St Benedict's Primary School - Narrabundah
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Cnr Tallara Parkway & Sturt Ave
Narrabundah ACT 2604
Subscribe: https://sbpsnarrabundah.schoolzineplus.com/subscribe

Email: office.stbenedicts@cg.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 02 6295 8027

Principal's Notes

Prayers
Please keep in your prayers Mrs Sue Anderson, our Italian and Library teacher. Mrs Anderson’s father passed away last week. Please also keep Mrs Jeanette Skaff, our Classroom Support Teacher, in your prayers, as she will be away for the remainder of the term following recent surgery.

School Banking
For a number of years school banking programs have operated across Australian schools. In December 2020 the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) Review of School Banking Programs Report was released and the ACT Legislative Assembly has recently passed a motion to discontinue school banking programs in ACT Public Schools from 30 June 2021. The review states;

  • Young children are vulnerable customers and are exposed to sophisticated advertising and marketing tactics;
  • A key strategic objective in offering school banking programs is for commercial gain;
  • School banking programs claim to help children develop long-term savings habits: however, providers were unable to demonstrate that these programs in and of themselves improve savings behaviour; and
  • School banking program providers fail to effectively disclose that a strategic objective of these programs is customer acquisition.

Based on the findings from the review, ASIC asks schools to seriously assess the appropriateness of school banking programs. To this end, St Benedict’s will withdraw from the School banking program with the Commonwealth Bank from Monday 29 March 2021. I thank Jennifer O’Shea for the many hours she has voluntarily worked for the Commonwealth Bank.

Communication
It is VITAL that we maintain accurate and current contact information for all families. If you change a phone number, email address, postal address or emergency contact, you must inform us immediately.

Our primary and most effective form of communication is via the SchoolZine App. (SZapp). Emergency announcements will be communicated via the app.

Please ensure you have installed the app on your devices, enabled notifications, and checked the settings for the correct year levels and class groups.

If you would like help accessing or installing this, please contact the Front Office.

Afternoon Pick Up
I ask that at afternoon pick up time that if parents want to enter the school grounds prior to the unlocking of the school gates at 3.10pm, they do so via the oval gate. Please do not ‘jiggle’ and use your feet to open the locked single gate adjacent to the 5/6 building. By doing this, we are damaging the gate. Also a reminder that if parents are here longer that 10 minutes they need to check in with the Canberra App. Thank you for your support with this.

Apple Slinky
Thanks to some wonderful parent volunteers, we are now able to offer apple slinkys on a Tuesday morning for fruit break. Please send your child with an apple if they would like an apple slinky. It does make eating apples and fruit break much more exciting!!

Term Two Starting Date – Tuesday 20th April
Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn has declared Monday 19th April as a pupil free day for all Catholic schools in Canberra. Students will commence Term 2 on Tuesday 20th April.