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. 

Prayer 

Confirmation celebration

Last Saturday we held the Sacrament of Confirmation for our Year 6 students, with Bishop Les Tomlinson presiding over the liturgy. Two beautiful masses were held and with the support of Fr Laurence and Reverend Malcolm, forty two candidates received the Sacrament. In this Sacrament our children confirm their commitment to their faith, started for them through Baptism when their parents spoke for them. At Confirmation, young people speak for themselves, acknowledging that they wish to continue their faith journey and they invite a sponsor, someone close to them, who can support them on this journey. We congratulate all our Confirmation candidates and wish them well with their ongoing journey.

Prep Transition

Despite the inclement weather, our Prep children and their families attended their first transition session last Thursday morning. There were almost more umbrellas than children, but it was amazing to see how well these kinder children settled into the classroom with Miss Ally leading the charge and quite a number of staff helpers - thank you Mrs LoRicco, Miss Isaacson, Zainab and Lou Story for your hands on deck that morning. Thank you also to the amazing Year Five students who engaged with the Kinder children and helped them feel at ease in this new environment. Thank you Mrs Allen for your presentation to the parents about the Student Wellbeing approaches we have at St Michael's School. 

We look forward to our follow up Prep Transition sessions on:

Thursday 2nd November, 9-10am

Thursday 16th November, 9-10am and

Thursday 30th November, 9-11am

Additional Closure Day this term

As you would be aware, we have already notified families of our closure day on Monday 6th November for Assessment and Reporting purposes, the day before Melbourne Cup day. After much deliberation, planning with staff and consultation with the School Advisory Council, we will be holding an additional closure day this term on Monday 27th November. This is so that we can plan ahead for 2024, with the following focuses:

• Finalising of Class Lists
• Handover of students - detailed and comprehensive discussions with the teacher next year about academics, social and emotional needs, friendship groups and any other specific information needed by students' 2024 teacher
• Review of updated CECV Intervention Framework
• Planning of Inquiry concepts - 2 year cycle
• Review of new RE curriculum
• Overview of Religious Education for 2024 to align with Inquiry Concepts
• Maths professional development 2024
• Literacy & Numeracy Scope & Sequence for 2024

We realise the challenges for working parents when we hold a closure day and don't make these decisions lightly. We will again inform Extend of this date so that child care could potentially become an option onsite for you. Thank you for your understanding.

Lockdown Practice

No doubt your children came home on Tuesday this week telling you they had to lockdown in their classrooms! This was one of the emergency management practices we hold each year to ensure we are aware of the procedures and can put them in place quickly. We announced this as a practice, however this can still raise anxiety for some children. As a class we usually have a discussion about these practices after they are conducted, however further chats with parents can also help children understand the necessity for them and help them feel more settled. As a staff we conducted a debrief after the lockdown to review our procedures.

Twilight Sports

We look forward to our annual Twilight Sports day on Thursday 9th November where all students will be able to engage in athletics events and novelty games for the afternoon. Parents are invited to come along and bring a picnic to enjoy and watch the events for the afternoon. Please not this will be an alcohol free event due to child safety regulations. Please refer to the Operoo notification for further details.

School Uniform 

Thank you to all families for helping children to remember their school hats. Most are remembering these daily now. Should your child need a new hat, please refer to the uniform shop to purchase one. We do often have hats in the lost property cupboard so it's always worth checking to see if your child's hat is there. Named items of uniform are most often returned so please remember to name everything clearly.

Recently we have noticed that some students with long hair have not had it tied back. The main reason that this is part of the uniform expectations is to reduce the chance of lice spreading. It is also safer for when students are playing sports or on playground equipment not to have hair in their eyes, obscuring their sight. Please assist your child with having their hair tied back before coming to school. Thank you!

Information Session for parents and carers

End of Year Dates

All dates have now been entered into the calendar page so please check this page to coordinate with your own diaries.

Year Five / Six Public Speaking Program

Tomorrow our Year Five / Six students will take part in a 2-hour public speaking program, led by Super Speak, a company which specialises in working with students in the areas of:

• Public Speaking
• Presentation skills
• Drama
• Communication

Super Speak bases their program on areas of the Australian curriculum to develop specific oracy skills. Building skills such as these will assist with students in various ways: presentations, oral assessments, interviews, debating and a range of drama based activities. We look forward to hearing about how the students in Year Five / Six enjoy the session and seeing them in action in the many events happening over the next few months!

Chess Sessions

St Michael's School is looking to arrange Chess Sessions for students who are interested in after school sessions. A trial class will be held before official sessions begin. Parents will be able to sign their child up to the trial class through a link. The trial class is free and is capped at 20 students in any age group. More information to come soon!

Bracelets for Breast Cancer

Olive and Rose Day (St Michael's students) are keen to raise money for breast cancer research and have encouraged friends to get on board. Students from St Michael's have been busily making bracelets, anklets, and other small items of jewellery to sell to raise these vital funds for a cause that touches us all. Next Thursday 26th October, from 8.30am, Olive and Rose will be selling their jewellery in the quadrangle. Most items will range between $1-$3.

Online Safety Information for Parents and Carers

The Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACS) has sent information to principals highlighting online sessions which are provided by the eSafety Commissioner for parents and carers. These sessions are designed to help you understand what our children are doing and using online and how we can best keep them safe. I highly recommend you take advantage of this free webinar to keep yourself abreast of the latest information. Please note, you will need to register for this so please get onto it quickly.

St Michael's Parish, Excelsis Choir Concert

If you haven't already heard this amazing choir, it's well worth the time to attend the concert, being held here in our own St Michael's Church. Book online for tickets and be quick as they will sell out quickly! Click the image to access the link.

2024 Planning

I ask families to please refer to the last few newsletters regarding information about our planning for 2024. Arrangements about classes for 2024 will be commencing so if there are any details you require, all information is held in last week's / term's newsletters.

A significant amount of time and care goes into these arrangements so it's important to be aware of what we have shared with you. 

As noted previously, 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 2024 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. 

Food at St Michael's School

Earlier this year our Student Representative Council noted the amount of rubbish often left in our quadrangle and as a staff team we discussed this last term. As one measure of reducing this, St Michael's students will now be given more time for eating inside their classrooms. Should students not finish what they need to eat in time, they are still welcome to take food outside, but will need to do so without any wrappings. We hope this helps to reduce rubbish found in our playground, also ensuring we are doing our bit for the environment!

NEXT ENHANCEMENT SESSION - Friday 10th November, 5-7pm

Confirming that Friday 10th November, 5-7pm, St Michael's will be holding our next School Enhancement session. We will be doing some clearing of the kitchen adjacent to the Supper room, as well as some garden maintenance. An Operoo notice has been sent about this during the week. 

Jump Rope for Heart at St Michael’s!

We’re skipping through the term!

We have 28 students signed up to Jump Rope for Heart, with a total of $495 raised so far! We are so close to our $500 target! If you haven't registered your child, it’s not too late: www.jumprope.org.au/parents

We will be holding a special Jump Rope For Heart Fundraiser day later in the term for all students to get involved!