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

These are some prayers we can pray for our children, for when they need our love and care

Celebrations of First Eucharist

Congratulations to all our children who received this Sacrament last weekend. We held two beautiful masses over the weekend, with the amazing Excelsis choir on Sunday morning.  Thank you to the many families who gave feedback about the ceremony and the organisation of this special event. A special thank you to Mrs Rachael Lo Ricco (Religious Education Leader) for her dedication in working with staff, families and students in bringing this Sacrament to fruition. Thank you also to Mrs Deanna Imbriano, Mrs Des Harding, Miss Sam Isaacson and Miss Bianca Toldi for their work with the children in the lead up to this special occasion and attending masses over the weekend. Thank you Fr Laurence and Deacon Malcolm also for your time and dedication to teaching our families and your warm and engaging presence at the masses.

Staffing for Term 3

As our first semester comes to a close, we inform our families of some changes that are happening in second semester with our staff. We have already farewelled two of our lovely staff this year as they have left for maternity leave. Next term, Mrs Emma Quinless also departs for maternity leave. We wish her every happiness with welcoming her second child into the world and look forward to when she is able to return. Miss Samantha Isaacson will be taking on the Learning Diversity role for the remainder of 2023. Sam has worked closely with Emma over the past 12 months, and particularly in this first semester, attending Program and Support Group meetings and assisting staff with programs to support student learning. We are fortunate to have Sam's knowledge and skills with us at St Michael's.

Sam has been working in the Student Wellbeing leadership role at St Michael's for the past 12 months and from Semester 2 this year, we welcome back Mrs Charlotte Allan from maternity leave, who takes up this leadership role again. Charlotte was leading St Michael's in Student wellbeing before she departed for maternity leave in term 3, 2022. 

Ms Ann Lagreca also departs St Michael's staff in Semester 2 as she takes off to travel and spend time with her family for the next six months. Ann has been working in the specialist area of Science in first semester, for which the children have been showing great passion and enjoyment. We are most grateful to have had Ann share her love and knowledge of Science with our children this year. Mrs Charlotte Allan will be taking on the role of Science specialist for Semester 2. We look forward to Ann's return in 2024.

Miss Alex Terzakis in One/Two R will be leaving St Michael's School at the end of this term as she has accepted a position at Ashburton Primary School for second semester. I am currently in the process of advertising for a replacement teacher for the second semester for One/Two R and will inform parents of her replacement as soon as it is finalised.

Mrs Lily Luo (Mandarin) has been travelling and spending time with her family in China over the past six months of this year and is due to return to teach Manadrin from the beginning of Term 3. Mrs Maryna Tsikhanenka has been with us in Mandarin lessons for Terms 1 and 2 and we thank Maryna for her work with the children over this time and wish her well as she moves on to further replacement teaching positions. 

Some of our staff will be taking leave for short periods of time over the next few months, taking advantage of opportunities for travel and to be with family. School families of the following staff have been notified about their leave through individual letters. We wish them well in their travels and look forward to their safe and speedy return.

Mrs Deanna Imbriano - Departing 10th June, returning Monday 10th July

Miss Ally Panas - Departing 10th June, returning Monday 10th July

Miss Caitlin O'Donnell - Departing 24th June, returning Monday 17th July

Mrs Louise Hedley - Departing 24th June, returning Wednesday 26th July

Parent / Teacher / Student Conversations

As noted in last week's newsletter, Parent / Teacher / Student Conversations will be running on Thursday 13th July, for MOST classes in the Hub. Miss Caitlin O'Donnell and Mrs Des Harding / Miss Sam Isaacson will be holding their Conversations on Thursday 20th July due to various reasons out of our control. We hope this doesn't cause too much inconvenience to families who have students in these and other classes, to have to be here over two nights. If you have any concerns, please see me or Eloise Ellis regarding this matter. 

Please note: 

• Thursday 13th July: All classes will finish at 12.00 noon 
• Thursday 20th July: All classes will continue until 3.30pm, while Three/Four B and One/Two B hold P/T/S Conversations

Miss Alex Terzakis will be holding interviews in the final week of this term and parents will be notified of this shortly.

Currently, our students and their teachers are developing individual goals as a focus for future learning. These goals will be based on information and data collected about the students' learning progression over these first two terms of the school year. Students will present their goals to parents at our upcoming Conversations and include ways that they will help themselves to move forward and what you can do to help too! Please see further information about goal setting on our Deputy Principal / Teaching & Learning page.

Times for interviews will be made available for parents to book via Operoo.

Covid News

It seems like so long ago that we were talking "Covid" but it's still in our midst. A few of our community have had covid over these last few weeks. Thank you for being so mindful and keeping your children home if they are sick. For your information, if your child is symptomatic, we ask that you test them to ensure it is not covid. If they test positive, the recommendation is to isolate for a minimum of five days. Close contacts no longer need to isolate, as was happening last year.

Biggest Morning Tea at St Michael's

St Michael's School will be holding the Biggest Morning Tea to raise funds for the Cancer Council. Click here the in the Community News section to find out more.

End of Term events

Have you seen what's happening in your child's year level at the end of this term? If not, check it out, socials for both students and parents, in Community News section of our newsletter.

New Enterprise Bargaining Agreement ~ Change to School Start Time

The attached letter to families explains how the new EBA affects our timetable here at St Michael's School and what exactly this means for you as parents. I encourage all parents to please take the time to read this letter to help you understand what these changes are and when they will be taking place.

St Michael's Principal Appointment Process

The process for the appointment of an ongoing Principal to St Michael's School is in progress. This process is lead by St Michaels' Regional Learning Consultant, Mr Rob Scanlon, who is the nominee of the Executive Director of the Melbourne Archdiocese. Mr Scanlon's role is to support Father Laurence and the school community through this process. A panel, including both Mr Scanlon and Father Laurence, is being assembled at present to consider the criteria for the position. The panel also includes two parents from our community, John Whitehouse and Therese Molnar, as well as an experienced Principal, usually from another region. The process is expected to be completed by early Term 3, when the announcement of the principal will be made. 

St Michael's Production information

As mentioned previously, cast selection and rehearsals will occur throughout Term 3 with ASPA staff onsite to take all classes on Fridays throughout the term.  As these sessions will run from the beginning of the day to the very end, our assemblies for Term 3 will run on Monday afternoons instead of Friday, from 2.40-3.10pm. We understand this is another change thrust upon us! I am sure we can make this accommodation as out students prepare for their biennial production, an event to which they greatly look forward! Thank you for your understanding and here are the changes of dates for Term 3 for your convenience.

Nude Food Class Award

Congratulations to One/Two G and Three/Four G for receiving the Nude Food Award for most students bringing nude food to school. Yay for the environment!!

We're so proud to see so many students and families making this great effort to remember nude food. It certainly is starting to make a difference in the yard as well.

Keep it up everyone!!