Dear Families,

Mother's Day

Congratulations to Ashlee Pham, Charlotte and Thomas Hoang's mum on winning our special Mother's Day raffle prize of a High Tea for 2 at Parliament House.

Sending heartfelt wishes to all the incredible mothers out there for a joyous Mother's Day! I hope you were thoroughly pampered and enjoyed precious moments with your loved ones. In a world where far too many women face mistreatment, I aspire for Mother's Day to be a day of universal respect and dignity for all women—mothers, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, nieces, wives, girlfriends, and partners. We are fortunate to have a compassionate staff community that exemplifies these values.

Learning Support Officer & Administration Officer Day

Yesterday we celebrated our wonderful St Michael's Learning Support & Administration Officers. we are blessed to have Michelle & Indi in our office, Courtney, Tilly, Ash, Hayley, Nadi, Letti, Rachel, Leanne, Tracey, Michael, Beck, Nataliia in our classrooms and Susan in our Library who all consistently go above and beyond their role description to support our staff but more importantly our students. As I said yesterday to our children our school community is indebted to them for their commitment to excellence and for always striving to provide each child with a supportive and caring environment in which to learn and play. I am sure they would appreciate it if you were to voice your appreciation to them when you have the opportunity.

Staff News- Yr 1/2 Teachers Kate & Steph

This week we welcomed our new Year 1/2 teacher, Steph. Steph began on Wednesday and has worked alongside Kate and Fiona getting to know the children in Yr 1/2KF, soon to be Yr 1/2SF. I know you will all make her very welcome and assist her wherever possible.

We also will say a brief goodbye to Kate today as she begins her maternity leave in preparation for the birth of her second child, a brother or sister for Scout. We wish Kate and Marcus a restful few weeks before all the fun begins!!!!!

Illness

We are currently experiencing a high number of staff and children with illness, whether it be coughs and colds or COVID. It is important that you keep your child home if they are not feeling well. Please note that if your child presents unwell to the office families will be called to come and collect them within 30 minutes of the call.

Reconciliation Week - Sorry Day

St Michael's will be acknowledging Reconciliation Week and Sorry Day this year. Please read our Wellbeing page in this newsletter for more information.

Prep Enrolment Meetings

We have been pleased with enrolment applications for Prep 2025, with many siblings and new families applying for positions. We are in the process of interviewing these families and they will be contacted in early June to advise if they have been offered a place. Our existing families are automatically guaranteed a place at St Michael's but must have their application in by 31st May. Please do not risk the possibility of missing out on a place due to a late application so if you have a child ready to start school in 2025 please complete an enrolment form via our website. If you need assistance please speak to Indi in our office.

Student Learning News

Each year level provides families with an overview of the learning focus in each curriculum area via Class Dojo. The purpose of this is to provide families with valuable information about their child’s learning for those 3 weeks. This enables you to engage in conversations with your child about the learning they are engaging in at school. In doing this, we hope to further strengthen the important home school partnership that supports learning success for all students. I know our teachers would appreciate your comments on these posts.

Building update

Before the last State Government Election, the Labour Party committed to providing building grants to specific Catholic schools if they were re-elected, St Michael's was fortunate to be one of these schools, with a commitment to provide $3,000,000 to our school. This grant has been confirmed and I am now in consultation with MACS and our architect, Clarke Hopkins Clarke in planning for Stage 2 of our building program. Stage 2 will include the re-configuration of our library space to include 2 new classrooms, office space, teacher planning space, and a library learning area. The build will also include a new level 2 corridor connecting both the new and the old building on that level. This is a very exciting time for our school as we continue to bring our learning spaces into the 21st century and assist us in providing adequate room for our growing demand for enrolments.

Carparking and Pedestrian Crossing Concerns

Disappointedly it seems as though this is becoming a regular part of this newsletter. I find it extremely frustrating that I need to continually remind adults, not children, of their responsibility to make sure all our children, not just their own, are safe when they arrive or depart our school. With my hand on my heart, I can say that St Michael's very rarely receives any sort of complaint from the general public about our school or our children but sadly I am receiving complaints about the behaviour of adults connected to our school in regards to their parking and use of pedestrian crossing, namely the Flemington Rd - Abbotsford St crossing.

Once again I ask that you as parents, as adults, take your responsibility seriously to park legally (not double parking or on private property, eg the underground carpark next door), and to cross roads legally by following the instructions of the crossing attendant and the traffic signals. You are the most important and influential teacher of your child and if you continue to do the wrong thing and behave in a disrespectful and unsafe manner, then I ask, what are you teaching your child!

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./

Prayer