TOMORROW - Zooper Dooper Friday! GOLD COIN DONATION - $1 or $2

Parent / Teacher / Student Interviews SURVEY LINK. We would love more responses please

Dear St Michael’s School families,

Prayer for Our Teachers

Loving God,

We thank You for the gift of our teachers—

for their patience, dedication, and care.

Bless them with wisdom as they guide and inspire their students each day.

Give them strength when teaching feels challenging,

and joy when they see growth and discovery in their classrooms.

May they always know how deeply they are appreciated

for the difference they make in the lives of so many.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Last Friday was World Teachers Day. We thank our PFA for the lovely morning tea provided for the staff in gratitude for all they do for our children. Much appreciated and super delicious!

BEGINNING YEAR DATES 2026

For organisational purposes, please take note of the following dates for the commencement of the 2026 school year. Following that, 2026 school terms are also listed below. Our school leadership team is currently looking at St Michael's closure days for 2026 and these will be sent out as soon as possible

Monday 26 January	Australia Day
Tuesday 27 January	Staff return to St Michael’s - Professional Learning Day (no students)
Wednesday 28 January	Staff Professional Learning (no students)
Thursday 29 January	Prep to Year 6 Assessment Day - Students allocated individual times for assessment by class teacher. Families to be notified of times
Friday 30 January	Year Prep to Six students onsite, classes commence.
Wednesday 4 February	Prep rest day - no Preps at school
Wednesday 11 February	Prep rest day - no Preps at school
Wednesday 18 February	Prep rest day - no Preps at school
Wednesday 25 February	Prep rest day - no Preps at school
Wednesday 4 March	Prep rest day - no Preps at school
Monday 9 March	Labour Day Public Holiday
Tuesday 10 March	Preps commence full time
Wednesday 11 March	School Photo day
Thursday 2 April	Term 1 concludes

2026 Victorian School Terms

TERM 1	27 January 2026 - 2 April 2026
TERM 2	20 April 2026 - 26 June 2026
TERM 3	13 July 2026 - 18 September 2026
TERM 4	5 October 2026 - 18 December 2026

PREP MYUNA FARM EXCURSION

The Prep students recently enjoyed a wonderful excursion to Myuna Farm as part of their Inquiry unit on Living and Non-Living Things. During the day, students participated in a paddock walk where they fed and observed a variety of animals and had the opportunity to pat nursery animals. They were also fascinated by a session with three native reptiles. A highlight of the excursion was the train ride to the wetlands, where students spotted many bats and explored their natural habitats. The children also enjoyed planting a broccoli or pea seedling to take home. It was a fantastic day of hands-on learning, discovery, and fun.

ST MICHAEL'S NETBALL CLUB

For students in Years One, Two and Three, St Michael's Netball Club is welcoming you to join them for some fun and exercise. Check out the details on our Community News Page.

ENHANCEMENT SESSION

Our final Enhancement Session for 2025 is being held on Friday 14th November (NEXT WEEK). Again we require parents and caregivers to bring gardening tools (shovels, rakes, brooms, hedge shearers, wheelbarrows) and gloves to assist with this session. Please sign up through Operoo as soon as you're able. Looking forward to enjoying a snag together afterwards!

HOOP TIME - REGIONALS

Congratulations to the team of girls who made it to the Regional finals for Hoop Time at Nunawading stadium today. We are looking forward to hear about how they went and will publish this in next week's newsletter. Stay tuned!

PLANNING FOR 2026

As noted in last week's newsletter, we are now fully in planning mode for the 2026 school year with the many considerations this requires. I am sure you can appreciate that this is something the staff spend a great deal of time and energy in doing. Placement of students into classes takes many weeks of consideration, professional discussion and deliberation with the following in mind:

The social and academic distribution of the children within the same level across classes
A gender balance in each class
Children’s friendship groupings and their individual needs
Specific placement of siblings and children with individual needs, inclusive of emotional, learning, physical and behavioural needs
The social needs of children including the working relationships of all children and the desired separation of children who do not have a positive social or learning influence on each other
An awareness of teachers in the previous academic year.

As you can appreciate, a significant amount of time and care goes into these arrangements. We are aware that some parents may have valid reasons to have input into the placement of their children for the forthcoming year.

Should there be numerous requests from parents then the ability for staff to make positive and professional judgements for the best learning environments for our classes is compromised. Given this, if parents have any relevant information that you believe is essential to the grade placement process, I invite you to make contact with Eloise Ellis eelliss@smashburton.catholic.edu.au or myself, Annie Herbison aherbison@smashburton.catholic.edu.au to share your thoughts for the 2026 school year. We will evaluate all requests and make a professional judgement on the placement of the child in question. Please note that the final decision must rest with the school in the interests of providing the best scenario for all students.

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