HANDBOOK

Parents are advised that the playground is supervised from 8:15 am. Children arriving earlier than this will not be supervised.

Broken hours of attendance, regular & frequent late arrivals / early departures are disruptive to the children’s learning, and can impact on classroom organisation and the learning of others.

Your child’s best learning time is the start of the school day.

Absence from School

If your child is absent from school due to illness or other unavoidable circumstances, you must send a note along to the class teacher as soon as they return to school. The note must contain the following information:

1. child's name
2. date(s) absent
3. reason explaining absence

The Attendance Roll is a legal document, and written documentation to support a child’s absence from school is required. If your child is on extended sick leave, that is, over three days, please inform the School Office.

Approval for Extended Leave

Parents may apply for permission for extended leave (5 days or more) for their child for the purpose of travel, family business, special events, funerals. 

If families are travelling for extended holidays (over 5 school days), an Application for Extended Leave form must be completed and submitted to the Principal BEFORE the leave is taken. This form is available from the school office, or under the School Notes tab on the website.

Late Arrival

Children arriving late to school must collect a 'late pass' from the school office prior to attending class. This allows the school to monitor children who are not at school on time. The morning 'whole school' Assembly is an important part of the day for all children.

Early Departure from School

If a parent wishes to take their child from school for any reason, a 'leave form' is required from the school office, which is then given to the class teacher. Your child will be called to the office.

Occasionally parents may have a need to put in a complaint or grievance to the school. These complaints need to be in writing using the school complain form. 

All complaints will be handled appropriately and dealt with in a timely manner.

The principles of natural justice apply to all complaints. Natural justice is also known as procedural fairness and applies in situations where a decision could potentially have a detrimental effect on the rights, interests or legitimate expectations of a person.

Procedural fairness requires that all parties to a complaint are:

1. treated impartially
2. informed of concerns or allegations being made
3. given the opportunity to respond
4. informed of the complaints and review process timelines
5. all records of complaints are kept on file.

If a custody or restraining order (AVO) exists within a family relationship, the school must be provided with a copy of the legal document. This enables the school to monitor contact with a child. This is also a legal requirement.

Holy Family has in place procedures to manage tragedies and emergencies in the school community. Parents should note the following:

1. The safe area after evacuation of classes is in the church grounds or inside the church.
2. The school phone system has three lines for in-coming calls.

For all critical incidents, your child and teachers will have access to counselling and support from trained student support staff.

Safety in crossing roads is crucial to the safe arrival and departure of children. Parramatta City Council has provided a crossing for use by pedestrians on The Trongate. Our school curriculum addresses road safety issues with children, however parental support is crucial.

Parents can save lives and prevent injury by:

1. Parking in signed parking areas and not in the Staff Car Park.
2. Dropping children off in safe and signed parking areas, and not dropping off or picking up children outside of parking areas.
3. Not calling children across the road to your car and not dropping your child off on the crossing.
4. Adhering to all parking signs along The Trongate.
5. Using the pedestrian crossing and not jay-walking.

Holy Family Primary School provides opportunities for children to experience life in community situations outside their local environment. Appropriately planned and supervised excursions, incursions and cultural activities therefore become an integral part of our teaching and learning program. Adequate notice of such activities will be given to parents outlining costs and itinerary. During all excursions involving water, a supervising teacher with a current Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation Certificate will be in attendance in case of emergency.

To fulfil our duty of care for students, notes fully describing the nature of excursions are sent to parents ahead of time. Permission slips will need to be returned with all the relevant information completed.

Children who require medication at school must obtain a pink form – ‘Notification and Request for the Administration of Medicine’ from the school office, which should be filled in by parents and returned to the office.

Parents must send the correct dosage of medicine to school and this is sent to the office. The children are given their medication under the supervision of the office staff.

The school office staff are trained First Aid attendants and will tend to injured or sick children.  A sick bed and first aid kit are available adjacent to the school office. An ambulance will be called if emergency treatment is required.

Holy Family School canteen currently operates 5 days a week.  Menus and price lists are regularly distributed to the children with updated menus and/or price changes. Our Canteen Supervisor adheres to State Health Department guidelines for a ‘Healthy’ School Canteen.

Holy Family is a Health Promoting School and aims to develop an understanding of the factors that influence a healthy lifestyle.

Parents are asked to ensure all clothing, including hats, are clearly marked with your child's name and class. Items of clothing that are misplaced may be found in a box, which is located outside the Staffroom. This box is emptied each month and uncollected clothing given to St Vincent de Paul Society, or the second hand clothing pool.

The Commonwealth Bank provides on-site banking for Holy Family students who have existing Dollarmite accounts. Money is collected early on Tuesday mornings. The office will process the children’s banking. Parents are asked to check that money sent to school matches the amount written on the deposit slip.

Throughout their time at Holy Family, all students are encouraged to demonstrate peer leadership and classroom assistance. Staff work with students from Kindergarten to Year 6 to develop these important social skills.

All students entering Year 6 will take on the important role of Student Leaders. This enables all students to develop qualities and skills of leadership, and reach their potential in working as a collaborative team.

Holy Family Primary School
199 The Trongate
Granville East NSW 2142

Phone:  (02) 8633 8200

Email:   HolyFamilyEGranville@parra.catholic.edu.au

School Website:   www.hfgranville.catholic.edu.au

In maintaining a safe and supportive environment, Holy Family adheres to the principles and practices of the CEO Anti-Racism Policy. If any student or parent has concerns pertaining to matters of racism, they should contact the Assistant Principal or Principal.

Option 1: All parents are to pick up their children from the dismissal point on Playground 1. Children will not be permitted to leave the school grounds to meet their parents in parked cars from the playground.

    Option 2: Parents can also pick up their children from the Kiss and Go on Clyde St. To ensure this service runs efficiently and safely, parents will be required to display a yellow name sign on the passenger side of the front windscreen. Parents will need to fill out a form from the office to utilise this service.

Each Monday morning, parents are invited to join us for a brief assembly at which time we share our school prayer, raise our flags, sing the national anthem and hand out class awards. Tuesday - Friday morning we gather briefly to share our school prayer, raise the flag and share important announcements / reminders.

Children often enjoy celebrating their birthdays with their classmates. Should parents choose to, they are able to bring in special treats for their child to share with the class.

These can include cupcakes OR doughnuts OR lolly bags (these will be sent home for children to eat). Please do not send in more than one of the above listed options.

Please consult with class teachers to ensure there are no students who suffer from allergies.

Holy Family students are expected to take notice of and adhere to, the 'Code of Conduct' while travelling on the bus, as set out by the New South Wales Department of Transport. The school's responsibility for children starts and finishes at the school gate; therefore, responsibility for the children's behaviour on the buses is the concern of the parents and the bus company.  Serious misbehaviour will be reported immediately to parents for their action. If you wish to report any concerns regarding student behaviour on a bus, please contact the Assistant Principal.

All children travelling by bus are required to have an Opal Card. To be eligible for free travel for children in primary classes, the distance criteria is 1.6 km radial or 2.3 walking distance from the child's place of residence to the school. Infant children are eligible for free travel. If you wish to report any concerns regarding student behaviour on a bus please contact the Assistant Principal. For enquiries regarding the issuing of Opal Cards, please contact the school office.

In case of an emergency the school siren is activated. All children, staff and visitors assemble and move to the Parish Church. All rooms are checked and class roll is taken. The children will wait until the school is notified by the authorities that it is safe to return to the classrooms.

Evacuation Drills
In an ongoing plan of ensuring student, staff and community safety in the event of an evacuation being required, drills are held each term. Evacuation procedures are displayed throughout the school. Procedures also exist for the event of a "Lock Down" and "Lock Out" situation.

From time to time, when people come together, some find the need to talk about others and pass on tales whether true or not, that can hurt, defame or disrespect. Our Catholic faith instructs us to “not bear false witness against our neighbour.

Aside from the inappropriateness of gossip and slander, is the hurt that it causes to people’s reputations, esteem and feelings. Teachers, parents, children and our community should not be damaged by the whispers of gossip.

If we are truly building the Kingdom of God is here at Holy Family, we should think before we talk and choose our words based on the Gospel values. After all, this is what we are trying to teach our children.

The purpose of homework is to revise classroom content, skills and activities, develop study habits for ongoing learning, and provide parent communication regarding school content.

Homework should never become a source of family difficulty. Should you have any concerns regarding your child’s homework, please make an appointment to see their teacher.

Each family is asked to spend time reading our Acceptable User’s Guidelines. Students in all classes, together with their parents, are requested to acknowledge that they have read and agree to follow the guidelines by signing the slip and returning it to school. The Acceptable User’s Guidelines form is sent home at the beginning of each school year.

In the interest of student safety, the Hudson Street car park is for staff use only and is closed between 9:00 & 3:00pm each day. Parents and friends visiting the school must enter through the unlocked pedestrian gate near the office. This gate is to remain closed at all times.

As a courtesy to others and to our neighbours, when dropping children off at school or picking them up, parents are asked not to park across driveways. Parents are not to park in the Presbytery driveway at any time.

In keeping with Occupational Safety & Health regulations and our duty of care for all on the school site, pets should be left at home and not brought to school. This guideline also includes not bringing the family dog to school when dropping off or collecting children. Please ensure that all family members or friends who may be collecting your child, are also aware of these guidelines.

If children wish to bring animals to school for a special reason, Holy Family is bound to follow the Animals in Schools protocols. Please contact the Principal or Assistant Principal for relevant advice.

At Holy Family we strive to provide quality contemporary education in a culturally rich community enabling each person to live, love and learn in Christ. We empower each person to be self directed, life long learners, through deep learning pedagogy. We develop each person's learning dispositions so they can contribute positively to the wider community by utilising their gifts and talents to live fully in Christ.

Positive Behaviour Support for Learning (PBS4L) brings together the whole-school community to contribute to developing a positive, safe and supportive learning culture. Over the past 12 months, Holy Family has been implementing PBS4L framework. The framework assists our school to improve social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes for our children.

We already had a school motto in place of ‘Live, Love and Learn’. We took this motto and extended it to reflect the gospel values we wanted to instill into our students ‘Live Safely, Love Respectfully and Learn Daily’. This encompassed everything we did in every area. As a school we created a matrix of the behaviours we would like to see in every area of the school.

Students have been participating weekly in Peer Support lessons where they develop their values and learn about the effects their words and actions have on others. Our students are rewarded with tokens by living out our expectations in everyday contexts. Children are individually rewarded which adds to their class rewards, accumulating towards our whole school reward system.

As a Catholic school community, we place great emphasis upon our prayer life and spiritual formation. As a school community each year we celebrate:

• Opening School Mass
• Feast Days - Sacred Heart, St Mary MacKillop of the Cross, Annunciation, All Saints Day etc
• Liturgical Seasons – Lent, Easter, Advent, Christmas

The Angelus is prayed at 12:00 each day. This gives all in our community the opportunity to stop for a quiet time of prayer and reflection, dedicated to Our Lady.

Grade groups also have opportunities to attend parish Mass on rostered days and go to reconciliation. As a lived sign of our faith we participate in the following outreach programs:

• St Vincent de Paul Appeals – Winter & Christmas
• Mission Week
• sister of St Joseph - the works of Mary MacKillop – East Timor, Australia, Peru
• House of Welcome

Parents are encouraged to join us in sharing these faith experiences.

Parents will receive a written report for their child at the end of Semester 1 (Terms 1 & 2) and at the end of Semester 2 (Terms 3 & 4). A Meet the Teacher Evening is held early in Term 1 and Parent/Teacher meetings at the end of Term 2. 

Teachers are always available to discuss your child’s progress or any other concerns you may have. This can be arranged by calling the school office to leave a message for your child’s teacher to contact you or sending a note with your child.

If a child becomes sick at school or meets with an accident, parents are telephoned and asked to collect the sick child. In the meantime, the child is cared for in the sick bay. Parents will always be contacted in the event of a suspected fracture or head injury, and their direction will be sought. In an emergency situation, the Principal will assume responsibility for the child until a parent can be contacted, or present e.g. accompany child to the hospital.

It is important that parents ensure updated and current contact numbers are on file in the office.

To ensure the safety of all who visit our school site, the following procedures are in place:

• All visitors, including parents who visit during school hours, must report to the school office so that they can sign in. They will be issued with a visitor’s badge, which must be worn while on site. It is important that we know who is on site in the event of an emergency.
  
  
• If parents or visitors need to use toilet facilities while they are at the school, they are not permitted to use the student toilets. All parents and visitors should discuss with a staff member the facilities that they may access.
  
  
• Smoking on any school premises, including school buildings, school hall, gardens, sports fields and car parks, is prohibited. This includes students, employees, visitors and other people who use school premises, including community groups.

With the growing popularity of Facebook and Instagram it is essential to remind parents that photos of school events can not be placed on parent’s pages or sites. This is to ensure that privacy and child protection practices are not breeched.

Parents are also reminded that, in keeping with our Catholic faith and respecting the dignity of each person, it is not appropriate to make comment on other parents, children or staff on social media sites.

The school is divided into four Sport Houses: Martin Reds; Mackillop Blues; Kerrigan Gold and Stack Green. School Leaders lead their teams at Athletics Carnival, Cross Country and Swimming Carnival during the year. Children in the same family will always be in the same House Colour.

The Catholic Education Office allows the school six pupil free days per year, for the staff to use a block of time to develop school-based curricula or other approved staff development exercises. The NSW government has deemed that first of these days is the ‘teacher only’ day before the start of the school year, and two of the days are the last two days of the school year. Prior notice of the remaining three days each year will be given in the school newsletter, at least six weeks before the scheduled day.

Even though this can be a challenge for parents, especially when both parents work, they are a valuable way to ensure there is good professional development for the staff and planning for the school and, therefore, of value for your child's education. 

Holy Family has adopted a 'NO HAT, NO PLAY' policy all year. In the interest of the lifelong safety of our children from skin cancer, all staff will continue their commitment to the wearing of hats before and after school. School hats are available from office and the school uniform supplier, Oz Fashions.

Currently Holy Family Primary School participates in a one-week intensive swimming program each year. Lessons are conducted at Granville Heated Pool during Term 4 for Years K-6 and are levelled to suit each child's ability. This program is compulsory for all students.

We adhere to the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards and support the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. A range of checks and undertakings are required for people who work for or provide services to CEDP. These checks reduce potential risk and forms part of our strategy to build child safe communities.

All Volunteers and Contractors must complete the Building Child Safe Communities Undertaking Form and online training module prior to being engaged by a school or any other CEDP site. The purpose of this module is to inform you of the standards of behaviour and other requirements that must be adhered to when delivering services to children and students. This can be found at https://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/About-Us/Building-Child-Safe-Communities

The undertaking should take no more than 5 minutes to complete and the training module approximately 15 minutes. Once the form and training modules are submitted an automated email will be sent to you within 24 hours to confirm the status of your submission. The undertaking form will expire within 2 years or when you WWCC expires (if applicable) whichever is sooner. At this time you will need to complete the Undertaking form and training module again. You will receive an automatic reminder email when this occurs.

An essential part of being an authentically Catholic school is offering students a supportive environment in which to learn. Holy Family Primary makes the welfare of its students a priority and seeks to offer them appropriate support to ensure their wellbeing.

Programs include:

• Transition to Kindergarten
• Transition to High School
• Students with Additional Needs
• Pastoral Care – including a school counsellor
• Community Liaison Officers – Lebanese, Chinese

For further information, please refer to our school website.

Term Dates 2021

It is most important that you notify the school of any changes to your contact details.

If your child is ill, it is most distressing for him or her when we are unable to contact you because our records are not up-to-date. Please supply the name, relationship and telephone number/s of an emergency contact other than the parents.

The phones in the school are for use in the administration of the school. Children are not permitted to use the phone and phone calls will not be made on their behalf, except in case of emergency. The school phone number is (02) 8633 8200. The school office is staffed from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm Monday to Friday.

Our school welcomes regular communication between home and school for the benefit of each child. If parents wish to meet with a teacher or the Principal, they are asked to phone the school office to arrange an interview time in advance.

A school newsletter is available online via the school website and Skoolbag application every Wednesday fortnight. You can follow the links on the homepage of the school website to subscribe to the E-Newsletter. Once you have filled the subscription, an email will be sent with the newsletter attached. The newsletter contains information about school activities and upcoming events.

Messages to children or lunches brought late to school should be left at the school office. Parents are reminded not to go directly to classrooms as this interrupts your child's learning. Your assistance is appreciated.

Holy Family School website is regularly updated and is a valuable source of information. Families can access this handbook, relevant school policies and plans, fortnightly newsletters, student matters and current news stories.

Students are expected to keep their hair clean, neat and tidy at all times.

Students are to keep hair off their face and out of their eyes. Student haircuts are to be in a sensible and conventional style. There are to be no extremes of fashion in hairstyle cut or colour. Shaving of any part of the head or undercuts, and haircuts with a number 1 or 2 blade are not permitted. Rat’s tails are not permitted. For girls, long hair below the shoulder should be tied back by a ribbon, ‘scrunchy’, hair band or clip in navy blue colour.

In the interest of safety and security, no jewellery should be worn.  A watch, gold or silver bangle or bracelet which cannot be removed, are permitted. A plain gold silver or gold chain with a religious symbol or medal may be worn under the child’s shirt out of sight. (However, this is not recommended due to valuable items being lost in the playground and children and parents being greatly upset at the loss).

If a girl's ears are pierced, only one pair of sleepers or studs are to be worn in the lower ear lobe. Boys are not permitted to wear earrings at school or at any school activities. No other jewellery is permitted and teachers will ask students to remove inappropriate jewellery. In extreme cases, jewellery will be confiscated, secured and returned at a later time to the student or parent.

Make-up and nail polish are not part of the school uniform. Students wearing make-up or coloured nail polish will be asked to remove it.

The Assistant Principal, in consultation with the Principal, will make the final decision on what is considered appropriate hair styling, grooming and jewellery for school. Parents will be notified if there are concerns regarding their child/ren.

Each child at Holy Family Primary School is expected to wear the uniform as stipulated below. The full school uniform, including hats and bags can be purchased from Oz Fashions, 115/127 Parramatta Rd Granville

* The Holy Family School hat is compulsory to wear (a 'No Hat / No Play' policy is enforced for sun protection for all children all year)