Dear Parents and Carers,

I have noticed several students arriving late to school this term. One of the most important aspects of school is that it is organised, scheduled and predictable. Students depend on the structure of the day. They know where they must be and when. They know the main purpose for being in school is to learn and that routines are in place precisely to help them focus on that learning. When students are repeatedly late, these routines are disrupted. Students who are often late also have trouble settling in and mastering routines. A lack of punctuality can throw off their whole morning or even their day, especially if the late commute to school was stressful.

I certainly acknowledge that running late is sometimes out of your control. There can be traffic delays, sickness and even misplaced car keys! Yesterday, for example, there was a major traffic issue coming out of Jerrabomberra. These one-off occasions will not impact your child’s education. For the typical school day of 6 hours, a student who is only 10 minutes late every day will miss 30 hours of school time that year. If a child is 10 minutes late getting to school, it is more like 20 minutes until they are learning. Regular late attendance means that your child is missing a considerable amount of learning time. At the start of the day teachers often plan warm-up activities which may introduce topics that will be learned later in the day, or review work which offers students an opportunity to analyse previously learned skills.

Teachers check in on students at the beginning of the school day and provide pastoral care where needed. Here at STM we start our day as a community where we assemble, pray and celebrate birthdays. It is also a time where we deliver a quick message that might impact them that day. If your child could be at school around 8:45am that will allow them to connect with their friends and be settled for the 8:50am bell.

Athletics Carnival

We had such a great day at our Athletics Carnival last Friday. The weather could not have been better and the students showed such encouragement towards other and were great sportspersons throughout the day. A very big “thank you” to Brittney Temple and Andrea McQuirk for organising the day. Special thanks also to all the parent volunteers (we had so many!) – we could not run this event without your help.

60 Years Wine and Trivia Night

Planning for our Wine and Trivia night is well underway. It’s on Friday the 3^rd of September, starting at 6:30pm. Tables of 8 will be sold for $80 (This ticket prices includes a raffle ticket and participation in the trivia).  There will be an option to purchase a grazing/antipasto platter. Tickets will go on sale next week through QKR.

Chewing Gum

A reminder to parents that chewing gum is not to be brought to school or consumed at school. Thank you for supporting us with this.

Yours sincerely,

Julie Wiley
Principal