From the Principal

Dear St Michael’s School families,

Next week we celebrate NAIDOC week in Australia to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

This week's prayer is in recognition of this important time in Australia.

Dear God,

Thank You for the land we live on,

for the trees, the rivers, and the animals.

Help us to remember and honour

the First Peoples who have cared for this land

for thousands of years.

Please open our hearts to understand their stories,

their cultures, and their deep connection to Country.

Help us to be kind and respectful,

to listen with open ears and speak with gentle words.

Teach us to walk together

in peace, in friendship, and with compassion.

Amen.

WE WISH ALL OUR FAMILIES A VERY SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY. TAKE CARE, STAY WARM AND WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT TERM.

UPDATED SCHOOL CALENDAR

For your information, the school calendar page in the newsletter has been updated this week for your future planning. Please check it out on our School Calendar page.

FEAST OF SACRED HEART MASS

Thank you to all our families who supported the Vinnies annual Winter Appeal with your donations of non-perishable food items. You certainly kept our Social Justice and Wellbeing Leaders busy with collections and sorting through items to store in the Vinnies pantry in the church. A beautiful and reflective mass was shared last Friday for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus where we had the chance to think about how we can be Jesus among our community today.

REMINDER - Monday 21 July Closure Day

The first day of Term 3 we will be holding a staff professional learning day, which will be a closure day for the students. This first school day for the students in Term 3 will be Tuesday 22nd July. 

PARENT / TEACHER / CHILD LEARNING CONVERSATIONS (P/T/C/LC)

Student academic reports have now been made available to parents through the NForma portal. We recommend that you please review your child's report before attending the P/T/C LC, which will be held on Wednesday 23 July. A reminder to all families that school will finish at 12.00 noon on Wednesday 23 July in order for these meetings to commence from 12.30pm. TheirCare will be available from 12.00 on this day.

We strongly recommend that you download school academic reports and save these to a folder at home. Often we are asked for reports years after students have left Primary School and we are unable to access full reports down the track as technology changes very quickly and can make this challenging.

Students need to be present at these meetings to discuss their learning goals with you and the classroom teacher. This year, P/T/C/L/Cs will be held in children's classrooms (Three/Four R will be upstairs next to Three/Four G), not the hub as has been done in the past.

TERM THREE SPECIALIST LESSONS TIMETABLE CHANGES

Due to our preparation for the school production this year, next term there will be some regular changes to specialist classes. We will do our best to keep parents apprised of the changes as best we can and we recommend that if you have any appointments or special family days planned that you check with your child's class teacher about what is happening to avoid any disappointment. Term Three Specialist days will be provided to you through your child's classroom teacher early next term.

Additionally, we have needed to make some changes to some of the class presentations at assemblies - please note these in your calendar so you don't miss them.

Friday 1st August - Three / Four R

Friday 15th August - Prep B

Friday 29th August - One / Two B

Friday 12th September - One / Two R

DEVICE SAFETY OVER THE HOLIDAYS

We remind families to please assist children in Years Three to Six in ensuring that chromebooks are kept safe from damage over the school holidays. Best practice is to have a set and safe location for storage, outside of bedrooms and also to ensure they are on a table when in use and not the floor. A strong recommendation is always be aware of when our children are using any devices, what programs / games they are using and to set time limits on screens. Thank you in advance for your support.

CONGRATULATIONS SRINYA NUVVALA

Congratulations to Srinya in Year Five for receiving her Super Speak Achievement Award. Srinya received the Honor Trophy, which is presented to students who have completed four years of Public Speaking and Communication Skills training at Super Speak (equivalent to 160 hours) and presented 16 formal solo speeches. Well done Srinya!!

YEAR 1/2 EXCURSION - MONT DE LANCEY

The year One/Two students went on an excursion to Mont de Lancey, an historic homestead in Wandin. We got to experience what life might have been like in the 1800’s. We helped a blacksmith to heat up and twist a piece of steel, helped a woodturner to make a few wooden spinning tops, play with hand made wooden objects, visit a machine shed, walk through an old house, ring an emergency bell, visit a chapel, visit the old school house and have a literacy and maths lesson, make our own wooden peg dolls and lavender bags, twist our own skipping rope out of twine, race in billy carts, and play old fashioned games.

Here are some of the things we learnt: 

Jack - We got to have rides in the billy carts. They were really hard to steer. 

Theo - The blacksmith taught us how he heated up a piece of metal until it was glowing red. We got to help him use tools to twist it. 

Zac - We got to make a skipping rope by twisting strings together. 

Oliver - There were no toilets inside the houses. You had to go outside! 

Alex - Everything was made by hand. People had to make dolls. 

Sloane - There was a well to get water from. 

Metaxia - If there was a fire in the town, someone would ring the giant bell 6 times. They didn’t have phones. 

Amelia - At the school, if your nails were dirty you would get hit with a cane. 

Isaac - There were no fidgets or toys at school. 

Holly - You weren’t allowed to be left handed. You had to write with your right hand. 

GRANDPARENTS & SPECIAL FRIENDS - FRIDAY 25TH JULY

We are all so excited about GP & SF day coming up after the holidays. Hopefully you've made all the arrangements with your grandparents and special friends to be there!

Are you able to help?... We would love some donations of both sweet and savoury items for our afternoon tea on this day. If you are able to do so, please click here and nominate your donation. Tea and coffee will be provided upon arrival and thank you to our PFA members who will be supporting us with this!

Grandparents' photos - If you have family photos of your child with Grandparents and / or Special Friends to share on the slideshow, please email these to Ray Hickey at rhickey@smashburton.catholic.edu.au. PLEASE SEND THESE NO LATER THAN FRIDAY 4TH JULY.

1.00 pm  Afternoon Tea in Hub for visitors

1.35 pm  Visitors move to classroom for activities

2.40 pm  Everyone moves to Church for Prayer Liturgy

2.50 pm  Prayer Liturgy commences

3.20 pm  Everyone returns to school (please note that students will need to go to their own classroom before the bell rings to end the day)

3.30 pm  HOME TIME 

SCHOOL PRODUCTION

The Production Comittee has begun working on our much anticipated School Production, School Of Pop. We are seeking all students to submit a piece of artwork.

Please see below for more information. 

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