Welcome to the 2022 school year. We hope you have all had a great holiday with your friends and families and are looking forward to an exciting year of learning. It was great to see all of the students face to face today.

It has been an unusual start to the school year, we have been very impressed with the effort that students have put in either while at home or at school. The support that our students and staff have had from families has been amazing, we could not have had the smooth start to the year without this support.

The students have had to learn in different and possibly difficult situations for the first two weeks of this year and the staff are very impressed with their reliance, respect and responsibility. We are proud of our student and our community.

I know there will continue to be challenges this year but I am confident that our students, families and staff will be able to work together to overcome these.

Thank you for following the guidelines and restrictions that we have in place. We appreciate your support and for continuing to put your safety and the safety of others as a high priority.

All year 3 – 6 students are asked to wear masks as it is strongly recommended by SA Health. We are able to give them to students while we have stocks. We also have smaller masks if any students in Rec-2 wish to use them.

If there is a positive COVID-19 case at school we will be following all Department for Education guidelines and protocols.

Below is the protocol we will be following for your information:

o Students (and staff) are identified as a classroom contact if they shared a classroom or interacted with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (teacher, SSO, ancillary staff or student)

o Parents/caregivers will be informed if their child has been identified as a classroom contact initially via text then with a follow up email. Students are then required to follow the instructions on the letter which include:

• if the student has symptoms, they must not attend school and get tested as soon as possible
• students (aside from the positive case/s) will be encouraged to continue attending school if they don’t have any symptoms
• student attendance at OSHC should be avoided where possible for 7 days

We welcome some new staff members to our community this year, Holly Fisher and Emily Mooney-Doe will be teaching in one of our 2/3 classes. Emily is also our PE teacher 3 days a week. Syed Janud will be teaching in one of our 4/5 classes. We welcome back Susan Banks who is our Performing Arts Teacher in Term 1.

Sandra Howlett has been appointed as Deputy Principal for Term 1 and Emma Shillum will taking Sandra’s class while Sandra is Deputy Principal.

Teachers will continue to use Seesaw to communicate with our families at home. If you are not connected to your child’s class Seesaw please contact the school and we can support you with this.

If you have not already done so please download the SchoolZine App as it is our main method of communication for whole school information.

Belinda Finlay-Smith

Principal

Day to Day - for parents and caregivers of students attending the site

• Parents and caregivers, please wear masks when you are on the school site at all times.
• Please do not enter the courtyard and/or go near the entrances to any classrooms.
• Please don't park in the staff car parks - inner or outer.  
• If your child is sick, even slightly, please keep them at home and if they exhibit any COVID-19 symptoms please ensure they have a PCR test.

Students are required to wear full school uniform including hats, each day when attending school.

The Uniform Shop is open on Wednesday mornings or you can order any uniform items on Qkr! at any time. Items which are ordered and paid for online by 5.00pm, will be delivered to the student on the next day.

Uniform bundles are available for sale until the end of Week 4 after which the price of uniform items will revert back to the non-bundle price. 

Would you like to become a member of Governing Council?  

Do you have ideas and or suggestions to support the school that you would like to share? 

Would you like to be involved in your child’s education? 

Do you have 2 Wednesday nights free per term?

Are you prepared to participate in some fundraising events and activities?

What does Governing Council do?

Governing Council involves the school community in the governance of the school by:
*providing a focus and a forum for parental and school community involvement and values
*identfying the educational needs of the local community and the attitude of the community to educational developments within the school ensuring that the cultural and social diversity of the school community is considered and the needs of all student groups are appropriately identified
*set the general directions of the school by developing broad policy statements such as the site learning plan, the budget, and student safety, welfare and discipline policies
*monitor and report on:
- the site learning plan
- finances (including governing council enterprises and programs such as OSHC and canteen)
- the council’s operations.
- raise money for school related purposes
- maintain property
- manage OSHC and canteen responsibilities.

Pimpala Primary School can have up to 20 parent members on Governing Council.

If you would like to nominate for a position on our 2022 Governing Council, please forward your nomination to dl.1059.info@schools.sa.edu.au

We will meeting soon to have our Annual General Meeting, due to current COVID-19 restrictions we have postponed our AGM. When a date has been finalised we share the details.

School Starts:             8:40 - Classrooms open

                                  8:50 am
                                               Students must be in class
                                               when the bell sounds

Recess Eating Time:     10:40 am

Recess Play Time:        10:50 am – 11:10 am

Lunch Eating Time:      12:40 pm – 12:50 pm

Lunch Play Time:         12:50 pm – 1:30 pm

Dismissal:                   3:10 pm

Leadership

Principal -  Belinda Finlay-Smith

Deputy Principal  - Sandra Howlett

Student Wellbeing Leader - Christine MacLean

Classroom Teachers

Reception - Rachel Pullman

Reception/Year 1 -  Lauren Whitbread

Year 1/2  - Emma Shillum

Year 1/2 - Lauren Stanley

Year 2/3 - Nicole Currer

Year 2/3 -  Holly Fisher/Emily Mooney-Doe

Year 3/4 -  Mel Scott

Year 4/5 -  Jo Power

Year 4/5 -  Syed Janud

Year 5/6 -  Nigel Branson

Year 5/6 -  Chris Burns/Rose Knight

Specialist Teachers

Auslan - Rose Knight

Performing Arts - Susan Banks

Science - Vance Smith

Physical Education - Emily Mooney-Doe

Aboriginal Education Teacher - Deb Hampton

Student Learning Support - Elira Dixon

SSOs - Administration

Office Manager - Barb West

Reception/Administration - Kylie Gatter

Reception/Administration - Karen Campbell

Finance Officer - Helen Clark

SSOs - Classroom

Kyal Bacon

Mia Bliss

Jenny Jackson

Trish Mart

Sue Renfrey

Rob Rodgers

Tina Spencer

Kate Turner - on leave Term 1

Deb Vatsinaris

Faye Yeomans

Library Officer

Karen Campbell

Aboriginal Community Education Officer

Erin Douglas

Stephanie-Alexander Kitchen Garden Co-ordinator

Michele Smith

Grounsperson

Harrie Thyssen

Pastoral Care Worker

Sarah Mewett

IT Technicians

Lei Wang

Shaun Song

Canteen Manager

Kylie Nicholas

OSHC 

Director - Jack Walton

Asst Director - Thea Sporne

2022         Term 1       Monday, 31 January         -   Thursday, 14 April

                  Term 2      Monday, 1 May               -    Friday, 7 July

                  Term 3      Monday, 25 July              -    Friday, 30 September

                  Term 4      Monday, 17 October         -    Friday, 16 December

Lunch orders and counter sales are planned to commence on Friday, 18 February, 2022.

The canteen service will be available on Wednesday and Fridays.  A new menu will also be available later in the term.

Payments options are: Qkr!, or cash and EFTPOS/Credit Card payments to the Finance Window.

Please advise the school EVERY time you change any of your details including phone numbers, mobiles, email address, residential address, and emergency contacts.

This information is critical if we need to contact you in an emergency.

Like all of our school programs our Kitchen Garden program will have a delayed start.  The actual start date is yet to be determined but we will advise our community as soon as we are able.

In the meantime if you would like to volunteer to help with the Kitchen Garden program once it's running, now is a great time to get all of your prerequisites in place.

You will need the following:

• to have completed the new RRHAN-EC training for volunteers
• have a current DHS Working with Children Check (this can take a few weeks to come through)
• Show proof of being double vaccinated against Covid-19 or have an approved medical exemption.

Michele Smith, the Kitchen Garden Co-ordinator has been busily planning the 2022 program and we are looking forward to the program starting, hopefully sometime in the near future.

Materials and Services Charges 2022

The Material and Services Charge (School Fees) is set each year by the Governing Council, and together with other income, provide your child/ren with books, stationery, art and craft materials, printing, resources and equipment across all subjects provided to students at Pimpala.

Each year, Department for Education announce a ‘prescribed sum’ to schools, which is the minimum amount legally recoverable per student.  Schools / Governing Councils can choose to charge above this amount, the poll results from 2021 were finalised and the more than prescribed amount was approved with majority in favour.

The school fees for 2022 are $265 per student, for four terms of schooling.

Camps, excursions, incursions and swimming/aquatics instruction fees are invoiced throughout the year and must be paid before students can attend. Additional costs are also incurred by students wishing to be involved with sports or extra-curricular activities (such as Choir or School Sport SA).

This year, we have a number of ways to pay

• Pay in person - The Finance Window is open in the Courtyard each morning from 8:30am - 9:15am. We accept EFTPOS or cash.

• Pay over the phone - We also accept credit card payments over the phone between 8:00am and 3:00pm on school days. The only exception is on the last day of every month.

• Pay via the Qkr! App – Download the Qkr! App and create a profile for each child by selecting their classroom level and teacher. Note payments for School will finalise at 5 pm each night for processing the next day. Canteen payments on Qkr! need to be finalised by 9 am on Canteen open days, which are Wednesday and Friday’s.

School Card

If you are in possession of a current Concession Card from Centrelink, you may be eligible for School Card assistance to pay your Materials & Services Charges.

All types of School Card applications are now online. You can access the online forms from any device that gets internet, including mobile devices, such as tablets and smart phones, as well as laptops and computers.  Applying online is easy! Simply follow the steps below.

STEP 1 Visit https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/financial-help-scholarships-and-grants/school-card-scheme

STEP 2 Select the type of School Card you would like to apply for (for example ‘Type A’) and follow the prompts.

STEP 3 Complete all mandatory fields. Please note: you cannot submit your application unless all mandatory fields are complete.

STEP 4 Once you have completed a page click on the ‘NEXT’ button.

STEP 5 Once you have filled out all pages click the ‘SUBMIT’ button. Please note: if you exit the form without clicking ‘SUBMIT’ your details will be lost.

You can save the form, and return to complete it at another time, by clicking on the ‘SAVE’ button.

Eligibility income limits for a student attending a government school are:

Please note that if you are found to be not eligible for School Card, you are still legally required to pay your School Fees in full.  We are happy to work with families facing financial hardship, however please ensure you speak to us prior to the due date below.

Payment by Instalment (Direct Debit Request)

If you would rather pay your school fees by weekly/fortnightly/monthly instalments, please request and fill in a Direct Debit Request Form and return it to the Finance Office by Thursday 14 April 2022.  Please note that if you are paying by instalment, the final payment must be made by the end of Term 2 (Friday 8 July 2022).

If you have any further enquiries about Materials and Services Charges (including overdue payments from last year), payment methods, or School Card, please contact Helen in the Finance Office.

School fees must be paid in full by no later than Thursday, 14 April 2022 (last day of Term 1).

A number of our students have severe allergies to foods, including nuts, so please abide by the school Allergy and Nut Awareness Policy. 

The policy is included with this newsletter.  Please refrain from bringing any nuts and products containing nuts (including Nutella) to school.  Thank you.

Sometimes accidents happen.  They can happen to any student at any time.  

It’s always a great idea, particularly for the younger student to keep a spare pair of underwear and pants in your child’s backpack as sometimes they are uncomfortable wearing those available at school and can get quite embarrassed.