BELL TIMES
First Bell 8:25am | Morning Interval – 20 min 9:55am | Brain Break – 5 Min 11:15am | Lunch – 55min 12:15pm | Final Bell 2:30pm
The school is not open until the arrival of the first bus. This bus normally arrives at 7:45am. It is from this time that teachers are on duty. The school grounds should be cleared by 3.30pm, unless a sports practice is in progress, or prior arrangements have been made.
Office hours are between 8am and 3.30pm on Mondays to Fridays during the school terms.
School Open 7.45 am
Office Open 8.00 am
Start of School Day 8.30 am
Morning Interval 9.55 am
Morning Classes Resume 10.15 am
5 Min Brain Break 11.15 am
Lunch Hour Begins 12.15 pm
Afternoon Classes Begin 1.10 pm
End of School Day 2.30 pm
Bus 1 2.40 pm
Bus 2 3.10 pm
School Closed 3.30 pm
ASSEMBLIES
School assemblies run by the students (Kidszone) occur each Friday morning at 8:40am. It is here that student achievements are recognised and news is shared. Many parents / grandparents and sometimes past pupils join us at our Kidszones.
At the conclusion of each term we instead, hold a Quality Awards. Where students from each clas are recognised in the areas of Literacy, Mathematics and the School Goal (the Pride value focussed on that term)
ATTENDANCE
Students are required to attend school on all days that the school is open. It is very important that students arrive on time for school with enough time to prepare for the day. In the event of your child not coming to school for any reason whatever please ring the school and let us know before 8.30am. For student safety, we take a check every morning and we will ring you if your child is absent without prior notification.
Should your child be required to leave the school during the day, please sign your child in and out at the office.
SUBWAY LUNCHES
Bought lunches, are provided by Subway, at a cost of around $6.00. Orders should be placed in the appropriate box in the Office foyer by 8.30am on Friday. Forms provided.
TRANSPORT
As we are a country school we rely on parents and staff members to provide most of the transport to various extra functions and activities that we consider important for the education of the children in the school. Please make yourself available for this activity when you can.
BUS
A number of our students travel to school each day by bus. We have two bus runs servicing the school enabling students to travel to and from school safely.
The first bus each morning comes from town and picks up students at the first stop on Benmorven Road just after 7:30am. This bus then continues around the Benmorven loop before arriving at school. These students generally arrive at school at 7:45am. This bus then continues and does the second bus run up Brancott Road and then on to the Omaka Valley. This bus then arrives back at school at approximately 8:20am.
At the end of the school day the Brancott/OmakaValley run is done first and then the bus picks up the town and Benmorven loop students at approximately 3:10pm. The bus arrives at the Burleigh Park stop at approximately 3:20pm.
The bus service is free for ‘eligible’ students. ‘Ineligible’ students may purchase a ticket from the school office at $5 for 10 trips. Information on eligibility is available on request.
BRING YOU OWN DEVICE (BYOD)
At Fairhall we accept that parents may choose to allow their children to bring their own technology devices to school to use in their class lessons. The school will allow iPads, Kindles and other similar notebook devices other than iPhones or smart phones to use as a learning tool. Parents will be required to identify and sign for the use of a device using our schools BYOD – Student User Agreement Form. We will accept this for students from Year 6 to 8. (Only available on request)
CYBER SAFETY
At Fairhall we educate our children around about appropriate computer use. We remind all the students that the school owns the devices we have in class as well as the individual accounts. Therefore the children are to use the devices for school work only. Personal ‘Team Drives’, personal Gmail account use, social media use or online chat groups are not permitted.
HEALTH SERVICES
Support for health issues or concerns are available through the school with the Public Health Nurse. With your permission a referral can be made. Please contact your child’s teacher to discuss any health concerns you may have with regards to your children/family.
SUPPORT SERVICES
When the school, or parents/caregivers have need of professional support services, the school has access to a wide range of services including:
Counsellors | Psychologist | Speech Therapist | Public Health Nurse | Resource Teacher of Literacy | Special Education Service | Correspondence School
LIBRARY
We have a well-resourced library. Students are encouraged to borrow books for personal reading and research.
Your help in ensuring that the books are carefully treated at home and returned promptly when due, will help us maintain this excellent school resource.
Reimbursement will be required for lost books.
LOST PROPERTY
Student clothing must be named.
Students and parents are encouraged to check through the lost property (Missing Friends) box for any lost items. At the end of each term, clothing left in this box is donated to a worthy charity.
SCHOOL PHOTOS
A commercial photographer takes class group and individual photos once per year. Family photos are also taken if requested.
NEWSLETTERS
This is emailed to parents every Wednesday. This is the main form of communication between the school and home. A hard copy of the newsletter is kept in the foyer of the school office and available here.
BOOK CLUB
Scholastic Book Club Brochures are sent home with children each term. Scholastic Book Club purchases are made on-line approximately once each term and delivered to the office in your child’s name. This is a source of good recreational books at reasonable prices. Teachers are available for assistance in making selections to suit your sons/daughters interest and ability. For every purchase you make, points are accumulated. These points are then used to purchase more books for the library – a very easy form of fundraising.
EMERGENCY INFORMATION
School Closure
We try not to close the school at any stage during the school year, but will do so if there is a risk to student and staff health and safety, either within the school or getting to and from school. In this instance and where possible we will notify parents prior to the beginning of the school day.
Depending on the circumstances notification will be through any of the following:
Text to cellphone School App
Email
School Website
Notices on the local radio stations (MoreFM, Newstalk ZB)
Closure is generally due to extreme weather or if the school environment is dangerous to students or we have no essential services for an extended length of time.
If the school closes during a school day all students will be kept at school until collected or released if the bus service is running.