From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

Please note that weekly Parish mass times will now be located each week on our School Hours / Timetable page in our newsletter. 

Prayer

Prayer for Harmony and Peace in our world

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two great commandments. (Matthew 22: 37-40)

Good and gracious God,

who loves and delights in all people,

we stand in awe before you,

knowing that the spark of life within each person

is the spark of your divine life.

Differences among cultures and races are

multicolored manifestations of your light.

May our hearts and minds be open to celebrate

similarities and differences among our sisters and brothers.

Please send your healing and reconciling Spirit in order to bind

the wounds created by racism and racial hatred,

and to promote understanding, justice, and love.

We place our hopes for racial harmony in our committed action

and in your living presence in our neighbor.

May all peoples live in peace!

Amen.

- adapted from the Sisters of Mercy

Holy Week Mass Times

This Sunday, Palm Sunday, marks the commencement of the special celebrations in Holy Week. All families are invited to attend all our upcoming Parish Masses and services:

Palm Sunday: Saturday 6pm; Sunday 9am & 10.30am

Holy Thursday 28 March, 7pm - Mass of the Lord's Supper

Good Friday 29 March, 10am - Stations of the Cross; 3pm - Passion of the Lord

Holy Saturday 30 March, 7.30pm - Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday 31 March, 9.00am & 10.30am mass

Harmony Day

Today we have celebrated Harmony day, a celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. We are blessed that in our school community we have 37 families who speak a language other than English at home, including Portugese, French, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Spanish, Mandarin, Iranic, Cantonese, Arabic, Greek, Cantonese, Polish, Italian and Telugu. Many more families have parents and / or grandparents from other countries around the globe and in many ways remember and celebrate those cultures in different ways. Today was one small way of St Michael's community acknowledging this diversity and giving thanks for it, with our  wearing of orange ribbons.

Holy Week Prayer/Reflection Sessions

Next week all classes will attend prayer sessions which will focus on the events of Holy Week. Each Year Level has prepared a visual representation of one of the Holy Week events and each class will attend for a short time to reflect and pray together. These prayers will occur throughout the school day and each class is scheduled at different time. On Thursday 28th March, from 9.10am, our whole school will pray together in the hub with a focus on the Stations of the Cross. Parents are welcome to attend this prayer.

Final Day of Term - Thursday 28th March

A reminder to all our families that school will finish at 12.30pm on Thursday 28th March. From 11.45am, we will hold our annual Easter Egg Raffle to which all families are welcome to attend.

ANZAC day public holiday and St Michael's Closure Day

A reminder to all our families that in the second week of next term, ANZAC day will be the Thursday of that week and we will be holding a closure day on Friday 26th April.

Year Prep Incursion

Last Thursday, the Prep students participated in an incursion run by Didgeridoo Australia. The Prep Level has been learning about the communities to which they belong and about special people and places in the local community and what these reveal about the past. The Preps have read the Dreamtime story, ‘Bunjil the Creator Eagle’ to further their knowledge about the local Indigenous community’s culture and beliefs. This incursion extended on this learning by allowing the students to create collaborative art pieces of Bunjil the creator eagle and Waa the crow. It was a fabulous and positive experience for the students and they are extremely proud of their creations!

The Friendship Seat

Do you know about The Friendship Seat at St Michael's School? In recent weeks we have been reminding our children about the St Michael's Friendship Seat, as we have many new students this year at our school. The Friendship Seat is for anyone who wishes to find someone to play with. All are invited to sit at the Friendship Seat which means that others will know you would like to be invited to play. Our children have been making posters over the past two weeks about The Friendship Seat, which will be displayed on the board behind it shortly.

Swimming Carnival Results

A huge congratulations goes to Blue Team for their efforts in our recent Swimming Carnival. The results between Blue, Red and Green were incredibly close, so it really could have been any of these teams who came out on top. Well done to all who participated on the day and made it such an enjoyable event. Well done also to Green Team for receiving the Team Spirit award, for their eager participation and also for having most students in the events on the day.

Updated Medication Authority Forms

Recently the Melbourne Archdiocese has released updated Medication Authority Forms for all Catholic Schools. It is now required that these new forms are used for medication in place of the previous forms. Attached here is the most updated form with the St Michael's Logo inserted. We ask families, over the next term, to update medical authority forms. Any medication that is required to be administered to St Michael's students, onsite, at excursions or on camp, needs to be accompanied by one of these forms. The form is attached here for you to view, can be made available in the school office and will be made available through Operoo. 

St Michael's Students at Salesian College

Thank you to Mark Ashmore (Principal) and the staff at Salesian College for the invitation to our students to take part in Public Speaking and debating workshops recently. In so many instances, these skills are vital to our children in their lives and they are skills which we build on here at St Michael's School. Mark noted his thanks to the children in the Salesian newsletter.

St Michael's School Tours - Prep 2025

We held our second Open Day this week with more families coming in for tours. Already we are inviting families in for school tours in preparation for Prep 2025. Remember if you have a child starting in Prep in 2025, be sure to come and collect an enrolment form at the school office.  Why not also collect an Open Day flier at the same time and pass it on to a neighbour or friend?

We will make contact with families early next term to come in and meet with me; just to get to know you and your child a little. We will also hold the St Michael's Kinder Kids Reading Sessions throughout Terms 2 and 3 (Dates to be advised). Any 3 year old and 4 year old children are welcome to come along to these sessions with their parents, wether enrolling at St Michael's or elsewhere.

Year Five/Six Camp

This year our Year Five/Six camp will be held at Camp Rumbug in Foster, South Gippsland. The dates for our camp are Wednesday 1st May to Friday 3rd May. Information will be sent via Operoo to all families shortly. We are holding a camp information session for parents on Monday 25th March, from 6.30pm. This will be an online session and will go for approximately 45 minutes, during which we will go through the activities and what to expect and give you an opportunity for questions. A link will be sent to families next week so please keep an eye out for it.

For information about the campsite, go to: Camp Rumbug 

Important notice regarding Operoo Notifications

We have received feedback from a few families within the St. Michael community regarding notifications from Operoo. It appears that some of these notifications may not be reaching your inbox and could potentially be flagged as spam. We understand that this can be frustrating, especially given the importance of timely communication.

The issue arises because Operoo operates as an independent domain, and webmail systems often apply firewalls to protect users from spam. Unfortunately, this can sometimes result in legitimate messages being filtered out unintentionally.

If you are experiencing this issue, we recommend trying the following steps to ensure you receive our school’s Operoo notifications:

1. Check Email Settings: Take a moment to review your email settings. Look for any filters or blocks that might be affecting Operoo emails. Adjust these settings as needed to allow Operoo notifications to come through.
2. Add Operoo to Your Contacts: Adding the Operoo email address to your contacts list can help prevent it from being flagged as spam. Please add the following address: admin-au@operoo.com 
3. Mark as “Not Spam”: If you find an Operoo email in your spam folder, select it and mark it as “Not Spam.” This action will help train your email system to recognise Operoo communications as legitimate.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience as we work to improve the delivery of Operoo notifications. If you continue to experience issues, please reach out to our support team for further assistance.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Kind regards,

Jordan Lo Ricco

Digital Technologies Curriculum

It has been wonderful to see that so many families have signed up to their class Seesaw accounts to view their child's work. Our aim is to use this portal on a regular basis so that you can see what your child is learning as well as the development in learning about their specific goals, discussed with you at the recent Parent / Teacher / Student Conversations. You will be able to "like" the work sample and you are also able to make a comment to your child through the portal. Teachers will also use Seesaw as a method of communication to the whole class for notices that are specifically relevant for you.  If you haven't already signed up, please do so through the links provided on the Quick Links page in this newsletter.

Student Google sites are currently under construction, through which students in Years Three to Six will be able to access most of what they need for learning in a One-Stop-Shop! They will have immediate access to their google profile, a link to their Seesaw portal, Google Classroom and a range of Religious Education, literacy, numeracy, wellbeing and Inquiry learning tasks. This portal will be updated throughout the year with various sites and learning tasks related to their learning. Thank you to Mr Lo Ricco, School Leaders and classroom teachers for their work in assembling these for the students.

SCHOOL FEES & LEVIES – 2024

Thank you to all those families who have paid their school account, or who have commenced their 2024 payment plan. The Annual Fee & Levy invoice for 2024 has been sent out to all families via the office baskets with your eldest child. (Please contact the Kathy via email - kathym@smashburton.catholic.edu.au,  if you have not received your copy). Your payment options include fortnightly, monthly, 4 x term payments or payment in full by 28th March 2024.  

If you have not done so already, please return the completed Payment Commitment Options form to the office as soon as possible.  Please contact Kathy Muhllechner if you would like to arrange an alternative payment plan.

CAMPS, SPORTS & EXCURSION FUND (CSEF)

Families who hold a current Centrelink Card may be entitled to the CSEF payment of $150 per child per annum.  Please contact the school office asap for a current CSEF form.  We will need a copy your current card for our records.

MACS CONCESSIONAL FEE DISCOUNT

Families may apply for a MACS Concessional Fee Discount if they hold a current eligible Healthcare Card or a DVA Gold Card.  Families must apply for this discount using the MACS School Fee Concession Application form.  You must bring your valid Healthcare Card/DVA Gold Card into the office to be eligible for this discount.  

Families can only obtain this discount if a Direct Debit Plan is established.

 Boroondara Photograph Competition 2024

This exciting exhibition is taking place again in 2024. Students are encouraged to submit photos that celebrate people, places, spaces, and the natural environment in Boroondara. All young people who are of school age (up to age 18 on 1 January 2024) are eligible to enter if their photos are taken in Boroondara.  You may recall one of our Year 6 students from last year, Jasmine Place, entered this competition and was awarded "Highly Commended" for her photo, 'Guinea Pig Picnic'. To see Jasmine's entry and to find out how to enter, go to https://www.boroondara.vic.gov.au/boroondara-arts/whats/online-exhibitions/2023-exhibitions/celebrate-boroondara-online-exhibition Best of luck!

School Dates

Please check the Term Dates page as more dates for Term 2 have been added

PLEASE NOTE: Five/Six G and One/Two B - Assembly dates have swapped since last week. Please see changes here and make this change in your home calendars.

Hands on Music

Hands On Music is a company St Michael's has been using for some time.  If you wish for your child to learn an instrument this year, please make contact with Jen Capon via email: handsonmusic.j@gmail.com or phone: 0402 910 330