2025 Term 3 - Welcome Back

Principal's Messages

Welcome Back!
We hope you had a restful break and are ready for a great Term 3.

A reminder that the school will be closed on Monday as staff engage in a professional learning day. We will be focusing on our Wellbeing Improvement Goal, with a particular emphasis on strengthening our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) practices and wellbeing supports across the school. This includes reviewing our social skills programs, pastoral care initiatives, staff wellbeing, and supports for neurodivergent students.

We hope you’ve had some time over the break to stay warm, rest, and reset for what will be a busy and rewarding term ahead.

We welcome two practicum students from the University of Newcaslet Miss Chapple in Kindergarten and Mr Sloan  in Year 5. We welcome them both to Corpus Christi and my thanks to the staff who continue to share their experience and mentor pre-service teachers.

Here are a few reminders to help us all get off to a smooth start:

• Morning Routine: Students should arrive before the 8:50am bell. If arriving late, a parent must sign them in at the office kiosk.

• Calendar: The Term 3 calendar is available on Compass – please check for upcoming events and activities.

• Uniform: We return with full winter uniform. With the cold mornings, please make sure students have a school  jackets. The school jacket must be the outermost layer of warmth if other layers are required – other jumpers, including hoodies, are not permitted. If your child does not have a school jacket or school-coloured jumper, second-hand items may be available from the uniform shop or school office.

• Lost Property: All clothing and items should be clearly labelled – we do our best to return lost property, but many unlabelled items are difficult to be returned to owners.

• Jewellery: Small studs or sleepers only are permitted. Earrings with charms or that dangle should not be worn.

• Nail Polish: Please ensure nail polish is removed before coming to school.

• Hair: Hair that is shoulder length or longer must be tied back. Hair elastics are available from the school office if needed.

Thanks for your continued support!

Attendance

At the end of last term, we made some updates to how we communicate student attendance information. We acknowledge that these changes were not explained before the attendance email was sent home, and we apologise for any confusion this may have caused.

The Term Attendance Report is designed to keep you informed about your child’s attendance since the beginning of the school year. It also includes the number of partial absences, where applicable.

We’ve included the Attendance Ladder below, published by the Catholic Schools Office, to help explain how attendance levels are viewed. We understand that most student absences are explained and are often due to illness or other important family reasons.
Partial absences refer to times when students arrive late or leave early—including when they leave from the sick bay. Please note that regular early departures for extra-curricular activities are not considered principal-approved leave.

We share this information not to place pressure on families, but to highlight the importance of regular attendance for student learning and wellbeing. We’re proud that Corpus Christi currently holds the third highest attendance rate in the Diocese. 

To help keep attendance records up to date and meet legal requirements, here are a few reminders:

Attendance Reminders:

• Morning attendance is recorded at 8:50am each day.

• Partial absences (arriving after 8:50am or leaving before 2:50pm) must be signed in/out at the office by an adult. This ensures accuracy for legal records.

• Unexplained absences will trigger a text message with a link to provide an explanation through the Compass app.
  Please aim to submit explanations within 7 days.

• Extended leave (10+ days) must be applied for via the school office and approved by the principal.

We truly appreciate your continued support in making sure every child can get the most out of their learning and time at school. If you have any questions or need help with Compass, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office.

Parent Event - Trivia Evening

Trivia Night Tickets Now On Sale - Qkr!

Purchase your tickets now for the Corpus Christi Trivia Night.
A fantastic night of fun with prizes (including cold hard cash and bragging rights) to be won.
Saturday 30th AugustHamilton North Bowling Club, 6pm start$20 per ticket, available to purchase on Qkr! or rustle up a team and book a full table of 8.
Fantastic lucky door, raffle and bonus prizes to be won. Bring your gold coins for bonus games. Eftpos facilities available on the night.
This event is open to parents, friends and family of the Corpus Christi Community and is strictly an adult only event. All funds raised are used for the improvement of school facilities and resources. We look forward to seeing you there!

Our Week

Staffing - Term 3

During Term 2, we welcomed Mrs Julie Saperas as our EAL/D teacher. Mrs Saperas works alongside Mrs Pois to support students from language backgrounds other than English, catering to a range of English language proficiency levels. She works on Thursdays across Kindergarten to Year 6.

We are also in the process of recruiting an additional Learning Support Assistant for Thursdays and Fridays. This position has been made possible through additional funding provided by the Catholic Schools Office. During Term 2, some of these hours were temporarily covered by Mrs Jennifer Bone, who has been working across various classes to support student learning.

Morning and Afternoon Routines

Before school 

Morning Drop off:  Parents are welcome to enter the school grounds from 8:20am with their children and depart prior to the 8:50 am bell. 

If you are entering the school, please avoid parking in the Platt Street 5-minute zone (where possible). We aim to improve road safety in our school zone area to help protect children on their way to and from school. If parents use this space as a drop-off (kiss and ride), we can move more cars through. 

Supervision commences at 8:20am. Students should not be on site prior to this time. 

Afternoons: We ask that parents wait outside the school gate as we call students to cars and parents/carers for collection. The students and staff are familiar with this routine, which ensures safe exits from the school for students accessing buses, OOSH, parents in cars, and walking/cycling home.   

Students who walk, ride or take the bus from stops other than Platt Street opposite the school are expected to do so independently. There is no Corpus Christi staff supervision at other local bus stops or while boarding buses on Station and High Streets.

Students will be supervised exiting the school from the Alfred Street gate. Any students making their own way home are expected to do so independently/

Family and Community Engagement and Volunteering

Our Family and Community Engagement survey is still live on Compass.

We would like to gather input from parents and families about how we can best engage you in school events, activities, and community life. We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. Your feedback will help shape future opportunities and ensure that our events reflect the interests and needs of our school community.

We look forward to using your responses to guide planning and create meaningful ways for families to connect, contribute, and feel part of school life. Thank you for your ongoing support.

Volunteering

Register here: https://mn.catholic.org.au/about/working-in-the-diocese/volunteer/

Volunteering at school is a valuable way for parents and carers to contribute to the life of our school community. We fully understand that many families have work commitments or find it difficult to attend events during school hours — and that’s okay. Even being able to help out once during the year makes a real difference.

By registering as a volunteer and completing the necessary diocesan requirements, you give us the opportunity to reach out when support is needed. Whether it's just one thing — like helping on a sports day, joining a committee, or listening to children read in the classroom — your involvement helps us immensely.

Throughout the year, we seek assistance in a variety of ways, including:

• Listening to students read

• Volunteering on sports days

• Helping supervise excursions

• Supporting fundraising events

• Participating in school committees

To ensure we uphold our safeguarding responsibilities, all volunteers must complete the Volunteer Application process and meet diocesan requirements (such as a National Police Check and, in some cases, a Working With Children Check).

We kindly encourage all interested parents and carers to complete the application in advance, so when opportunities arise, we can call on a pool of cleared and ready volunteers.

Thank you for considering how you might support our school community — every bit of help counts!

Term Dates