Enrolling Now

We’re enrolling now for 2026! Applications are fee-free and can be made online. If your child is due to start Kindergarten next year, the best time to make your application is in Term 1 this year.  

Learn more about our school and the enrolment process here:

https://www.smtdow.catholic.edu.au/

St Michael's Open Day

We are holding our 2025 Open Day for prospective families wanting to enrol their children at St Michael's for Kindergarten 2026.

Date: Tuesday, 11 March 2025

Time: 9.30-10.30am

Come and see what our wonderful school has to offer and have the opportunity to meet our amazing staff and students.

To register your attendance, please click on the link below.

https://forms.gle/XMj763HxzqJekswU7

P&F AGM and GM

On Monday 10 March we will be holding our Annual General Meeting and General Meeting. As a part of this meeting we will be electing our P&F team for 2025. The P&F plays a critical role in supporting us in building a connected school community and ensuring our additional funding is targeted to the needs present within the school. There are some exciting plans in the pipeline that were shared with the parent community in the term 4 meeting. We look forward to seeing many parents join us for this initial meeting. 

Calendar overview 

Pupil Free Days

Naplan 2025

Students in Years 3 and 5 will sit NAPLAN between 12 and 24 March 2025. NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are already learning at school. It is not a test that requires preparation, and students are not expected to study for it. NAPLAN forms part of a school’s assessment and reporting process but does not replace ongoing teacher assessments of student performance. Individual results can be a helpful resource for students and parents to discuss progress with teachers.

For more information, visit the Parents and Carers page on the NAP website and download the NAPLAN Information Brochure for Parents and Carers. You can also visit the Public Demonstration Site page to explore the test format.

IMPORTANT: All students must bring fully charged ipads to school each day and working headphones/ear phones during NAPLAN

Test Schedule

National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) for Students with a Disability

The NCCD for students with a disability has commenced for 2025. Students who currently have personalised plans (PPs) will have learning and/or wellbeing goals set by their teachers in consultation with students and parents and the first round of PP meetings will be held later this term. Please note that some students will only require ONE formal PP meeting with parents while others will require 2 meetings. We will inform you if there will be one or two formal meetings for your child at the first meeting. You are always welcome to contact the school to discuss your child’s progress with their teacher if you wish to and we also have the formal Term 2 parent/teacher conferences and optional conferences in Term 4 for an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress. Please find attached information on who is included in the NCCD and what it means.

 Fact sheet for parents, guardians and carers

Waste Free Wednesday Week 4 Results

Kindergarten: 93%

Year 1: 27%

Year 2: 61%

Year 3: 61%

Year 4: 37%

Year 5: 52%

Year 6: 88%

So the gold winners are: kindergarten

And the Silver winners are: year 6

Waste Free Wednesday Week 5 Results

Kindergarten: 50%

Year 1: 67%

Year 2: 88%

Year 3: 39%

Year 4: 69%

Year 5: 42%

Year 6: 90%

So the Gold Waste free warriors are: Year 6

And the Silver waste free warriors are: Year 2

Personalised Plan Meetings - Week 10. 

Parents and carers of students with a diagnosed or imputed disability will have an opportunity to meet with teachers either in person or via telephone in Week 10 this term to discuss their learning and/or wellbeing goals and progress towards these. Conferences will be set up on Compass for parents to book in. There are normally 2 formal meetings per year for students on personalised plans, however CEDoW have informed schools that some students on lower levels of adjustment, will only require one formal meeting. Teachers will inform parents of whether they will have 1 or 2 formal PP meetings at the week 10 meeting. Parents are always welcome to book in a meeting with teachers throughout the year if they would like to discuss their child’s learning or wellbeing progress and there are the formal parent teacher interviews held in Term 2 and optional interviews in Term 4. 

What’s Coming Up…

March is a big month and there’s lots to be excited about including:

St Patrick’s Day Year 6 Graduation Fundraiser 20th Match, where students can wear green mufti, purchase green treats baked and made by Year 6 students, play fun games, do some irish dancing, enter a green lolly guessing comp. Keep an eye out for posters advertising St Pat’s Day!

Harmony Day 25th March, where we celebrate cultural diversity. We will have Cultural infusion perform dances, music and performances from cultures around the world, fried rice lunch, orange mufti and much more. 

Gotcha4life update 

As you know we are on our way to becoming a 'MENTALLY FIT' primary school where we all use our emotional muscles to help regulate, we connect with our village and never worry alone. Here's a FREE webinar hosted by Dr. Jodie Lowinger, award-winning Clinical Psychologist, Executive and High Performance Coach and author brought to you by Gotcha4Life. March 10th at 7pm-8pm. You can register via this link registration link. 

Our staff are exploring lots of different ‘mental fitness’ strategies in the classroom and students are becoming more aware of this term each and every day. We are so excited for the remainder of term and to see this impact on the students. 

 For more information about Gotcha4Life and their vision, please visit: https://www.gotcha4life.org/ 

Assistant Principal 

What’s coming up for staff 

Building Consistency in Writing Assessment

At St Michael’s, we are committed to ensuring that our students receive high-quality teaching and learning experiences. This year, our Annual Improvement Goal focuses on students demonstrating growth in writing and confidently identifying their next steps in learning.

To support this, all teachers will be participating in a Community of Practice (COPs) alongside three other single streamed schools in the Wollongong Diocese. This collaboration will allow us to develop consistent teacher judgement in assessing student writing, ensuring fairness and accuracy across classrooms. 

Next week, our staff will take part in a Twilight Professional Learning Session, where they will:

✅ Explore modern assessment strategies

✅ Strengthen writing assessment and moderation practices

✅ Work with expert Professor Jim Tognolini to deepen their understanding of assessment frameworks. 

This work will prepare teachers for a Staff Development Day later this term, where they will refine their assessment practices using real student work samples. By working together, we will ensure that every student's progress is recognised and supported in a consistent and meaningful way.

We look forward to seeing the impact of this work on student learning throughout the year!

Mrs Chelsea McLeod - Instructional Coach

Exciting News for our creative Stage 1 students

Year 1 and 2 students have been engaging in learning experiences to heighten their awareness of the sea and its remarkable inhabitants.  As part of this unit students have made ‘Sea Skewer Sculptures’.  The end results were so spectacular that these sculptures are now on display at Thirroul Library!

If you have the chance to go to the library the display is in the main cabinet near the borrowing desk as you enter through the automatic doors.

What an exciting and great opportunity for our budding artists.

Well done to all our Stage 1 students.

Mrs Laura Aguilera - Creative Arts Teacher

Book Club brochures (Issue 2) will be coming home in the next few days, cut off for these orders is Friday 28 March.

 - Issue 1 deliveries are due next week.

 -  All Book Club orders should be placed through the Book Club Loop.

Thank you to all our parents and carers that support Bookclub. The more you order, the more credits we get for our library, so THANKYOU!

Mrs Mel Costello - Library SSO