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 

Twilight Sports

When: Thursday 9th November, 3-5.30pm

Where: Warner Reserve

What to bring: A picnic basket and outdoor chairs (NO alcohol please)

We look forward to our annual Twilight Sports day where all students will be able to engage in athletics events and novelty games for the afternoon. Parents are invited to come along and bring a picnic to enjoy and watch the events for the afternoon. Please note this will be an alcohol free event due to child safety regulations. Please refer to the Operoo notification for further details. 

Carols on the Green

We look forward to our annual St Michael's Carols on the Green event for the celebration of Christmas 2023. 

When: Thursday December 7th, 6-7.30pm

Where: St Michael's Tennis Courts

What to bring: A picnic basket and outdoor chairs (NO alcohol please)

Students will sit in their class groups in front of the stage for the evening and return to parents at the end of all class performances. Families are invited to bring along their picnic rugs and sit on the grass or bring chairs and sit along the concreted areas towards the side and back of the tennis courts. Please note this will be an alcohol free event due to child safety regulations. Please keep an eye on the newsletter for updated details.

Chess Mates Lunchtime Trial

Today at second break, many children enjoyed a chess trial session from Chess Mates. The session was extrememly popular with the children and was booked out in minutes!

We will soon run these sessions on a Thursday as an after school club from 3.30pm in the library.

Details and commencement date to be confirmed and a booking link will be sent out via Operoo. 

Stay Tuned!

 St Mary Magdalen's School, Chadstone

As many families would be aware, St Mary Magdalen's School, Chadstone, will close at the end of 2023. We are happy to welcome to St Michael's some of the families from St Mary Magdalen's Primary School. We are very sad to hear about the closure of their school but we know they will find a safe and happy space in our school community and that all of our families will make them feel welcome. We have a number of students arriving to join us in 2024, who will also be transitioning to our year levels over the coming weeks. We are excited to show them all the wonderful things we do at St Michael's.

Prep Transition Dates

We look forward to our upcoming Prep Transition sessions on:

Thursday 2nd November, 9-10am

Thursday 16th November, 9-10am and

Thursday 30th November, 9-11am

Additional Closure Day this term

As you would be aware, we have already notified families of our closure day on Monday 6th November for Assessment and Reporting purposes, the day before Melbourne Cup day. After much deliberation, planning with staff and consultation with the School Advisory Council, we will be holding an additional closure day this term on Monday 27th November. This is so that we can plan ahead for 2024, with the following focuses:

• Finalising of Class Lists
• Handover of students - detailed and comprehensive discussions with the teacher next year about academics, social and emotional needs, friendship groups and any other specific information needed by students' 2024 teacher
• Review of updated CECV Intervention Framework
• Planning of Inquiry concepts - 2 year cycle
• Review of new RE curriculum
• Overview of Religious Education for 2024 to align with Inquiry Concepts
• Maths professional development 2024
• Literacy & Numeracy Scope & Sequence for 2024

We realise the challenges for working parents when we hold a closure day and don't make these decisions lightly. We will again inform Extend of this date so that child care could potentially become an option onsite for you. Thank you for your understanding.

World Teachers Day - Friday 27th October

We celebrate World Teachers Day tomorrow, Friday, 27th October, a day where we recognise the contributions that our teachers, and our many other valued team members, bring to our children and to our society.   

We thank all teachers, and school staff, for their care for our children and for juggling the demands of all that they do within their roles.   At a time when we have a teacher shortage we need to promote and value teachers for all that they do and encourage young adults to aspire to be a part of this most rewarding career.

School Uniform 

Thank you to all families for helping children to remember their school hats. Most are remembering these daily now. Should your child need a new hat, please refer to the uniform shop to purchase one. We do often have hats in the lost property cupboard so it's always worth checking to see if your child's hat is there. Named items of uniform are most often returned so please remember to name everything clearly.

Recently we have noticed that some students with long hair have not had it tied back. The main reason that this is part of the uniform expectations is to reduce the chance of lice spreading. It is also safer for when students are playing sports or on playground equipment not to have hair in their eyes, obscuring their sight. Please assist your child with having their hair tied back before coming to school. Thank you!

Information Session for parents and carers

End of Year Dates

All dates have now been entered into the calendar page so please check this page to coordinate with your own diaries.

Bracelets for Breast Cancer

Thank you to Rose and Olive Day for their idea of holding a stall to raise some funds to go towards Breast Cancer research in honour of Mrs Rimington's fight against this disease this year. It was great to see the girls co-opt so many others in our community to support them, both in making items to sell and in selling the various wares. In total, the girls raised just over $112 and we are proud to donate this to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

 Online Safety Information for Parents and Carers

The Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACS) has sent information to principals highlighting online sessions which are provided by the eSafety Commissioner for parents and carers. These sessions are designed to help you understand what our children are doing and using online and how we can best keep them safe. I highly recommend you take advantage of this free webinar to keep yourself abreast of the latest information. Please note, you will need to register for this so please get onto it quickly.

St Michael's Parish, Excelsis Choir Concert

St Michael's Parish held a wonderful afternoon of celebration and singing with the Excelsis Choir performing on Sunday 22nd October. After the first set of the choir's range of songs, an operatic soloist performed a couple of songs from her repertoire and literally lifted the roof with her magical sound. The Excelsis Choir then performed a second wonderful set and we enjoyed an afternoon tea together, organised by the Parish Pastoral Council. A fabulous day was enjoyed by all. 

2024 Planning

I ask families to please refer to the newsletters from earlier this term regarding information about our planning for 2024. Arrangements about classes for 2024 will be commencing so if there are any details you require, all information is held in last week's / term's newsletters.

A significant amount of time and care goes into these arrangements so it's important to be aware of what we have shared with you. 

As noted previously, we are aware that some parents may have valid reasons to have input into the placement of their children for the forthcoming year. Should there be numerous requests from parents then the ability for staff to make positive and professional judgements for the best learning environments for our classes is compromised.  Given this, if parents have any relevant information that you believe is essential to the grade placement process, I invite you to make contact with Eloise Ellis eelliss@smashburton.catholic.edu.au or myself, Annie Herbison aherbison@smashburton.catholic.edu.au to share your thoughts for the 2024 year.  We will evaluate all requests and make a professional judgement on the placement of the child in question. Please note that the final decision must rest with the school in the interests of providing the best scenario for all students. 

NEXT ENHANCEMENT SESSION - Friday 10th November, 5-7pm

Confirming that Friday 10th November, 5-7pm, St Michael's will be holding our next School Enhancement session. We will be doing some clearing of the kitchen adjacent to the Supper room, as well as some garden maintenance. An Operoo notice has been sent about this during the week.  Please complete this as soon as possible.

Jump Rope for Heart at St Michael’s!

We’re skipping through the term!

We have 28 students signed up to Jump Rope for Heart, with a total of $495 raised so far! We are so close to our $500 target! If you haven't registered your child, it’s not too late: www.jumprope.org.au/parents

We will be holding a special Jump Rope For Heart Fundraiser day later in the term for all students to get involved!