Vision: Inspired by Christ, we aspire to excellence in learning, living life fully in community
The mission at St Michael’s is to:

• be a vibrant catholic community where all feel safe, valued, loved and respected

• display understanding, compassion and care for others and all creation

• foster dynamic and diverse learning opportunities

Empowering every individual to become the best version of themselves- understanding neurodiversity

A key part of our mission at St Michael’s is to ensure that we display understanding, compassion and care for others. We are all made in the image of god with unique gifts, talents, and ways of thinking. As a leadership team and school we have been working to deepen our understanding of students with neurodiversity. I have a passion in this area that has been drawn from a personal experience of one of my siblings with neurodiversity who went through school in a very different era. His experience of Primary school was one that certainly wasn’t compassionate, understanding or caring. By many in the community at the time, my sibling was viewed as a problem, rather than recognising the many gifts he had to offer. I can still recall the impact this had on my brother and particularly my parents. 

Recently our school leadership team engaged in a webinar from a leading psychology team in the UK titled ‘neuroaffirmation.’It focussed on helping school communities to create shared beliefs that recognize and celebrate the natural variations in how people’s brains work, rather than viewing differences that need to be fixed. It emphasised understanding and supporting individual needs and strengths whilst promoting respect and acceptance by all. As a school, we are continuing on this journey to create an environment that empowers every individual to unlock their gifts and ultimately become the best version of themself. 

I am a big believer that it takes a village to raise a child. During our week 5 assembly, I shared a beautiful little clip with our students focused on the importance of seeking understanding before making judgement. It is critical that we continue to model this to the beautiful children in our community by taking the time to know a child or family's story in order to act with love and compassion. As Ted Lasso would say- be curious, not judgemental.

Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits.

The word neurodiversity refers to the diversity of all people, but it is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as other neurological or developmental conditions such as ADHD or learning disabilities.

Providing options during break time- Sense Therapy
We understand that the playground can be heaven for some, but overwhelming for other students. We are in the process of refining our playground timetable to provide multiple opportunities for our students that support their interests and needs. This includes, opening the library for reading, hall games, and the introduction of structured games. We have struck up a nice partnership with Sense Therapy to support us in the journey of creating an environment that supports all students. I have engaged their services to help us develop a structured games lunch time program that is aimed at teaching new skills in a structured environment that supports regulation, whilst developing the relational skills to navigate the demands of games and sports. The team from Sense Therapy will be commencing a structured program at lunch times on Mondays starting next week. This will be open for any students that may be interested. There will be a number of staff observing the initial sessions to enhance their skills to understand how different activities can support regulation. The intention is that we can deepen and sustain this lunch time program for years to come. 

Thank you Anh!
To wrap up our book week celebrations, we were very fortunate to have the amazing Anh Do provide a Q&A for our students. We all walked away feeling inspired, and I could see the passion in our little authors ignited to a new level. Anh epitomizes what the combination of self-belief, persistence, kindness, and humor can do to inspire others. Each of our students even left with a gift—a copy of Anh’s books. Thanks once again, Anh, for your kindness and generosity in giving up your time to inspire our community.

Parent engagement in learning
It was wonderful to see so many parents join us for our parent workshop focussed on engaging in your child’s learning, prior to open classrooms. I hope those that were able to attend, could see first hand students demonstrating agency (drivers of their learning). Please see below a link to the presentation, inclusive of some questions that can be used at home to stimulate discussions about your child’s learning.

Parent workshop slides 

P&F  General Meeting
Thank you to our wonderful parents that were able to attend our Term 3 General Meeting. A huge thank you to Alexa Marciano, who has very kindly taken over the Secretary role in place of Claire Sobol.  Please see below some of the key information that was shared and discussed: 

NAPLAN 2025 highlights package
- Year 3 Writing – 100% proficiency.
-  Year 5 Writing – nearly 100% proficiency.
- Among top performers in the Diocese for learning growth, despite a high baseline.
- Top performer in Year 5 Reading (out of 30 schools).
- 2nd in Year 5 Writing performance.
- Top 5 in most Year 3 areas.
- Nearly 100% learning growth across all NAPLAN areas.

Phase 1 (2025, Term 3 holidays):
- Yarning circle + landscaping – Green Co Landscapes
- Cost: $15,070 (approved, completion due end of Term 3 vacation)

Phase 2 (next funding target):
Shade shelters – top playground, yarning circle, top courtyard (Rhino shade structures)
Costs: Main playground – $28,560 + GST

Upcoming events
-Movie night- 12 September
- Kindergarten parents social night at the Pickled Poet- 19 September

Other items
Design and purchase of new St Michael’s Swimming Caps
-The caps have been redesigned for easier student identification after parent feedback.
-Students will keep caps as momentos.

Review of the Year 6 Graduation
We are in the initial phases of planning the Year 6 graduation. We have sought parent feedback and made the following refinements:

• Included the awards and the majority of formalities into the whole school graduation Mass. 

• Review the venue and catering provided for our Year 6 graduates and their families. 

Canteen Kat donation
A big thank you to Canteen Kat who raised $53.00 from the book week celebration treats and kindly donated it to the school.

Calendar overview 

Pupil Free Days

Mr James Bryce - Principal

• Soccer Gala Day - Friday, 29 August 2025
• Basketball Gala Day 

• 18 September, 2025 Junior Boys & Girls (Years 3 & 4)
• 19 September, 2025 Senior Girls & Boys (Years 5 & 6)

Regional and Diocesan Athletics Carnival

A number of our students recently competed at the Regional Athletics Carnival, showcasing their talents against strong opposition. We are proud to acknowledge Annabel C and Ethan M, who were each awarded second place Age Champion in their age groups a fantastic achievement!

The following week, Annabel C, Ethan M, Ciara M, Reuben C, Abigail S, Darcy F, and Oliver D competed for a place in the Diocesan Team. Congratulations to Annabel C, Ethan M, and Abigail S, who were successful in being selected.

Congratulations Annabel – Australian Cross Country Championships

We are proud to share that Annabel recently qualified for the Australian Athletics Cross Country Championships, representing NSW at the event in Ballarat.

On a tough 2km course with mud sections and log obstacles, Annabel showed great determination to finish 25th in Australia, an outstanding achievement!

Student Extracurricular Sporting Achievements 

We love celebrating our students' extracurricular sporting achievements - please keep us updated on their successes!

Mrs Danielle Campbell  - Sports Coordinator  

Congratulations to the following students who received awards at the last assembly;

Principal's Award

• Henry S
• Neeve D
• Poppie T
• Rhys W
• Annabel C
• Jemima C

Gold Award

• Rhys W