Hats
All students are required to wear a sunsmart hat when playing or learning outside. A sunsmart hat is a wide brimmed or buck hat or legionnaire style cap that covers the head, ears and neck. A "No hat, no play" rule is in place at Chapman Primary School from August to May. This rule is relaxed during the months of June and July due to the low daily UV levels experienced in Canberra. For health reasons, we do not keep a supply of hats at the school for occasional use. All hats available in the school uniform shop comply with sunsmart regulations.
Please ensure that your child's hat is clearly labelled with their full name to ensure misplaced hats are returned to their rightful owner.
Head Lice
Head lice (Nits) are a common occurrence in school and preschool settings. Children being more susceptible because they are more likely to have close contact in playgrounds, schools, preschools and childcare centres. There are numerous methods for treating headlice as listed in ACT Health Head Lice Fact Sheet.
Managing Headlice
Some hand tips for reducing the risk of headlice are:
- Tying back long hair to help prevent the spread of head lice.
- If a family member is infested, examine all members of the family for head lice.
- Notify friends and the school if your child has head lice.
- Check children’s hair regularly – anyone can catch head lice where people live, play or work together.
Exclusion periods
The Public Health Regulation 2000 require that children be excluded from school until effective treatment against head lice has begun.
Headlice notifications
If your child has headlice please contact the school and commence treatment.
When the school is notified of a case of headlice we will send a headlice alert via email to all families within the cohort. If you receive a headlice alert from the school please take the time to check your children's head for Nits or adult lice and let us know if you find evidence.
Home Reading
As part of our Home Reading Program, we encourage all students to borrow books from the school library to read at home and in class. We encourage parents and carers to be positively involved with their child’s reading, by both listening to and reading with your child at a suitable time and place. A home reading routine, asking questions, making it fun and offering praise will greatly improve their reading ability.
Our junior year levels also have regular “home readers”. Home Readers are a great way for parents and carers to be involved at the classroom level, reading with individual or small groups of students in the classroom and assisting teachers in changing students reading materials.
Homework
Learning takes place both within and beyond the school. Shared family experiences are important to children's learning and self-esteem and is a partnership between school and home. School initiated homework will vary for each year level and will be explained at the beginning of the school year. Homework is important to:
- practise skills taught in the classroom,
- develop study habits and organisational skills,
- develop responsibility,
- involve parents in the learning process, and
- pursue extra or special activities.