Dear Families,

School Closure Day - MONDAY 28TH NOVEMBER

On this day our staff will be meeting to plan and prepare for 2023.

The holiday program will be available on this day, please contact YLV to make a booking.

ART SHOW

How fantastic was our Art Show!!! It was good to see so many people come along to view all the Artwork that our amazingly talented children have produced over the past 12 months, we had more than 80% of our families in attendance. We were also privileged to be entertained by our School Choir and our Rock Band, they were just amazing.

It was such a fabulous evening and it was great to see the interest in our Silent Auction where there was some fierce competition to be the successful bidder, congratulations to those who were successful in being the winning bidders. If you were an unsuccessful bidder but would still like to contribute and make a donation to our school so we can continue to nurture our children in their development of the Arts please feel free to do so via our school office.

Special thanks must go to our Art Teacher Luisa Vivarelli and our Music Teacher Stacey Cheeseman. They both put in an incredible amount of time and effort in preparing for the Show, we are truly blessed to have them on our staff, and have them encouraging our children's creativity and imagination. Thanks also to all our staff and students who assisted in getting the show ready, it was truly a team effort!

SCHOOL SPORTS DAY

Our School Sports day is on Friday 2nd December, starting at 10am. It will be held across the road at Flemington Oval and all children from Year Prep to Year 6 will be involved. We strongly encourage children to get dressed up in their House Team Colours and they must wear their runners. Parents and families are all welcome to attend and support their child and their team. We look forward to a great day!

STAFF NEWS

This time of year can be a difficult time when we say goodbye to all the staff members that are departing our school. Each one of these people has been an important member of our community and has contributed so much to ensure our children have had every opportunity to be engaged in engaging and purposeful learning and they have each truly enhanced our community. This year we say goodbye to:

Steven Hubbard

Steven joined St Michael's in 2019 as our Deputy Principal and Religious Education Leader. He contributed much to our school and has been a loyal and trustworthy support for me. Steven has led our teachers in changing our approach to teaching Religious Education ensuring our children have a true understanding of what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ.

Steven is moving to Holy Trinity Primary School, Sunbury, to pursue his passion for student wellbeing in the role of Wellbeing Leader and Classroom Teacher.

Rita Totino

Rita joined St Michael's in 2017 as Learning & Teaching and Literacy Leader. She has led our school in Professional Development which has greatly improved the way in which our teachers teach and our children learn. Rita has worked to develop teachers' skills and knowledge in using assessment data in order to know where the children are at in their learning and where they need to go next. She has been a member of our School Leadership Team and has been a great support to me and other leaders in our school.

Rita is moving to St Thomas More's Primary School, Hadfield, to take up the role of Deputy Principal and Learning & Teaching Leader.

Hayley Kermonde

Hayley joined us in 2018 as a Learning Support Officer and then became a classroom teacher in 2019. During her time here she has shown great enthusiasm for both her students and her own learning. Over the past couple of years and especially through COVID times she held the role of E-Learning Leader and was instrumental in ensuring we were all up to speed with our IT skills.

Hayley is moving to St Anne's Sunbury to be a classroom teacher, this will enable her to be much closer to her home.

Olivia Turville

Olivia also started her St Michael's career as a Learning Support officer in 2019 and then moved to become one of our Prep teachers in 2021. Olivia has given our Prep children a wonderful start to their school life and has helped many new families connect with our school.

Olivia will be heading off on an overseas adventure to explore Europe.

Illona Kennedy

Illona began as a Learning Support Officer in 2021 and became one of our Year 5/6 teachers in the middle of 2022. She stepped into the role of teacher with great enthusiasm and has done an excellent job guiding our Year 5/6 children through this last semester of 2022.

Along with Olivia, Illona will be heading off on an overseas adventure to explore Europe.

Patrick Watt

Patrick started here last year to introduce STEM learning to our Year 3-6 children and what a difference he has made to their learning. The children have not only enjoyed their STEM lessons but have also enjoyed Patrick's jokes, even though they don't always get them!

Patrick is leaving to take up consultancy work with museums to assist them with organising exhibitions, he will also continue his work in STEM with MACS.

Maria De Santis

Maria has worked as a Learning Support officer since 2014. During her time here she has worked across most year levels in our school and throughout that time has been a steady support for our children, especially those with additional needs. She has shown great kindness and respect for the children she has worked with and has developed strong, trusting relationships with them.

Maria will be moving to Good Shepherd Primary School, Gladstone Park as a Learning Support officer.

Adriana Fabiani

Adriana joined our Administration team in 2019 to support our Office Manager due to the increasing enrolments. She quickly learned that a school office is a very busy and vibrant place and since then has been a welcoming face for all those who visit or contact our school.

Adriana is taking some out from work to spend time with her family traveling overseas to see relatives in Italy.

Michael Gowland

Michael joined St Michael's in the middle of this year to work as a New Arrivals specialist, working with the children who arrived as refugees from Ukraine. He quickly developed strong, trusting relationships with each of these children and their families and has made their transition into Australian life and the learning of English much easier.

During this time Michael has also worked at Sacred Heart Primary School in Newport. He will finish here at St Michael's at the end of this year and will continue in his work at Sacred Heart.

Molly Fisher

Molly joined St Michael's in 2020 as a classroom teacher and like many others spent her first two years of teaching, teaching online due to COVID. She has developed deep, trusting relationships with each of her children and displays a positive approach to all she does.

Molly will be taking 12 months' Leave Without Pay so she can also travel but plans to return to St Michael's in 2023.

Chris Moloney

Chris started at St Michael's in 2017 as a classroom teacher and immediately became a much-loved teacher by all. Chris went on Leave Without Pay in 2021 and extended that during 2022 so he could work in a family business.

Chris has decided to resign from teaching so he can remain working in the family business.

On behalf of the St Michael's Community, I thank each of these staff members for their commitment to our children. They have all displayed their deep passion and love of learning and this has been caught by our children and their peers. I would personally like to thank each of them for their ongoing support and for helping me to grow in my role as Principal of our school. Without their knowledge, skills, and wisdom, this would not be possible.

I wish each of you every success and happiness in their next adventure and extend a warm and open invitation to return to St Michael's at any time.

Next week I will send out a special newsletter announcing the 2023 St Michael's staff as well as the starting dates for 2023.

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.

Prayer

First Sunday of Advent