From the Principal

Dear St Michael’s School families, 

Today we pray for those preparing to receive the Eucharist for the first time

Loving God,

We thank You for the precious gift of our children,

And for the joy of watching them grow in faith.

As they prepare to receive the Eucharist for the first time,

May their hearts be open to Your presence,

And may they come to know the deep love

You share with us through this holy sacrament.

Bless their families, teachers, and all who guide them,

So they may walk gently beside these children

And help them understand the wonder of receiving Jesus.

Fill our whole community with renewed faith,

So that together we may support these young ones

And reflect the light and love of Christ to them.

We pray this in the name of Jesus,

Our Bread of Life.

Amen.

SACRAMENT OF FIRST EUCHARIST

We wish all the children in our school and Parish, who are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Eucharist for the first time, the very best in their preparation. Over the weekend of 21st June and 22nd June, at St Michael's Church, 36 children will be receiving Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time. Along with the support of their families, they have been reading, discussing and learning about this special Sacrament and we think about them and pray for them as they embark upon this special Sacrament of Initiation. All are welcome to attend one or both of the masses to support the children.

Saturday 21st June, 6pm

Sunday 22nd June, 10.30am

GRANDPARENTS AND SPECIAL FRIENDS - SAVE THE DATE

To our Grandparents and Special Friends, we ask that you please save the date so you don't miss out on this special annual occasion. This year we will be holding Grandparents and Special Friends Day on Friday 25th July.

Each year St Michael's School invites grandparents or a child's special friend to come and visit them at school for afternoon tea and to spend some time with them in school. This has always been a greatly anticipated event for many of our children and certainly many grandparents and special friends. Exact timing of the events will be released shortly but pease let your invited guests know it will commence around 1pm on this day. The exact start time and an agenda for the afternoon will be released soon.

CALLING ALL DADS AND SPECIAL FRIENDS

As noted in earlier newsletters, the PFA will be leading a Father's and Special Friends Day breakfast on Friday 5th September.  We are calling for anyone who is able to help with purchasing food, setting up the hub, be there and assist with pack up, whatever you can do! Please email therese.molnar@gmail.com 

ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL MISSION STATEMENT

As many of our parents will be aware, our school's Vision and Mission statements can be found on our school website in the All About Us / Our School section. Over the past 18 months, with consultation from our School Staff, School Advisory Council, our School Representative Council and the St Michael's Parish Pastoral Committee, we have reviewed and made some updates to our Mission Statement. 

A School's Mission statement serves to explain why a school exists and what it aims to achieve. It relays our purpose and provides us with guiding principles. All contributors to the revised draft Mission statement have given input with these thoughts in mind. The St Michael's School Vision Statement, St Michael’s Parish School: A safe community of animated learners enlightened by faith in God, remains unchanged and forms the focus of the three pillars in our draft mission statement. We invite families to read and review the revised draft and welcome your thoughts and input. Reflections and input may be submitted to Annie Herbison via email principal@smashburton.catholic.edu.au by Friday 4th July.

SCHOOL OF POP PERFORMANCE

There has been much excitement around the school this week as singing auditions were held for our school production. Jess Fary reports that we have so many amazingly beautiful voices; the choice for solo parts will be a challenge! Next week, Jess will hold auditions for scripted parts and has sent these home to anyone interested. We wish all the students the best of luck in their auditions.

REMINDER: Performance Date is Wednesday 8th October

ESSENTIAL ASSESSMENT PARENT NOTIFICATION

As many parents will be aware, St Michael's School partners with the Essential Assessment platform which provides both parents and teachers with information about their students' Literacy and Numeracy needs. Your child's progress is shared with parents through the platform, providing a summary of Literacy and Numeracy skills that are being developed with your child and practical examples of these skills to assist with continued learning. Each update you receive can consist of:

• Areas of success
• Future focus areas 
• Areas of growth
• Examples of learning
• Assigned learning activities in My Numeracy and My Literacy (these are learning tasks assigned for children to practise developing the skills at their level of need)

Shortly this information will be shared with you again and I urge you to take some time to review the information provided. This gives you an opportunity to work alongside your child, have discussions about the learning activities and help them progress their learning.

Early next term you will have an opportunity to discuss your child's progress with their classroom teacher and discuss their new learning goals. It is vital that you keep in communication with your child's teacher and work together for the best of your child.

NEW YOUTH MYKI DESIGN COMPETITION

It's not too late! A few of our students have signed up to take part in this competition. If your child is still interested, here are the details:

• The competition opened 6 June and entries need to be submitted online by Sunday 15th June 
• The winning entry has their design featured on the card and they will receive $1000 Visa card.
• Your child/ren needs to use the specified design template.
• You need to complete an online form to give your child/ren permission to enter.

If you are still interested and want to proceed, click here.