From the Principal
Tuesday 26 August - Year Three to Six Athletic Carnival, Bill Sewert Reserve - NO RUNNING CLUB ON THIS DAY
Dear St Michael’s School families,
It has been a wonderful week at the Australian Catholic Education Conference, along with 1500 participants from Catholic organisations all over Australia. I look forward to returning to school on Monday and sharing all my learning. Here are some things that happened at St Michael's this week and some important reminders too! See you soon.
Annie
This is the conference logo, an artwork named ‘Tenacious Dreaming’ of local First Nations artist Susan Reys. It reflects the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in far north Queensland.
Prayer
Prayer for Teachers and Leaders in Catholic Schools
Loving God,
We thank You for the gift of our teachers and leaders,
who guide our school communities with wisdom, care, and faith.
Bless them with patience, courage, and strength,
so that in all they do, they reflect the love of Jesus.
May they be inspired by the Holy Spirit
to nurture the minds and hearts of students,
to lead with compassion and justice,
and to build a community where every person is valued.
Lord, may their work bear fruit in the lives of the young people they serve,
and may they always find joy and hope in their vocation.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
ST MICHAEL'S ATHLETICS DAY - TUESDAY 26TH AUGUST
A reminder to all our families of students in Years three to six, that next Tuesday we will hold our annual St Michael's Athletics event at the Bill Sewart Reserve in East Burwood. Students will need to be dropped off at the track by no earlier than 8.45am, when staff supervision will commence. Student will then be bussed back to school after the event, which concludes at 2.30pm. If you are planning to take your child from the track, please notify your child's class teacher before the event and make contact with them before you leave on the day.
THANK YOU AND FAREWELL DARCY TRUIN
As some families will be aware, Darcy Truin has been working with us as a Learning Support Officer (L.S.O.) both in a part time and casual capacity since last year. He has worked across grade levels and given support to students and staff in numerous ways. Darcy has continued his studies during this time with us and he now moves forward with an opportunity which will take him in a direction for his future. We have loved having Darcy's warm nature and can-do attitude with us at St Michael's and wish him every happiness with his future.
This term we have had the pleasure of welcoming Michelle Gardiner into the fold as an L.S.O. Michelle began by doing some casual relief work with us and will now take on three days per week in this role. This is Michelle's first appointment as an L.S.O. and she has made a wonderful start with the children.
YEAR FIVE / SIX STUDENTS ATTENDING BOROONDARA YOUNG LEADERS DAY - TUESDAY 19TH AUGUST
By Annabelle S, Olivia D, Isabella K, Anna R and Srinya N
On Tuesday 19th August, the Year 5/6s travelled by train to Hawthorn for the Boroondara Youth Leaders Day. At the start of the day, the mayor spoke to all of the students about leadership within the community. Our first session was held in the Chandelier Room. We talked with students from other schools about different leadership qualities, those we have and those we need to work on.
In the next session, we learnt about different African drumming instruments. We participated in African drumming. We had to do really quick movements with our hands. After practicing different parts of the drumming sequence, we put them all together to create one long piece of music. We also used our friend's drum at the same time as using ours, then the instructor made it more challenging for us because we were getting the hang of it. The African drummers usually do it for 6-7 hours.
At the end of the day we went upstairs to the Consultation Room to speak about how we can make changes in our communities. One of the first activities we did was creating ideas for our communities using Lego. The next activity was designing our dream library using Chatgpt. One group made a big potato library. In the third activity we had to draw and write about activities we wanted to do during the holidays that we didn’t already do. People wrote down things like indoor skydiving, steam machines and many sports clinics. Then the Boroondara Council considers our ideas and information and begins to put some of the ideas into holiday clinics.
Overall, the day was lots of fun and we all got a good insight into what leadership is and how to be a great leader.
ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL FATHER'S DAY STALL
FATHER'S DAY EVENT
We invite Dads or special friends with their children to our special Father's Day event. This year we are holding our celebration at Burwood Reserve generously hosted by the Ashy Redbacks. Please see the invitation below and note the date and time in your family calendars. Please note, we will not be holding an event on school grounds this year with this event taking its place. See you there!
FREE PARENT ONLINE WEBINAR
Body Safety is something that all children need to learn to understand. Whilst this is explicitly taught within our Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships Program, this is an opportunity for parents to understand what you can do to help your child's understanding in this area. Click HERE to access your FREE tickets.
2025 BOOK WEEK PARADE
What a wonderful celebration of reading we had at our Book Week Parade! Our students looked absolutely amazing, showcasing their originality and creativity with costumes that ranged from The Lorax to Where's Wally? to the Titanic ship! It was such a joy to see the love of books come alive through their characters.
The teachers also got into the spirit, delighting everyone with their group costume as the Tooth Fairy from the shortlisted book The Tooth Fairy. Their enthusiasm made the day even more special.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the creativity and effort of our talented parents. Thank you for supporting your children in bringing their favourite characters to life – it truly made the day one to remember!
ST MICHAEL'S VEGGIE GARDEN
There was a new focus on our St Michael's gardening program this week with the students in Five/Six B planting Lucinda's Everlastings. Lucinda's Everlastings are self-seeding Australian native annuals so they willlast for several years once planted, flowering each year.
The Five/Sixes did a wonderful job in getting these into the garden bed along the Morotai Ave fenceline and we can't wait to see them in full bloom!!
KEY ENROLMENT DATES FOR YEAR FIVE STUDENTS IN 2026, STARTING YEAR SEVEN IN 2028
The following key points are important dates for parents of current YEAR FOUR STUDENTS. For enrolment of students into Catholic Secondary Colleges, please mark these dates on your calendar.
− applications for students starting Year 7 in 2028 will open on Tuesday 27 January 2026 and close on Friday 14 August 2026
− secondary schools will undergo their processes to determine their offers
− offers will be posted to 2028 prospective Year 7 applicants on Friday 16 October 2026
− parents/carers will be required to accept an offer from a school by Friday 6 November 2026.
SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR
A HUGE thank you to all who supported this fabulous event again this year. Yet again there were many new titles on offer and it was great to see the interest in the Book Fair. It raises most needed funds which go back into the school library to purchase new titles which are of interest to the children. Thank you to the MANY volunteers who supported the stall by offering their time before and after school, and a special thank you to Therese Molnar for her organisation of the annual Book Fair.
2026 PLANNING
It is this time of year where 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.