A Word of Thanks + Some Information for Next Year

By Cathy Barry, Acting Assistant Principal Student Wellbeing

As the school year comes to an end, I’d like to thank all families for your ongoing support of our school throughout the year.  It has been another busy year, featuring many events and activities which have supported our educational programs.

I’d like to offer some advice for the holidays, to help prepare your child(ren) for the start of a new academic year in 2019:

• From about the middle of January it would be a good idea to develop a sound sleep routine for your child. Establishing the same bedtime and rising time will help tremendously at the start of February.
• Reading during the holidays has many benefits, such as developing vocabulary, improving spelling and grammar, and of course improving general knowledge. Try to capture your child’s interests when selecting reading material.
• Monitoring screen time, especially gaming time and use of social media, is strongly recommended.

If you can establish and cement some ‘home rules and expectations’ during the holidays you will have a far easier start to the 2019 school year.

Finally, sadly some of our students suffer with personal issues and can reach out to other students for help during holiday time.  Please keep an eye on the contact your child has with other students, especially if they receive upsetting messages relating to self-harm.  Our advice is to seek help immediately; this might include calling the Police to assist.

Here are some websites that might assist you during the holidays:

http://time.com/100-best-young-adult-books/

The following details may help you prepare for next year:

• school shoes must be traditional, black leather, polishable, lace up, heeled
• uniforms may need some attention, particularly hemlines = to top of knees
• aerosols/sprays are considered prohibited substances due to health impacts on some staff and students; only roll on deodorants are acceptable at school
• piercings – one earring per ear; no facial/head piercings are acceptable at all
• supervision at school begins from 8am; the Resource Centre is open and supervised until 4pm and students who remain at school are expected to stay in the RC
• Opening Hours: SFX will be closed from 10am next Friday 21 December 2018; school will re-open Monday 14 January 2019 between 9am and 1pm Mondays to Fridays
• The 2018 SFX Yearbook has arrived and will be sent home with students in Years 7-9 on Thursday 13 December. Year 11 and 12 students can collect their copies when they attend College next Tuesday 18 December.  Year 10 students can collect their Yearbooks from the Front Office.
• Year 7 students commence Monday 4 February 2019; all other students commence Tuesday 5 February 2019.

I wish you all the best for a safe and restful Christmas.

Cathy Barry.