Dear Parents  

Wow it is hard to believe we are about to enter into the Winter season. The year just seems to be flying by. 

Confirmation Mass – Sunday 2nd June 
This Sunday at 2pm, 37 children from our school will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation at St Pius X Church at Dernancourt. The Archbishop of Adelaide, Patrick O’Regan will be officiating at this celebration and will be supported by our Parish Priest, Father John Sebastian. 

The Sacrament of Confirmation can be traced back to the early Church, when the apostles of Jesus would lay their hands on newly baptised believers, praying that they receive the Holy Spirit. Today many parents make the decision to baptise their children into the Catholic Church when they are babies. The Sacrament of Confirmation symbolises a conscious decision made by the individual being confirmed to strengthen their faith as well as renew and commit to the promises that were made on their behalf when they were baptised.  

The celebration will be made even more special by 40 members of our School Choir who will be singing at this Mass. I look forward to being a part of the celebration and you are all invited to join us.

School Disco 
On Friday 21st June, the P&F Committee will be hosting the School Disco. This will be held in the School Hall at the following times: 
Reception to Year 2, 5:15pm – 6:30pm 
Year 3 – 6, 7:00pm – 8:30pm 

More information about the Disco will be provided in the coming days.  

I would like to thank all of the members of the P&F who are working hard behind the scenes to provide this wonderful social opportunity for our children.  

Let Us Entertain You 
Our School Concert “Let Us Entertain You” is being held on Thursday 4th July. The children are currently working with Ground Force to prepare their concert items and we look forward to what should be a wonderful community event. Tickets went on sale on Monday. Please contact the front office if you have any questions about the concert. 

Pupil Free Day 
Just a reminder that next Friday 7th June will be a pupil free day. On this day our staff will be undertaking First Aid Training. Please note that all staff are involved in this training and therefore the School Office will not be open. 

Our School’s OSHC service will be available – bookings are essential. 

School Uniform Supplier 
Our current uniform contract with Belgravia Apparel has come to an end. After meeting with a number of Uniform Suppliers the School Board have made the decision to switch Uniform Suppliers.

From the beginning of Term 4 this year, UMS (Uniform Management Services) will be taking over the manufacture of our uniforms. Our school uniform will continue to look the same so there will be no impact on current uniforms. UMS (Uniform Management Services) have a shop on Hampstead Road at Clearview, so parents will be able to continue ordering and purchasing uniforms in the same way that they currently do.

In making this change we strongly considered a number of factors which included: 

1. Customer Service: Families will still have access to a store that is close to the school and which is open 6 days per week. Appointments are not necessary and online ordering is also available. 
   
   
2. Uniform Quality: UMS (Uniform Management Services) have already provided samples of our school uniforms, and the School Board believes that they will be more durable than our existing uniforms. 
   
   
3. Pricing: UMS (Uniform Management Services) will continue to match the same pricing structure as our current uniforms. 

We believe that this change will be a positive one for our school. I will be sending out a letter to the community in the coming weeks about how we will manage uniform sales whilst we transition from Belgravia to UMS (Uniform Management Services). 

Traffic 
Last term I sent out a letter to our community about traffic flow around the school. I would like to thank the vast majority of our community for their cooperation with the requests contained in this letter.  

Can I please request support with the following issues that are still causing some frustration for motorists around the school. 

1. Obeying parking signage around the school: We still have some people who are parking on the street in areas where there is meant to be no parking. One area that is particularly causing issues is the corner of Acton Avenue and Windsor Grove where cars are parking over a solid yellow line. This solid yellow denotes  a "No Standing Zone". When cars are parked in this area, it does cause issues for traffic turning onto Acton Avenue from Windsor Grove, which in turn leads to a bank up of traffic on Windsor Grove. 
   
   
2. I would also ask that parents do not park across the drive way near the double gates on Acton Avenue. This is a major entry point for the children, and parking in this space poses a danger for those children who are cross the road before and after school.
   
   
3. Some of our neighbours have complained that parents/caregivers are parking across their driveways and in one instance, parents have even parked in someone’s driveway. Please be respectful of our neighbours and refrain from doing this.
    
4. I would like to reiterate the request for a one way traffic flow around the school from 8:20am – 9:00am & from 2:30pm – 3:30pm. The narrow streets boardering our school, mean that two way traffic flow does cause issues with congestion and can lead to traffic jams. Please see the diagram below for clarification.

We fully understand the issues with parking and traffic around the school at drop off and pick up time, due to the narrow streets. 

Please be reminded that we have staff on duty for 25 minutes before school start time and 30 minutes after school finish time, to supervise children. This is provided to support families with staggering drop off and pick up. If you are caught up in traffic, please be patient and know that we have staff on hand to supervise your children. 

As a school we can only make requests for parents to do the right thing, and do not have the power to enforce the street parking signage. Please note that we will be working with the council to request their support in enforcing parking restrictions around the school if we find that the same vehicles are constantly not adhering to the ''parking rules''.   

Once again I would like to thank most parents for their support with our traffic requests. 

God bless!

Ashley Keane