School News
Afternoon Pick Up
We have had multiple complaints from the community about the congestion at car pick up time. Please see the SPB4L update for a reminder of the procedures. In particular the no parking and the need to drive around the block if there is no space in the car line. I thank you for your cooperation with this, it is important for the safety of the children and for our community.
P&F Meeting
Please join us for our next P&F meeting on Friday 8 November at 9.30am in the library.
Annual School Report
How are we going?
Each year every Principal in the Wollongong Diocese prepares an Annual School Report (ASR) which highlights what is happening in their school and also provides an opportunity for parents, students and staff to reflect on how they feel their school is going.
We will be using a process known as “Appreciative Inquiry” to gain your feedback for this report. The Appreciative Inquiry process has been used successfully around the world in many organisations, including schools and the business workplace. Appreciative Inquiry works from the assumption that there is something positive about every organisation. It allows the strengths of a school to be celebrated and highlights areas that require further development. Specifically, I am asking you to respond to the following five “Appreciative Inquiry”
questions:
- What do you most value about being a member of St Michael’s Catholic School?
- What do you most appreciate about this school being Catholic?
- What do you value most about how your child learns at St Michael’s?
- If you could preserve or maintain three aspects of the school for the next five years, what would they be?
- If you could have three wishes that ensured a more successful school from 2017 onwards, what would they be?
These surveys were sent home last week. The responses to this survey will be summarised in the St Michael’s 2019 Annual School Report which will be uploaded onto the MySchool website and our own school website midway through next year. I would really appreciate your feedback. Thank you for your time on this survey.
New Phone System
On Monday the school will have a new phone system installed. This will bring us in line with Diocesan primary schools. This change will mean we will no longer have the phone lines down and we will be able to contact classrooms from the office. We will now be able to call children up from their classrooms when needed. This will also bring us in line with Diocesan procedure and policy.
World Teachers Day Thank you
Thank you to the P&F who, on behalf of the parent body, provided a morning tea for staff to celebrate World Teacher’s Day. It was much appreciated and the staff welcomed the lovely treats as well as the recognition of support.
Last Day of 2019
In accordance with the New South Wales Government directive St Michael’s school will be closed for the last two days of the gazetted school year. The last day for all students enrolled in State and Catholic schools in the 2019 school year will be Wednesday, 18 December.
Year 6 Farewell and Supper
We will be celebrating our Year 6 Farewell and Mass on Monday 2, December. Mass will be held at 7.00pm followed by our farewell celebrations and supper in the McCarthy Centre.
Congratulations Sophie Lyon!
Sophie presented a powerful speech in the public speaking competition for Year 2. It was addressed to the Prime Minister and she was advocating for the plight of others less fortunate. Sophie sent her speech to the Prime Minister and she received a reply! Sophie shared her letter with us this week.
OUR SCHOOL GARDENS
Our school gardens are definitely something to celebrate! They have really come along in such a short period of time. Thank you to those who watered our garden areas over the holiday break. We are already getting so much produce and many people have been able to use some in their own salads or cooking.
Thank you once again to Jeremy Smith and the parents who have supported him in getting the gardens up and running. Year 5 and Year 6 students have enjoyed working on the gardens and learning from you.
The whole school community is now going to be involved in taking care of this space. A roster has been put together and each class knows the weeks that they will be responsible for watering and weeding.
Some of our environmental grant money was spent on making up garden kits for each class.
Below are photos of the garden beds and garden kits that have been put together.
Families will be able to purchase veggies once they are ready for a small donation.
Mrs Katie Kelly - (WEN - Wollongong Environmental Network Contact)
TRANSITION TO SCHOOL PLAYGROUP
Last week we started the Playgroup sessions for the children who will be starting Kindergarten next year. Each session goes for 1.5 hours with a total of 8 sessions over 4 weeks. The playgroup aims for the children to become familiar with their new surroundings and to be involved in a number of play-based experiences. It is also a lovely way of welcoming families into our school community.
We have had 3 sessions so far and the children are enjoying the unstructured play, fine motor experiences, home area, shop area, story telling play, sensory experiences and gross motor activities. Over the next couple of weeks we will be implementing some structured play as well as a number of outdoor activities.
At the end of each session we have been playing a clean up song while the children, family members and teachers help pack away the play equipment. This has been working very well and we seem to be getting faster each time. After pack up, the children get their morning tea and come and sit on the mats ready for story time.
The program has been positive in the way that it provides opportunities for relationship building between the children, parents and teachers. Thank you to Year 4 who have been so enthusiastic in helping out and also to Mrs Loughrey who has set up the morning tea for the parents at each session. Also, to Mrs Hughes, Mr Bryce and Miss Groves for joining us in the hall.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting the children who will be in my class next year and it has been lovely meeting the parents. I look forward to the rest of the Playgroup Sessions.
Mrs Katie Kelly - Kindergarten Teacher 2020
The Christmas Story
Art Exhibition and Competition
2019
Over a thousand Years 5 and 6 children across the diocese began last term with blank canvases and sheets of paper. Now, 56 talented young students have had their artworks selected for the 2019 CEDoW Christmas Story Art Exhibition at the Wollongong Art Gallery – inspiring us with beautiful imagery and artistry, rich meaning and creative storytelling to celebrate the Christmas Story.
Congratulations to Tessa Body and Chloe Bleeker from Year 6 Blue who had their incredible artworks with their descriptive written scripture passages displayed in the Wollongong Art gallery between the 5th October and Wednesday 23rd October.
Please find below our CEDoW coverage of the Christmas Story Art Competition and Exhibition: https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/about-us/general-news/christmas-story-art-exhibition-2019/
You might also be interested in our interactive virtual tour of the exhibition with audio... view of all the 56 students' artworks as displayed at the Wollongong Art Gallery - zoom in to view a student's artwork in closer detail and to hear from the student as they describe their artwork for you.
INTERACTIVE VIRTUAL TOUR WITH AUDIO at: https://www.dow.catholic.edu.au/students/christmas-story-art-competition/resources/interactive-virtual-tour
Mrs Jackson - Christmas Art 2019 Coordinator