St Columba’s Catholic Primary School

Our school values of kindness, compassion and respect guide all our interactions as a community.

The Code of Conduct describes the minimum standards of conduct in all behaviour and decision making to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students. It includes all online communication and digital interactions. The Code applies to staff, students, volunteers, parents and guardians.

Our Student Code of Conduct describes the standards of conduct and behaviour expectations of students to ensure all children feel happy and safe in our school.

The Codes of Conduct can be found under Quick Links - Procedures.

Administering medication: Only essential medication is administered at school by staff or the student. Parents complete the School Medication Record and provide prescribed medication in the original container or with a copy of the label, with relevant instructions. The form can be found under Quick Links - Forms.

Medical treatment: The treatment of asthma or use of an EpiPen will be according to the Medical Action Plan provided by your doctor. It is parents’ responsibility to provide updates and medication within the expiry date.

Emergency contacts: Parent and emergency contact details must be kept up to date, in case of illness or an emergency.

Accident or head injury: Parents will be notified if a child is injured or bumps their head. In case of emergency, you will be contacted immediately. An ambulance may be called and associated costs are the responsibility of the parent. Student insurance is included in school fees.

Supervision before and after school: You are responsible for supervising your child on campus outside of school hours: before 8.35 am and after 3.05 pm. A duty teacher supervises the undercover area for Kiss and Drive from 8.35 am (children must proceed straight to class) and after school until 3.20 pm. The designated pick up time is from the end of school until 3:20 pm, after which students will be escorted to the office. Parents must collect children on time to uphold duty of care.

Before- and after-school events involving third-party providers: The school is not responsible for student escort, supervision or collection. Families and providers must ensure proper behaviour and timely arrival and pickup.

Play areas and equipment: Play areas and equipment may be used after school under parent supervision, but not before school.

Food at school: We are an allergy aware school and encourage that foods containing nuts, or nuts themselves, not be brought to school. For birthdays, children may bring an individually packaged food item to share with the class (no baked goods).

Sun safety: Children must wear a hat when outside, or play in the shade. Sunscreen is available in classrooms.

Drop off and collection: The speed limit is 40 km per hour in school zones. Parents may use the parking bays on York Street and Alexandra Street. Do not park in the parish carpark, visitor’s bay, staff car park or on Forrest Street (which creates congestion and limits visibility). Blue Bays are for ACROD permit members. Children must be supervised in car park areas at all times.

Kiss and Drive: May be used by students from Kindergarten to Year 6 (not Pre-Kindy). Operates before school from 8.35 am to 8.50 am and after school from 3.05 pm to 3.20 pm. Kindergarten and Pre-Primary students with no siblings in other grades may be collected from 2.55 pm. Entry into Kiss and Drive is by left turn only from Forrest Street. Exit by right turn only onto Alexandra Drive. The speed limit on school grounds is 10 km per hour. Parents remain in the vehicle and children only exit on the left hand side. Please display your family’s name on the vehicle’s sunvisor for pick up.

Cycling to school: Children may ride their bicycle to school. Helmets must be worn. Once on the school grounds, bicycles are to be pushed. Bike racks are available and we recommend the use of a bike lock for safe keeping.

Contacting the teacher: Parents may contact teachers through email during the school’s communication hours (8 am to 4 pm on school days) and we will endeavour to respond within 24 hours. For matters requiring a more in-depth conversation, the teacher may phone parents or request a meeting.

SeeSaw: Teachers publish child and class-related news and notes on the SeeSaw app - please check it regularly. Download the SeeSaw Parent & Family app and the teacher will provide a QR code to log in.

Weekly newsletter: We provide parents with need-to-know school information, important dates and merit award winners in the weekly newsletter. Our aim is to only communicate with you once a week - please ensure you read the newsletter. Previous editions can be found under Quick Links - Newsletters.

Social media: You can choose to follow nice-to-know news, photos, events and videos on our Facebook and Instagram.

Use of student images: A pictures says a thousand words and permission for your child to appear in photos and videos helps immensely. We are respectful in the way we share images and do not publish children’s names on social media.

Handling complaints: We seek to handle any complaints with procedural fairness. According to National Child Safe Organisation Principles, our school also has a child focussed complaint handling procedure. Student complaints are taken seriously; responded to promptly and thoroughly; and privacy is respected. The procedure can be found under Quick Links - Procedures.

Wellbeing: We use the RULER approach to social and emotional learning in educational settings (developed by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence). The program is based on the five skills of emotional intelligence, which are Recognising, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing and Regulating emotions (RULER). For our younger students, we use the Kimochis Emotional Literacy Program, which features characters that represent different emotions to help children identify and express their feelings in a healthy and positive manner.

Pastoral care: In addition to our staff and leadership team, our School Counsellor offers additional guidance, support and strategies to help students navigate challenges and develop coping skills. We also have access to CEWA’s Psychology, Safety and Wellbeing team for additional support when assessing student needs and recommending interventions. Parents may send a confidential message directly to our School Counsellor; the form can be found under Quick Links - Contact School Counsellor.

Behaviour management: We use the 1-2-3 Magic approach. Our Behaviour Management Procedure can be found under Quick Links - Procedures.

Keeping safe: Each term we teach students about respectful relationships and child safety through the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum. Themes included that we all have the right to be safe and can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust.