of the Catholic Education commitment to serving their communities, all Catholic schools have a policy that no child should be prevented from receiving a Catholic Education due to financial reasons? Whilst we have low fees compared to many Catholic schools, we have many families who are on discount fee arrangements, either through the health care card payment scheme or other private arrangement. Some families are on very low fee payment plans, and on occasion some families have a no-fee agreement. Whilst our private fee income from families who are fortunate enough to have the ability to pay is deeply appreciated, and important to our budgeting and provision of resources, the bulk of our funding comes from the government (approximately $16500 per child in 2020). In this way, the Catholic Education system in Australia supports the public education system in giving parents a second, quality low cost option in the education of their children.
Supporting families in need in our community in this way therefore does not have a huge impact on the quality of education we can provide for our students, and is part of who we are as a Catholic school in our aim to serve the communities we are a part of.
If your family requires fee support please call Miss Gabi or Miss Yvette and we will be able to assist.
Mother’s Pamper morning
Our PP/1 class organised a pamper session and morning tea for our mums this week, thank you to Miss Chelsea, Miss Catie and Miss Tracey for organising this great activity!
123 Magic training
Our staff received training this week from Brad Williams, founder of Behaviour Tonics, in 123 Magic and Emotion Coaching. These strategies enable our students to learn emotional regulation whilst also setting clear boundaries and behaviour expectations, to allow ensure each of our students has the right to learn and feel safe at our school.
Individualised Adjustment Plan meetings for students with additional needs
We have just completed “IAP” , or “Individualised Adjustment Plan” meetings for around 20 of our students. These are case management meetings where we consult with parents, and are part of our aim to ensure that every one of our students is learning and achieving and ‘not falling through the gaps’.
Individualised case management also ensures that our teaching resources are utilised in the best way possible to ensure students accessing the mainstream curriculum are also getting all the individual attention they require.
Part of our aim in catering for students with additional needs, is to ensure the other students in their class are not impacted in their own education by students who require extra behavioural, academic or social emotional support, as occurs in every school that complies with the Disability Standards in Education and maintains an inclusive education environment. Please let your child’s teacher know if you feel your child is being impacted by students with additional needs in their class, and we can work together to ensure your child is receiving the attention they require.
Having diverse needs in our classes strongly aligns with our Catholic values and ethos, and teaches our children from a young age that everyone is unique, with different stories, abilities and backgrounds, and that we are all deserving of God’s, and each other’s, compassion and love.
Being a small school, we are able to ensure that each child has a team looking out for them, including the class teacher, the Education assistants, the Learning Support Coordinator (Miss Chloe) , the principal and the school psychologist, who visits for a few days each term and video conferences parents or staff when required.
The most important part of that team are the child’s parents or carers, who know their child best. While most students do not require extended case management beyond the normal communication processes between teachers and parents, and internal weekly case management of all students is already conducted by staff on a weekly basis, if you feel like you would like an extended meeting to discuss your child’s education or progress, or that your child requires a higher level of case management than the usual school processes, please contact Yvette Clifton or your child’s teacher to discuss.
After school care
We are currently looking at the viability of running a paid before and after school care facility at our school. If you would be interested in utilising this service, please fill out this survey so we can understand our families’ needs in this area. https://forms.office.com/r/Df53KruBb9