Morning Tea for Parents & Carers TOMORROW MORNING in the HUB at drop off. ALL WELCOME!

Dear St Michael’s School families,

Prayer

Prayer for the Beginning of a New School Year

Loving God,

As we begin this new school year, we place our community into your care.

Bless our students with curiosity, courage and a love of learning.

Guide our staff with wisdom, compassion and strength

as they accompany each child on their journey.

Be with our families, supporting them in the important role they play each day.

May our school be a place of welcome, safety and joy,

where your light is seen in our words, actions and relationships.

Help us to work together with hope and generosity,

trusting that you walk beside us in all we do.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

WELCOME BACK!!

A happy new year to all our St Michael's families. We hope you have had a restful break and enjoyed the beautiful Melbourne Summer together as a family. We are blessed to have had such a good break and we pray for all who have undergone the trauma of bushfires.

This is a very breif newsletter with some information for next week and the Parent Handbook. Next Thursday’s edition will include the full complement of updates.

It has been wonderful to welcome students back today for their assessments. We appreciate that a half-day schedule can be challenging for families, and we thank you for your flexibility. The dedicated time this afternoon for analysing the assessment data will greatly assist our teachers in planning for and responding to each child’s learning needs.

Please note that our Beginning of the School Year Mass will be held NEXT FRIDAY, 6TH FEBRUARY, 10AM in St Michael's Church. At this mass we welcome in the new school year and have our Year Sixes badge presentation as well. We would love everyone to join us for this special celebration.

SWIMMING

A reminder that Swimming Lessons begin for Years Three to Six, from Tuesday 3rd February. Please ensure you have given permission for your child to attend through the nForma Parent portal as soon as possible.

TOP COURTS

Hopefully you have had a chance to walk past and see our wonderful new-look top courts this morning. The resurfacing looks amazing and we look forward to the lines being drawn within the next couple of weeks. We will also have some games added to the new surface; fun for every age!

STAFF 2026

For the start of the 2026 school year, we are pleased to share an update on our staffing. While many of our familiar faces return, we have also welcomed several new team members who joined us over the break. We are delighted to have appointed Melanie Ford to the Performing Arts role for Terms 1 and 2. Melanie brings extensive experience in music education, having taught Music and the Arts for the past eight years at Beaconhills College, and we are excited to have her talents enriching our program at St Michael’s.

We also warmly welcome Megan Hall, who joins our Learning Support team for two days per week, and Jordyn Pignolet, who moves into a full-time Learning Support position after contributing wonderfully in a casual capacity last year. It is a pleasure to have them all with us, and we wish them every success as they begin their work with our community. The full staff list for 2026 can be found here:A remin

Principal	Annie Herbison
Deputy Principal	Eloise Ellis
Religious Education Leader	Ray Hickey
Office Manager	Kathy Muhllechner (Mon, Tue, Fri)
Administration	Louise Story (Wed, Thu, Fri)
Classroom Teachers
Prep	Caitlin O’Donnell
Year One / Two	Stephanie Drew (M, T, W & F) and Chloe Hickey (Thursday)
Year One / Two	Desiree Harding (M-Th) and Ann Lagreca (Friday)
Year One / Two	Kylie Ashton (Catriona O'Donoghhue)
Year Three / Four	James McIlroy
Year Three / Four	Jessica Casey
Year Three / Four	Carolyn Wilson (M-W) / Laua Dzanovski (Th-F)
Year Five / Six	Ray Hickey (M, T, W & F) and Elise Rimington (Thurs)
Year Five / Six	Shae Jesson
Year Five / Six	Rebecca Taylor
Leadership
Religious Education Leader	Ray Hickey
Learning & Teaching Leader	Eloise Ellis
Numeracy Leader	Chloe Hickey
Literacy Leader	Elise Rimington
Learning Diversity Leader	Emma Quinless
Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader	Chloe Hickey
Specialist Teachers
Physical Education & I.T.	Jordan Lo Ricco (Tues to Friday)
Performing Arts	Melanie Ford (Mon/Tues)
Visual Arts	Jess Fary (Wed-Fri)
Mandarin	Lily Luo (Mon/Tues)
Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths	Jordan Lo Ricco (Prep to Year Two) Mondays Alannah Morris (Years Three to Six) Tuesdays
Learning Support Staff
Giovanna Boccari	Louise Story
Zainab Baquari	Kate Borg
Nyree Masterson	Sue Carmichael
Jordyn (Jordy) Pignolet	Megan Hall

PARENT HANDBOOK 2026

We keep this newsletter short this week as we commence the new school year. Please take some time to review the 2026 Parent Handbook at your leisure. This handbook remains in the newsletter each week for your referral. Many important dates are listed within the handbook and whilst many processes are the same as previously advertised in the Handbook, some additions and updates have been made.

We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we learn, play, pray, work and gather. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and we honour the ongoing cultural, spiritual and educational contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

St Michael's Primary School Ashburton

A safe community of animated learners enlightened by faith in God

Thursday 29th January, 2026 · 29 Jan 2026

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