Usually Terms are of ten weeks duration with two week holidays.

Kindergarten Orientation Sessions

In the term prior to the year Kindergarten children commence school, two orientation sessions are held. The sessions involve a morning at school in the Kindergarten room working to normal classroom routine. Parents are notified of these sessions when offers of enrolment are made. While children are here for their first visit a Parent Information Session and morning tea are held in the hall.

Kindergarten Requisites

1. A library bag (with a drawstring) approximately pillow slip size.
2. An old shirt for painting.
3. A large zippered fabric pencil case 25cm x 35cm.
4. Spare underpants or pants in school bag throughout the year.

 All the above items and uniforms, caps, lunch-boxes, drink bottles, school bags, books, etc., must be clearly and indelibly marked with name tapes or proper marking pens. Biro and pen become illegible after a few weeks.

School Bags 

As most children have similar school bags, the problem of trying to identify their own among many others can cause considerable distress to small children who cannot read their own names. Therefore, in addition to the child's name and address inside the bag, perhaps you could place a transfer or sticker on the outside to aid identification by the child.

Transport Arrangements

If there is to be any variation from normal travel arrangements for your child, please send a note, not a verbal message. This is most important with small children.

Bringing Possessions To School

Some small children feel more secure if they bring something familiar and comforting with them to school. While we would not wish to cause anxiety by asking that these things be left at home, please realise that very precious possessions and expensive toys can be damaged or mislaid. Therefore, anything brought to school should be suitably marked with the owner's name and the child be made aware of the responsibility of looking after it. 

Ways In Which You Can Prepare Your Child For School

1. Give your child many opportunities to use pencils, crayons, scissors.
2. Read and tell stories frequently. Try to use different types of literature - stories, rhymes, poems, alphabet and number books.
3. Encourage your child to talk. Answer his/her questions and encourage his/her interest in his/her daily environment and activities. The best preparation for reading and writing is good oral language development.
4. Enrol your child in the local library and visit it regularly.
5. Give the family time to talk with each other by sometimes turning off the television.
6. Encourage drawing and writing.
7. Sometimes scribe for your child, ie write down a "story" as your child tells it.
8. If your child wishes to write his/her name, please do not use capital letters, eg it should be John not JOHN. This is a habit which is very hard to break.
9. Teach your child to use and flush the toilet without help.

Settling Into School

The change from short sessions at pre-school to a full day, five days a week, brings many pressures to bear on small children, some of whom find it very difficult to cope, especially in Term One. You can help your child settle into school by observing some of the following suggestions:

1. Lunch - Many little children find lunchtime with a large group of children quite disconcerting and eat poorly at the beginning of the year. It is best to give them smaller quantities of known favourites. Children are asked to take home what they do not eat. This prevents waste and allows you to adjust lunches accordingly.
2. It is helpful if your child can go to bed early. A tired child cannot benefit from a full day at school.
3. Kindergarten children often get very tired and feel the strain of being part of a large group. You will notice this particularly towards the end of the week for the first few months. Please let us know if this occurs.
4. Should your child be unhappy at school, for any reason, please let us know. We cannot help with a problem unless we know it exists. It would be appreciated if parents could use the time before and after school and lunchtimes for interviews and not class time. Kindergarten children require constant supervision and any interruptions can cause considerable disruption.

Immunisation

Children enrolling in Kindergarten are required to provide the school with an Immunisation Certificate. Immunisation itself is not compulsory however, in the event of an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease in a school, unimmunised children will be required to remain at home for the duration of the outbreak for their own protection. The vaccine-preventable diseases are Diphtheria, Tetanus, Rubella, Whooping Cough, Polio, Mumps and Measles.

ENROLMENT POLICY

St. Mary's Primary School, Bellingen, is a Catholic School Community which exists to provide an education for children of the Bellingen Parish Community, within a Christ centred context.

The Church teaches that parents are the prime educators of their children and that the role of the school is to assist parents in this task. This school regards education as a co-operative venture between home and school, with Parish Priest, - as pastoral leader in spiritual, sacramental and liturgical matters, - parents, and staff working together in supportive partnership. 

In considering the enrolment of pupils the following factors have to be considered:

School enrolment is dependent on the availability of appropriate personnel, classrooms, space, resources and the school's ability to adequately serve the child's needs.

In accordance with our philosophy, preference will be given to children baptised Catholic, or of Catholic parents of the Bellingen Parish.

 

Applications for enrolment will be accepted from those families who wish to send their children to a Catholic School and who may not be catholic. When considering these applications the criteria above will be noted along with the following expectations. We would expect that those parents who were not catholic would have a commitment to Christian ideals and values, would be willing to support the Catholic beliefs and practices of the school, would accept that their children will participate in all Religious Education activities and would accept the responsibility for the payment of school fees. 

To enter Kindergarten, a child must fulfil the requirements of the Lismore Diocesan policy regarding the minimum age of acceptance. A child should preferably turn five before the 31st March. However, in some circumstances, a child may be enrolled if she/he turns five by the 30th April. In exceptional pastoral circumstances a child may be admitted if she/he turns five by the end of May, but such a decision will be made in consultation with the Parish Priest, and the Catholic Education Office. Children in the latter categories may be asked to repeat a class - probably during their Junior Primary schooling. In such cases parents will be requested to sign an acknowledgment of this part of the policy at the time of enrolment.

In choosing a Catholic education for their child, parents must be prepared to meet the full financial commitment involved in that decision. Inability to pay full fees is not an obstacle to enrolment. Financial commitment is a personal matter to be arranged individually with the Principal. Support of the school, however, is a commitment to be taken seriously. The Catholic Community works hard to provide a high standard of education and it is unworthy for some to accept the benefit of other's labours without supporting the Catholic Community's endeavours.

At the time of application for enrolment an interview with the Principal will be required.