From the Principal

PRAYER

Prayer to Saints Anne and Joachim

Holy Saints Anne and Joachim, grandparents of Jesus,

Come close to our grandparents and the elderly

Guide their hands and hearts to pass on to us, the young generations,

the meaning of the gift of life -

And follow your example they continue to teach us the origin of 

LOVE, HOPE & FAITH

Amen

Dear St Michael’s School families,

LEVEL NEWSLETTERS

Tomorrow, level newsletters will be sent home to families. Again we ask that you spend a few minutes reviewing the information shared in these so that you are aware of what the focus of learning is for the term.

ART OF THE WEEK

Thank you to our Year Six Arts Leaders for making the arrangements each fortnight for our Art of the Week competition.

THEME: Holiday Experience

ARTWORK DUE:  TODAY to be presented at assembly TOMORROW

CAN YOU HELP???

We are in need of a few helpers over the next few weeks for some upcoming events. Please check out the St Michael's PFA page and see how you can support these events. EVERY little bit helps!

UPDATED POLICIES

On Monday this week, an important notice was sent to all families via nForma regarding two updated policies from the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS). I strongly encourage all parents and caregivers to take a few moments to read these policies at their earliest convenience so that you are aware of the recent changes and understand how they may relate to you, our students and the school community.

PARENT / TEACHER / CHILD LEARNING CONVERSATIONS

A FINAL reminder to families to please make sure you book your Parent / Teacher / Child Learning Conversations, occuring next week. These will take place in the HUB for all classes. Please ensure you have returned your child's Learning Portfolio by this date if you haven't already.

DATE: Wednesday 29th July, from 1.30pm 

HOW TO BOOK: Through nForma portal

School will finish on this day at 1pm and child minding will be available at TheirCare should you need. 

YEAR PREP - TWO EXCURSION - THE MELBOURNE MUSEUM

This week, our Junior School students enjoyed an exciting and educational excursion to the Melbourne Museum as part of their Biological Sciences learning this term. This experience will set the scene for the students' further investigations into animals, their features and their habitats, exploring how living things survive and interact with their environments.

The excursion provided a wonderful opportunity for students to deepen their understanding through hands-on experiences and real-world learning. During their visit, students explored four engaging exhibitions: Our Wondrous Planet, Bugs, the Forest Gallery, and Melbourne Story. Each exhibition offered unique insights into the natural world, biodiversity, ecosystems and the important relationships between animals and their habitats.

Students were highly engaged throughout the day, asking thoughtful questions, making connections to their classroom learning and discovering fascinating facts about the world around them. The excursion was a valuable extension of our science inquiry and helped bring students' learning to life in an authentic and memorable way.

Thank you to the many parents who attended this excursion and also those who offered to be there. We are always so overwhelmed with the support of parents and their willingness to take part in these wonderful experiences. I'm sure many of you will be happy to join the students at the Melbourne Zoo later this term!

GRANDPARENTS AND SPECIAL FRIENDS DAY

On Friday 7th August, we invite our grandparents and special friends to join us for a special afternoon of celebration at St Michael's Primary School.

This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to share part of their school day with the important people in their lives. We look forward to welcoming our visitors for an afternoon of hospitality, prayer and classroom activities.

The afternoon will run from 1pm to 3.15pm.

To assist us with catering and seating, please complete the NForma formwith how many adults will be attending, by Friday 31 July.

Don't forget to send your Grandparents and Special Friends photos to rhickey@smashburton.catholic.edu.au

HOMEWORK POLICY

Hopefully you have had an opportunity to review our updated Homework Policy which was shared with you last term. We will keep a copy on our Quick Links page this term for your reference. Please speak to your child's classroom teacher about any questions or concerns regarding homework at our upcoming Parent / Teacher / Child Learning Conversations.

STAFF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING DAY - FRIDAY 31ST JULY

A reminder to all our families that our school will be closed on this date so that our staff can participate in one of our professional learning days. On this day, our focus will be on Christian Meditation through the example shown by Mary Mackillop. Please note that TheirCare will be providing care on this day for children.

🌱 Grade 3/4 STEM – Designing Productive Farms

This term, our Grade 3/4 students are exploring the question: How do we design a farm that produces what we need?

Students have begun investigating what plants need to grow by planting seedlings and observing how factors such as sunlight, water and soil affect their growth.

Over the coming weeks, they will collect evidence through regular observations and measurements, using what they learn to inform the farm designs they will create later this term.

🌱 STEM Resource Donations Wanted!

This semester, students will be exploring hands-on Science, Technology and Design challenges. Throughout the year we'll be designing, building, testing and investigating using a variety of everyday materials.

If you have any of the following clean, unwanted items at home, we would greatly appreciate your donations:

Cardboard

• Cereal boxes
• Tissue boxes
• Small cardboard boxes
• Paper towel rolls
• Thick cardboard pieces

Plastic

• 2 L soft drink bottles
• Plastic bottle lids
• Berry punnets
• Small yoghurt tubs
• Ice cream containers

Garden

• Plastic plant pots
• Seedling trays and punnets (empty)
• Short PVC pipe offcuts

Fabric & Natural Materials

• Fabric scraps
• Wool
• Clean feathers from old pillows or doonas
• Pine cones, bark, interesting sticks or seed pods

Glass

• Clean glass jars with matching lids

Donations can be left at the school office or brought directly to the STEM room.

Thank you for helping us turn everyday materials into opportunities for creativity, problem-solving and hands-on learning!

Warmly, 

Mrs Felicity Hadden

STEM Teacher

UNCLAIMED ITEMS

We currently have two fitbits in the school office which were found in the playground and that have not been claimed for some time. If your child has lost a fitbit, please see Kathy or Louise in the school office.

Also, someone genrously loaned us their Esky on wheels back in March when we held our 80th birthday celebration day. It remains in our staffroom at present. Please visit us if you are still looking for it!!

GARDENING

A big thank you to the students in One/Two G, who rolled up their sleeves this week to help care for our school garden by replanting our parsley into larger planter boxes. By giving the plants more space to grow, the students have helped create improved conditions for a healthier and more productive parsley patch. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and teamwork as they took on this hands-on gardening task. 

BOOK WEEK 2026

This year the Children's Book Council of Australia's (CBCA) Book Week Theme is Symphony of Stories. This wonderful image has been specially created for Book Week by author, illustrator and composer, Matt Ottley. At St Michael's School, we will hold our Book Week Parade on Monday 24th August, 9am and we invite children to come dressed as any book character they would like. Our focus for Book Week is always for children to delve deeply into the books and characters that they love and hopefully learn a little about other children's interests as well.

LOMBARD BOOK WEEK COSTUME SCHOOL FUNDRAISER

Planning to purchase a costume for this year's Book Week?

If you shop at Lombard between 6 July and 6 September 2026, simply mention St Michael's Primary School, Ashburton at checkout, and 5% of eligible sales will be donated back to our school library.

It's a simple way to support our library while purchasing your child's Book Week costume.

We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we learn, play, pray, work and gather. 

We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and we honour the ongoing cultural, spiritual and educational contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.