Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 2. The past two weeks has certainly been a busy time at St Michael's which has coincided with the onset of cooler weather. Monday May 13, is the day children will commence to wear their Winter uniform. Uniform items, including socks and girls' tights are available from the school uniform shop. 

On the first days of Term 2, teaching staff attended St Xavier's Catholic Primary School in Gunnedah to join with staffs from other schools across the Diocese, to continue on our learning journey with Lyn Sharratt. Lyn has been commissioned by the Diocese, to work with teachers and leaders in the curriculum space, to ensure that high quality pedagogy is present in every child's classroom. Staff from St Michael's are now ensuring the 'Why' associated with their Learning Intention is clearly stated for every lesson and the feedback to students regarding their learning is continuing to be given in a timely and effective manner. Our focus moving forward will be to ensure that quality assessment practices inform our teaching and learning.

This week, staff analysed the recently released NAPLAN data for 2024. All results are in except for Writing, which should be available in coming weeks. Once again, students at St Michael's have gained commendable results, with some very impressive achievements across all testing domains. Well done to our students in Years 3 and 5.

For a while now, the topic of Homework has been discussed at regular intervals at our Professional Learning Team Meetings. Class teachers have set the expectation regarding Homework in each classroom, although there is no compulsion attached, to complete the homework. Staff agree that home reading is vital to enable the children to practise the skills they learn at school - an opportunity to develop fluency and accuracy, which then flows into comprehension and a deeper understanding of the task at hand. Reading is vital in all aspects of learning, it is the key to accessing all aspects of the curriculum. Therefore, Home Reading is now compulsory for every student K-6. Reading aloud to an adult or older sibling, every day, in a time when they are not at school. In turn, we aim to hear every child read, during the school day. Please take the time to check your child's bag for their reader, school magazine or library book and enjoy. Every child has access to the Diocesan ebook subscription SORA. Please contact our Teacher Librarian Emma Martin for further information if you are interested in this free resource to use at home.

This afternoon we enjoyed a fabulous afternoon celebrating the special women in our lives. The children presented some assembly items and then mums, nans, carers, aunties, neighbours and special friends enjoyed an afternoon tea in the Library area. We wish everyone a joyous Mothers' Day on Sunday and we hope you all enjoy a wonderful day.

Take care

Bronwyn