School News
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Week |
Focus |
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3 |
Awards and Environmental initiatives |
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5 |
Awards and Respectful Relationships |
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7 |
Awards and Respectful Relationships |
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9 |
St Michael’s Vision and Mission Awards |
K-2 Numeracy
Students in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 have been engaging in some hands-on, practical numeracy activities and their teachers have been learning about how to develop students' reasoning skills so that they think and work mathematically and solve problems confidently and efficiently. Much of their Mathematics work is done through hands-on experiences, representing using oral language and concrete materials. Students are also working at vertical non-permanent surfaces where they stand in groups of 2-3 and solve problems by talking and reasoning with each other. Teachers are engaging in formative assessment strategies such as using reasoning prompts to encourage students to predict, generalise, reason and justify. From student responses and their representations, teachers make informed decisions about what students need and their next instructional steps. There is much less of a reliance on pencil and paper assessment tasks. Some examples of some reasoning prompts teachers are using regularly with their students are:
- What is the same and what is different?
- How can you describe this pattern?
- How can you show or prove that this is true?
- Is there another answer? Show me!
- Is this always true?
- Can you explain what you did, step by step?
Please enjoy some photos of our K-2 students engaging in the practical numeracy tasks.
Walk (or ride) to School Safely Day
Active kids are healthy kids. Why not walk or ride to school on Friday, 19 May. Enjoy the cool morning on this day, and walk or ride safely with an adul
t to school. Remember if you are under 10, you must hold an adult’s hand when crossing the road. If you are riding to school, be sure to wear a helmet. Always stop, look, listen and think before crossing the road. All students who walk or ride to school safely on Friday, May 19 will receive a ‘Walk safely to School Day’ tattoo.
WASTE FREE WEDNESDAY
We want to reduce the amount of plastic and food packaging we bring to school so we have decided to start WASTE FREE WEDNESDAY! This is an environmental initiative run by the Living Fully in Community Team in conjunction with Garden club and the WEN Ambassadors in Year 5. This is what Waste Free Wednesday is all about:
- Bring food without packaging every Wednesday- no plastic
- There will be a tally of how many students in each class bring waste free food to school on Wednesdays at eating time at recess
- The class that brings the most waste free lunches to school will be the WASTE WARRIORS and will receive the St Michael’s Peace Lily for their classroom for the week.
- At the end of the term, the class with the most Waste Warriors will win the special Environment Award which is extra play time and a taste testing session from harvested fruits and vegetables from our school garden.
So don’t forget to pack fresh foods in your lunch every Wednesday, starting next Wednesday (Week 4) and ditch the plastic. I wonder who will the next week’s WASTE Warriors?
Mrs Amy Sammut - Assistant Principal
Enrolments for 2024
Enrolment Applications for Kindergarten 2024 are now open. If you have a child attending Kindergarten next year or you know of anyone who is thinking of enrolling their child, please encourage them to visit our St Michael’s website or visit the school office for the Enrolment forms. There is also opportunities for new families to visit the school to have a tour and meet our new Principal Mr James Bryce. https://www.smtdow.catholic.edu.au
2024 Kindergarten Enrolments Update
The Enrolment process for Kindergarten 2024 is well underway and we are delighted with the positive response so far.
Mr James Bryce will be conducting interviews in Weeks 6 & 7. These dates and times were emailed to the relevant applicants last week. Following the interview process and enrolment offers/acceptances, we will also be providing an Orientation Day and Transition to School Playgroup sessions. These dates will be confirmed later in the term.
Mother’s Day Breakfast
Our wonderful P&F with be hosting a Mother’s Day breakfast on Friday, 12 May in the hall and on the verandah commencing at 7.45am - 9.00am. There will be a breakfast station that the students can use to get something for their Mum, Grandma or Carer in the hall and from there we can then move to eat outside. Please confirm your attendance via the link below or contact the school office. It will be a very special morning and we look forward to showing you how special you are!
https://forms.gle/Yehod8EmSAVYwFpH9
St Michael's Cook Book
2023 Wollongong Running Festival
It's on again! A fantastic local running event.
Once again there is a $1,000.00 prize money up for grabs for the school with the most particpants. Last year, St Michael's were the runners up only missing out by a narrow margin. The students who did particpate in the 2k event had a fantastic time and there was a sea of blue when our athletes ran in their sports uniform. This year we hope to have an even bigger team attend. Mr Bryce and other staff members have already registered.
To help motivate us and and get us into the spirit, James from Savvy Fitness will visit our school next Tuesday to do a fun active workshop with each class and also talk about the Running Festival. There will be prizes and a mascot design competition that the students can do at home or in class.
Sunday, 4 June at North Wollongong - 2K event starts at 9.30am
To register visit:
Term 2 Sport Uniform Days
Please see the table below indicating sports days for each class for Term 2. Students are to wear their full sports uniforms on these days.
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Class |
Sports Days |
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Kindergarten |
Tuesday and Friday |
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Year 1 |
Tuesday and Friday |
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Year 2 |
Tuesday and Friday |
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Year 3 |
Monday and Thursday |
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Year 4 |
Monday and Thursday |
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Year 5 |
Tuesday and Friday |
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Year 6 |
Tuesday and Friday |
This year our school photo day will be held on Wednesday, 14 June. Students are to wear their full winter uniform with their hair neat and tidy. Envelopes went home with students this week. If you require a sibling photo, sibling envelopes are available at the office.
Please note that all envelopes are to be brought in on (or before) the actual day of photography, this assists in the smooth operation of the pre-payment system.
Canteen
Last Thursday we welcomed Canteen Kat to St Michael’s. Kat and Nicole had a lovely day meeting our wonderful students and providing delicious healthy lunches and snacks. A reminder the canteen is open on Thursdays only at this stage. To place orders, please sign up to the online portal - My School Connect https://myschoolconnect.com.au
We look forward to working together with Canteen Kat in providing this wonderful service to our school.
School Assembly Timetables
|
Week |
Focus |
|
3 |
Awards and Environmental initiatives |
|
5 |
Awards and Respectful Relationships |
|
7 |
Awards and Respectful Relationships |
|
9 |
St Michael’s Vision and Mission Awards |