Dear Families,

Sacraments

We congratulate our Year 3, 4, 5, 6 children who recently received the Sacraments of First Eucharist and Confirmation. Some of these children have been waiting since 2020 to make these sacraments so they were very excited that the day had finally arrived for it to happen. Both the ceremonies were beautiful and were celebrated with great reverence. I thank the families for the support they gave to their child and special thanks must go to all the Year 3, 4, 5, 6 teachers whose teaching prepared the children well to receive their special sacrament, and thanks also to Fr Nicholas and Steven for leading and coordinating the Sacramental program.

Sports Day

Last Thursday we had a fabulous Sports Day across the road at Flemington Oval. The children had great fun participating in all the activities and races collecting points for their teams. Special thanks must go to Sarah our PE teacher for the teaching, planning, and organisation of the day. Thanks also to all the staff for assisting in running the activities and to the families who attended to support their children. It was a great day had by all.

Congratulations to the winners of the Sports Spirit Award, Lewis team, and to the McAuley team for winning the Sports Trophy.

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We had our end of year mass on Wednesday with Fr Nicholas and thanked our God for His love and guidance throughout the past year. It has been a very challenging year for us all but we have much to be grateful for. It was lovely to be able to go to mass with all of our children and staff, the first time since the beginning of the year. I look forward to us being able to gather together in prayer in 2022.

St Michael's Primary School community has navigated our way through yet another challenging year greatly impacted by COVID. We have been able to do this because we have a strong community committed to working together, looking out for each other and being the best we can be. All in our community have been extremely resilient, adaptable and compassionate throughout this time and for this, I am extremely grateful.

Along with all our staff, I am very proud of each one of our students, they faced the challenges of remote learning with great positivity and throughout this year have continued to strive to do their best. Along the way we have shared many moments of joy, success, happiness as well as the tough times but we have watched them continue to grow and learn. This has been a privilege for each of us.

Fr Nicholas joined us at the end of 2020 and we were all looking forward to working closely with him in 2021 and have him join our school in many of the occasions we had planned. Unfortunately due to COVID this did not happen and I know he is greatly disappointed about that. We look forward to working closely with him in 2022 and thank him for all his leadership and prayerful guidance throughout 2021.

I deeply thank each one of our families, again this year each of you placed your child into our care with great trust. You continue to support the school and your child in their learning in many ways, this was especially evident during the remote learning time, you were simply amazing! Thank you all for your commitment to St Michael's and for your continued support in ensuring our community remains connected and a welcoming place for all who join us.

You will receive your child's end of year report today, which is an indication of their hard work this semester. St Michael's continues to provide our children with purposeful and engaging learning opportunities and our students continue to strive to meet the high expectations we have of them. I hope you enjoy reading your child's report and celebrating their successes with them, we are certainly very proud of each of them.

Our St Michael's staff have worked tirelessly throughout the year, ensuring that each child has every opportunity to learn and to engage in our world in a positive, collaborative and responsible manner. They all work hard to provide our children to develop passion for learning and to always strive to be 'Good Today but Better Tomorrow'. They care deeply for each child and I know that each of you is appreciative of all they have done for your child. They are all looking forward to a well deserved break.

Yesterday our children were very excited to find out their class group for 2022 and last night we had our Yr 6 Graduation. We bid farewell to families that finish their time here at St Michael's. We thank them for their support throughout the years and wish them well in the future. You will always be a part of the St Michael's community and are always welcome here.

Goodbye to the following families:

Abdelkareem Taing Family - Felicia 2 years

Gunawan Family - Richard, 7 years

Gurung Family - Losang, 2 years

Martinez Family - Isabel

Taggart Family - Oscar

Walkley Family - Sam

Benyam Family - Bettle

Hassen Family - Mubeen

Ndipange Family - Sean

Nguyen Family - Jake

Reddie Family - Daniel

I would also like to acknowledge the staff who are leaving us; Kylie Lanza, Jeanette Ragnanese, Ella McCarthy and Jack Bennett. Thank you for the wonderful contribution you have all made to our school community and we wish you all the very best for the future.

Finally, and most importantly - I would like to thank all of our students who have worked so hard this year and made our job a pleasure. It is our great privilege to work with the children and I wish them a very enjoyable break.

On behalf of Fr Nicholas and myself I would like to thank all staff, students and parents for all your amazing support. It is a great privilege to be principal of this wonderful school! I wish you all God's blessing for a happy Christmas and for a safe, re-energising and peaceful New Year.

We ask St Michael to continue to protect us and keep us safe.

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.

Learning News

3/4M, 5/6J and STEM