Message from the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

I apologise for the delay in our fortnightly newsletter - the release date for this issue was scheduled for Friday May 24. Unfortunately, things happen and best laid plans quickly unravel. 

This week is an important week on the calendar of Catholic Schools across NSW - Catholic Schools' Week. Today, our Stage 3 students represented St Michael's at the Armidale Diocese Catholic Schools' Week Mass (Southern Deanery) held in Tamworth at Mary Help of Christians Church adjacent to St Edward's Primary School in South Tamworth. Our students then joined students from St Joseph's Tamworth, St Nicholas Tamworth, St Edward's Tamworth, McCarthy Catholic College Tamworth, St Joseph's Quirindi, St Xavier's Gunnedah, St Mary's College Gunnedah, St Joseph's Barraba, St Joseph's Boggabri and St Mary of the Angels Guyra for lunch before returning to St Michael's. Well done to Chelsea Holden and Pauline Fleming for filling in as Altar Servers at the last minute. Well done girls. We look forward to continuing our celebrations this Friday, commencing with a Mass at 9.30 followed by games and a sausage sizzle for lunch. We look forward to seeing you at school on Friday. The theme for this year's Catholic Schools' Week is Pray with Hope.

Our NAPLAN Writing results have been issued to the school and we are very proud of our students' success. 84% of our students in Years 3 and 5 were placed in the Strong and Exceeding bands. Well done Years 3 and 5!

Attendance at school is compulsory. A missed school day is a lost opportunity for students to learn as well as a lost opportunity to enjoy social connections and friendships. The Armidale Diocese has updated its procedures for tracking attendance and this was launched in the past week. The COMPASS alerts for unexplained absences will now be received at 10.00 a.m, an extension in time from the former 9.30 a.m. What is new, all students who have unexplained absences within any given week, a letter will be automatically generated at 11.00 a.m. on Friday of that week, requesting parent/carer follow up with the school. This will be received via the COMPASS App. The first letters will be issued at 11.00 a.m. this Friday May 31.Flow charts have been developed for the children who are in the At Risk, High Risk or Critical Risk category. Once your child enters the At Risk stage, you will be called and the phone call logged to form part of required evidence regarding student absences. This routine will continue until the attendance issue is rectified. If you have any questions regarding attendance, including questions re what area of risk your child currently sits, please contact the school.  If your child is a regular attendee at school, thankyou.                                                                                                                                  

All uniform items are in stock at school, including caps and hats. If you are in the market for good quality second hand uniform items, our clothing pool is also well stocked. The school does not make money from the sale of uniforms. We sell at cost price. We are a not for profit organisation. A huge thanks to Kate Holden, Bron Newton and Kristie Mitchell for attending to the sale of uniform items. Please mark your child's clothing with their name, especially hats and jumpers.

We look forward to greeting you at St Michael's on Friday to celebrate Catholic Schools' Week. Until then, take care.

Bronwyn