SCHOOL FEES 2020 – NEW ARRANGEMENTS FOR PAYMENT BY INSTALMENT

The Catholic Education Office and its system of schools are in the process of a business transformation.  Part of this transformation involves a new administration and accounting package being rolled out to schools.  As you would be aware our school has been introducing Compass as our administration system over a period of time.  It is now fully functioning together with a new web based accounting system called Technology One.

This will allow for school fees in 2020 to be invoiced centrally by the Catholic Education Office under advice from schools.  Additionally, families will still be offered the opportunity of paying their school fees by regular payments over the school year as is the existing practice.  However, the new system also allows for instalments to be calculated and advised to families with a Schedule of Payments and the dates that they are due.  This replaces our current process of School Fee Agreements and the necessity for families to calculate their own payments.

Please note, families may elect to pay school fees by instalment under the following terms and conditions:

• The family must complete a Request to Pay School Fees by Instalmentand present a separate request to each school in which their child/children are enrolled.
• Families may have only one instalment frequency. If the family has multiple accounts due to children at different schools, they may only elect one payment frequency eg fortnightly in both schools. 
• The instalments must pay the school fee account in one school calendar year with an end date of the first week in December.
• On receipt of the Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment, an Instalment Scheduleadvising dates and amounts, will be generated by our accounting system and forwarded to the family by email so that payments can commence.
• The Request to Pay School Fees by Instalmentwill continue year to year until a further notice is received from the family.
• If instalments are not paid as agreed and there is serious default,the school may withdraw the offer of payment by instalment at any time and all fees will be due and payable until such time as a further arrangement is agreed upon with the school. Please note, families will be informed of the withdrawal of instalments in writing by email.

FAMILIES WITH EXISTING SCHOOL FEE AGREEMENTS

If you have an existing School Fee Agreement and are meeting your periodical payments as set out in the agreement, you will automatically be allocated to the instalment process in 2020 with your payment frequency.  Therefore, it will not be necessary for you to submit a Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment.

FAMILIES WITHOUT AN ACTIVE SCHOOL FEE AGREEMENT

If you do not have an active School Fee Agreement in place and would like to pay by instalments, please obtain a Request to Pay School Fees by Instalment from the school office.  By submitting this request you may elect to pay your school fees this year by weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly instalments.  When fees are invoiced and issued in early 2020, you will be provided with a Schedule of Payments and due dates with your school fee statement to enable you to commence payments.  Please note, if you do not elect to pay by instalments, your school fee account will be payable in full 30 days after annual invoicing.  

FAMILIES WHO MAY BE EXPERIENCING HARDSHIP

For those families who are experiencing financial hardship, please do not hesitate to contact the school office to access an Application for Fee Concession, either when your 2020 school fee statement is received, or in the case of an existing Fee Concession arrangement, on the date of your annual review.

SYSTEM REMINDERS

With the introduction of the new system, we now have the ability to generate system reminders for late payments.  Should you default in your payments, reminders will be issued for each payment missed and they will continue to be issued until your account is brought up to date. 

You will also have the opportunity to contact the school, if necessary in these circumstances, to provide explanation and make a further arrangement for payment.

SCHOOL FEE BILLING

Please be advised that all billing and statements are now prepared by Catholic Education Office in Wollongong. 

Miss Debbie Casey - SSS0

 Positive Behaviours for Learning (PB4L)

Our PB4L focus for this week (Week 4) is the Toilets

In the explicit teaching lessons the expected behaviours taught will be:

1. Walk to the toilet
2. Flush the toilet after use
3. Wash hands using one pump of soap
4. Be quiet during toilet visits
5. Walk quickly and quietly back to class

Examples of behaviours that negatively impact on Respectful, Responsible and Safe use of the toilets to be taught include:

1. Shouting
2. Running and/or playing
3. Putting soap on the toilet floor
4. Putting toilet rolls into the toilet

Our PB4L focus for next week (Week 5) is Eating recess Under the Covered Area

In the explicit teaching lessons the expected behaviours taught will be:

1. sit in your class lines
2. stay seated for the 10 minute eating time
3. put your rubbish in your container or invthe bin when you are dismissed
4. put your container in the class tub whenvyou are dismissed
5. stay in your line until your class is dismissed by the teacher

Examples of behaviours that negatively impact Respectful, responsible and safe behaviours when Eating recess Under the Covered Area to be taught include:

1. walking around during eating time
2. visiting the tuckshop during eating time
3. shouting or yelling         
4. leaving rubbish or your container behind     
5. ignoring teacher directions

We would very much appreciate your discussing these weekly focuses with your children and reviewing the expected and non-acceptable behaviours in our endeavour to see that St Patrick’s is a more respectful, responsible and safe learning community for all.

PB4L Data

It is with pride that I inform you that over the last two weeks 62 students were given Citizenship, Merit, Library or Uniform Awards or Playground Affirmation Awards whilst there weren’t any, not one, zero, zilch, niente students recorded for Inappropriate behavior.

Congratulations boys and girls. This is the most extraordinary news to share.

Please continue to act respectfully, responsibly and safely so this this trend continues.

WE’RE GOING GREENER - NUDE FOOD EVERYDAY

We require all students to bring their food in reusable containers of on a daily basis please. Quite simply what we’re asking you to do is to send your children to school with food that is not wrapped in foil, plastic or commercial packaging. Our hope is that all food will come to school in containers that can be brought home rather than wrapping or packaging that ends up as rubbish in our bins. We wish to eliminate single use plastics and food packaging to make a significant impact in reducing rubbish that goes to landfill.

It is our response to instilling in our students an ecological consciousness that aligns itself with the efforts and expectations of the wider community and puts into practice the principles of the Papal encyclical, ‘Laudato Si.”

Requiring students to bring Nude Food empowers students to make conscious choices about what they eat, and encourages them to think about their impact on the environment and their health.

Your support for this would be sincerely appreciated

The GREAT St Patrick’s School and Parish Fete is only 24 Days AWAY

                                 

                                   

You may recall from recent correspondence that we are asking for donation in the weeks leading up the fete.

Last week were requested bottles for the Bottle Lotto Stall – thank you to the families who responded.

This week we are collecting blocks of chocolate for the Chocolate Lotto Stall. These will be laid on a flat surface and all you’ll need to do is toss a coin in the hope that it lands on a block of chocolate which you then keep. How easy is that!! Sounds like good fun to me.

To help we hope that each family will donate a block of chocolate for the stall please

Next week : plants, pots and seedlings

Mr Gavan Hoctor - Assistant Principal

Good afternoon,

We are pleased with the success of the CatholicCare OOSH at St Patrick's Port Kembla and would like to thank you for welcoming the CatholicCare staff into your school community.

CatholicCare would like to consider operating a CatholicCare vacation care OOSH program within the Illawarra (possible at one or two sites in the April holidays) as we have had a number of families express interest in accessing a CatholicCare vacation care program in the Illawarra.

In order to gather interest CatholicCare would like to send a survey out to your school community in anticipation of April School Holidays 2020.

Please find attached the CatholicCare vacation care survey link here for families to complete.

We ask that the survey be completed by the 24^th of February so we can commence preparing the program.

If you have any questions around vacation care please do not hesitate to contact me moniqueb@catholiccare.dow.org.au

Kind regards,

Monique.

Monique Bagnall

OOSH Project Officer

CatholicCARE Wollongong

25-27 Auburn St (PO Box 1174) Wollongong 2500

Phone: 0428 684 925

moniqueb@catholiccare.dow.org.au

www.catholiccare.dow.org.au