CLOSURE DAY - FRIDAY 19TH JUNE

STAFF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING - NUMERACY - FOCUS ON TEACHING FLUENCY & NUMBER SKILLS

ALL DAY CARE AVAILABLE WITH THEIR CARE

Dear Families,

Welcome to Winter

Winter is about to arrive, with the season beginning on June 1st. After an amazing Autumn that gave us cold mornings but the most beautiful days, it is a challenge getting used to the cold Melbourne weather, but it is nice to get out the winter clothes and rug up in warm winter coats. It also means that we are halfway through term two. All our staff have been busily reviewing your child's progress so far this year and preparing for semester one reports.

Individual student reports will go home at the beginning of the final week of term two, and parent/child/teacher conversations will take place on Thursday, 25th June, and Friday, 26th June. Your child's report will only be available via the nForma Parent Portal. In the following weeks, you will receive an invitation to book your child's interview time. It is preferred that interviews take place in person, but if this proves difficult for families, interviews will be available via Google Meet. No interviews will be held over the phone. Please look out for this notification and book your appointment as soon as possible.

Our students will continue to participate in amazing learning opportunities throughout the remainder of the term to enhance and build on all the learning that has already taken place this year. Keep a lookout for this learning on Class Dojo.

Keeping our School Community Healthy

The colder weather has brought with it an increase in colds and flu, and we are currently experiencing a high number of absences among both students and staff due to illness. We kindly ask for your support in keeping our school community healthy.

If your child is unwell, please keep them at home until they have fully recovered. If a child becomes unwell during the school day, families will be contacted and asked to collect them.

We appreciate your prompt response in these situations.

Thank you for working with us to support the wellbeing of all at St Michael’s.

Japanese Teacher's Opportunity of a Lifetime

Last October, Pippa Murray, our Japanese teacher, applied for the highly regarded JET Program to teach English in Japan for a year, and we are delighted to share that she has been successful. Pippa has been selected to work in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, where she will support English teaching and learning in government schools for the next 12 months.

Her role will involve assisting with English language programs, developing teaching resources, supporting the professional learning of Japanese teachers of English, and becoming actively involved in the local community through extracurricular and cultural activities.

While we will certainly be sad to see Pippa leave St Michael’s, we are incredibly proud of her achievement. The JET Program is an extremely competitive international program, with positions offered only to outstanding candidates. Pippa’s selection is a wonderful reflection of her dedication, professionalism, and passion for teaching and learning.

We are currently in the process of interviewing for a replacement Japanese teacher and will inform families once an appointment has been finalised. Pippa will remain with us for the remainder of Term 2 and the beginning of Term 3 to ensure a smooth and comprehensive handover to the new teacher.

Pippa’s success is another example of our staff striving for excellence and living out Catherine McAuley’s wise words: “Always strive to be good today, but better tomorrow.”

Congratulations, Pippa. We are so very proud of you and wish you every success in this exciting new chapter.

Colour Run Event

What an amazing afternoon we shared on Monday at our Colour Run Fundraising Event.

We were certainly blessed with beautiful weather, which made the afternoon even more enjoyable for everyone involved. It was wonderful to see such incredible parent support, with many parents helping set up the event, enthusiastically chasing children around with colour powder, slime and bubbles, and joining in the fun alongside the students.

There were plenty of smiling faces throughout the afternoon, with children covered from head to toe in colour and slime as they laughed, ran and celebrated together. Our staff also embraced the spirit of the event, joining in the activities and helping create such a joyful atmosphere for our school community.

Apologies to parents for the very messy children who arrived home later that day!

Even I had great fun being slimed by the children, although I do have evidence that a couple of our younger staff members, Kade and Oskar, took the opportunity to pour buckets of slime over me!

I am delighted to share that we raised over $6,000, which will go towards the next stage of our Adventure Playground project.

This event will certainly remain one of my lasting memories of St Michael’s, sharing such fun and laughter with our children, staff and families, even while completely covered in slime.

A sincere thank you to our Parents and Friends group for all their assistance, and to Fiona for leading the event so successfully.

Yr 3/4 Camp

Our Year 3/4 children returned from Camp at Campaspe Downs in Kyneton, totally exhausted but extremely content and happy with their time at camp and it was fabulous to see all the children taking part in the amazing activities on offer and being so brave in trying new things like archery, bushcraft, sensory trails, low ropes and aeroball. I'm not sure how much sleep was had, but I did see many exhausted children hop off the bus when arriving back at school! Staff at the camp also commented on the lovely manners displayed by the St Michael's students. Special thanks to all the staff who attended; your engagement with, and care for our children was exceptional.

Closure Day

Our next Closure Day is on Friday 19th June. On this day our staff will be working with Dr Angela Rogers. Dr Ange is an experienced and passionate Numeracy Consultant, PhD researcher, and expert in Primary Mathematics Education from Melbourne.

The focus of the day will be on key numeracy concepts, whole-school strategies, and effective classroom practices. All of the staff are looking forward to learning alongside Ange.

All day care is available with TheirCare; please ensure you make a booking prior to the day.

Principal Selection Process

The selection process for the appointment of the next Principal of St Michael’s, led by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, is now well underway. The position has been advertised and applications are due to close on Monday 8 June.

Yesterday, our students, staff, and parents had the opportunity to meet with Linda Tarraran, Senior Manager at Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, to discuss the qualities and attributes they would hope to see in the new Principal.

Let us keep this process in our prayers and hope that we receive many strong applicants, ensuring St Michael’s is guided by the very best leadership into the future.

School Fees and Levies

The next round of School Fee statements will be sent out to families in Week 8.

Thank you to those families who have already paid their school fees and levies in full.

For those that still have an outstanding balance, this is a friendly reminder that fees are to be paid in full by the end of Term 3 which falls on 18th September 2026. The only exceptions to this are those who receive a MACS Concessional Fee, or have a payment plan or direct debit in place.

We have various payment options available, as follows:-

CASH - Accepted at the office
EFTPOS - Credit card / tap facilities at the office or over the phone
EFT - pay your fees directly into the school bank account via eft as below.

If you have any queries regarding your fees, would like an update on an outstanding balance, or would like some assistance with the abovementioned payment options, please don't hesitate to visit the office and have a chat with Michelle.

Building Update

We are due to get access to our new Artroom and the full library corridor in the next week. Our new Music room is due to be completed before the end of Term 2. Once these areas are finalised, we will invite families to visit and view the new spaces during scheduled before-school and after-school times.

Kind regards,

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.

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