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 

God of Compassion, 

We remember with gratitude and love all the people we have known and who you have called home to yourself. 

In this month of the holy souls we give thanks for the great cloud of witnesses who have shaped us, inspired us, 

loved us and forgiven us. 

We pray especially for our deceased family members, knowing that they also pray for us.

We hold out to you the millions who are dying because of war, famine, disease and climate change. 

We pray for refugees who die in search of safety. 

May our sorrow encourage us to work for a more just world where every life is treated with equal dignity. 

Living and dead, we are all your family. 

May your perpetual light shine on us all. 

Amen.

St Michael's Family Fun Fair 

Do you remember the last St Michael's Family Fun Fair??

I am excited to announce that after a brief hiatus, the St Michael’s Family Fun Fair is set to return in 2025! We are currently in the planning stages, with a tentative date scheduled for late March 2025. If you have any specific skills, passions, or connections that could assist in organizing this event, please reach out, and I will connect you with the organizing committee. Additionally, if you know any local businesses that have previously supported the St Michael’s Family Fun Fair or might be interested in contributing in 2025, please share their information with us. This will allow us to provide them with information about our sponsorship packages. We look forward to providing more updates in the coming weeks as we finalize additional details.

Contact: fundraising@smashburton.catholic.edu.au

Please complete our FFF survey so we can hear your ideas! Click on the link HERE. It's only short.

Remembrance Day - Monday 11th November 

Next Monday is Remembrance Day and all our staff and students will stop at 10.55am in the quadrangle to pray together and hold a minute's silence. Parents are welcome to join us in the quadrangle at this time if you are free.

Prep 2025 - Parent Information Session

We remind our parents who have children commencing Prep in 2025 that we will be holding a social evening / information session next Thursday night, 14th November, from 7.00-8.30pm in the hub. This is a parent only meeting and light refreshments will be served. See you there!

Seesaw App 

When was the last time you checked your child's addition to Seesaw? This app is used as a way of communicating to you what your child is learning and how they are progressing. We also love to communicate what is happening in your child's class throughout the week so that you can have conversations about their learning, enhancing their understanding further. 

Prep to Year 2 Swimming Program

Our Prep to Year 2 classes were ready and excited about starting their swimming lessons yesterday after the long weekend. All went very smoothly and a wonderful day was had at the Ashburton Pool. The swimming program continues until Friday 15th November. Often we find that children become particularly tired throughout and after their swimming lessons. No doubt you see this at home too! A huge thank you to all the parents who have been able to assist the classes to walk to and from the pool each day. Much appreciated!

2025 Classes Planning

As many will be aware, we are now fully in planning mode for the 2025 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 2025 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. 

About Real Life, Sex Education Session

This session has been rescheduled from earlier this year and will be held online on November 21st. Please see the details of age groups and how to register in our  Wellbeing News Section.

School Enhancement Session

Our final school enhancement session for 2024 will be held on Friday 15th November from 5.00 to 7.00pm. Most of the works will include gardening and clearing areas around the buildings.

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.

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!