Parents/caregivers are asked to phone the School Office before 9:00am to notify us if a student will be absent from school, or late to school, that day. You will need to do this each day that your child cannot attend school.

Family holidays during term time
Family holidays during term time are discouraged by the Principal and Board of St James' Catholic School, due to the disruption to learning and teaching to the student, their teacher, and other learners when long absences occur. However, if the family wishes to remove a child during term time, they are asked to write a letter (or email) to the Principal communicating their intentions at least 5 days before the intended absence.

Administrating Medication
Parents/caregivers are required to complete a Medical Consent Form, which is obtained from the School Office, if they require medicine to be administered to their child at school. No medication is to be kept in the child's school bag.

Appointments with the Principal
Keeping communication open and honest is something we really value at St James'. You are welcome to make an appointment to see Teresa Edwards, the Principal through Mrs Sally Baddington our Office Manager. Can you please let Sally know in general terms what you would like to chat about. Please don't be offended by this, as nobody likes surprises and Teresa would like to be prepared. Teresa is always contactable via email at principal@stjamescatholic.school.nz
If it is a classroom matter your child's teacher is the first person to make an appointment with.

Bell Times
Commencement of School 8:50am
Reading and Eating Bell 10:50am
Interval 11:00 No bell
Interval Ends 11:20am
Lunch eating 12:45pm No bell
Lunch eating ends 1:00pm
Lunchtime ends 1:45pm
End of Day 2:50pm

8.30am is the time we are available to supervise your children. If they arrive earlier, they must wait quietly outside the Front Office for Mrs Baddington to open the Office doors at 8.30am.

Before and After School Care
We are very pleased to offer before and after school care to your family in our School Hall. Nippers Limited provides this service. A Holiday Programme is also available. For more details contact: 06-3567926 (Nippers' Office) 021 645806 (on site) email nippers@inspire.net.nz

Car Parking
Drop Off and Pick Up Zone: The four car parks between the signs at the front of the school are strictly a drop off and pick up area. NO PARKING please. Do not be offended if you are asked to move and park somewhere else.

Car Park:
The carpark is closed between 8.30 to 9am and 2.30 and 3pm.  There will be a barrier over the Hall driveway entrance at these times.  Please respect this and ensure you do not park in the Tui Daycare Centre carparks or block the driveway.
Exit from the carpark can only be made via the main carpark exit, not via the Tui Daycare Centre driveway.

Dental Clinic
St James’ School does not have an onsite Dental Clinic.  A mobile dental unit visits here yearly.  If you have any concerns regarding your child’s teeth contact the dental service, directly on 358 6674.

Lost Property
Can you please ensure that all items of your child’s uniform are named, this enables quick and easy identification.
The Lost Property bin is located outside the Staffroom, any disregarded articles of clothing are placed in this bin.  Watches, jewellery and valuable items are held in the School Office until collected. Any unclaimed uniform items are given to our 2nd hand sales at the end of Term.

School Fees
Connected Curriculum Activities     102.00
Special Character Bus Trips                5.00
Stationery                                               45.00
RE Digital Resources                         12.00
ICT                                                          24.00
                                                            $188.00
Donation                                               45.00
                                                            $233.00

These can be paid at the School Office in cash or cheque or as an Automatic Payment, or instalments, into our Bank Account.

School Banking Details
Name of Bank ANZ
Branch Broadway Palmerston North
Name of Account St James' School BOT
Account Number 01 0745 0279771 000

Uniform
The standard uniform must be worn to and from school each day. The school trackpants may also be worn to and from school during winter.It is expected the full uniform will be worn with no additions, such as caps, sneakers or different coloured jerseys. There will be occasions when children cannot wear the correct uniform; a brief note of explanation will be helpful.

Girls
Regulation tartan tunic *White blouse short/longed sleeved *Regulation bottle green v-neck jersey
*Either white ankle socks (Summer), bottle green tights or white knee high socks (Winter)

Plain black school shoes (Winter).  Plain brown or black sandles (Summer)

PE Uniform - Regulation green shorts and tee-shirt/polo shirt
Optional Extra: Bottle green track pants/school jacket and tack pants/school polar fleece
NB: Girls may wear their green PE shorts underneath their tunics

Boys
*Grey wool mix/polyester viscose shorts *Grey shirt short/long sleeved *Regulation bottle green v-neck jersey *Grey knee length socks
Plain black school shoes (Winter).  Plain brown or black sandals (Summer) (no boots or running shoes

Optional Extra:
Bottle green trackpants
PE Uniform - regulation green shorts & tee-shirt/polo shirt
Optional Extra: Bottle green track pants/school jacket and tack pants/school polar fleece

Purchasing Uniforms:
All items can be purchased from Gillespies Value House, 769 Main Street, Terrace End, Palmerston North.Various school items can also be purchased from (as indicated with a *): Postie Plus, cnr Church and Cook Streets, Palmerston North. The school receives 10% of the purchase price. Please state our School name to receive this benefit.NB: if thermal undergarments are worn it is recommended that these be V-Neck and be white, grey, navy blue or back
Please Note: All School Items Must Be Marked With The Child's Name
Jewellery
Necklaces with cultural or religious significance may only be worn, and these should be kept inside the student's shirt. Only stud earrings may be worn.

Hair
All Students with collar length hair or longer will have their hair tied up using hair ties of the appropriate school colours (white, green or black) Hair dyes, extremes of style or the use of hair products is not acceptable.

Sun Hats
It is compulsory for the children to wear the approved green school sun hat in terms 1 and 4 as per our BOT Health and Safety Policy. Children are also encouraged to wear sun block.

Second hand Uniform sales
Our PTFA offer second hand uniforms for sale. Please contact the School Office for more information regarding this.

Sun Protection
It is compulsory for our children to wear the approved green school sun hat in Terms 1 and 4 as per our BoT Health and Safety policy.  Children are also encouraged to wear sun block.
The PTFA supply each class with Cancer Society Sunscreen. If your child has sensitive skin please take responsibility to read the ingredients on the reverse of the bottle located in the Sick Bay.  Sunblock has been bought in bulk so the bottles in each class are only labelled with the expiry date.

Visitors to School
For health and safety reasons, it is vital that we know who is in the school at all times. It is important that we have a record of visitors in the school for two main reasons.

1. To ensure the safety at all times of students and staff.
2. In an emergency we need to be able to account for all personnel in the school including visitors.

So that we can monitor this, we request that all visitors to the school check in at the School Office (except parents doing pick-ups and drop-offs at the beginning and end of the day).Please do not go directly into your child's classroom at any time before checking in at the School Office. The safety of our children and staff is paramount.