Dear Families,

Lunar New Year

This weekend we celebrate Lunar New Year and this is the Year of the Dragon! For many families within our community, Lunar New Year is a very important time for them to celebrate with family and friends, so we wish you a very Happy New Year and hope your celebrations with family and friends are filled with love, joy, and happiness.

"BE CONNECTED"

Be Connected is our theme for 2024! We know that connecting with each other and building strong trusting relationships gives children the knowledge that we are all in this together. So I ask you to make the effort to connect with your child's teacher either in person or via Class Dojo and connect with other parents so we can work together to give our children the best possible opportunities to be flourishing learners.

Welcome

We welcome many new families to our community and we also welcome new staff members:

Hang Cao - Religious education Leader & YR 5/6 EH Teacher (Monday & Tuesday)

Sonia Baba - Numeracy Leader

Tameka Lewis - Yr 3/4T Teacher

Ezza Ramsay - Yr 5/6EH Teacher

Courtney Barrett - Learning Support Officer - Prep

Violette Pirotta - Learning Support Offier Yr 1/2

Michael Jeffrey - Learning Support Officer Yr 3/4

Georgie Wiley - Learning Support Officer Yr 5/6

David Whimpey - Speech Pathologist

We also welcome Milly Tupthim our Provisional Psychologist who will be present at school on Monday and Friday.

I know you will all make sure they receive a very warm St Michael's welcome.

Beginning of School Year Liturgy

Yesterday we celebrated our first whole school Liturgy where we celebrated the beginning of the 2024 school year. It was wonderful to have our Prep children join us in prayer for the first time as well as the many family members who also came along.

I also invite you to join us in prayer again next week when we come together to celebrate Ash Wednesday. Our Yr 3-6 children will attend Mass in our church at 10am and our Yr 1-2 children will attend a smaller liturgy at 12pm, also in the church.

Parent Meet & Greet Meetings

These meetings have been scheduled for Thursday 15th February. This is an opportunity for you to connect with your child's teacher and share information about your child's strengths and challenges. As these chats are early in the year it is not a time when teachers will report on your child's academic progress.

The school will finish at 2.00pm on this day.

Parents and Friends Group

Our P&F group are a most important part of our community as they come together to support the school in celebrating special events as well as organising fundraising events that help us improve learning opportunities for all our children. Our Community Leaders, Fiona and Sarah work closely to support this group in the work they do and have organised meetings to discuss the year ahead. I strongly encourage you to get involved and assist the P&F in the work they do.

Term 1 Important Dates

Please place the following dates into your calendar:

Parent Teacher Chats - Thursday 15th February, SCHOOL ENDS AT 2PM.

Welcome School BBQ - Thursday 29th February - more details will follow shortly.

School Closure Day - Tuesday 12th March - our school will be closed on this day so that all staff can engage in Professional Learning Sessions.

Positive Behaviour For Learning - PBL

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL), is a comprehensive integrated whole-school approach to student wellbeing and behaviour. It brings together our whole school community to contribute to developing a positive, safe and supportive learning culture. PBL at St Michael’s assists us to improve our children’s social, emotional, behavioural and academic outcomes. Our children are clear about our values, their expectations and follow up rewards or consequences.

At St Michael’s we have four values;

Respect - our actions and words need to consider the feelings and wellbeing of ourselves and others
Responsibility - we do the things we know we need to do and accept the outcomes of our actions
Safety - we keep ourselves and others safe
Learning - we focus on learning and trying our best both in and outside the classroom

Throughout the next few weeks, our teachers will be focussing on our values with an emphasis on being respectful.

School uniform

It's wonderful that most of the children are arriving at school in their correct uniforms, and it's a testament to the support of the families. A reminder to families to label their children's uniforms and check their belongings regularly to ensure they have all their pieces of uniform. This not only helps in keeping track of items but also fosters a sense of responsibility in the children.

Road Safety

As you are aware parking around our school is very limited so we all must follow the road rules to keep each child safe. Please do not park in the school crossing zone or in front of driveways. Walking or riding to school is always a good option as is parking a little away from the school.

School Fees

You will receive your 2024 school fee invoice on Monday. The school is reliant on all parents paying their school fees in full to enable us to meet our financial commitments, so all school fees need to be paid in full by the end of Term 3. Families with a current Health Care Card are asked to present it to the office to confirm eligibility for the Concessional Fee Program.

Wishing all a fantastic school year ahead filled with growth, learning, and success. Let's make it memorable together at St. Michael's!

Denise Hussey

(Principal)

'The most simple thing I can do is to be good today but better tomorrow'

Catherine McAuley - Mercy Sisters Foundress

All students attending St Michael's Primary School have the right to feel safe. The care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people is a fundamental responsibility of all within our school.

Prayer