General Information

Daily Timetable

8:30am	Supervision of playground begins. Students should not arrive or be at school earlier than this
8:50am	School day begins. Morning assembly on stage.
11 - 11:40am	Recess time
1.00 - 1:40pm	Lunch time
3:00pm	Pack-up bell
3:10pm	Dismissal. Classes will make their way to the stage and will be dismissed by their teacher from there.
3:30pm	Supervision finishes. Students not picked up by this time are taken by the duty teacher to the Front Office.

Absences from School

It is a legal requirement that all absences are explained. Please notify the school of your child’s absence by entering the absence via COMPASS. 

Arrival and Departure Procedures

During morning drop-off parents/guardians either:

1. Park in the main carpark and walk your child to the playground. Supervision begins at 8:40am.=
2. Use the drive through lane in the main carpark to drop your child off, without needing to park.
3. During wet weather, students proceed immediately to the hall from 8:30am. Teachers will be supervising.

During afternoon pick-up parents/guardians have a number of choices:

1. Park on the ‘blacktop’ or ‘oval’ carparks and come to the stage to collect their children. Please do not park along Boddington Cres, either bus bay, 'drive through' or the medium strips.
2. If you do not wish to leave your vehicle, please use the Drive Through facility. The children are supervised in the Drive Through until 3:30pm so there is plenty of time to use this facility if you feel that it is too busy directly after school finishes.
3. Any child not picked up by 3:30pm will be supervised in the front office and parents phoned.
4. After School Care pick up students from the stage.
5. Children who are walking or riding home leave the school grounds after being dismissed from the stage.
6. School bus services are available. Teachers supervise children, then assist them to cross the road to the bus stops. Please contact the school or ACTION for further details.
7. During wet weather, children will be taken to the Drive Through facility.  Please see the following link to the Wet Weather pickup procedures. 

Beginning of Term Reminders

• Supervision commences at 8:30am and NO STUDENT should be at school before 8:30am unless they are attending TEAM KIDS. Students arriving before 8:30am are unsupervised.
• School begins at 8:50am and the school gate will be locked at 9:00am.
• Children arriving late will need to be signed in by a parent or carer.
• A student’s hair should be kept off their face and, if longer than shoulder length, it must be tied back in an appropriate school coloured band. Hair should also be of natural colour and extreme haircuts are not permitted. Please keep the shaving of shapes and pictures on the side of the head for the holidays.
• No jewellery should be worn to school and only plain studs and watches are acceptable. No bracelets, bangles, sparkly earrings, nail polish, make up, etc are allowed. Circular sleepers are discouraged as they can get court on equipment.
• Correct School Uniform must be worn at all times. Students who continually wear incorrect uniform will receive a reminder note to be taken home to be signed by their parents and returned to school.
• St Thomas the Apostle School has a NO HAT PLAY IN THE SHADE. Students without a correct school hat will be asked to sit under the shaded area near the TEAMKIDS building.
• Black canvas type or sports shoes school shoes are not part of the school uniform. The only school shoes allowed are the traditional or formal black leather school shoes.
• On sports days, sports shoes should be predominantly white although these can be hard to get. Bright coloured and high fluoro colours sports shoes are discouraged.
• Students with Mobile Phones are asked to switch the phone off and leave it in their bags. If mobile phones are heard or sighted during school time they will be confiscated and parents will be asked to collect them from the front office. The School takes no responsibility for lost or broken mobile phones.
• Students who are collected by their parents during the day for appointments must be signed out/in at the Front Office before and after the appointment.
• Parents visiting the school to assist must have a Working with Vulnerable People Card and are also asked to sign in at Front Office and use the Checkin Canberra app.
• Please ensure that the School always has up to date contact and emergency details for your children.
• St Thomas the Apostle School is a NUT FREE School. Please remember this when preparing recess and lunch, including peanut butter, Nutella, cakes with nuts, etc.
• Dogs are not allowed on school premises, even on a leash. Therapy Dog and Services Dogs are excluded from this.
• Medical details must be updated and sent to the Front Office.
• Medication - can only be administered from the Front Office. Please see front office staff for the relevant forms.
• Carpark- Please remember to be patient and considerate of others when driving in the car parks. School carparks are notoriously dangerous and ALL PARENTS are asked to be patient and alert. If you are in a hurry, collect your children early or wait until after 3:20pm when the carpark is less congested.
• Use the Crossing- Please use the two pedestrian crossings from the carpark in the morning and at pickup time. Student safety is paramount.

Bringing Equipment to School

Your child needs to bring a school bag to school everyday. St Thomas the Apostle school bags are available for purchase from Savvy. This bag should contain a healthy packed lunch, drink, recess and an easily eaten fruit snack for fruit-stop time. We encourage children to bring a bottle of water to have during the day. Our Canteen is open to purchase or order recess and lunch on Thursday and Friday. See the menu and procedures in the school service page.

Your child will be provided with books and stationary at the beginning of each year. Most of this will remain in your child's classroom during the year, but parents are asked to check periodically that your child still has all the necessary stationary items eg: pens, pencils, rulers. Please see class teachers for further information.

Routinely your child will carry a library book in a library bag, a 'reader' in a plastic pocket and the books necessary for homework.

We discourage children bringing personal items to school to play with on the playground. Damage to or loss of such items can be quite distressing. If your child wishes to bring a special item to share for class news, these can be handed to the class teacher for safe keeping.

Counsellor Referral Form

After completing the referral form, an email will be sent to the person completing the form and the other parent/carer listed, if there is one. It's important that all parents or carers respond to that email as it confirms their consent for counselling.

The school counsellor works on Mondays and Tuesdays. They will be in touch with you to talk more about your child's situation and discuss support options for them. 

Home Learning

Home Learning is an important link between school and home. Please refer to the class information letters sent home at the beginning of each term by your child's teacher for full details. A guideline to minimum times is:

• Kinder – Year 2: 10 minutes reading and then activities to support learning such as maths games.
• Later Year 2 Formal written work commences and 10 – 15 minutes reading per night.
• Years 3 & 4:20 minutes written homework and 15 minutes reading per night.
• Years 5 & 6: 30 minutes written work and 15 minutes reading per night.

Lost Property

Personal items with your child's name on them, are readily returned to your child when they are found. Teachers do their best to locate the owner of any equipment found on the school premises. All unclaimed equipment is placed in the Lost Property basket near the canteen doors. Parents and children are welcome to check this basket when looking for a lost item.

Medicines at School

If your child needs to bring prescribed medications to school, these need to be sent to the Front Office each day. Our medical officier supervises the taking of any medicines. All medicines must be clearly labelled with child's name, class and dosage, and whether it requires refrigeration.The exception may be asthma medication, which may be kept with your child as per your Asthma Plan.

Medical Action Plans, Anaphylaxis and Epipens

It is the responsibility of parents to ensure that any medication kept at school is current. In particular, Medical Action Plans for children suffering from anaphylaxis (allergic reaction to bees, peanuts and other substances) will need to be reviewed at regular intervals (at least yearly) and will need to be updated.

If your child requires an Epipen, please ensure that the medication is current and will not expire during the year. Note that the Epipen cannot be used beyond its expiry date.

Sport Houses

We group students into 4 House Groups, which are used at all sporting carnivals and other social events throughout the year. At these events students are welcome to wear a shirt of their house colour. Students can even earn points towards a house bbq at the end of term, by being a great MATE.

Our four houses are:      

Visiting During the Day

During the day parents and visitors are asked to park either in the staff carpark or the blacktop carpark and proceed to the Front Office. If you are picking your child up early or dropping them off late, please sign in/out using the kiosk at the front office. Your child will be called to the front office. If you wish to visit or help in a classroom you will be asked to sign in on the kiosk and be issued with a visitors sticker. You need to sign out at your departure.