From the Principal

To all our Dads, Grandads, Uncles and Special Male friends and all who are no longer with us, 

thank you for being there for us. We wish you a happy Day on Sunday 7th September.

Prayer

Loving God,

Today we give thanks for fathers and for all the special men in our lives – grandfathers, uncles, brothers, teachers, and friends – who care for us and guide us with patience and love.

Bless them with strength, kindness, and joy as they support and encourage us each day.

May we always show our gratitude through our words and actions.

We also remember those who are no longer with us or who live far away. 

May they feel our love and prayers.

Lord, help us to grow in love, just as these special men show us love, and remind us that You are our Heavenly Creator, always walking beside us.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Dear St Michael’s School families,

SOCIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY

Last Sunday was Social Justice Sunday, a time where we as Catholics reflect on social justice matters within our community. The Australian Bishops have released their annual Social Justice Statement entitled Signs of Hope on the Edge. This year's Social Justice Statement focuses on the deepening crisis we are facing in Australian and indeed, around the world; that of increases in homelessness and mental health issues. It calls us to follow the example of Jesus, who always noticed, listened to, and cared for those on the edge of society. Just as Jesus healed the blind man Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46–52), we are called to see and respond to the needs of our sisters and brothers living in hardship. The statement shares powerful stories of real people. 

With this in mind, in this year of Jubilee, with our children we will continue to focus on the various needs within our community and ways in which our Catholic Community provides support to people

Next week is National Child Protection Week, an opportunity for the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) to raise awareness of the community’s collective response to the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people, now and into the future. This year’s theme – ‘Every conversation matters: Shifting conversation to action’ highlights that, while discussions are crucial, dialogue must translate to meaningful action to ensure that every child feels heard, and experiences real safety, care and protection. 

The focus on action aligns with the Victorian Child Safe Standards, particularly: 

• Standard 3: Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously. 
• Standard 4: Families and communities are informed, and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing. 
• Standard 8: Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training. 

At St Michael's School the staff continues to focus on our processes and procedures which can focus on child safety within our community

PARTICIPATION IN MACSSIS SURVEYS

A random selection of St Michael's parents will have received an email about the Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (M.A.C.S.) annual surveys. St Michael's views MACSSIS surveys as a positive opportunity for gathering feedback and engaging our community in ongoing school improvement efforts. Students (years 4 - 6) and staff will complete the survey at school during these final few weeks of Term 3.

Families who complete the survey will receive a special treat for their child/children. They will need to send a receipt screen shot of the screen confirming completion to: eellis@smashburton.catholic.edu.au to receive their treat.

COLOUR FUN RUN FUNDRAISER

On Friday 19th September, our Year Six Graduation committee for 2025 will be leading the school in a Colour Fun Run. The purpose of this event is primarily so that our Year Six families can raise some funds towards their Graduation celebration, but also a way to celebrate the end of term with some exercise and engagement. All year levels will be invited to raise funds but only Year Six students' funds will go to the Graduation. Every other year level is invited to raise funds for something that can go towards their own year level, e.g. a board game, craft materials, large classroom chess set etc. We are encouraging our classes to be wonderfully creative about their ideas. More information about the Colour Fun Run is to come. All you need to do is think about a light-coloured t-shirt (white / yellow) that is ok to have colours "squirted" all over it! It would be best not to have a brand new t-shirt, although the dyes we use are organic and DO wash out. 

GLEN IRIS DISTRICT ATHLETICS DAY - WEDNESDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER

We congratulate all our students who qualified for the GIDSAA event, happening next week. Families should have received an Operoo notification about this. Please ensure you approve this as soon as you're able. Details for what students need for this day will be in the notice. We wish everyone well! Mrs Ellis, Mr Hickey and Miss Kate Borg will be attending with the students on this day.

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL RESPECTFUL RELATIONSHIPS LEADERS

Thank you to Anthony, Mickey, Peta, Laila and Quinn who represented St. Michael as part of the Respectful Relationships Wellbeing Program this week. Our team presented wellbeing data to student groups from other schools within our Community of Practice. Throughout this process, they analysed the data to identify what’s working well and explored areas that require further development. The concept they choose to work on is conflict resolution strategies and emotional regulation. These are areas that the students across all schools were interested in developing. The RR Team are excited to create an action plan for Term 4 to continue enhancing student voice and wellbeing at St Michael’s. 

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL PRODUCTION - REMINDERS

TOMORROW, our cast and crew will be having a run-through of our production. This will be during the school day after classes have attended the Father's Day stall and had their pizza lunch!! Students will not require their costumes for this. Please refer to the following details for what you need to know in preparation for this event. 

• Rehearsal day at the venue will be on Wednesday 8th October. Students will NOT require costumes for the practice. Students will be bussed to and from school.
• Keep the evening of Wednesday 8th October, from 6pm free to attend this event. Check NOW with your family members who wish to attend.
• Tickets will soon go on sale, you will be notified through Operoo. A limit of 6 tickets per family will apply for the first sale. This is to allow ALL families to purchase tickets for immediate family members. Ticketing will be closed and then re-opened so that you may purchase further tickets for additional family members and friends. Dates for ticket sales to be notified next week. 
• The venue is Crossway Baptist Church, 2 Vision Drive, Burwood East (Plenty of parking available)
• Children will need a meal / large snack before being dropped at the venue at 5.45pm
• The show will run until approximately 7.15pm - 7.30pm

Please find below the costumes required for each class. You will note that the school is providing some items so please only refer to the column "Parents to provide"

KINDER KIDS - FINAL SESSION

We welcome all our Prep 2026 children and any other Kinder Kids to our final Kinder Kids session next Friday, 12 September, 9-10am. We will meet our Year 5 students again, who are so excited to be part of this process and greatly look forward to seeing the younger students.

PREP 2026 TRANSITION DATES:

-   Session 1: Thursday 23rd October 2025 (9:00-10:00 am)

-   Session 2: Thursday 6th November 2025 (9:00-10:00 am)

Prep Parent Information Evening - Thursday 20th November from 7-8.30pm.

This session is for parents only where we will share a light supper together

 -   Session 3: Thursday 27th November 2025 (9:00-11:00 am) *Please bring a small healthy snack and a hat for this session.

FATHER'S DAY STALL AND SPECIAL CELEBRATION

We look forward to our students going to the Father's Day stall tomorrow with their class to collect their "secret" present for their Dad or Grandad or special friend. Thank you to the many parents who have been able to assist the PFA members in making this happen and supporting students with their gifts.

A reminder to families, if you haven't already given your RSVP to our Father's Day event at Burwood Reserve, please do so as soon as you're able. This event is being held on Saturday 13th September, hosted by the Ashy Redbacks Football Club. 

ST MICHAEL'S VEGGIE GARDEN

Thank you to Three/Four R and Three / Four G who got into our garden yesterday to plant some cucumber and parsley seeds!! Of course, there was also weeding that needed to be done, which the children diligently attended to! Can't wait for the lovely new fresh veggies to come up next term some time!

2026 PLANNING

As noted in last week's newsletter, I ask all families please to inform me if your child from Year Prep to Year Five will not be returning to St Michael's School in 2026. We will soon commence organisation for classes for next year and this information will help the decision making process. Please email me at principal@smashburton.catholic.edu.au 

FOOTY COLOURS DAY

This year the St Michael's Footy Colours Day will be held on Thursday 18th September (second last day of term). On this day students may wear their favourite AFL team's colours, hats, scarves, vests to celebrate Grand final fever! If they don't follow AFL, they may wear their favourtie sports' colours instead. Let's celebrate our sporty Melbourne culture together!

Traditionally this is held on the final day of term 3, although there are plans for another event on this day for all the students. Details to come!

SCHOOL PRODUCTION

Please indicate to your child's classroom teacher as soon as you are aware if your child will not be present on Wednesday 8th October - Production Day - so that we can make any necessary changes in advance.

A reminder to all students wishing to submit a piece of artwork to use in promotion of School of Pop, please submit these to the office as soon as possible.

ADVANCED PSYCHOLOGY BLOG

St Michael's School has partnered with Advanced Psychology with a psychologist working onsite weekly. This link takes you to a blog with podcasts / webinars that deal with a variety of topics which might be of interest to parents and teachers. 

https://www.advancedpsychology.net/blogs