School News
Covid Update
Thank you parents and carers for your cooperation and understanding as we continue to work through and implement current restrictions. Please ensure that if your child is unwell that you do not send them to school, we are obliged to send children home if they display any symptoms. If your child needs to be Covid tested please notify the school.
Playground Update
Over the holidays the playground continued to be upgraded and worked on. As is with most building projects it was unable to be completed before school returns. During the holidays the builders encountered significant issues with removing and ‘moving’ the existing waiting tree space. This resulted in the structure having to remain and a change in the original plans that were supposed to be completed. However the revised and updated structure is looking amazing, it is now a safe area for students to sit and has a lovely school safe shade tree. Once all works are completed I will share some photos.
Uniform - Focus on Hair
A gentle reminder that all students must have their hair tied back off their face. If a boys hair is too long please arrange to have it cut or to have it tied back everyday. This is one less distraction for the students as they are learning. Thank you for your cooperation.
Medical / Injuries
Any child who comes to school with an injury must have clearance from a doctor that clearly states the nature of the injury and what the student can and can not do at school, this includes them being on the playground at recess and lunch times. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call the school office.
Band and Vocal Ensemble
This week students who have registered to be a part of the band began their rehearsals. The band and tutorials are all run by Brett from The Thirroul Academy. He is also offering this year a vocal ensemble on a Friday morning before school.
Band is open to students from Years 4-6
Vocal Ensemble is open to students from Years 2 - 6.
If you are interested in either one of these please use the link below to register.
Parents only need to go to our website and go to
https://musicdancedrama.com.au/schools/
that has an introduction, summary of the program and then click the button 'St Micheals' to fill in the form.
Assemblies
Last week we held our first assembly for the year with our year 6 School Captains leading the way. The school captains and vice captains created a video for the students showcasing what ‘taking care of each other’ looks like at our school. Over the next two weeks the teachers will be watching carefully and will be picking a student from each class that has done an exceptional job at displaying this particular school rule!
Over the next few assemblies our leaders will be going through our school rules and looking for all the wonderful behaviours to be displayed in both the classroom and on the playground!
Swimming Carnival
Learning Labs
The University of Wollongong invites your children to LITTLE and EARLY LEARNING LABS, an academic and creative arts enrichment holiday program. The university is targeting students from Year 1 to 6 who are passionate, self-motivated and curious learners.
Dates: Little Learning Labs (Years 1 and 2): 17th-18th April 2021
Early Learning Labs (Years 3 to 6): 10th-11th April 2021
Venue: University of Wollongong (Wollongong campus only)
Applications close: Wednesday 3rd March 2021
CONGRATULATIONS KINDERGARTEN
Kindergarten are settling in well to school life. Their first full day of school was last Thursday and this week has been their first full week. I am so proud of every single student in my class. There is so much to take in at the beginning of Kindergarten - new learning environment, new routines as well as making friends and getting to know their teacher.
Year 5 are to be commended on the way they have supported Kindergarten since they started. They have helped Kindergarten on the playground during recess and lunch and have organised some Sport activities as well as assisted the Kinder students in some Art /Craft activities. Year 5 are showing wonderful leadership skills as the buddy class for Kinder.
Mrs Katie Kelly - Kindergarten Teacher
Year 5 iPad setup
Thank you to all the Year 5 parents who were able to zoom in to learn about how to best set up your child’s iPad.
If you need a refresher on some of the settings David Emery discussed these clips will be helpful for you
Year 3 & 4: School Managed iPads
On Friday Year 3 and 4 will participate in iPad Bootcamps with Catholic Education Office staff. This will be a hands on session so students can set their iPad up ready to learn. Please ensure your child brings their iPad to school Monday week 4 as they will begin to use these as a learning tool in their classrooms.
Safer Internet Day
St Michael’s students have begun the year participating in lessons about digital citizenship and cybersafety. Tuesday this week was Safer Internet Day. On Safer Internet Day the world comes together with a shared vision of making online experiences better for everyone.
Parent resources
eSafety's large range of advice and resources can help you learn more about online safety, then share your new knowledge and skills to help protect the people you care about most.
Join one of their free webinars for parents and carers. These live webinars explore the latest research and they are a great way to learn how you can help your child develop the skills to be safer online. All sessions are delivered by eSafety's expert education and training team. https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/webinars
Miss Emma Riolo - Middle Leader 2
PB4L
What a busy start to the new year! It is always lovely to see the students return with such big smiles and an enthusiasm for learning. It takes us all a while to settle back into the rhythm of school and for some of us, finding a rhythm and learning how school works. So that all students are achieving success, we approach positive behaviours as an opportunity to learn how we are expected to behave. Learning a behaviour is just the same as learning a new skill, either an academic skill or a sporting skill. Just with any of these skills, they require practice and feedback on achievement. Last week we practiced how dismissal works and how we can best show positive behaviours. Students were explicitly shown where they assemble for ease of traffic flow and to lessen the congestion at the school gate. These procedures align with our COVID safe plan. Thank you to all our parents who always follow the outline of either the 3pm or the 3:15 collection times. We know at times this can be difficult, however we value the efforts made.
Next week we are planning our first PB4L meeting where we set goals for the year and a strategic plan so as to best implement and attain our goals. I also look forward to meeting with our community and wellbeing student team in the coming days. Many of the students have approached me with excitement.
Mrs Ronelle Peardon - Middle Leader 1
The Holy Spirit College Open Day and Evening will take place on Thursday, February 25 2021. There are two sessions scheduled for the day.
The morning session begins with an information session in the Casey Ryder Centre at 8.45am - 9.45am followed by a tour of the College from 9.45am - 11am.
The evening session will begin with a tour of the College from 5.30pm - 6.45pm followed by the information session in the Casey Ryder Center at 7pm.
Applications opened for Year 7 2023 on February 1 2021, and will close on Thursday April 1 2021. Please contact the College for an enrolment package.
This is a great opportunity for our current students to showcase their work and future students to get a taste of the Holy Spirit College Community.
Thank you for your support of this important event.