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

We pray for peace for our children

Divine Creator,

We come before you in prayer for our children, the future of our world. 

We ask for your guidance and your grace to envelop them in a blanket of peace.

May they find solace in the beauty of your creation, 

in the laughter of friends, and in the warmth of family. 

Protect their innocence from the harshness of this world, and shield them from the storms that may rage around them.

Grant them the wisdom to discern right from wrong, 

the courage to stand for justice, 

and the compassion to love unconditionally. 

Help them to see the humanity in every soul, 

and to build bridges of understanding where there is division.

Bless them with strength to face the challenges that lie ahead, and with resilience to overcome any obstacles in their path. 

May they walk in the light of your love, shining beacons of hope in a world too often darkened by fear and hatred.

We pray for peace for our children, dear Lord, that they may grow and thrive in a world filled with harmony and goodwill. 

Amen.

Camp Rumbug

We are on our second day at Camp Rumbug in Foster and having a fabulous time. 

Today's activities include raft building, canoeing, bushcraft and the much anticipated Mud Run!! Look out families! We're going to have some very smelly clothes upon our return! 

Psychology Services

Recently we released an 'Expression of Interest' Operoo notice about the provision of psychology services at St Michael's School. This week I had the privilege of meeting Linda Kollind, the Director and Principal Psychologist of Advanced Psychology, an organisation of psychologists with various  levels of experience. Linda explained that their service is one which works closely with both the parents and the child, meeting with the parents before commencing with the child. In the coming weeks, we will commence using the services provided through Advanced Psychology, such as cognitive assessments, learning assessments and individual counselling.

The following attachments provide information for parents about Advanced Psychology and their services. Should you be interested at any point in making an inquiry or booking one of their services, you can make direct contact with their administration team. 

St Michael's Art Show ~ Save the Date

The students have been working very hard already to create some amazing art pieces in readiness for our biennial St Michael's Art Show, both in their dedicated Visual Arts specialist lessons and in their classrooms. They have been studying the techniques of various artists and then applied these techniques in their own pieces to create personalised art works. We are so proud 

We are delighted to announce that this year's St Michael's Art Show will be open for the public at the following times:

THURSDAY 12TH SEPTEMBER 

2.30pm Offical Opening, lead by St Michael's Arts Student Leaders

2.40-6.30pm Gallery Open 

FRIDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER

8.00-9.00am Gallery Open

We invite you to bring along your family members, neighbours and friends to view the incredibly talented works by our students.

National Walks Safely to School Day ~ Friday 10th May

This event is now in it's 25th year and is held annually in National Road Safety week. We encourage all families to walk to school on this day, whether it's all the way from home or from just around the corner. Any exercise is good exercise and reminds us that we need to engage in activity when we can. What we know through studies is that many children actually enjoy walking to school, despite all their groans and protests!! We will have a healthy fruit breakfast onsite upon your arrival to school so get out there and get walking.

As many of you know, a healthy breakfast really is the best way to get started for the day. I'm always staggered at the number of children who say that they don't eat breakfast! I wonder how they get their fuel for the rigorous learning that happens from the start of the school day. Here are some tips about healthy eating at the start of the day which you may find helpful!

Gymnastics in PE lessons

This week our Year One/Two students had the pleasure of taking part in the School Gymnastics Program during their Physical Education lessons. While our PE program focuses on some of the skills required for Gymnastics, this week's lessons, lead by Melbourne Tumbling Academy built further on these skills. The students practised rolls, jumps and handstands, used the balance beam and gained confidence and control in utilising the gymnastics equipment. Thank you to Luke from Melbourne Tumbling Academy for your work with the children from St Michael's. We're looking forward to more next week!

Soccer Clinics at school

It has been wonderful establishing a connection with Futbal First recently as they worked closely with our students to present Soccer clinics in PE lessons. Many families expressed an interest in their children participating in clinics run during the school day so we will be holding these on Fridays during first break for students in Years Prep to Six, commencing next week, Friday 10th May. Anyone wishing to sign their children up for these weekly clinics for term 2, please make contact with Futbal First to register.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

Schools collect a range of data about students to assist with planning, programming, assessing and reporting progress to parents. Whilst the curriculum in each classroom is differentiated to suit the needs and abilities of all students, some students in our schools have adjustments made to their learning tasks specifically to support their individual learning needs. For some students, this kind of 'help' could be for a learning disability, for which schools collect data which is included in the NCCD. This 'help' allows students with disabilities to access the curriculum on the same basis as a child without a disability. For further information about the NCCD and what happens in schools with this data, please read further in this fact sheet provided.