FAQs

"I love how it's very inclusive and nurturing. It's a very friendly environment. We are so comfortable sending our child here every day. He loves it."

Adam and Stephanie parents at St Raphael's School


St Raphael's School offers two intakes per year for children starting Reception.

If your child starts in Term 1, they'll need to be aged five on or before April 30 of that year. If they turn five on or before October 31, they'll be start on the first day of school in Term 3, and they'll have a minimum of six terms of Reception.

If your child's birthday falls between November 1 and December 31, they aren't eligible to commence school before the following year. Please talk to us if your family falls into that situation.

 

As a Catholic school, we pride ourselves on being inclusive of all cultural, religious and economic backgrounds. While many of our learners are brought up according to Catholic traditions, other families have chosen our school knowing that their children are educated in an environment which strongly encourages the values of kindness, respect and compassion. Families of all denominations are welcome at St Raphael’s School. 

If your child is starting in Reception, they will receive a visit from school staff at their pre-school in the term before they start. This will allow our teachers to gather important information from their pre-school/kindergarten teachers that will aid in your child's learning. 

If your child is starting at another year level, they are able to have transition visits (if time permits) and are allocated buddies to help them to feel supported and comfortable in this new environment. 

Please consult our Enrolment page for further details.

Our families have access to excellent Catholic Colleges nearby such as Mercedes College, Cabra College, Christian Brothers College, St Aloysius College, St Mary's College and Mary MacKillop College. Families who live in the local area are also zoned to Glenunga International High School. 

Our teachers assist learners in their transition to secondary school. 

We use the Australian Curriculum, the Catholic Education South Australia Crossways Religious Education Curriculum as well as the Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum as the basis for all of our learning design. Please consult our curriculum page for further details.

We keep our class sizes small so our learners can quickly gain confidence and feel a strong sense of belonging in our community. Our small class sizes also ensure personalised learning.  

Our teaching staff and leadership undertake regular professional development in pedagogy and technologies. They meet with peers from other schools to share ideas and collaborate and are connected for spiritual extension by the Monastery led by Father Denis Travers. 

St Raphael’s School takes bullying, discipline and learner safety seriously, please refer to our Behaviour Management and Personal Responsibility Policy for further details, downloadable from our policy and reports page

We are very clear about the rights and responsibilities of our learners when using school resources for electronic work. Please refer to our Cyber Safety Keeping Children Safe policy available for download and the Cyber Safety section of our Parent Handbook.

We use curriculum programs such as the Health and P.E. Curriculum and the Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum, as well as opportunities for mindfulness and meditation, sport, art and music, to teach children how to care for their own physical and mental health. In addition, we have stringent work, health and safety measures in place to ensure the physical and mental health of all is prioritised. Please consult our wellbeing page.

We run regular weekly specialist Physical Education programs for each year level as a part of the curriculum. Learners are also able to participate in extra curricular sporting opportunities including out of school hours seasonal sport competitions, skills clinics and inter-school sporting carnivals for athletics and swimming. Please consult our extra curricular page.

At St Raphael’s School learners have many opportunities to engage in further enriching experiences beyond the curriculum. We run extra curricular activities in  sports, music and visual arts. We also coordinate various clubs depending on interest such as Makers Space, Garden Club, Lego Club and Knitting Club. Please consult our extra curricular page.

At St Raphael’s School all our Year 6 learners participate in Leadership Roles as part of their commitment to be thriving people, capable learners and leaders for the world God desires. For further details on our Ambassadors program and Learner Leadership program please consult our leadership roles page for further details.

Technology is available for learners to use in each space of our school. We do not allow learners to spend extended periods of time on devices and always look to technology as a tool to support our pedagogies. Please refer to our ICT Terms of Agreement available for download.

Effective communication is essential in providing our learners, teachers, carers and the community with the information necessary to make appropriate decisions. We use Seesaw, Teams and Audiri [formerly known as Skoolbag], along with diaries, interviews and email. We publish a school newsletter, host assemblies and frequently post on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Please consult the School Communication section in our Parent Handbook available for download.