First Day: Information Update

29th January 2018

Basic school information and procedures

Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome to Ardtornish Primary in 2018.

Our vision as a school is to empower students to create positive futures through high quality teaching and communication is a key to making sure this happens.

This newsletter contains a summary of information that is important to know at the beginning of the year. It is downloadable at www.ardtornps.sa.edu.au from the 'News' menu
Starting in week 3 Newsletters will be delivered via the internet and the Skoolbag app, as well as emailed though Google+ rather than in a paper format. They are sent out every second Friday in odd school weeks. We also use the Skoolbag app to make it even easier to get this information. See the back page of this newsletter for download instructions.

You may request a paper copy if you do not have internet access, but as a rule the digital method will be used for most people.
Information about how to set up tablets and smart phones to receive information is available from the front page of our school website and additional information will be distributed over the next few weeks and given a special focus on Acquaintance Night.

To ensure that all students understand what is expected of them we have established 5 key Student Responsibilities from which all other school procedures flow. (See overleaf)

Individual classes will develop specific procedures to ensure that these are met in each room e.g. in our room we put up our hands to ask a question, store our hats in our trays etc.
This year we will begin referring to the Reception year as the Foundation year. This expression matches the wording used in other states and the Australian Curriculum.

If you have any concerns or questions about the school please feel free to contact me so that they can be effectively raised and addressed. At Ardtornish we value your feedback and view it as essential for ongoing school improvement.
I hope you and your child/ren enjoy their start to an exciting year.

Mark Hansen: Principal

Acquaintance Night & Annual General Meeting.

It is very helpful if you attend Acquaintance Night meetings, even if your child has been in the teacher's room before, as each year teachers change their practices, routines and goals and they appreciate sharing information with you.

Acquaintance Night and AGM will be held on
Tuesday 13th February.

Acquaintance Night will provide you with an opportunity to work in partnership with your child’s teachers to support their learning. More information about the night’s arrangements will be sent out in this Friday’s newsletter. Meetings are between 6:30 and 7:45
The AGM will be held on the same evening at 8 pm in the library so parents only need to attend the school once in the week.

Access to the play equipment in the morning for JP Students.

JP staff provide extra playground supervision so the Yr F-2 students, like the rest of the school, can have morning school yard playtime up until 8:50am.
The JP playground equipment will be available for play each morning.
Yr F-2 teachers, just like the teachers in the primary years, will now have the flexibility to undertake organisational tasks or meet with parents and colleagues up until the start of school.

Each individual JP teacher can still choose to have students enter their class before the 8:50am bell but this decision will be theirs to make on a day to day basis rather than it being a school requirement.

Arriving at school before 8:50 helps everyone to make a good start to the day.

Teachers begin morning yard duty at 8:35am, so for safety reasons students should not be on school grounds before this time.
Classes commence at 8:50am.
The first few minutes of the school day are very important as this is when reminders about events are given, money & notes are collected, communication books are checked, the school diary is shared and a range of other important organisational matters are dealt with.
Students who arrive even a few minutes late, disturb this process & disadvantage themselves and their peers.
Likewise, parents wishing to speak to teachers should do so before 8:50am so instruction can start promptly.
If your child is going to be absent you can now inform the school by sending a text message to the school mobile on 0447 467 152 or using the Skoolbag app.

Please ensure your child eats a healthy breakfast before beginning school & has food for recess & lunch that is low in sugar & fats.

Updating Student Information

Please ensure you promptly return the student information updates that will be sent out in the next day or two. During the year any changes to contact numbers need to be communicated to the school as soon as they occur. The Skoolbag app can be used to update details

Materials & Service Fees

Finance window is open each morning from 8.30am - 9.30am.
Payments may also be made if the blind is open.
Our preferred method of payment is via the “QKR!” app which can be downloaded onto a smart phone or tablet, however we also accept cash and credit card.
Payments are no longer accepted over the phone.
School Fees are $300.00 for the year.

Staff Meeting Time & Parent Interactions

Staff meetings are held as soon as possible after school in the library each Tuesday, so please be aware that, because of this professional commitment, staff are unable to talk with parents or resolve problems at length on this day. Please consider raising or dealing with any issues you may have the following morning.
Borrowing from the library is not available on Tuesdays after school.

Administration of Oral Medication

“School Staff should only accept responsibility for the administration of medicine when no practical alternatives exist, as it is primarily a parent’s responsibility.” DECD regulations.
When a student needs to take medication for a short period of time parents need to negotiate with the school our ability to administer it on a case-by-case basis. Doctor’s authorisation is compulsory and has to be attached, along with a health care plan.
Information about the procedures for administering medication is available from the front office.

Safety and Parking

Do not park your vehicle or walk your children through either staff car park.
Both Police and Council Officers will be observing parking behaviour over the next few weeks and giving out fines for people who stop in the incorrect areas.
The staff car park is never to be used for the drop off and pick up of children as doing so is dangerous and causes congestion.

School Uniform

Summer Uniform

Lacoste T-shirt $28.00
Navy Shorts $28.00 Summer Dress $45.00
Bucket Hat $10.00 Legionnaires Hat $5.00
Iron-on logo $2.00ea

Winter Uniform

Windcheater $50.00
Jacket $65.00
Girls bootleg pants $30.00
Boys cargo pants $35.00 Boys trackpants $28.00 School bag $35.00

Hats and Sun Safety

All students are required to wear a sun safe hat during Term 1 & from the 1st September until the end of the year, when UV levels are high, or else they have to play in a supervised shaded area. Please ensure that your child has a school hat.

Lost and found Library books

If you came across any library books during the holidays we would appreciate you returning them to school so that they can be made available for others to borrow. Please return all books even if they are damaged so we can repair or replace them.

Music Lessons, Recorder, School Band, Choir

Students have a number of opportunities to be involved in Music Programs at Ardtornish and letters will be coming home in the next week or so inviting students to join the school band, recorder (Year 3) and / or choir.
Students can also learn a musical instrument from Year 4, including piano, guitar, drums, saxophone, clarinet, flute and trumpet. Enrolment forms will be sent home with students early this week.

Bell Times

8.35 am   Supervision in the Primary Courts area begins
JP students may enter their classrooms, at the teachers’ discretion.

8.50 am      Siren sounds and the school day begins.
Please ensure that your child is at school by this time. Late comers – students arriving after 9:00, are not to go directly to class, but must sign in at the front office and pick up a late slip.

10.50 am    Morning Recess
11.10 am    Morning lessons continue
1.00 pm      Children eat their lunch in the classroom.
1.10 pm      Playtime. Library is open for quiet reading and games.
1.45 pm      Lessons resume.
3.15 pm      All children are dismissed.

The playground and primary play equipment needs to be vacated at 3:30pm as this is when staff supervision ends. Only children under the direct supervision of their carers are permitted to remain.

As the JP play area and equipment is not supervised by staff after school no child is allowed on the JP play equipment unless they have a care giver to supervise them.

School Cricket

Year 2/3 Kanga Cricket
This is an enjoyable way for Year 2/3 students to learn to play cricket. We need a manager and coach for the team to go ahead. It will be played on Friday afternoons at Tea Tree Gully Oval with plastic stumps, bat and ball. Practice will be on Monday afternoons. Please see Mr Halliday for more information.

Year 4/5 & 6/7 Cricket:
Games are Saturday mornings, usually at 8:30am. We need a manager and coach for the team to go ahead.

Ardtornish Primary is Nut Aware
Please do not send any nuts or nut products to school

Up Coming events

Tuesday 13th February: Acquaintance Night
JP Swimming

Chromebook Information Sessions
Tuesday February 6th at night and
7th Feb in the morning

2018 will be another very exciting year of change. Teachers from Years 5 to 7 and some Year 4’s are implementing the use of Chromebooks in Room 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 30 and 31.

A Chromebook Parent Information Session is being provided in the school library. The same session will be run at two different times to support your attendance. These are:

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm meeting in the library on the 6th Feb
9:00 am – 10:00 am meeting in the library or the 7th Feb

We would recommend that a parent or guardian representative attendance for one of these sessions to:

Learn about the User Agreement. A booklet detailing the agreement will be provided at each session.
Hear how they will be used to communicate between home and school
See examples of how the Chromebooks are used to enhance student learning and classroom practice while they build student responsibility.
Have answered, any questions you may have about the Chromebook program.
See a demonstration of how the Chromebooks are used, by students who have used them for the past 12 months.

To support your attendance we can provide some supervision for children over 4 years old who you may need to bring with you to the 6:00pm meeting. A note will be going home this week with a return slip to let us know if you will be attending the sessions or not. The slip needs to be completed and returned whether you will be coming or not.

School Card Applications

School card must be applied for every year. Please collect a form from the front office.

Police Clearances for Volunteers

All school volunteers are required to complete a Child Related Employment Screening form (police clearance) and do volunteer training. Application forms are available from the front office.
Before working in classrooms volunteers must sign in at the front office and receive a volunteer’s badge.

Policies and Information booklets can be downloaded from the school website at www.ardtornps.sa.edu.au

If you would like to provide feedback about the site email us at [email protected]