VAIALA BEACH SCHOOL
P.O. Box 619, Apia, Samoa
TALOFA LAVA AND WELCOME TO VAIALA BEACH SCHOOL.
HISTORY
ACADEMIC
YEAR
The
year is divided into four terms. Public
Holidays are observed.
TIMETABLE
FLAG RAISING
STUDENT ATTENDANCE/ LATE
STUDENTS
Should a child need to leave school during
school hours, the school must be informed in writing or by phone. It is preferred that students are not absent
during school time. Adequate notice must
be given if a child is to be absent for a long period of time.
Teachers must be given 2 weeks’ notice if
your child is absent for longer than 1 week and you require some school work
during their absence.
STUDENTS SUPERVISION
GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Administration Block
2. Classroom Block
3. Playing Fields
4. Phys-
Ed shed
5. Gardeners
shed
CLASSES
The
administration has the right to refuse admission to any pupil.
Each classroom has lino and is equipped
with tables and chairs, benches, sink area or access to a sink area and
adequate resource materials and sports equipment for each level.
STAFFING
CASUAL TEACHERS
CURRICULUM
SAMOAN
SPORTING ACTIVITIES
HOMEWORK
LIBRARY
Please check that children return their
library books every week. It is a good
idea for children to have a separate book bag to avoid damage to the books.
SCHOOL FEES (all fees in SAT)
School fees per term:
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Citizens and Permanent
Residents:
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Temporary Residents/ Short
Term Enrolments:
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Year
1 – 8
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$1,000.00
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$1,500.00
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Pre-School
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$1,000.00
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$1,500.00
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New
Enrolments
Short
Term (weekly rate)
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$1,000.00
$200.00
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$1,500.00
$250.00
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Verification
of immigration status will be required.
Fees are payable within the first two weeks
of each term unless prior arrangements are made. An invoice will be issued and fees are
payable directly to Vaiala Beach School Account No. 4031570 at ANZ Bank (Samoa)
Ltd. A receipt will be given when the payment
is received. This will be given to your child or may be picked up from the
office.
Interest will be charged at a rate of 10%
for any fees not showing in the school account by the due date.
Students will not be permitted to attend school
if fees have not been paid by the end of the 5th week of the term.
No VAGST is payable on school fees. No reduction of fees will be made if a child
is absent from school. If you are going
on holiday during the term, school fees must be paid during this period
also. No refund will be given if a
student is leaving school after week 5 of the term. Once a place has been accepted school fees
will be charged from this date.
BUILDING FUND
A building fund of $500 per family is
payable for all new pupils on admission to school. The building fund is used for new buildings or
to pay off loans for buildings. This
payment is for a nuclear family and not transferrable to extended family
members.
STATIONERY
There are additional charges for
stationery. Stationery is issued on the
first day of the year and throughout the year for new students arriving. This is a general
supply of books, pencils, etc. A paper/computer fee is included in the
stationery fee for all students.
UNIFORMS
The school uniforms can be purchased from Eveni
Carruthers in the Carruthers Building (on Main Beach Road).
All students wear a unisex Dri-Fit polo shirt
which is navy blue and purple with a white contrast and logo on the left hand
side of the garment. Please don’t
iron the Dri-Fit shirts. The students also wear unisex long navy
shorts (no denim permitted).
The school caps are navy with ‘Vaiala Beach
School’ embroidered in purple. All children
are expected to wear their school caps when outside. No other caps are
permitted.
All
students need to arrive at school and leave school in their correct Vaiala
Beach School Polo shirt, hat and shorts.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays all students participate in sports
lessons. All students must wear their
house colour shirts during the sports lesson only. These are EveniSport Cotton Tees in royal blue, green, yellow
and red – these do not have the Vaiala Beach school logo on them as they are
only worn within the school grounds. There will be time for students to change
before and after each sports session.
This
year we have a ‘no hat no play’ policy.
All students need to wear their Vaiala Beach School cap during lunch
time and playtime.
There will be random uniform checks to
ensure that the correct and complete uniform, including shorts and hat is being
worn. Students will not be admitted to
assembly without proper school uniform.
All uniforms and footwear are to
be labelled with your child’s name.
Footwear
Jandals or Sandals. As no footwear is to be worn inside the
classroom, please ensure footwear can be readily taken on and off unassisted.
Earrings & Jewellery
If earrings are worn, please wear studs only. Only stud earrings are permitted for reasons
of security and safety. No other
jewellery is allowed at school (eg. Bangles, necklaces etc).
Hair
Long
hair should be tied back. No sharp
objects are to be worn in the hair.
School Bags
All students need to have a named school
bag, which can be hung on the hook provided in the classroom.
LUNCHES
No child will be allowed to leave the
grounds to go to the shops, therefore students need to bring adequate lunch
(preferably in an airtight container) and drink for the day. No glass bottles please. As we have two breaks a day, please provide
enough food to meet your child’s needs.
Lunches are available daily if you require
your child to buy lunch. Lunches are
pre-ordered through Lucia’s Catering and they are delivered to the school in
time for the 12:30pm lunch break.
Lucia’s Catering provides a varied
selection for your child’s needs. No
fizzy drinks or lollies are sold at the canteen. No fizzy drinks or lollies are
allowed at school. The school recommends
only water and niu.
All
pre-order lunches are to be placed in the wooden box outside Room 5 no
later than 9:00am in a sealed envelope
or zip lock bag with:
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1.
Your child's name
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2.
Your child's room number
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3.
Your child's order
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4.
The correct money (the office is unable to provide change)
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PLAYGROUND
Students have adequate playing
facilities. At interval and lunch
breaks, students must all be outside unless a child has a note to say
otherwise.
HEALTH
If your child is sick or has an accident at
school, parents will be informed immediately.
In extreme cases, a child will be taken directly to the Enosa and Sons
Health Consultancy at the Moto’otua Plaza, Moto’otua, phone: 30235, email: enosamed@samoaonline.ws or directly
to ‘Emergency’ at the National Hospital. Any costs incurred will be passed on to
parents.
If you have any objection to your child
being taken to the Enosa and Sons Health Consultancy Clinic in the case of an emergency,
you need to put this in writing to the principal.
If a child contracts a contagious disease
i.e. hepatitis, measles, mumps, chicken pox, typhoid, influenza, TB etc. please
keep the child at home. A medical
clearance will be required if a child has been absent for three days or more.
All
open sores should be covered.
To help prevent the spread of head
lice/eggs the school will randomly check each student. Head lice must be treated at home.
If a
child has a doctor’s or dentist’s appointment, please try to make these after 2:00pm.
The Health Department checks children’s
general health once or twice a year. The
Dental Department may do random checks on children’s teeth. Immunisation forms are sent home for 5 year
olds. This is only done with parental
permission.
If
your child cannot do sport or phys-ed due to health reasons a note will be
required.
STUDENT BEHAVIOUR
Any child whom the administration considers
is not behaving appropriately, i.e. fighting, swearing, stealing and bullying will
be dealt with by the Administration, and parents will be informed. The class teacher and the senior teacher will
deal with minor matters. There will be
no corporal punishment administered at Vaiala Beach School.
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT DAYS
The school staff is entitled to have up to
three pupil-free days a year for professional development. There is no school for children on these
days. Parents will be notified ahead of
time.
ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT
Individual assessment folders are kept on
all students and these are updated mid-year and at the end of the year. Reports are issued twice a year and parent/teacher
interviews are held mid-way through the year.
Parents/guardians are always welcome to
discuss their child’s progress with the Class Teacher/Principal. Please make an appointment.
INTERVIEWS
If you require extra interviews, other than
the scheduled parent/teacher interviews, it would be appreciated if you could
make an appointment to see the Principal or the teachers so that you can have
our full attention without interruptions.
CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
The school is always available to discuss
any query a parent/guardian may have. The
classroom teacher may handle initial queries and the Deputy Principal is
available for any issues that require further management. Please make an appointment for a mutually
agreeable time.
We
ask that all communication with teachers is constructive and
non-confrontational.
Anyone wishing to see a student during
school hours must contact the Administrator or the Deputy Principals first.
SOCIAL MEDIA
At
Vaiala Beach School communication with our school community is very important. We use a variety of means to do this including
our school blog (vaialabeachschool.blogspot.com) and facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VaialaBeachSchool/).
If
you do not want your child’s photo on any of these means of communication –
please contact the school.
PARENT HELPERS
Parent helpers are welcomed and encouraged
in the classrooms. Please contact the
school or your child’s teacher if you would like to play a more active role in
your child’s education.
CHANGE OF FAMILY INFORMATION
On enrolment, parents give details relating
to address and phone numbers. If any of these
details change please notify the school.
COMPUTERS
All of our school computers are now
connected to Internet and most classrooms have access to computers. The school
has 10 laptops that are available for students to use daily. If you would like
to help tutor students on the computer please contact the teachers concerned.
FUND-RAISING
The expense of providing facilities and
equipment necessitates some fund-raising activities during the year. Adequate notice will be given and parents’/guardians’
support will be appreciated. There is a Parents Association who fundraise for
the school.
SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES
Class and school assemblies are performed
throughout the year and parents are welcome to attend these.
SCHOOL EXCURSIONS
School excursions are encouraged. Written notification will be provided for any
impending trips. Because permission
forms have been signed for trips on your child’s enrolment form this procedure
is not required for every trip your child goes on.
PHOTOGRAPHS
School photos are taken annually. The current system is a pre-pay system. Photos will be re-taken if we consider the
photos are unacceptable.
LOST OR DAMAGED SCHOOL PROPERTY
If school materials are lost or damaged,
parents of the child must replace, repair or pay the replacement cost. This includes reading covers and library
books. If there is wilful damage by a
pupil to school property, parents will be responsible for the costs of the
damage.
VALUABLES
Students are to be discouraged from
bringing valuable items to school. Any
such items should be handed to the classroom teacher for safety. No expensive toys, large amounts of cash, video
games or trading cards please. The
school will not be held responsible if these items go missing.
LOST & FOUND PROPERTY
Items will be stored in Pre-School Room 9. Please contact the school to view lost
property. We display lost property every
Friday.
CELL PHONES
Cell phones are not permitted at school
unless a letter of consent is provided by the student’s parent/guardian. Where consent is provided the cell phone must
be turned off during classes. The school
will not be held responsible if cell phones are damaged or go missing.
PARKING
Students will be permitted to leave the
school compound only when the person collecting them has reached the top of the
roundabout. Vehicles are not permitted
in the upper compound. If you need to
park your car, please park in such a manner to avoid hindering the flow of
traffic on the roundabout. No cars are
to park on the roundabout. If you wish
to park outside the school compound, you must walk in to get your child. No child is allowed to walk down to the road
or to the bottom of the field to meet their car. Parents must come up to the main gate area
and collect the children.
STUDENTS WALKING HOME
If you want your child/children to walk
home from school this must be put in writing and given to the office.
EVACUATION/FIRE DRILLS
In the event of an emergency we have an
evacuation procedure for all classes.
Evacuation procedures are practised during the year.
NEWSLETTERS/NOTES
Newsletters are sent home regularly or
emailed as these are an important link between school and home. Please take time to read these and keep
informed about your child and school.
Teachers may sometimes send home notes specifically for their own
classes.
SCHOOL RULES
We have established a school, which
facilitates learning in a safe environment where staff and students are
encouraged to be sensitive to the needs of others and where the spirit of
co-operation is maintained. Our focus is
that the children are assisted in developing responsibility for their own
behaviour and attitude. As such, there
is less emphasis on formal rules, however, in class and at Assembly students
will be reminded of expected conduct appropriate to the situations encountered
whilst at school.
