Starting School
Starting school means that your child is entering the next phase of his/her life. It also means that for parents who are sending their first child to school, a new phase in your life is beginning.
The following points can help the settling in process:
- Encourage your child to be positive about school and to attend school
- Ignore negative complaints and bring up interesting things to talk about.
- Rise early enough to have an unrushed breakfast and a settled atmosphere.
- Encourage your child to dress themselves.
- Listen to your child, reassure them and talk about how to make friends.
- Ensure adequate sleep - children sometime become tired and irritable after a few weeks.
Packing Lunches
Children will require morning tea and lunch. Please pack them separately. It is best to pack a variety of foods in small quantities so that children are interested in their lunch and enticed to eat it.
Encourage your child to bring home what isn't eaten so you can monitor how much they are eating. All students are required to sit for a specified time to complete eating their lunch.
In general:
- Include a drink
- Provide a separate recess and lunch
- Make lunch attractive and healthy
- Use plastic containers - no glass
- Packaged food must be able to be opened by children
- Mark all containers with your child's name
- Lunch orders to be written on a paper bag
Uniforms
Children are expected and encouraged to wear uniforms at all times. It has proven suitable for all school activities including sport and physical education.
Lost Property
Items which cannot be identified because they are not clearly labelled are sent to lost property. This is located in a large wooden box opposite the canteen area.
Paint Shirts
Children will wear paint shirts at school to protect their uniform. However, if there is a mishap and you need to get paint out of a uniform, the following directions are from the label on a paint container.
"Wet paint can be washed immediately in cold water. If paint has dried, soak garment overnight in cold soapy water and then handwash in lukewarm water using ordinary soap. Do not use hot water, laundry detergents or stain removers. Do not machine wash."
School Code of Conduct
The school has a booklet about your child's rights and responsibilities. This can be obtained from the front office and should be discussed with your child after settling into school.
Peer Support
When your child starts school at the beginning of the year, he/she will have a buddy assigned. This buddy is a Year 4 student who "knows the ropes". This buddy will spend time with your child in and out of the classroom to help familiarise them with school routines.
The buddies will help with lunchtime, morning tea and canteen orders. They will help your child to cope with the playground and initiate games and new friendships. These buddies will have been part of a training program at the end of the previous year in readiness.
Integration for Children With Special Needs
Southern Cross has Support Unit classes for students with special needs as part of the school. Students from these classes are often integrated into the mainstream classrooms for part of the day. This always happens with a support unit teacher or teacher's aide accompanying the child. No learning programs are interrupted.
Some mainstream children also take the oppportunity to learn sign language to help with communication with the special needs students. It is considered the support unit and the students with special needs add greatly to the education of all students, as well as learn the importance of tolerance, care and concern for our fellow students and respect for the individual.
2-40 Chickiba Drive
East Ballina
N.S.W. Australia, 2478
Phone: 02 6686 0503
Fax: 02 6686 0508
Southern Cross School K - 12 "Towards Tomorrow"
