From the Principal

Please note that weekly Parish mass times will now be located each week on our School Hours / Timetable page in our newsletter. 

Prayer 

Loving Creator,

You have made each of us in Your image, 

unique and beloved.You call us to open our hearts and our arms,

to welcome and cherish all who cross our path.

Help us to see beyond differences,

to celebrate the beauty in diversity,

and to honor the stories and journeys of others.

Where there is division, bring unity.

Where there is fear, plant seeds of understanding.

Where there is exclusion, inspire us to build a table wide enough for all.

Teach us to love as You love—without condition, without boundary, without exception.

Guide us to listen deeply, to speak kindly, and to act courageously, so that our lives may reflect Your inclusive grace.

In Your holy name, we pray,Amen.

Cultural Awareness Week

It has been a very successful Cultural Awareness week with our students making noodles in their Mandarin lessons this week. This is one way in which we have highlighted and celebrated another culture in our community as well as our fabulous language program at St Michael's School. As mentioned last week, Mandarin lessons this week focussed on birthday celebrations around the world and the fact that in China, children eat noodles on their birthdays as they symbolise long life.

From all accounts, noodles were well made and many enjoyed the flavours that came from their noodles and toppings! Thank you to the many parents who offered to assist in these sessions, which made the lessons smooth and enjoyable for the children, as well as Miss Luo. A special thank you also to Lily Luo for the time and energy it took to plan and implement the lessons this week. We greatly appreciate your efforts!

Sex Education sessions this evening

It's great to see how many parents have now registered for the About Real Life Education sessions which will be held TONIGHT. Please check your email for details about the link. Please be advised, the idea is that your child will be in the sessions with you and we advise that any younger children are not in the room as they may not be ready for the content of that age group.

Class Structures

After our consultative process here at St Michael's School, which has taken place over the last two terms, we have finalised our 2025 Class Structures. A great deal of planning and consideration has gone into these structures, specifically needs of students, skills of staff, numbers of students, support structures, intervention and extension opportunities and programs, friendship groups and gender balance within the levels. More than 10 different structures were tabled and pros and cons considered for all of these. Our final decision was the following, which professionally we know is the best for the learning and social needs of our children at St Michael's School. 

Given the higher numbers in the middle and senior schools, additional resources and supports will be put in place to assist with needs of all levels of students. 

New PFA Members needed

A number of our longstanding PFA members are retiring at the end of this year and this means we need new people to join the team.  Join the Parents and Friends Association to help decide the direction and schedule of family fun and school fundraising events in 2025. 

Join with Friends, or come along yourself. All welcome! ....If you're interested to run the Ashburton Festival Cake stall in February -we'd love to hear from you now!

Also, if you are interested to be a Class Rep in 2025, please let us know.

For more information or to express your interest, contact Annie OR outgoing committee member, Jo Slykerman 0400 347 149.

Prep Information Night

Thank you to all the families who were able to make our Prep Information evening last week. It was fabulous to be able to gather together and particularly for new families to be able to meet existing families. We were able to share a little more information about what to expect in the Prep Year as well as shared our Curriculum focus too. A lovely evening was spent together.

Twilight Sports

What a wonderful night was had at Warner Reserve last night! Yet again, we had the most beautiful weather, as we did last year, and the children were most excited about participating in the sports, especially with their parents and friends who visited. This is such a great opportunity, especially for our younger children, to practise working in a team, understanding how different sports work and for them to develop some of the fine and gross motor skills required for different sports. A huge thank you to Mr Jordan Lo Ricco who has been practising the skills and sports in Physical Education classes and also for his fabulous organisation and coordination in arranging us all to get to Warner Reserve, arrange parent helpers and have us all coordinated with the activities!! 

Congratulations to all teams for your participation and sportsmanship!

Results:

GOLD 1st

BLUE 2nd

GREEN 3rd

RED 4th

Calling back all school library books

It's that time of year where we need to call back all our school library books so that we can ensure they are all shelved, checked and ready for 2025! Could we ask over the next week that you please look in bedrooms, on bookshelves, in cupboards and behind the couches and return all St Michael's library books no later than FRIDAY 29TH NOVEMBER - next week! Books can still be borrowed from the classroom and we strongly that you attend our local Ashburton library throughout the Summer as they have an excellent collection of children's books as well as various activities to be involved with.

Thank you for your support of the school library!

Enhancement Session

Thank you to the few families who were able to support with our Enhancement Session last Friday night. We managed to do some clearing of areas around the school, and upgrade some garden beds. We also were able to evenly spread the softfall under the Senior play equipment. It was lovely we could then share and enjoy a BBQ together with other families who were here for the Movie Night. A wonderful community time on such a lovely, warm evening. Thank you!

Year Five / Six Public Speaking Program

This week we are excited that we will be implementing the Public Speaking Program in Year Five/Six. This program is designed to enhance our students' communication and leadership skills. This engaging and dynamic workshop aligns closely with key aspects of the Victorian Curriculum and is a great opportunity to develop students' confidence and capability in public speaking.​ This year we have not been able to outsource the program due to competing interests here at St Michael's and outside programs having so many requests from schools. I have engaged the amazing skills of Mrs Emma Quinless to take on the planning and implementation of Public Speaking this year, allowing for additional time to research and implement it. The whole team of Year Five/Six teachers, then, will continue workshopping the skills throughout this last month of the year.

Workshop Overview

The day will involve a variety of interactive activities designed to build skills in speaking, listening, writing, and presenting. Students will participate in:

• informal debates where they can express and justify their opinions.
• structured sessions to plan, rehearse, and deliver presentations
• activities to develop their confidence in speaking in front of peers

Special Leadership Session by Avila College Students

As part of the workshop, students will also engage in a 50-minute leadership skills session facilitated by students from Avila College. This session will focus on leadership skills, providing a valuable perspective from older peers who can inspire and mentor our students.

Our Senior students will then put these skills into practice when they prepare and deliver their leadership speeches in the coming weeks, and naturally in so many ways when they attend Secondary School.

TheirCare Summer Holiday Program

We are so excited that TheirCare will be offering a Summer Holiday program at St Michael's School! Here is the first glimpse of the program. Hard copy fliers are on their way!

Scholastic Book Club Catalogue

Your child / children will have brought home the latest Scholastic Book Club issue.  

As always there is absolutely no expectation that you will purchase anything from the catalogue.  Any purchases will contribute to Scholastic rewards for the school which we convert to new books for the library and teaching aids.

This catalogue is the last one for the year and there are some great Christmas gift ideas included.  If you would like your order to be kept secret, please mark it as a gift and it can be left it in the school office for you to collect unseen!

All orders must be received no later than 5pm on 2/12/2024 in order for the items to arrive before the end of the school year.  

Thank you again for all your support over the past year - together we have raised over $2500 just from the catalogue sales.

If anyone is interested in joining me in running the Book Club and Book Fair in 2025 - please reach out.  It's an easy job and very rewarding.

Kind regards

Therese Molnar

0417.014.772

therese.molnar@gmail.com