CLAREMONT COLLEGE TAKES THE SAFETY OF ALL STUDENTS VERY SERIOUSLY. TO DO THIS WE NEED THE HELP OF PARENTS IN A NUMBER OF WAYS. I ASK THAT YOU READ THE FOLLOWING VERY CAREFULLY AND PROVIDE US WITH YOUR 100% SUPPORT.
CHILDREN’S SAFETY ON COOGEE BAY ROAD
We have requested by the Red Cross to make parents aware when approaching the Day Care’s driveway to be conscious of cars entering and leaving their premises. They have installed mirrors to assist their visitors’ viewpoint as well as painting the driveway for higher visibility.
We do not condone or encourage parents to double park on Coogee Bay Rd, opposite the school. This is incredibly dangerous and we request that you follow our published traffic management plan.
VISITOR SIGN IN
A reminder to please sign in and sign out at the school office should you need to collect your child, or visit the school for another reason, at any time during the day other than drop-off and pick-up times. A note explaining the absence is requested at the time of signing in if you are collecting your child during school hours.
YEAR 6 PARENTS
If your child is late to school, or needs to be collected, please do not drop him or her off in Judge Lane. You must sign in at the office throughout the day. This process is extremely important. We need to know where your child is at all times, and this serves our systems for recording ‘partial absences’ on the school roll for both emergency evacuation and legal roll-keeping purposes.
FRONT AND SIDE GATES
With the exception of certain times in the day (for example, sports bus time), the gates will be locked during the day. Entry to the school is via the office only. Parents are requested to not use the back gate when exiting the school at any time.
EXCURSIONS AND SPORTING EVENTS
Children are only allowed to travel home with other parents should the supervising staff have a letter outlining the necessary arrangements. With sports carnivals and gala days, children are expected, however, to attend the entirety of the event.
These activities are ‘team events’ as children are members and representatives of the school on these occasions. Unless otherwise stated (or permission given), children are expected to arrive at school to travel to sporting events with the school team.
EARLY DROP OFF
As mentioned in last week’s Newsletter, children should not be dropped off at school before 8:15am unless they are attending a sports training session or TeamKids. Should your child arrive between 8:15am and 8:30am they will be supervised in the school playground.
LATE PICK UPS AND AFTER CARE
Students must be collected at the gate by 3:30pm. Children who are not collected by this time are sent down to TeamKids.
UPSET NEIGHBOURS
Unfortunately from time to time we have had angry residents block the traffic in Dolphin St. Should you ever be approached in your car by an angry resident, please do all you can to not engage in heated conversation. If you are in your car and you ever feel threatened or intimidated please make your first call to the police on 000 and then please let us know at school that this incident has occurred.
WHY DO WE MAKE SUCH REQUEST? WE WANT TO KEEP YOUR CHILDREN SAFE!
We appreciate that these requests will cause some degree of inconvenience; however, as a school community we must work together to do all that we can to ensure the safety of the children and the safety and well-being of other members of the public. Your impatience may save you a minute or two. Your patience contributes to a more harmonious community and system for all. Your patience, consideration and common sense are all we ask.
IMPORTANT WORKING WITH CHILDREN CHECK (WWCC) CHANGES FOR SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS
The Anglican Schools Corporation, of which Claremont College is a member, requires everyone who comes to work or volunteer at school to obtain a WWCC from the Office of the Children’s Guardian.
We absolutely love having parents/carers and friends supporting the school in many ways such as at P & F events, sports carnivals, canteen and reading and maths groups. We would hate to miss out on having you join us as a volunteer so if you haven’t already supplied the school with a Working With Children Check number, please go to the following website, and apply for a volunteer number by clicking on the ‘Apply for your Check’ section.
http://www.kidsguardian.nsw.gov.au/working-with-children/working-with-children-check
Once you receive an Application number you need to visit an RMS office to be verified and take with you the application number together with your nominated form of identification. Once you have received your WWC number, please send in the number along with your date of birth to the school office for clearance.
Your assistance with this important matter is greatly appreciated.
RAINCOATS
We remind parents that all children must have a plain yellow raincoat as part of their school uniform. This raincoat should be left in your child’s bag every day ready for use whenever the need arises.
SAFETY IN STORMS
Since we are in an unpredictable weather season, we thought it was necessary to inform you of the school’s actions to keep your child safe should a severe storm hit in the afternoon at bell time.
We will do our best to let parents know if a storm might hit at this time. We check with the radar and monitor the situation. If we are ever in doubt of the safety of children, we will keep them indoors even if the bell has rung. If there are dangerous weather conditions such as torrential rain, localised lightning or hail, we would not dismiss children. Parents would be contacted by an app alert informing them of the school’s decision to keep children indoors and safe, until the weather has sufficiently cleared.
If the weather is wet but not severe, we might choose to RING THE BELL EARLY at 3:00pm to have children slowly and carefully moving to the School Hall (for Coogee Bay Rd) or Year 2 (for Judge St), so that the children are ready for their usual collection at the gates.
Children who walk home will not be allowed to walk home or walk to the bus-stop in the event of a severe storm. In this case, the school would contact parents to say that the children are still at school.
Children who catch the school bus will not be dismissed in the event of a severe storm. In this case, we would contact parents to say that the children are still at school and the buses will depart when it is safe to do so.
MOBILE PHONES AND 'SMART' WATCHES
At Claremont, it has been a longstanding policy that children are not permitted to bring mobile phones to school (or for that matter, any other electronic game or equipment). It would only be in very exceptional circumstances that we may consider granting special permission to an individual child to do so, but very strict conditions must be met. Any child, for whom permission is granted, must leave his or her phone at the school office before school and collect it again after school.
Under no circumstances can children leave a phone in their desk or bag.
Similarly, ‘smart’ watches such as the Apple iWatch and some Fitbits are not recommended to be worn at school. They may be lovely and fabulous devices but they are very expensive, and many allow for unfiltered internet access, bypassing our school security systems. If your child is wearing one of these devices and is using it inappropriately, they will be taken from your child and parents will be notified.
STUDENTS WITH MEDICAL CONDITIONS
If your child has any medical condition or allergy, no doubt you would have completed the section in the Student Details and Permissions form. If you’ve not yet done this, please do so straight away. We also require any Health Care Plans particularly if your child suffers from a life threatening illness such as Asthma or a severe allergy requiring an Epipen.
Ms Sallie Neville, the school nurse, is the person to speak to as a matter of urgency if you’ve not done so already. She will inform class teachers and those who manage the Sickbay in Sallie’s absence. Please note that all serious medical conditions require supporting medical documentation and clearly outlined treatment plans for your child.
MEDICATION AT SCHOOL
If your child needs to take ANY form of medication at school, including Panadol, Claratyne, Ritalin or Ventolin it must go directly to the school office. The medication must be clearly labelled with your child’s name, the name of the medication and with clear instructions for administration. Please do NOT ever place tablets in your child’s bag. Children may only take their medication under adult supervision. With medication that must remain at school for some time, please also ensure you have checked that the expiry date on the medication will be sufficient for the duration of the year. Children who need regular relievers for Asthma throughout the day are allowed to keep an extra puffer in their bag/pocket but one also needs to be kept in Sick Bay. Individual Medical Boxes accompany children whenever they are offsite.
PLEASE NOTE - If your Child has Asthma, Allergies or Anaphylaxis they will require an up to date action plan which must be reviewed annually according to the Australian School Health Standards. This document should be provided directly to the Sick bay and will accompany their medication
Thank you for your assistance and co-operation as we care for your children.
PLEASE REPORT INFECTIOUS DISEASES
At present Claremont College has children enrolled who have suffered from Leukemia in the past. They are at risk of becoming seriously ill should they come in contact with contagious diseases, particularly chicken pox and measles. Given this, should your child develop any infectious disease, we ask that you do not send him or her to school and notify the school immediately. It is the school’s role to notify the parents of those children so they can inform their medical team.
Additionally, we request that you support the school given that some school mothers are pregnant. May we emphasise a further point by requesting that parents do not send their child to school for at least 24 hours since the last vomit.
IMMUNISATION RECORDS
To be able to do all that we can to ensure the wellbeing of all children, the school is presently checking all student immunisation records. If you have not supplied an up to date copy of your child’s immunisation history statement from the Australian Immunisation Register, please send one to office@claremont.nsw.edu.au. If your child is not fully immunised, the school requires a signed letter from your family doctor, explaining why.
JEWELLERY AT SCHOOL
School badges and a simple watch may be worn to school but other badges, jewellery and ‘decorations’ are not part of the uniform. The only exception is where girls have pierced ears. In this instance, simple gold or silver studs may be worn, but sleepers and other styles of earrings are not permitted. In addition to being a uniform rule, it is also a safety issue.
NO DOGS PLEASE!
Government regulations state that animals are not permitted in school premises or at school activities. We would, therefore, ask parents not to bring their dogs (no matter how cute they may be) into the school grounds at any time. The safety of children is our priority but it is also in the best interests of the animals. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
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