Dear Parents, Welcome back to Term 3, especially those who are new to our school. I hope that you all had a lovely term break. We seem to be in for a very cold winter and so I encourage all students to ensure that they come to school with appro-priate clothing to keep warm and dry. We wish all our Muslim families a happy and festive time this weekend as they celebrate Eid al-Fitr also known as the Feast of Fast-Breaking or the Lesser Feast.. Eid al-Fitr celebrates the end of the fasting that occurs during Ramadan. Staffing We have a number of staff that are on long service leave this term. Erika Denys (Office) – returning 7 September Vanessa Forster (Welfare) – returning 7 August Bernie Phelan (5/6 teacher) – returning 18 August Carolyn Bowen (Reading Recovery) – returning Term 4 Assistant Principal Congratulations to Mr Ricky Potter who has been formally appointed to the role of Assistant Principal at St Albans East PS. Before and After School Care – Starting Term 4 The school will be operating a Before and After School Care program from the start of term 4. A parent information session will be arranged in the next few weeks. Please contact the office on 9366 2071 or alternatively send me an email kliman.anne-maree.a@edumail.vic.gov.au to express an interest in this program. Semester One Absences Below is a summary of the student attendance for Semester 1 2015. It is concerning that our P-2 students are having such large absences. This is a crucial stage of their learning and every day counts. Let’s see if we can work to-wards decreasing the number of absences from this area of the school in semes-ter two. Well done to Grade 5/6 - Room 2 on their exceptionally low number of absences!

From The Principal

Newsletter No. 11

17 July, 2015

Mon: Sandra

Tue:

Wed: Thurs: Jane

Fri: Jackie

PRINCIPAL:

Anne-Maree Kliman

St Albans East Primary School

Station Avenue, St Albans, 3021

PHONE:

9366 2071

FAX:

9366 4237

EMAIL:

st.albans.east.ps@edumail.

vic.gov.au

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Visit our web site at www.saeps.vic.edu.au

17 July—Lost Property Sale (After Assembly)

22 July -D eaf Workshop (Danny Lane)

Important Dates

Canteen Roster

Below is the past 5 year trend data for student absences that the Department of Education collects on student attendance. I must state that I am extremely concerned about the current statistics on our Year Prep through to Year 3. These are the foundation years and most important if we want our children to have success all the way through their schooling. Students with poor school attendance often achieve poor academic results. This year we have employed a staff member to ring parents about student absences, however it seems that this strategy is not having the impact that we would like. WE cannot teach children if they are not at school. It is a parent’s re-sponsibility to get their child/children to school each day. It saddens me to see that we have some par-ents do not see that attending school each day as important.

GRADE AVERAGE NUMBER OF ABSENCES

RANKED

Grade 5/6 – Room 1 5 Equal 5

Grade 5/6 – Room 2 2 1

Grade 5/6 – Room 4 5.8 7

Grade 5/6 – Room 7 6.8 9

Grade 5/6 – Room 8 4.1 3

Grade 3/4 – Room 17 7 10

Grade 3/4 – Room 18 9 11

Grade 3/4 – Room 19 4.4 4

Grade 3/4 – Room 20 5 Equal 5

Grade 3/4 – Room 21 4 2

Grade 3/4 – Room 22 5.6 6

Grade 1/2 – Room 13 8.2 9

Grade 1/2 – Room 14 6.4 8

Grade 1/2 – Room 15 7.5 Equal 11

Grade 1/2 – Room 16 7 Equal 10

Grade Prep– Room 9 8.3 10

Grade Prep – Room 10 11.8 12

Grade Prep – Room 11 7.5 Equal 11

Page 2

Calendar Year

Prep Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 P - Yr 6

2011

20.37

13.83

12.11

13.94

13.52

13.84

13.26

14.54

2012

20.28

17.37

15.91

13.00

14.95

13.67

10.69

15.42

2013

20.50

13.01

13.88

12.68

9.74

13.36

10.91

13.26

2014

19.48

18.61

14.99

14.64

12.15

12.67

14.31

15.14

2015

23.81

17.40

15.24

15.25

13.10

9.08 9.94

14.92

Absence Days per FTE - St Albans East Primary School (4741)

KINDA KINDER The Kinda Kinder program will recommence on Tuesday 21 July.

PLAYGROUP Playgroup recommenced this week on Thursday 16 July, 2015

Student Absences It is that time of the year where students start to get sick which results in them needing some time off. I take this opportunity to remind you that if you need to keep your child home because they are sick you must then provide a reason for the absence to the classroom teacher or the school office. You can do this in a number of ways: 1. Phone the school on 9366 2071 to report the absence

2. Report the reason directly to the teacher when your child returns to school Provide written notification to explain the absence. Further to this we ask that if your child is unwell before school that you do keep them home as we are con-stantly calling parents asking them to collect their sick child from school. Often the children will tell us that they did not feel well before school, told their parents but were still sent to school. This actually results in other children getting sick and we would like to avoid this happening. With the above being said, we are certainly not encouraging you to keep your children home unless they are genuinely sick. Parent Opinion Survey Each year the Department randomly selection of parents to received a survey to complete about the school. This is an opportunity for you to make comment about many aspects of this school. The survey is anonymous and not opened by the school, but rather sent to an independent company to be processed. The survey will be distributed next week and we ask that if you receive a survey, please complete it and return it to the school in the envelope provided. The results of the survey are provided to the school in October and will help us to plan future improvements. 2016 ENROLMENTS Do you have a child who will turn 5 by April 30 next year? If so the child is eligible to start school and now is the time to enrol. Please contact the school on 9366 2071 so that an enrolment package can be sent home and to make an appointment to meet with me to discuss your child’s start to school life. We will be conducting an orientation program at the beginning of term 4 so it is important to enrol now so that we can include your child in this program. Anne-Maree Kliman Principal

Lost Property Sale

Any UN-NAMED NON-

UNIFORM items will be sold

for a GOLD COIN donation.

The SALE will occur on Fri-

day 17 July, 2015

Location: Hall

Time – 3.00pm-3.30pm

Any remaining unsold items will

then be donated to a

nearby charity.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Free AFL Tickets

The Western Bulldogs have kindly given the

school 40 tickets to give the opportunity for

students and parents to go along and support

the team against Collingwood on Sunday 26th

July. The tickets will give you entry to the ven-

ue, being Etihad Stadium and access to the

Bulldogs Backyard Community Bay. As there

are only 40 tickets these will go on a first in,

first served basis. Please see Ricky Potter if

you wish to have access to the tickets.