Handbook

Dear Parents and Caregivers, 

A very warm welcome to the Corpus Christi School family. The school was established in 1987 by the Sisters of Mercy for the Catholic Education Office Parramatta. 

From three classes (two Kindergarten and one Year One), the school’s capacity has grown to twenty one classes and almost six hundred children, catering for Kindergarten to Year Six children. 

Our purpose as a Catholic Primary School in the Cranebrook Community is to provide a learning environment where all members feel welcomed, cared for and supported. In this way we will communicate the message of God’s love for all people through our actions and example. 

We draw our values from the teachings of Jesus Christ as lived through our Catholic tradition and as such stress the following: 

▪ Love and forgiveness as a foundation for effective learning, quality relationships and personal growth. 
▪ Honest open communication leading to justice in everyday interactions 
▪ The uniqueness of each person, acceptance of each other and celebration of differences 
▪ A learning environment which nurtures independent, discerning and critical thinkers. 

This is an exciting and significant point in your child’s life and the beginning of your relationship with Corpus Christi at Cranebrook. A relationship that will deepen and grow along with your child’s religious, academic and social development. 

On behalf of the staff, Fr Christopher Antwi-Boasiako and the entire school community, we welcome you to Corpus Christi. 

It is our vision that your association with our school community be full of happy memories and wonderful experiences that support your wishes and child’s educational life. 

Yours in education, 

Sarah O’Rourke

Principal 

Address: 90 Andromeda Drive Cranebrook 2749
Phone: 02 4726 2200
Web: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Corpus-Christi-Cranebrook/206760589352918
Email: corpuschristi@parra.catholic.edu.au

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Corpus-Christi-Cranebrook/206760589352918
Twitter https://twitter.com/cccranebrook
Skoolbag https://skoolbag.com.au/forparents.php

School Principal
Mrs Sarah O'Rourke
02 4726 2200

Assistant Principal
Mrs Margaret Rowan
02 4726 2200

Corpus Christi means: BODY OF CHRIST or COMMUNITY OF GOD'S PEOPLE
School Motto: GROWING TOGETHER AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

Our school Motto was chosen after discussion with parents, staff, children, the Principal and the Parish Priest.

If your child is absent from school, written notification must be received explaining his/her absence from school. This is for the student attendance roll (a legal document). The Skoolbag app is a quick and easy way for parents to notify the school. If students are absent for 2 or more consecutive days, parents are required to notify the office. 

Administration are required to document partial absences in the roll, including late arrivals or early departures. Children that are late arriving to school must be signed in at the office by their parent/guardian. A “sign in” pass will be given to the teacher via the student. 

If a child is to leave school before dismissal time, the parent/guardian must sign “the early departure book” located at the office. Children must be collected from the office. Parents must also notify teacher and office if someone other than a parent is collecting their child, this includes Grandparents and emergency contacts. 

Precautions and supervision are undertaken to prevent accidents as far as possible. (Serious accidents are recorded at the school.) If a serious accident occurs you will be notified or your emergency contact number will be rung. The emergency contact number should be someone other than you.

If time does not permit, the Principal assumes responsibility and seeks medical or hospital treatment immediately. Parents will be notified of any injury to the face or head. All serious accidents occurring at school are recorded by the office.

Parents are invited to our fortnightly assemblies, held on a Friday from 2.10pm. We pray, share learning and give awards at this school community event. We conclude each assembly with the National Anthem.

Children who use reliever puffers need to have these with them, most likely in their bag. Students are reminded not to share puffers. An emergency supply is kept in the office.

Students are required to attend school every school day unless they are ill. Student absenteeism can impact on learning and Corpus Christi Primary actively encourages attendance every schoolday.

Late Arrivals and Early Departures also impact on learning in your child's class, and so these should be avoided except in exceptional circumstances.

All infant children (Kinder, Years 1 and 2) are entitled to free bus travel. Students in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 must apply for an Opal card and qualify residentially.

Children who do not behave while travelling on public transport may have their Opal Card confiscated by the bus company. Children catching buses home must assemble on the school bus line. If your child is not catching the bus, and usually does, please notify your child's teacher, preferably in writing, on the specific day.

Activities for these weeks are planned by the staff as a team, and presented by the whole school.

It is most important that you notify the School Office during the year of a change of address or telephone number. Both home and business details of all contact people need to be current.

This needs to be done as soon as possible.

1. All visitors to the school must report to the office. This includes all volunteers and any other person who will have direct contact with children.
   
   
2. At the office you will need to sign in and collect visitor’s identification label.
   
   
3. You need to make sure you have completed the Online Child Protection Module for Volunteers and the 'Building Child Safe Communities - Volunteer form'.
   
   
4. Identification Labels must be worn on the school site. If you are not wearing a label you will be asked to report to the office by a member of staff. Children will also inform a member of staff if they notice anyone not wearing a badge.

Corpus Christi shares information with the community in the following ways:

Most messages for class teachers can be left with the office, where it will be passed on appropriately.

Telephone calls to teachers are best between 8.30 and 8.45am, or during recess and lunch breaks.

Students are able to take a short break at approximately 10am for a Crunch and Sip break. Children may eat a small piece of fruit or vegetable and have a drink of water.

The school has a number of protocols for emergency procedures. These are displayed in each room of the school.

Class excursions, at all times, will be integrated with curriculum study areas and will be discussed between teacher and Principal.

These will be planned bearing in mind the cost involved for each individual parent. Notes will be sent home to parents giving details of the excursion, and a WRITTEN permission note returned to the respective class teacher.

AT NO TIME is money (or lack thereof) to be the basis for a child not attending an excursion. Most excursions are covered by an annual levy that forms part of the school fees. These are payable in Terms 1, 2 and 3.

Catholic systemic schools aim to keep their fees as low as possible and can provide flexible payment arrangements for families. Students who meet the enrolment criteria will not be refused enrolment because of a family’s genuine inability to afford school fees. Schools are able to reduce or waive fees for families suffering financial hardship.

There are three levels of annual fees, billed in instalments during Terms 1, 2 and 3:

• Annual Diocesan Tuition Fees set by the Catholic Education Office
• Diocesan Building Levy set by the Catholic Education Office
• School-based fees

There are very significant discounts for the second (25% reduction) and third (50% reduction) children enrolled from the one family. There are no fees for the fourth and subsequent school children.

It would be appreciated if fees could be paid as soon as possible each term - either in full or part-payment.

No family will be denied a Catholic education for their child due to genuine financial difficulties. Families in difficult financial circumstances should speak confidentially with the Principal.

For a full overview of the fees payable please see the 'School Fees' page of our website.

Kindergarten - Year 6 children are encouraged to read or be read to for a short time each day.

Children in Years K-6 will be given some activities to complete at home as outlined in the Corpus Christi Homework Policy. Your child’s teacher will give further details at the beginning of each year.

Children starting school are encouraged to have had the following injections to prevent illness:

• Triple Antigen - at various ages
• Sabin Vaccine - at various ages
• Mumps and Measles Combine plus
• Triple Antigen and Sabine Vaccine combined - just prior to starting school

If children are late for school for any reason, Parents/Carers are asked to sign the Late Arrival Book located in the Office.

We ask that early departures from school be kept to a minimum. There are times when it is unavoidable, but it is very disruptive to the children and teachers if a child is called for during teaching time.

To collect your child early, an Early Departure book must be filled in at the school office. Children must be collected from the school office, not the classroom. Should anyone else be picking your child up,this has to be cleared with the Office.

Notes must be sent to school explaining your child’s absence, for legal reasons.

We are committed to avoiding interruptions to learning time especially between 8.55am and 3.05pm each day. For this reason, messages to students/classes/teachers (except in emergencies) will be passed on close to Recess and Lunch times.

Children attend weekly library lessons and may borrow books at this time. The library is also open at lunch time for all children.

In order to borrow from the library, all that is required is a library bag big enough to hold a book.

All books are to be returned promptly at the end of each term and particularly, at the end of each school year. Lost or damaged books must be replaced.

Library bags are available from the Uniform Shop.

Children are not to bring expensive toys or iPhones/iPads to school as they may be lost or damaged. Any child who is required to bring a mobile phone to school must send a letter to Mrs O’Rourke signed by a parent explaining the need to have a phone during school. 

All phones must be signed in and out via the classroom teacher but are kept at the school office. 

Permanent Medication (Prescribed by your doctor)
Parents will need to complete documents which include a written request by the parent allowing our staff to administer medication during school hours, and a request to the prescribing doctor for details and medical advice to the school. This paperwork is an essential part of CEO Policy Guidelines. Please contact the School Office for details.

Temporary and 'one off' Medications
Wherever possible, children should be kept at home until medication is finished. If medication must be given at school, parents or an adult must bring the medication to the office, with written permission signed by the parent.

The following information must be included with the written permission in order for the school to administer any medication. Temporary Medication forms are available on the school website.

• Date of administration
• Students full name
• Name of medication
• Time of administration
• Dosage
• Reason for medication
• Special instructions
• Parents name and signature.
• Please note: all extras (e.g. measuring cup) must be supplied

Children are not to bring expensive toys, iPads or Apple Watches to school, as they may be lost or damaged. Any child who is required to bring a mobile phone to school must send a letter to the Principal signed by a parent explaining the need to have a phone during school.

All phones must be signed in and out of the office daily. Mobile phones are not permitted to be taken on school excursions.

Please don't allow your child to bring money to school in case it gets lost. Our school is now cashless and we no longer accept payment via cash. Payments can be made via Eftpos and through the QKR App. Please contact the school on 0247 26 2000 if you require any further information on payment methods. 

It is a Catholic Education Office requirement that child protection training be completed by all volunteers commencing work in our schools.

An online training module for use by volunteers is available. After successfully completing the two step module, an email notification will be sent automatically to the volunteer’s email address and to the school email address.

The training module 'Child Protection for Volunteers' may be accessed via the following link http://childprotection.parra.catholic.edu.au (this link is also available from our website)

• Click on Volunteers
• Complete Step 1 – Volunteer Form – “Building Child Safe Communities – Undertaking for Volunteer”
• Complete Step 2 – Online Training module
• Read through presentation
• Complete and submit quiz questions
• After successful completion of both steps, two notifications will be sent via email to the school and also to the volunteer’s email address

Parents are encouraged to be involved at the school as much as possible, helping in the classrooms with Numeracy, Literacy, Sport, Gross Motor, Art/Craft or in the School Library.

Parent helpers must complete an online Child Protection Module. They must also sign in at the office before entering the school. Please see our Child Protection Procedure further below for more information.

The Parent Representative Group (PRG) is an important supportive body within our school, which provides opportunities for parents to come together to meet each other in a social atmosphere or as a fundraising group. Corpus Christi has such a dedicated group of parents and we need your support. All parents are invited to attend these meetings which occur once a term.

Parents are welcome to make an appointment with their child’s class teacher at any time regarding their child’s progress. Written reports are sent home twice each year. Mid-year reports are followed by a formal Parent/Teacher/Student interview. We call this the 3 Way Interview.

Children leaving school prior to 3.05pm need to have their parent complete the early dismissal book at the office.

• Afternoon dismissal is via the main gate. Gates are reopened at 3.05pm.
  
  
• Parent Pick up: From 3:05pm- 3:30pm . These students will sit under the sails with a supervising teacher and be sent to families who are asked to wait at the gate. 
  
  
• Walkers: Students will gather in the breezeway at 3:05pm and be walked across the internal crossing and then out to the Andromeda Dr crossing by a teacher. If there is a need they will also be walked across the driveways at either end of the school car park. 
  
   
• Bus: Children will assemble outside the breezeway at 3.05pm under teacher supervision. Early Bus Children assemble near the School Office.
  
  
  • Spunky Monkey Well After School Care assemble outside the canteen and are collected by Spunky Monkey Staff.
    
    
  • After School Care children for other establishments assemble with the bus children under teacher supervision.
    
    
• Children who have not been collected by 3.30pm will be escorted to the office by a teacher. These children will then be collected from the office by parents.
  
  
• In the event of extreme weather conditions, children can be collected from the classrooms from 2.50pm to help ease traffic and parking congestion.
  
  

Staff Development Days occur throughout the year. These are PUPIL FREE DAYS on which school staff are involved in some form of professional learning. There is no school for the students on these days.

Rationale

• The staff at Corpus Christi believe that we are in partnership with parents in the education of their children. Parents are invited to discuss any relevant issues regarding their children with their child’s teacher, the Stage Leader of Learning or the Principal. We acknowledge it is essential that all communication be open and transparent following the appropriate guidelines.

Aims

• To provide the school with the necessary information to maintain a safe, secure environment in line with child protection laws for students, teachers and parents.
• To provide formal and informal communication structures which enable an open and honest exchange of information, which respects the needs of all, concerned.
• To ensure that parents are continually informed on school issues and organisation.
• To provide parents with verbal and written reports on their children’s progress.

Implementation

• Parents are invited to share any concerns regarding their child by contacting their child’s teacher. In most cases the child’s teacher will be first point of contact. Parents may request an interview by appointment with the class teacher, Stage Leader of Learning or the Principal.
• Parents are invited to be part of, and contribute to the life and organisation of the school, through the Parent Representative Group (PRG) which conducts regular meetings.
• Through the PRG, parents will be kept informed about current events and curriculum issues, as required
• Parents will be informed of school events through the weekly newsletter.
• Goal setting with students and parents will occur at the beginning of the year.
• Parents will be provided with written/verbal reports indicating their child’s progress in each Key Learning Area.
• Parents will be contacted by phone in regards to any matters that may require their immediate attention.
• Parents will be informed of, and invited to, relevant classroom activities

At Corpus Christi, school-based pastoral care is the total climate of care which exists in our school for children, parents and staff.

Our aim in pupil management is the development of individuals who are capable of self-direction, of choosing freely, intelligently and responsibly in accordance with their conscience.

Children will learn how to make choices, which lead to their needs being met in ways that are productive for themself and others.

The Corpus Christi community believe that pupil management should:

• reflect love and understanding based on Jesus' life and teaching
• be consistent and just
• be peaceful
• encourage self-discipline and responsibility
• be creative
• respect the rights of all individuals
• enable decision-making
• be supportive
• encourage communication with parents
• recognise and develop the gifts and talents of individuals

Responsibilities of Students:

• Respect teachers and other carers
• Care and respect the rights of other children
• Be polite and honest
• Care for our school community
• Play safely
• Wear their school uniform with pride

Responsibilities of Staff

• Respect the rights of all children, parents and staff
• Be Positive. Commend good behaviour whenever possible
• Establish a climate of mutual respect
• Develop and consistently follow clear guidelines for behaviour and consequences for misbehaviour
• In accordance with the Education Reform Amendment (Corporal Punishment) Act 1995 corporal punishment of students who attend Corpus Christi School is not permitted “Corpus Christi Cranebrook Parent Handbook”

Responsibilities of Parents

• Display an active interest in your child(ren)'s behaviour
• Maintain open communication with teachers
• Discuss incidents fully with your child(ren)
• Be positive - Commend good behaviours
• Notify the school of any changes in family situation
• Be supportive of the school and the Pastoral Care Policy
• Respect the rights of all children, parents and staff

Restorative Practice Questions 1: When Things Go Wrong

• What happened?
• What were you thinking at the time?
• What have you thought about since?
• Who has been affected by what you have done? In what way?
• What do you think you need to do to make things right?

Restorative Practice Questions II: When Someone Has Been Hurt

• What did you think when you realised what had happened?
• What impact has this incident had on you and others?
• What has been the hardest thing for you?
• What do you think needs to happen to make things right?

Available at: http://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/policy-central

1. CSPD (through our schools, Catholic Early Learning Centres (CELCs), Catholic Out of School Hours Care services (COSHCs) and offices) collects personal information, including sensitive information about students in our schools, children in our care (together 'Students') and their parent/s, carer/s or guardian/s ('Parents') before and during the course of a Student's enrolment. The primary purpose of collecting this information is to enable us to provide schooling and care for our Students.
   
   
2. Some of the information we collect is to satisfy our legal obligations, particularly to enable our schools, COSHC, CELC and offices to discharge their duty of care.
   
   
3. Certain laws governing or relating to the operation of schools and child care require that certain information is collected and disclosed. These include the Education Act and Public Health and Child Protection laws.
   
   
4. Health information about Students is sensitive information under the Privacy Act. We may request medical reports about Students from time to time. If we do not obtain the information we may not be able to enrol or continue the enrolment of the Student.
   
   
5. We may from time to time disclose personal information (including sensitive information) to others for administrative, care and educational purposes. This includes to other schools, government departments, government agencies, statutory boards, the CEO, the Catholic Education Commission, your local diocese and the parish. We may also disclose your personal information (including sensitive information) to government authorities such as the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), medical practitioners and people providing services to us, including specialist visiting teachers, sports coaches, volunteers and counsellors.
   
   
6. In addition to the agencies and purposes cited at 5 above, personal information relating to Students and Parents may also be made available, in accordance with Australian Government requirements, to ACARA for the purpose of publishing certain school information relating to the circumstances of Parents and Students on the MySchool website. The information published on the MySchool website is aggregated information and will not identify the Parent or Student.
   
   
7. Personal information collected from Students is regularly disclosed to their Parents. On occasions, information such as academic and sporting achievements, student activities and other news is published in School newsletters, our magazines, posters and websites.
   
   
8. Occasionally photographs or videos are taken of individual Students and groups of Students and these may be published. If you do not wish, or do not wish for your child, to be photographed, videoed or recorded under any circumstances, or to have your/their photographs, videos or sound recording published, please make sure you advise the principal, care centre director or our privacy officer. Contact details for our privacy officer are included at the end of this notice.
   
   
9. Our Privacy - Statement sets out how you may access and seek correction of your personal information and how Parents may access and seek correction of personal information collected about their child. However, there will be occasions when access is denied. Such occasions would include where access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, where access may result in a breach of our schools’, CELCs’, COSHCs’ or offices’ duty of care to the Student, or where Students have provided information in confidence.
   
   
10. Our Privacy - Statement also sets out how you may complain about a breach of privacy and how we will deal with such a complaint. Our Privacy - Statement is available in Policy Central at http://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/privacy
    
    
11. As you may know, we may from time to time engage in fundraising activities. Information received from you may be used to make an appeal to you. It may also be disclosed to organisations that assist in our fundraising activities solely for that purpose. We will not disclose your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes without your consent.
    
    
12. We may include your contact details in a class list and our schools, COSHCs, CELCs and office directories.
    
    
13. If you provide us with the personal information of others, such as doctors’ or emergency contacts, we encourage you to inform them that you are disclosing that information to us and why, that they can access that information if they wish and that we do not usually disclose the information to third parties.
    
    
14. We may use service providers who provide certain services to us and our staff and Students, including data storage and contemporary online teaching tools. We may provide your personal information to such service providers in connection with the provision of these services. Such service providers may store, or process, data outside Australia, including in the United States, Singapore, Ireland and possibly other countries. We endeavour to find where these providers store their data and update this collection notice as such information becomes available to us. In addition, our email service provider may store and process emails in the United States or in any other country utilised by Google.
    
    
15. You may obtain further information from the following:

• For our schools:
  the school Principal
  
  
• For our CELCs:
  the CELC Director
  
  
• For our COSHCs:
  the COSHC Supervisor
  
  
• For our offices:
  Privacy Officer:
  Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
  Locked Bag 4 North Parramatta NSW 1750
  T: 9840 5600

Purpose
The wearing of our school uniform plays an important role in instilling pride in the children and maintaining our school identity and spirit. This Uniform Policy clearly states our school expectations for parents and encourages students to consistently wear the correct uniform.

Broad Guidelines

Uniform

• Children are to wear the correct school uniform neatly and with pride and are not to deviate from items on the School Uniform list in the parent handbook.
• All items of clothing must be clearly marked with the child's full name. Shoes and sport shoes can be marked on the inside with a waterproof texta. The school can not accept the responsibility for items that are lost.

Jewellery

• Girls with pierced ears are to wear a single sleeper or stud only.
• Coloured nail polish is not to be worn.
• Only signet rings are to be worn to school.
• Bangles, bracelets or anklets are not to be worn. Only medical bracelets are permitted.
• A single necklace of a religious nature may be worn, but because of safety issues and the potential to lose valuable items, this should be worn under the child’s shirt.

Hair

• Hairstyles are to be neat and simple and devoid of any type of cosmetic colouring.
• Students with shoulder-length hair are to have it tied back away from the face to allow clear vision and for hygiene reasons.
• Ribbons and ‘scrunchies’ worn by girls are to be in the school colours of emerald and white. Hair accessories such as multi-coloured clips are not to be worn.
• Boys' haircuts are not to be radically cut or multi-layered (such as pronounced, shaved undercuts) or so long that it is below the collar, or impairs vision.

Shoes and Socks

• Children are to wear black leather school shoes.
• On sports days, sports shoes/joggers are to be worn. 
• Ankle-high boots, desert shoes, loafers and thongs are not to be worn.
• High-tops (eg Converse) and mid-cut shoes (eg Rabens) are not to be worn.
• Low-cut socks are not to be worn at any time. Only socks sold in the Uniform Shop are to be worn.

School Hats

• Students are to wear the correct school hat every day, regardless of the weather. If children do not have a hat they will be directed to stay in a shaded area.
• School hats are to be worn in the correct manner.
• Generic brand-name hats or caps are not to be worn to school unless as a substitute for a lost hat. This must be accompanied by a note from the parent.

Basis of Discretion

• If uniform items are temporarily out of stock, children may wear substitute clothing (shirts, socks, hats) as close to the school colours as possible.
• Children involved in specialist sports activities such as Cross Country, Athletics, Swimming, CPSSA, Gymnastics, Touch Football, or Rugby League training may deviate from the above guidelines in regard to bringing sports clothes (especially shorts and footwear) to school on training days.
• Year 6 children, in consultation with parents and the School Principal, may purchase a graduation sports shirt. These may be worn by the children on sports days.
• Parents are requested to provide a letter if the correct uniform is not being worn.
• Classroom teachers are responsible for maintaining and checking that the correct uniform is being worn.

Below is a list of some of the acronyms that are used at school.

This strategy involves parents having labels on all clothing, lunch boxes and drink bottles and regularly checking this during the year. The school will ensure all “found” items are returned to their owner ASAP.

Teachers on duty will ensure items found during breaks are displayed to the children before returning to learning spaces. Unnamed clothing will be collected and taken to the office. 

Corpus Christi library bags are optional.

Corpus Christi Uniforms can be purchased online through Oz fashion. Instructions on how to do this are included in your “Welcome Pack”.

For ALL uniform enquiries please contact Elle: elle@ozfashions.com.au or 0421 216 414