From the Principal

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

Prayer 

Prayer of Gratitude for Children

Loving Creator,

We come to You with a heart full of gratitude for the gift of children and the beautiful journey they walk through as they grow and change. 

Thank You for the blessing of witnessing their development, 

for the wonder in their eyes as they discover the world, 

and for the lessons they teach us in patience, love, and humility.

We give thanks for every stage of their lives— for their laughter, their curiosity, and even the challenges they face. 

Help us to support and guide them with wisdom and kindness.

We praise You for the uniqueness of each child, for the talents, dreams, and potential they carry within them. 

Thank You for the moments of growth, both big and small, and for the opportunity to nurture them in love and faith.

As they grow, may Your grace surround them, giving them strength, courage, and joy. 

May they always feel Your presence and know that they are deeply loved.

Amen.

PFA Social Event

Oh what a night! It was wonderful to attend last week's PFA fundraiser and Social Event at the Camberwell bowls club, which was decked out like a country barn. With the aim of raising funds for our school community veggie garden, a small team of parents, working alongside the PFA, sprung into action to gather donations, sponsors and organise a fabulous social night for all to attend. The cowboy / cowgirl outfits added to the fun and frivolity!! A special thank you to Alice Dwyer, Jess Deschepper, Belinda Paterson and Charlotte Jones for leading the charge with this one. Thank you also to PFA members for your ongoing support of the school in all your endeavours.

2025 dates

To aid you in your organisation of Term 1 next year, we have released the main term 1 dates as well as dates for each of the school terms in 2025. You can find this information on our 2025 Dates page.

Year One/Two Woodwork Incursion

Last week, the One/Two students were given the opportunity to make wooden cars. Anatoli from ‘CraftPower’ showed the students how to use hammers, nails and pliers to safely put together two pieces of wood. With a little help from our wonderful parent helpers, students practiced hammering and finding the right size piece of wood to construct a model car. This was a great introduction to our Inquiry unit on how toys have changed over the years.

Twilight Sports 

This year our Twilight Sports event is being held on Wednesday 20th November, from 3pm and will finish around approximately 5pm. It will be held at Warner Reserve. If you have not yet given permission for your child to walk with the school to Warner Reserve, please do so as soon as you're able through Operoo.

2025 St Michael's Carols Night

We can now confirm that our annual Carols evening will be held on Thursday 12th December from 5pm on the tennis courts. Further details will be shared closer to the date. Please keep this date free in your calendar.

2024 School Fees and Levies

Thank you to all our families who have paid their 2024 school fees and levies in full. This is greatly appreciated.

We are now at the stage of the year where we need to be finalising accounts and setting in place budgets for 2025, so it is vital that any fees and levies that are in arrears are settled as soon as possible. We will be sending our Term 4 reminders and would appreciate your attention to these as soon as possible.

If you are struggling to pay off large amounts, we would appreciate that you let us know this early in the year so that we can set up payment plans. We can still make arrangements for families to pay off current fees in smaller instalments so please make a time to see Kathy Muhllechner in the school office or contact her via email at kathym@smashburton.catholic.edu.au 

Thank you

Second Hand Uniform sale and Coffee Catch-Up 

A huge thank you to Shelly Davies and Cheryl Tan for organising this uniform sale and coffee catch up last week. It was fabulous for families to be able to gather together this early in the term and of course, to arrange for any outstanding Summer uniform that needed chasing up. We're grateful to Shelly and Cheryl for their volunteering to support our uniform shop!

Closure days this term & Their Care

Families would already be aware of our school closure days this term. TheirCare will be offering Pupil Free Day Care for families who require it. Please make contact directly with TheirCare and further information will be available in next week's newsletter.

Monday 4th November - Closure Day (Tuesday 5th Melbourne Cup Public Holiday)

Tuesday 26th November - Closure Day

Thursday 19th & Friday 20 December - Closure Days

TheirCare will also be offering a holiday program onsite from 6th January until school returns. More details in next week's newsletter.

Swimming 6-15 November, Prep to Year Two

As has been advertised in the Term Dates for some time, our Year Prep, One and Two classes will be attending the Ashburton Pool and Recreation Centre for swimming lessons from 6th November to 15th November. We will be calling for parents to support us by walking us to and from the pool on each swimming day so please check your calendars and lock us in! Details about swimming times for each class and how you can be a parent helper have been sent out through Operoo.

Mandarin Cultural Awareness Week - 18-19 October

This term, Ms Lily Luo will be working with the staff and students to host Cultural Awareness Week in the week beginning Monday 18th November. Lily's focus is to highlight and celebrate the language of Mandarin and also to acknowledge how different cultures have brought so much to Australia and are now part of our culture. On the 18th and 19th November in Mandarin lessons, the students will have the opportunity to explore Chinese culture through a hands-on activity where they will make and cook traditional noodles using simple ingredients of flour, salt, and water. Lily will show the students how they are made and the students will have a chance to taste the noodles with some additional flavours to include. A notice will be shared on Operoo shortly about this and we look forward to having some parents assist and be part of the celebrations. 

Planning for 2025

As we are now commencing the planning of class structures for 2025, we ask that you please email Annie Herbison if your child will not be returning to St Michael's School next year. It is vital that we have this information as soon as possible, as from the commencement of term 4, a great deal of organisation and planning is involved in setting up the following year's classes, staffing, budgets etc. Thank you

Instrumental Lessons

Would your child like to learn violin next term? See the St Michael's School hours and Timetables section of our newsletter for details and receive a FREE lesson!