From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

Please note that weekly Parish mass times will now be located each week on our School Hours / Timetable page in our newsletter. 

Welcome back and Happy Easter

It's hard to believe that we're here in Term 2 already!! We hope you enjoyed a wonderful family Easter celebration and also a good rest! We have so much planned for Term 2 and are excited to be back on deck. Please be sure to check our updated Calendar in the Term Dates section of the newsletter!

Prayer

Thank you to Mr Ray Hickey and Mrs Rachael Lampe for taking part in our Parish Holy Thursday celebration, during which Fr Laurence  reenacted the Washing of the Feet. It was a prayerful, reflective celebration. 

This week our children have prayed in their classrooms a special Easter prayer arranged by Mr Hickey, our Religious Education Leader, encouraging us to "hear the news of the resurrection with open hearts."

This week we also remember and pray for the families in Sydney in the wake of the tragedies they have suffered. We keep them in our prayers and we pray for healing for all those affected.

Please see the Wellbeing News section of the newsletter for resources for families at times of crises such as these.

ANZAC day public holiday and St Michael's Closure Day

A reminder to all our families that next week ANZAC day will be on Thursday (25th April) and we will be holding a closure day on Friday 26th April. As you may recall, this is to give Time in Lieu hours to our staff. Please ensure you have these dates in your diary.

Staff Return

As you would be aware, Mrs Emma Quinless has returned to St Michael's in Term 1 to undertake Year Three to Six Performing Arts lessons. For those of you unfamiliar with Emma, she has worked here at St Michael's since 2016 and knows our students and processes very well. 

This term, Emma officially returns from parental leave and will be working for three days per week in total. In addition to her one day Performing Arts role, Emma will be working in Five / Six B on Thursdays, taking over from Eloise Ellis, who will continue in the Deputy Principal / Learning and Teaching Leader and Numeracy Leadership role in the school for five days per week. Emma's additional day will be to support the work that St Michael's School will be undertaking in our School Review this year.

Year Level Newsletters

Our staff are currently working on the termly newsletter which will be issued in each year level soon. We ask that you please take some time to read over these detailed newsletters so that you are aware of what is specifically happening in your child's year level, particularly in the areas of learning.

The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)

The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) is a nationwide data collection of early childhood development at the time children commence their first year of full-time school.  The AEDC highlights what is working well and what needs to be improved or developed to support children and their families by providing evidence to support health, education and community policy and planning. It is held every three years and this year will be the sixth year of data collection. 

The census involves teachers of children in their first year of full-time school completing a research tool, the Australian version of the Early Development Instrument. The Instrument consist of about 100 questions and collects data relating to five key areas of early childhood development referred to as ‘domains’, these include:

• Physical health and well being
• Social competence
• Emotional maturity
• Language and cognitive skills (school-based)
• Communication skills and general knowledge

Data is collected for individual children and reported for groups of children at a community, state/territory and national level. 

All Prep families have been sent information about the AEDC for 2024. Please contact Mrs Erica Cremer, Mrs Eloise Ellis or Mrs Annie Herbison if you have any questions regarding this national data collection.

Extra Curricular programs at St Michael's School

This term St Michael's School continues it's regular programs of Extra Curricular activities, both during school hours and out of hours, and we have added a few too! We aim to have a range of programs on offer for children to take part in to broaden their experiences and engage them at different levels. Our Extra Curricular programs are as follows:

Soccer Clinics this week

It has been wonderful to have Futbal First School of Soccer and Futsal work with out students this week in their PE lessons to work through the skills of Soccer. I appreciated spending time observing our students so engaged in the sessions and putting their energy into trying to get the actions correct. 

Year Five/Six Camp to RUMBUG

We are busily preparing for our students in Years Five and Six to attend their annual camp, coming up on Wednesday 1st May to Friday 3rd May. We are currently arranging transport, activity groups and cabins while the students are organising their packing; at least their parents are!! Don't forget a hat and wet weather jacket, and of course the extra undies!!

Open Days & Kinder Kids Sessions

We continue our Open Days during Term Two, as advertised in Term One. These will occur on Tuesday 23 April (next week) and Thursday 16 May. On the evening of 16 May we will also hold our Enrolment and Information evening, to which any families are welcome to attend.

This term we are also opening up two new opportunities for school tours on Saturday 11th May at 9.30am and 10.30am. These sessions will be via bookings through the school office only. If you know someone who might be interested, please ask them to phone the office and book which session they will be attending.

Kinder Kids Sessions

This year we will hold another four Kinder Kids Sessions, some of which will be games and other activities, differing from reading only sessions last year. Our Year Five students will be involved again, meeting and greeting children and parents, getting to know the children as they become familiar with our school surroundings. ALL three and four year old kinder children in our area are welcome to attend the sessions. These are all Fridays as we found last year that most of our students did not attend their kinder or child care on Fridays. You do not need to book for these, please meet us at the front gate at 9am. ALL WELCOME!