Dear Families,

We have made it to the end of Term 3 and have achieved so much due to our amazing children, families and staff that make up our St Michael's community. Each of you have shown great commitment to your child's learning and have supported them academically and emotionally, and yes, it has been a challenging and difficult time but I am sure you can look back and be proud of what your family has done together to get through it all. The staff are extremely grateful for all your support and have appreciated the extra effort many of you have made by showing your gratitude and appreciation for them, a thank you email or dojo message certainly puts a smile on a teacher's face.

Our staff have continued to do their very best to provide each child with learning each day. Many hours are spent planning and creating lessons and resources that have continued to engage children in learning that is as close to what they would be doing if at school. Teachers and support staff are more than pleased with the learning that has taken place remotely and look forward to being able to consolidate it once we return onsite.

Building Project

Our building project will begin onsite during this school holiday period. This is a momentous time in St Michael's history. Over 100 years ago the leaders of the parish and the school, along with the support of the families embarked on the challenge to build a school not only for their present time but also for future families that would join the community in the years to come. I know that if they could be here today they would be very proud of the brave decisions they made, as the building they built continues to serve us well today. It is the current St Michael's community that is now facing similar challenges to those faced over 100 years ago, it is time to update our facilities and build a school that will serve us well now but that will continue to serve the families that will take over from us in years to come. It is an exciting time ahead and I will continue to keep you updated throughout the building process via this newsletter.

Included is an outline of the milestones to be completed onsite during Term 4 subject to COVID restrictions. It is important to note that all dates are subject to minor alterations or change, but the intention is to undertake all major onsite works during school holidays or out of hours. These milestones and the building timeline is reviewed at each fortnightly site meeting after which I will update the school community with what has occurred and what is expected to be completed next.

Activity	Start	Duration	Comments
Site Establishment	20/09/2021	2 weeks	Sheds, power & water
Minor Demolition Works Major Demolition Works	20/09/2021 20/09/2021	2 weeks 4 weeks	Internal strip out, play area Pending CDMP Endorsement
Concreting	Cup weekend	6 weeks	Concrete pour during weekends
Modular Installation	13/12/2021	1 week	Lead into Christmas break
Internals & commissioning	3/01/2022	4- 6 weeks

Term 4

It is disappointing that the Government has yet to inform us of the arrangements for Primary Schools for Term 4 and like you we would love to have all children back on site. As this announcement will be made over the holidays I ask you to stay in touch with school via the Operoo app as this is where all instructions regarding learning for Term 4 will be communicated to families.

In closing, I include a poem shared with me by another school Principal. We all know you are worried about your child's learning and the progress they are making but you must know the staff are extremely proud and pleased of the progress each child is making in their learning but more importantly we are proud of their enthusiasm, resilience and especially the care and kindness they show for each other. We all want our children to achieve their best in their learning but being good, kind and caring people is the most important lessons of all to learn.

“In Twenty Years Time.” by Donna Ashworth

In Twenty Years Time...

People will not ask the children of 2020/21 if they caught up with their studies.

They will not ask them what grades they made, despite the year off school.

They will ask them with wonder ‘What was it like?’

They will ask them ‘How did you cope?’

‘How did you feel?’

‘What do you remember of those days?’

They will listen in awe to the tales of clapping on doorsteps for the medical workers.

They will sit open-mouthed to hear of daily walks being the only life we saw and how much we missed human contact and gatherings.

They will be amazed to know about empty supermarkets, online concerts, birthdays spent on a screen and a life lived inside.

They will listen, then sit back with amazement and say, ‘Wow. You went through so much.’

So, think about what you would like your children to take away from this whole year.

Tell them they are not behind.

Tell them they are not missing out.

Tell them they are extremely special indeed and they will be forever made stronger by this unique time.

Tell them catching up is not even a thing because they have grown so much in so many other ways.

Remind them too of the fun stuff, the family jigsaws, the window rainbows, the zoom bingo.

The feeling of safety and togetherness amidst the chaos.

Let them take that thought with them through life.

Change the narrative now and it will travel far.

Tell the children they are not behind. They are special.

Enjoy the holidays, stay safe and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 4.

Denise Hussey

(Principal)

'The most simple thing I can do is to be good today but better tomorrow'

Catherine McAuley - Mercy Sisters Foundress

All students attending St Michael's Primary School have the right to feel safe. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school.

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