St Leonards Primary School

Welcome to 2021. We hope everyone had a great break and enjoyed time with family and friends . We have had a fantastic start to the 2021 school year and hopefully this will continue for the remainder. 

Staffing

This year has seen a number of staff changes. We welcome Kathy Baker who has taken up the position of Deputy Principal. Kathy has been an outstanding leader in our community for several years and brings a wealth of experience to this role. Heidi Bevan has taken on the role of Wellbeing Leader for the remainder of 2021. Heidi has had experience in this area as a leader in the past and we look forward to her working with our learners, families and our community. 

There have been number of teaching changes as well. We welcome, Melissa Barnes who has been appointed as our Physical Education teacher for 2021 and Cher Zhang who has been appointed for LOTE, teaching Mandarin three days a week. 

We would also like to welcome three new SSO’s to our school this year. Liv Bradley has taken on front office duties from Mel Worden.  Mel has now become our Office Manager and Personal Assistant to the leadership team. Sara Batool will be working with a reception class 2 days a week and Natalie Wilson has started with us in the area of student support. 

School Numbers

We have started the school year with 422 students and expect another five students to start with us shortly. 

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all new members to the St Leonards community. This year we start with 62 new Reception children. They have made a terrific start to their school life. We did however, have to break the news to a few of them that yes, they have to come back to school next the next day as they had not finished school yet. 

We have had quite a number of new enrolments in the other year levels, and we welcome you to our beautiful school.   

COVID-19

COVID 19 is still an issue for us here in South Australia.  Our aim is to keep our community members and children as safe as possible. This at times can lead to great deal of frustration from parents and caregivers, especially around entry into classrooms and corridors. Unfortunately, we are unable to maintain social distancing in these areas. 

We encourage you to meet with your child's teacher when needed by arranging times via email or phoning the office. 

Acquaintance Night 

We will be holding our Acquaintance Night on Tuesday 9th February. This year we'll see a slightly different format from the past and it will resemble more of a meet and greet. We encourage children to attend and show parents and caregivers around the school , introducing them to their class teacher as well as their specialist teachers. 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions we ask families to follow SA Health guidelines. This means scanning our QR code when you arrive. These are located at all entry points to buildings or in classrooms. We ask that there only be 16 adults per room at any one time. 

Families whose surnames that begin with A to J will be able to attend their child's class from 6:00pm to 6:30pm to meet the teacher. 

Then the reminder of parents and caregivers from K- Z have priority from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.  

Annual General Meeting 

All families should have received an invitation to our Annual General Meeting which will be held after our acquaintance night at 7:15pm in the staff room.  This will provide an opportunity for community members to hear about the school's achievements during 2020.  

Drop Off and Pick Up

School officially starts at 8:45am and finishes at 3:05pm. Please be aware that our duty of care begins at 8:30am and finishes at 3:15pm. Before and after school we have teachers on yard duty at these times .

If you need your child to be at school prior to 8:30am or after 3:15pm out of school hours care (OSHC) is available. Please contact Lou our OSHC Director on 8294 1990 to book.

Pastoral Care Worker

It is with great sadness that I announce our pastoral care worker, Karen Marks will not be taking up her position this year. Karen has been an amazing asset to our school and will be missed by our community. The process for appointing a new pastoral care worker will commence shortly. 

Parking 

By now you would have noticed a number of changes around the school. We have been working with council and other community members to solve issues with traffic management around the school. This is about child safety. Please observe the necessary signage around the school, counsel will be patrolling the areas and issuing fines for noncompliance. We have attached guide to road rules around school for your information.  We as adults need to model exceptional behavior to our children. Please don't stop in the middle of the road and pick up your child, please cross at marked crossings and please observe the no parking areas around the school. 

Thank you for your cooperation. 

Dave Henty-Smith - Principal

Kathy Baker - Deputy Principal

Heidi Bevan - Wellbeing Leader

Week 2 2021

• Premier's Reading Challenge starts

Week 3 2021

• Acquaintance Night - Tuesday 9 February, 6:00pm 
• Governing Council AGM - Tuesday 9 February, 7:15pm
• Assembly - Friday, 12 February

School Account Credit Balances

There are many families with credit balances in their school account as at the end of 2020 which need to be utilised, some of which are reasonably large.  Prior to making any payments this year for the Materials & Services Charge, Excursion levy and other school costs (via cash/cheque, direct debit, Eftpos or QKR), can you please contact the school to determine your credit balance.  Many thanks.

Materials & Services Charge 2021 & Excursion Levy 2021

Please note that the school fees and excursion levy will be invoiced to all families this week.  Payments made for the school fees by Friday, 12 February, 2021 will receive a 5% early bird discount.

Payment by QKR! is preferred or pay at the Cash Office. 

When paying the levy by QKR!  you can pay the one off $50 excursion levy by selecting "full amount" or pay as you go by selecting "enter amount" then noting the name of the excursion in the comments.

Victoria Sierros, Finance Manager 

The school card scheme provides financial relief for eligible low-income families in relation to education costs.

Applications for all types of School Card can be completed online.

Parents and students can access School Card information and application forms using the link sa.gov.au/education/schoolcard

Eligibility

School Card is available to:

• families with children aged four years and over who attend a school full time
• independent full time students studying Year 10, 11 or 12
• adult re-entry students undertaking subjects to complete their SACE

Applications

Applicants need to complete an application form at the beginning of each year. Online applications will work on any device connected to the internet. This includes mobile phones, tablets and computers.

- School Card A

This is the most commonly used School Card application. Use this form if you are responsible for your child's school fees.

Do not use this form if you are:

• Self employed
• An independent youth
• An adult re-entry student
•  A migrant who arrived in Australia after 1 July 2018
• Receiving Veteran's Affairs benefits
• Applying on behalf of a foster child in your care

 Forms

All School Card forms (A, B, C etc)  are available on the sa.gov.au website for parents and students wishing to apply for a School Card

Contact

School Card

Phone: 1800 672 758

Email: education.SchoolCard@sa.gov.au

• Please return all student detail forms as soon as possible. Accurate student details are essential for communication especially in the case of student illness at school.

  Mark all changes on the the student detail form clearly, sign and return to the Office. If there are no changes, please initial and return the form to the Office.

• Skoolbag and QKR! are a convenient way to get current information about what is happening at St Leonards and to make payments or order canteen items. If you have not already done so please go to either the app store or google play store to download the apps and connect to St Leonards Primary School.  

Mel Worden, Office Manager

Please note that the school SMS number has now changed. The new SMS number is 0436 483 127. This is our preferred method for letting us know about any absences.

Messages should include name, room number and reason for absence eg illness or family.

Alternatively, please call the Office on 8294 9811 to leave a message with office staff.

We are excited to announce that we are now offering signage on our school’s fence line in Glenelg North.

This is an opportunity for SLPS to partner with the community and help with promoting local businesses.

You can benefit by purchasing your space and gain invaluable exposure to families, passing motorists and locals as well as showing your support for our school community. 

 There is a limited number of signs so get in before they are all gone.  

 If you are interested or know of someone that might benefit from advertising to our local community please contact  

 Michael on 0414 350 225 or Sponsorship.StLeonards392@schools.sa.edu.au