All Kindergarten students in the Diocese of Wollongong begin school on Friday, 30 January 2026.

Years 1 to 6 students in the Diocese of Wollongong start school on Thursday, 29 January 2026.

You are not required to purhase any stationery items for Kindergarten. All children in Kindergarten will receive lead pencils, art paper, visual art materials, duplicating paper / printing, exercise books, scrapbooks, textbooks and writing books.

However, children will need to bring with them:

• Box of Tissues — 1 per term.

• Library Bag — labelled with student's name

• Paint Shirt — labelled with student's name

• 'Zoom' Retractable Crayons 1 pack — each crayon labelled with student's name

• Scissors — labelled with student's name

Please put the following items in a zip lock bag labelled with student's name

• Glue Sticks, Bostik brand please, 2 per term (8) — labelled with student's name

• BLACK Whiteboard Markers — 8 — each marker labelled with student's name

 Please mark all items with your child's name.

School Fees are invoiced as an annual account, due for payment in full 30 days after invoicing.  However, many families elect to pay their school fees by regular instalments and as a new family to our school, we would like to offer you this option. If wish to take up this offer, please complete the Request to Pay by Instalment Form.  

On completion of the request either email it to instalments@dow.catholic.edu.au or submit it at the school office.  Please note, if you wish to pay your school fees via instalments in 2026, you must lodge this instalment form by the end of December 2026.

Following receipt of the request, instalments will be generated on your school fee account during the process of invoicing 2026 school fees. Your school fee statements will be emailed to you and they will provide a list of scheduled payments and their due date depending on the frequency you have chosen e.g. Fortnightly, Monthly, etc.  Please make your school fee payments are as per this schedule, however if at any stage you wish to make an additional lump sum payment towards your school fees, you are welcome to do this.

IMPORTANT:  Please note that if you currently have a child or children at another school in the Diocese and you are paying by instalments at this location, you will not need to complete another Request to Pay by Instalment.  The instalment request carries over from school to school with the same frequency of payment e.g. Weekly, fortnightly, etc.

Each parent/carer will receive their login credentials via email at the end of Term 4. Please refer to the Compass Quick Guide and Compass Parent Portal documents for further information.

Any student that arrives after the class has entered the classroom in the morning,  is required to enter via the front office to be signed in electronically. The child will be given a late note slip to be given to the class teacher. If a child needs to leave prior to 2:40pm, parents are required to organise this with the Administration Staff at the front office.

If you are running late please notify the Office by calling 4261 4611 before 2:30 pm and they will let the teacher know. Your child will be notified and they can be collected from the front office on your arrival.

If you are unable to pick up your child on any given day, please contact their teacher through the Admin office (4261 4611) to advise who will be picking them up. If it is on a regular basis, for example, Grandparents picking up every Tuesday/Wednesday, you only need to notify the office once.

Students who need a School Opal card or travel pass for 2026 can apply now. A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for a school travel pass for the first time, or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (e.g. joint custody).

Students in the Opal network applying for an Opal card (including a Term Bus Pass) for the first time will receive their Student Opal card at their nominated postal address. Cards will be mailed out from January 2026.

Premier Illawarra operates direct school bus services from St John’s every morning and afternoon. To see the latest school route, visit Premier Illawarra, and click on Schedule of School Route Service. 

Further information is available by downloading the School Travel brochure.

Girls may wear either royal blue shorts or a royal blue wrap-around skirt/skort as per the uniform policy. However, shorts are encouraged due to physical activity.

Birthdays are a wonderful celebration and children love to share their special day with their classmates. It is not expected that students bring food in to share with other students, however, we realise that some parents wish to send a treat in for the class. We would request that if this is the case you would send cupcakes or a small treat for each student in your child’s class. Please speak to the classroom teacher prior to the day to organise a place for the cupcakes to be stored and to ensure there are no students with allergies who may be affected. 

We believe that children start to prepare for school from the first day they enter Kindergarten. Children start to learn the social and emotional skills of being part of large and small groups, turn taking, sharing, negotiating, following directions, sitting, listening and contributing to discussions, developing their independence and confidence, and building strong communication skills with peers and adults. Their academic skills develop through the individual program that their teacher designs to support and extend their learning needs.

All teachers and staff at St John's Dapto have training in First Aid, Asthma and Anaphylaxis. If a child has higher health needs, parents/carers must provide us with an action plan from a Doctor (yearly and updated when the plan changes). Children's individual health needs are communicated to all teachers and staff. St John's is an ALLERGY AWARE school, as we have a number of children who have life threatening allergies to food items. We ask that children do not bring food in that contains nuts, egg, fish.

Yes. We have an inclusive program and will work with you to support your child to transition into the school. We also work in collaboration with other health professionals to ensure we can support each child and their family to achieve the best outcomes. 

We understand that there is a lot of build-up with 'going to big school', along with changes, therefore we slowly transition students into 'big school' taking time with routines and practices, classroom expectations and behaviour. If required, we have school councillors available to assist children with anxiety, this can be organised through the parent/carer and classroom teacher by contacting the school on 4261 4611.

The first few weeks of Kindergarten is a transition time, ensuring that the children are settling in and adapting to 'big school' and the classroom. A letter will be sent home after this period, notifying parents/carers what class their child is in (K-Red, K-Blue, K-Green) and who is their teacher.

Classes will be finalised during the first weeks of school, until that time the children will be placed in three groups. In forming classes teachers give careful consideration to academic ability, social and emotional, behavioural, medical and any other identified special needs. Teachers will engage the children in a wide range of fun activities aimed at reducing anxiousness. While friendships are important, they are but one consideration in the formation of classes.

Communication alerts are sent out via the Compass App. Our fortnightly newsletter has updates on upcoming events and activites in the classrooms.  Our school Facebook page is another mode of communication and provides school updates and links from the CEDoW.

The newsletter is accessible by anyone each fortnight (Weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 of each term) at sjddow.schoolzineplus.com, a reminder is sent out to parents/carers only via compass.