St Joseph Catholic School

Routines & procedures

School commences at 8.50am for all classes. Parents are asked to have children at school by 8.50am ready to start the day. Reception to Year 7 classes are dismissed at 3.20 pm daily.

Morning recess: Year 4-7 10.30am to 11.00am  Rec - Year 3 11.00am to 11.30am.
Lunch: 1.00pm to 1.40pm.

No supervision can be provided, nor responsibility taken, for students before 8.30am and after 3.35pm except when special permission is given for extra-curricular activities. Students who arrive before 8.30am remain outside the school grounds, those remaining after 3.35pm will be taken to the OSHC facilities on the school grounds.

Children are not permitted to play on school equipment in any area before and after school, unless for a school activity. The gates on Florence Street and McHenry Street will be locked between the hours of 8:50am - 3.00pm.

Students and their parents are to use designated entrance areas to the school:

  • pedestrians are to use either the McHenry or Florence Street entrances
  • the pedestrian crossing on Mannum Road and Florence Street must be used when crossing these streets either before or after school

The school does not have a car park available to parents. Parking during the day is available in the surrounding streets, parents should make themselves familiar with council parking restrictions. The Drop Off  Pick Up zones in McHenry and Florence Street are supervised by teachers until 3.35pm each day. Both Drop Off Pick Up zone are also No Standing Zones.

Students who are not picked up by 3.35pm will need to be collected from OSHC which is accessed via the Florence Street gate.

Regular attendance at school is essential. Parents are asked to report absences from school by either phoning the School Office at anytime as an Answering Service is available or by using the SchoolStream App which will notify the office via email. Parents who do not advise the school that their child/children are absent will receive a phone call from the school. This will be followed with a written note upon the student’s return to school.

If a student arrives after 8.50am they need to collect a Late Card from the Front Office, after 9.30am parents are asked to sign the Late Arrival Book, which is also kept in the Front Office. The student will be given a card to give to their class teacher to show they have signed in.

When a student needs to leave the school during school hours, eg. to keep a dental or doctor’s appointment, parents are asked to sign the Sign In / Out Book in the Front Office.

The Emergency Forms which are sent home to be updated each year provide emergency details. Parents are asked to provide accurate, up-to-date information with regard to their child's health, any relevant court or custody orders and contact numbers in case of emergency or sickness. It is important that there is an alternative place where students can go if they are ill and parents are unavailable or at work.

Please let us know promptly when there is a change to addresses and/or home or work telephone numbers so that this information can be kept up to date.

Because of our commitment to the safety of the students, permission notes are needed each time a student is taken on extended excursions involving either public or private transport.

Open communication between home and school is vital. If you would like to discuss your child’s progress at any stage during the year the class teacher is the first point of contact.

After speaking to the class teacher, if you feel the issue requires further discussion then you would contact the School Office to arrange an appointment with the Principal.

At approximately 10am every day the students from Reception to Year Four are given a short break where they are able to have a healthy snack. Each student is asked to bring either a piece of fruit, vegetable or dairy product.

We believe it is important each student is provided with a healthy snack as it not only encourages an awareness of healthy eating, but stimulates the student’s motivation and alertness.

We try to be as helpful as possible to both parents and students by delivering urgent messages to classrooms. We prefer students to keep their mobile phones at home.

If you need to contact your child we ask that this be done through the Front Office. If a child does bring a mobile to school it is to be stored in the Front Office.

We believe that volunteers make a significant contribution to our school community and welcome parents/caregivers to participate at a level that they feel comfortable.

There is more information about opportunities to volunteer in the Community section of our web site. All volunteers are required to have a Police Clearance through Catholic Education SA, this can easily be organized through the school office.

Generally, homework consists of completing work, research, assignments, preparation for tests and, most importantly, regular reading. It is expected that children will only be given homework for which they have the necessary resources and skills. There are recommended time allocations for homework in the various year levels, these are shared through Class Newsletters at the beginning of the year.

If you have queries regarding Homework do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Banking day is EVERY Tuesday. At St Joseph’s School we bank with Bank SA and Commonwealth Bank. Bank books and money need to be put into the classroom note bag first thing Tuesday morning.

During the school year, students are encouraged to participate in excursions that will assist their learning and understanding. Before any child can leave the school on an excursion a consent form must be completed and returned to our school.

On enrolment ,a consent form to cover brief, no cost walking excursions near the school will be completed and renewed at the beginning of each year.

All visitors to the School must sign in at the School Office and wear a Volunteer / Visitors badge while on site. In the event of an emergency they must follow direction from a School Staff member.

All students are expected to have a diary/communication book to be used on a daily basis to communicate significant information between parents and staff for issues such as behaviour, absences, homework, successes, meeting times etc.