From the Principal

Dear St Michael’s School families,

Prayer

Loving God,

As we enter the second week of Advent, 

we light the candle of Peace 

and open our hearts to your calming presence. 

In this busy season, help us to pause, breathe, and make room for you. 

May your peace guide our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

Teach us to be peacemakers in our families, our school, and our world. 

Help us to listen with kindness, to speak with gentleness, 

and to act with compassion. 

As we prepare for the coming of Jesus, 

may we carry your peace into every place we go.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

TRANSITION TO NFORMA

Thank you to all this week who entered the data into our new platform. If you're still in the process of this, please ensure you follow the specific instructions given on the instruction sheets, which were shared two weeks ago. We repeat them here for your convenience.

When inputting / updating information, it is always best to do this using the desktop version of nForma rather than the app. It helpful to always update your software for nForma when prompted so that you continue to get notifications on time.

TEACHING STAFF 2026

As always, we will have a few changes in staff for the new year. It’s always sad to see staff leave, but we encourage everyone to have various experiences and life often changes which calls for change in careers as well.

At the end of this year, we farewell Mrs Rachael Lo Ricco, who will be leaving St Michael’s to take up a position closer to home. Rachael has been a valued member of our community for the past nine years, during which she has contributed generously in a range of leadership roles including Religious Education Leader and Numeracy Leader. During her time with us, her family has also grown, now with two young children.

Rachael has accepted a position at St Simon’s School in Rowville for 2026, and while we will miss her greatly, we are deeply grateful for the incredible expertise, dedication, and warmth she has brought to St Michael’s. She is an exceptional educator who continually models how to bring out the best in children.

We thank Rachael sincerely for her outstanding service to our school and wish her and her family every blessing for the future.

We have been so fortunate to have had the wonderful work and skills of Miss Katelyn Struthers this year in the Year One/Two Level. Katelyn came to us when Rachael Lampe went on leave in Term Two for One/Two G, then transitioned to One/Two R for Semester Two. Katelyn has been such a wonderful support to our students and parents and such a great asset on staff as well. Her final day this year will be Friday 12th December. She returns to Scotland to get married and is returning to Australia, however wishes to do a little more travel and widen her experiences. We are sad to see her go as she has been amazing with our Year One/Two students this year.

We thank Katelyn for her wonderful contribution to the St Michael's Community this year and wish her every happiness for her future.

Our Classroom Teachers for 2026 will be as follows:

This is not the full list of staff for 2026. Our full staff list will be released in next week's newsletter.

FEES & LEVIES 2026

Please see the letter that was sent via nForma this week for the 2026 School Fees. Any families who still need to settle 2025 accounts please do so as soon as possible.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIONS AND ASSESSMENTS FOR SCHOOLS (I.C.A.S.)

I take this opportunity to congratulate all the children who participated in the ICAS competition this year. Last week all students were issues with certificates for their contribution and outcome. We are so proud of all students who took part in this. Special mention to Marcus Wee who received a High Distinction in Mathematics at his year level. An amazing achievement!

Connor S, Theo K-C, Georgie F, Vicky M, Lucas E, Marcus W, Charlie A, Jooyeon L, 

Preston T, Leo E, Claire R, Noah C, Freddie S, Jayden S, Dom P, Cedric W, James A, Dom J, 

Saisha S, Sam S, Anna R and Natalie B.

SWIM TO SCHOOL DAY

It was wonderful to see so many St Michael’s students embrace our Swim to School dress-up day with such enthusiasm. This week, we have been focusing on the important message of staying safe around water this Summer. Our students proudly shared a range of items and strategies that help keep us safe, demonstrating both their learning and their growing awareness of water safety. Thank you to the Ashburton Pool for raising our awareness and encouraging us to think about it.

PREP TRANSITION

Last week, our final Prep transition session took place, and it was wonderful to see how confidently the children settled into the classroom environment. They engaged beautifully with the activities and demonstrated a genuine readiness for the exciting year ahead. Our Year 5 students were equally enthusiastic, delighting in the opportunity to meet their incoming Prep buddies. The joy and warmth shared between the children was a heart-warming reminder of the strong sense of community we cherish at St Michael’s. To conclude the program, our 2026 Preps enjoyed a well-deserved ice cream treat — a delicious and memorable way to finish the year!

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS

Are your children interested in Drama School, Art sessions, Coding Club or Soccer clinics? Check out the fliers in our Community News section.

BIKE SWAP - TOMORROW AFTERNOON

This week's Bike Education Program with our Year Three / Four students has been a huge success. They are greatly looking forward to going on their BIG RIDE tomorrow. Fortunately we've had some lovely weather for our training and practice this week.

A REMINDER that if you have a bike that you would like to see go to a new home, please bring your bike to pick-up TOMORROW. If you are someone who is looking for a new bike, then please come along and see if there are any bikes you would like to take home with you! This could be a good way to pick up a second hand bike ahead of Christmas! We ask parents and carers to line their bikes up in front of the vegetable gardens. You will need to wait with your bike, unfortunately we cannot store them, so you will need to take it home with you if it doesn't find a new home.

THANK YOU MORNING TEA

On Thursday 11th December, we invite families to come to the hub and share morning tea together with the community. For any way that you have supported our school this year - cooking a BBQ, helping PMP, supporting teachers in the class, helping with sports, assisting a cooking session and is SO MANY other ways - we wish to express our gratitude to you and invite you for a coffee, a chat and a small bite!! We are truly grateful for all that our parents do to assist in the community each day of the school year. See you in the hub from 9am. Coffee Cart will be available.

Immediately afterwards, you may wish to attend the whole school, End of School Mass where our new school leaders for 2026 will be announced and our current Year 6s will be thanked for their service at 10am, 

DATES FOR YOUR 2026 CALENDAR

As we commence planning for the 2026 year, we officially notify families of our staff professional learning days for next year and our acquittal days for Time In Lieu. We have notified TheirCare of these dates so that if there are sufficient families needing care on these days, TheirCare will make the provisions for this. Please take note of these dates in your family and professional calendars:

• Wednesday 28th January - Literacy - Staff Professional Learning
• Monday 23 February - Team Teach - Staff Professional Learning
• Friday 31 July - Religious Education - Staff Professional Learning
• Monday 2nd November - Time In Lieu acquittal day
• Monday 23 November - Time In Lieu acquittal day
• Tuesday 24th November- 2027 Planning - Staff Professional Learning
• Thursday 17 December - Time In Lieu acquittal day
• Friday 18 December - Time In Lieu acquittal day

ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGY BLOG

St Michael's School has partnered with Advanced Psychology with a psychologist working onsite weekly. This link takes you to a blog with podcasts / webinars that deal with a variety of topics which might be of interest to parents and teachers. 

https://www.advancedpsychology.net/blogs