With Parents in Mind.

Hello parents, we are eager to work with you to make your child’s time at St. Xavier’s Private School an enjoyable and exciting learning experience. As with any school, we have several policies and regulations that are in place to help us achieve this goal. Please take some time to read through this information. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact school administration via email or telephone. We welcome your thoughts and comments, and will respond to them in a timely manner.

In this section, you will find information on the following key items:

School Fees

As a private primary school, our students are enrolled each term based on the payment of tuition fees. Upon acceptance, new students are also required to pay a maintenance fee.

All tuition fees are to be paid prior to the first day of each school term. Fees are to be paid into the school’s account at any RBC Bank. When paying tuition, ensure that your child’s/children’s name and class are indicated clearly on the deposit voucher. On the first day of school, submit the RBC deposit voucher to the office as proof of payment. This voucher will be returned to you at the end of each term. You may, however, wish to keep a copy for your records.

Tuition does does not include payment for extra-curricular activities which vary according to the activity selected. These fees are also payable per term, and should be paid at the school office or directly to the class teacher. Please contact the school office or the class teacher for the cost of each activity you would like your child to participate in.

Please note that all fees are non-refundable. You may contact our office at 868 662-2784 or email us for our current rates.

School Hours

Order, punctuality and regularity are important to the smooth development of children. Consequently, we stress regular and punctual attendance at school. School convenes from Monday to Friday, except on public holidays. If your child cannot attend school due to illness or some other dire situation, please inform the school. We care about all our students, and such communication will not only allow us to assist where we can, but will provide an opportunity for us to pray for the welfare of you and your child. Please contact us as soon as possible with an explanation, preferably via a written note addressed to the principal, bearing the signature of a parent or legal guardian.

Morning Sessions: 8:20am to 11:30am

Lunch Break: 11:30am to 12:30pm

Afternoon Sessions: 12:30pm to 2:30pm

Students are also given a 15 minute break during the morning session.

During school hours, students are the responsibility of the school. If you need to remove your child from school before the end of the afternoon session, please inform the office and the class teacher in advance of the date. No child will be allowed to leave the school compound without express permission from the principal. Ideally, requests to remove a child from school prior to the end of the school day should be made in writing, addressed to the principal, bearing the signature of a parent or legal guardian.

Term Dates

Our academic year follows the general time period designated by the Ministry of Education–September to June. The first term runs from September to December, the second term runs from January to April, and the third term runs from April to June. The average length of a school term is 14 weeks. For the dates of the current academic year, including public holidays.

School Uniform

We try to convey to each child a sense of pride in their school. A major part of this is wearing the correct school uniform. If, for some reason, your child is unable to wear the full uniform on a particular day, please send a written excuse to the Principal indicating the reasons. To promote focus on school work and activities, we advise that hairstyles be simple and that hairpieces are limited to the following colours: red, burgundy, white, and black. Jewelry should also be kept simple and should ideally be limited to a watch and chain. Girls may wear stub earrings if they desire. Boys are not allowed to wear earrings.

Footwear is limited to black. Students may wear black shoes, black socks only. Shoes and socks should not include prints, but should be plain.

Girls Uniforms

* General Uniform — White shirt, a burgundy coloured overall, and shorts of the same colour.

* PE Uniform — T-shirt in house colour with house name, black skirt-pants

Boys Uniform

* General Uniform — Red and white gingham checkered shirt, and khaki pants.

* PE Uniform — T-shirt in house colour with house name, black short pants

The girls’ overall, shorts and PE skirt-pants, and the boys’ gingham shirt and PE t-shirt, are available at the school office. The other items of the uniform (girls’ white shirt and boys’ khaki and black pants, socks and shoes) are available at most stores selling school uniforms around the country.

Students are usually placed in houses from Prep 1, and are also expected to wear their house badges. House badges are available at the school office.

School Meals

Children cannot perform well in school if they do not receive adequate nutrition. Our students have the option of bringing a packed lunch to school, or purchasing meals from the school cafeteria. Cafeteria meals are purchased directly from the cafeteria, and arrangements should be made in person. Usually, you can order meals in the morning and have your child pick it up at lunchtime.

As part of our focus on developing healthy living, we do talk to the children about making wise choices for meals and snacks. We encourage them to eat fruit, drink water, and refrain from using excess sugar and salt. When packing your child’s lunch, please keep their health in mind.

Children are also encouraged to display good table manners and to display the social skills required when eating together. This includes cleaning up after themselves, and disposing of unused food appropriately.

Children’s Welfare and Behavior

At St. Xavier’s Private School, we are concerned with developing the whole child, not just academic achievement. We are, therefore, very interested in promoting a positive standard of behavior which children, parents and staff understand and support.

At all times we will work with parents to resolve any problems that may occur. On rare occasions it may be necessary to exclude children from school whose behavior is unacceptable. Such exclusion may be for a fixed period, or it may be permanent. Infractions which may result in suspension or request for withdrawal include consistent breaking of school rules, disrespect for authority, theft or unpermitted loan, and persistence in wasting time at school.

Every child is given a copy of the school’s regulations when they are first admitted into the school. We aim to support the children with positive messages about the behavior we want to encourage. We do this by praising good behavior and academic performance through a variety of reward systems, including Conduct Certificates and Trophies, Merit Badges, and our House System, which reward students for good behavior. When preparing a child’s report, we consider their overall attitude in addition to their academic performance. As such, children are observed for their politeness, kindness, respectfulness, willingness to learn, participation in school activities, initiative, honesty and helpfulness.

Maintenance of School Property – We also encourage caring for each other and for the environment, as demonstrated by the establishment of the Environment Warden System. A select group of students is charged with monitoring their peers during break time, lunch time, and up to one hour after school. Environmental Wardens are selected based on their leadership qualities, personal discipline, and a keen sense of responsibility.

A natural extension of being responsible citizens is the maintaining school property. Students are expected to keep their immediate environment clean, and to take care of the furniture and other items they use during the course of their time here at St. Xavier’s Private School. If a child damages or destroys any school property, the parent will be contacted to replace the item or reimburse the school for the cost of repairs.

No teaching apparatus, regardless of how insignificant it may seem, should not removed from the school. We are aware that small items, however, have a way of finding themselves into small pockets, and are asking you to be vigilant in returning any item that may have found its way home accidentally.

Participation in School Activities – In our efforts to develop a well rounded child, we provide our students with many activities and opportunities to express themselves. In addition to our music program, which includes learning our national instrument–the steal pan–we have calypso competitions and parade of the bands at Carnival time, bazaars, displays and concerts during the academic year. All students are expected to participate in these activities. If you do not wish your child to participate in certain activities, please inform the school in person by speaking with the class teacher and principal, or send a note to the Principal indicating your reasons for keeping your child from participating.

Family Data

It is helpful for the school to have certain information about you and your child. In particular, contact information for parents and guardians, and details of any significant physical or medical family history are important. Please provide the school with two contact numbers for you, and an alternative contact person in the event that contacting you isn’t possible. If you have a family doctor, please also provide us with this information.

It is important that you provide us with proof of your child’s immunization against the following infectious diseases: Polio, Diphtheria, Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Rubella (German Measles), Yellow Fever. Also let us know of any other inoculations your child has had. A copy of your child’s immunization card will be kept at the school office.

If your child has any allergies, please inform the principal and class teacher. Keep us up to date on these matters as they affect our ability to effectively monitor your child while he or she is in our care. Any medication to be administered by the class teacher must be discussed with the principal and the class teacher. You should also provide a written note of your permission for us to administer the required medication.

Kindly let us know of any changes in your address, telephone number or other contact details so that our records may be kept up to date.

Complaints

We understand that situations may arise that will concern you. If you are concerned about your child’s education or anything pertaining to general school practices, please contact your child’s class teacher to discuss the issue. If after speaking to your child’s teacher, or if the issue is the class teacher, you may speak to the school administrator on the matter. If you are still concerned after having spoken to the school administrator, the Principal will be pleased to take your comments. We take your concerns seriously and will attend to the matter as soon as possible. You may be required to put your concerns in writing. Please allow us reasonable time to investigate and appropriately address your concerns. You may contact us to follow up on any issues you expressed.

Of course, we also welcome your other comments and input. Effective running of any organization requires regular communication among all stakeholders. Please feel free to contact us if you have suggestions or wish to contribute to the further development of the school.