Message from the Principal
St Michael's Primary School, Manilla
Dear Parents and Carers,
Rehearsals for our upcoming school musical, The Quest, are progressing brilliantly. The scenes are coming together smoothly and the costumes and props are already looking fabulous.
A huge well done to everyone involved and to all the children for their hard work and dedication. We are truly looking forward to a wonderful performance on the evening of Thursday, November 19, at Manilla Town Hall.
This week, students in Years 1–6 joined peers across the Diocese (Years 1-10) in completing our annual standardised testing in Reading Comprehension and Mathematics.
All classes have now completed the Reading Comprehension component and the early results are outstanding—demonstrating significant student growth and confidence across every year group. Our continued whole-school focus on reading is certainly reaping rewards. A special thank you to Mrs Finch for her dedication and innovative leadership in guiding our teaching staff through this key initiative.
Yesterday, the leadership team met to compile a draft of our Annual School Improvement plan for 2027. Reflecting upon our successes and areas for further work, as identified in both student outcomes and feedback from parents, staff and students, we have identified the following areas:
Faith, Mission and Community:
- Enhanced Religious Education: Teachers will build greater capacity and confidence to plan, teach and assess RE, particularly within the Stage 2 and 3 realigned curriculum;
Inclusive Faith Formation: We will strive to embed differentiated faith formation opportunities across our entire community—engaging staff, students, parish and families.
Excellence in Teaching & Learning
- High-Quality Instruction: Consistent, high-quality Tier 1 teaching and new NSW Key Learning Area syllabus documents will be active across all classrooms and subject areas;
- Writing & Literacy Focus: We will prioritise explicit writing instruction across all Key Learning Areas, supported by teacher coaching in a Coherent Instructional Framework and targeted assessment. In the early years, students will be building automaticity in handwriting;
Shared Teaching Practices: Our school-wide "Non-Negotiables" will be clearly evident across all learning environments and within every educator's practice.
Wellbeing and Positive School Culture
- Safe & Supportive Environment: We will actively implement the NSW Anti-Bullying Strategy school-wide, deepening understanding among staff, students and families;
- Positive Behaviour Systems: Behaviour responsive sequences and clear parent communication protocols will be consistently embedded. We will also refine our Shine Bright program to regularly celebrate positive behaviour and school values;
- Cultural Responsiveness & Family Support: Cultural support plans will be collaboratively developed to drive tailored learning and all families will be engaged with The Resilience Project resources to support wellbeing at home.
Warmest congratulations to our wonderful staff member Breanna and her husband Mitch, who recently tied the knot! We wish them a lifetime filled with love, laughter and endless happiness as they begin this exciting new chapter of marriage together.
Enjoy a wonderful weekend,
Bronwyn