The School Day - Junior Campus (Preschool to Year 6)
Learners at Evelyn Scott School commence their day at 9:00am and conclude at 3:00pm. Staff open the main gate to let learners in from 8:40 am, when playground supervision starts. Learners exit school at the end of the day via the same gate, unless they are attending Out of School Hours Care (located in the school gymnasium).Our school bell is marked by the sound of birds chirping, which can be heard both inside the learning spaces and outside in the play spaces.
Gakko Soji
At Evelyn Scott School, we value clean and tidy learning spaces. Recently, we were inspired by Japanese schools and the ways in which they implement the concepts of respect and responsibility into their daily school lives. Obviously, we are not in Japan and cannot simply replicate traditions and practices, but we can certainly be inspired by them.
At the end of a busy school day, we will play some music indicating that it is time for our learning spaces to be tidies up ready for the next school day. Obviously, our school cleaners and our Building Service Officers will still be doing their work and we will not be asking students to clean up big messes. Only to look after their learning spaces and tidy up. We know that this teaches respect for property, their peers, their teachers and ultimately their school.
Here is a mini video showing how this practice happens in Japanese schools if you are interested: Japanese kids cleaning up their learning spaces
Break Times
Healthy snack break: 9:30am
First Break: 10:40am to 11:30am (includes 10 minutes of eating time and 40 minutes of play time)
Second Break: 12:50pm to 1:30pm (includes 10 minutes of eating time and 30 minutes of play time)
Waste Free Lunches
At Evelyn Scott School, global stewardship and sustainability will be values that will be both units of enquiry and taught explicitly in learning spaces. We would like to encourage families to consider the types of packaging that is utilised in school lunch boxes so that we can reduce our environmental footprint and keep our waste to a minimum. There are lots of ideas online about ‘nude foods’ and we look forward to working together to encourage learners to eat healthy foods and care for the environment.
Preschool Timetable
Learners in our Preschool attend 5 days per fortnight, starting their day at 9:00am and concluding at 3:00pm. Our start of the week groups, the Rosellas and Kookaburras attend school on Mondays, Tuesdays and one Wednesday per fortnight, while our end of the week groups, the Reed Warblers and Wedge Tail Eagles, attend Thursdays, Fridays and every alternate Wednesday per fortnight. A handy timetable is sent to our preschool families prior to the start of each term (please see an example by clicking the link below).
Preschool Timetable - Term 1, 2023.
Preschool families are required to do a one-to-one handover of children with educators at drop off and pick up times. Families enter via the main preschool door or the adjacent gate as directed by preschool staff. Evelyn Scott School has separate carparking arrangements for preschool families, located on the lower end of Bielski St.
School Uniforms
At Evelyn Scott School we are one connected school from Preschool to year 10. Learners are expected to wear their school uniform every school day. Families can purchase uniforms via our provider, Workin' Gear. Workin' Gear are located at 5/51 Kembla Court, Fyshwick ACT, for families to visit and purchase uniforms. They also provide online ordering services. If your family is experiencing financial difficulty with the cost of school uniforms, please contact our school Business Manager for support.
Student Absence/Late Procedures
If your child is absent from school or they are going to be late, please inform the front office via email or phone as soon as possible. If your child is unwell please keep them at home. ACT public schools are required to keep accurate records of student absences.
Teachers mark their class rolls between 9:00am - 9:15am. If learners arrive late to school, they will need to sign in and collect a late slip from the front office so the class roll can be adjusted to reflect their attendance. If a learner is absent without explanation, an automatically generated SMS will be sent to parents/carers between approximately 9:30am and 10:00am.
Parents/Carers can send a brief SMS reply to the absence text explaining if their child is sick/away/on leave. Please note, these SMS replies go to an automated computer system, not a physical mobile phone. Parents/Carers can also call the front office on 6142 3491 or send an email to the school evelynscottschool.information@ed.act.edu.au explaining the absence. If you are concerned that your child has been marked absent in error, please call the front office.
Planned Student Absences
If you have planned a day off/time off for your child/children, please let the front office know in advance where possible via email: evelynscottschool.information@ed.act.edu.au. Front office staff will record your child’s absence via the class roll, which their teacher will see. You may also like to include your child’s teacher into the email as a courtesy.
Process for Collecting Your Child/Children Early
If you need to collect your child/children early for any reason during the school day, please let the front office know as soon as possible by calling or emailing us ahead of time where possible. Staff will arrange for your child/children to wait at the front office at the arranged time. If you have an unexpected emergency or event and need to collect your child/children, please come to the front office and ring the doorbell so staff can collect and sign your child/children out for the day.
Lost Property
Any labelled lost property that is found or handed in at Evelyn Scott School will be returned to learners as soon as possible. Unnamed lost property is kept in a tub outside the front office. If you believe your child has lost an item, please call the front office. A friendly reminder to families to please label all children’s belongings and please discourage learners from bringing valuable or treasured items to school. Items left at Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) can be collected directly from the school’s Gymnasium during OSHC usual hours of operation. At the end of each term we will give families an opportunity to look through any unclaimed and unnamed lost property. Uncollected, unnamed items will be donated to local charity.