The beating heart of St Michael’s

Over the past two years we have sharpened our focus on animating our beautiful vision statement. As I shared at our Opening School Mass, I want St Michael’s to be more than just a school focussed on excellence in learning. I aspire for it to be a place that works in partnership with parents to shape beautiful human beings that ultimately are empowered to become the best version of themselves. The most enjoyable part of my role is being in the classrooms and on the playground to connect with our students and be inspired by their daily words and actions. It gives me a great sense of pride to witness the love, connection, and respect displayed by our wonderful students and staff. Please see below some beautiful moments of kindness that I was fortunate to witness over the past fortnight:

• Year 5 buddies: providing guidance, support, and even cuddles for our new Kindergarten students during our opening school Mass. Their kindness and patience was truly inspiring. 
• Ciara M- for going out of her way to support a kindergarten student who was tired and needing some extra support. 
• Mr Ryan during NAPLAN testing. This testing can create some worry and concern for our students. Prior to the test I witnessed Mr Ryan walking around the Year 5 classroom handing out personal messages on post it notes to every student. I watched as the students placed this message in a special place with a big smile on their face. When I asked how the post it note made them feel, they replied ‘valued and special.’ 
• Ayden D during  our opening Mass and school assembly. Public speaking can be a daunting affair for many people (including me). I love nothing more than seeing someone take on their worries or fears head on. Ayden epitomises this courage, and did a tremendous job of not only reading at our opening school Mass, but also facilitating a large component of our school assembly. I walked away extremely proud and inspired. 
• Jayden G and the whole school community. I was left inspired by the efforts of Jayden G during the Cross Country carnival. Jayden epitomises the St Michael’s spirit with his never give up attitude. I was left with goosebumps after witnessing the standing ovation from the whole community getting behind Jayden

I could spend all day listing the acts of kindness within our community. Like Christ, these students have inspired many others to work towards becoming the best version of themselves. 

Parent consultative Group

In response to our Tell Them From Me survey, in 2025 we are introducing a new initiative to continue to deepen partnerships between school and home. Recently, I sought expression of interest for parents interested in becoming a part of our very first parent consultative group. The purpose of this group is to represent parent voices and work alongside the Principal and Assistant Principal in crafting new ideas, providing feedback, and communicating messages aligned to our school vision and strategic direction. On Tuesday 1 April we will be holding our very first meeting for the newly appointed parent representatives. I am very pleased that we have parents representing almost all grades and am very grateful for their commitment to support our beautiful school through this initiative.  I’d like to thank the following parents for their commitment to this newly formed team in 2025:

Ed Shepherd (Year 1, Year 4, Year 5)

Victoria Deacon (Kindergarten, Year 2, Year 4)

Roxanne Journet (Year 2 and Year 4)

Karina Stuart-Street (Year 1 and Year 4)

Debbie Gillett (Kindergarten) 

Melissa McEntee (Year 4)

Alexa Marciano (Kindergarten and Year 4)

Jo Pye (Year 6)

St Michael’s award System
Our award system can be a mystery for our new families in the community. Please see below a reminder of our St Michael’s award structure.

CEDoW Attendance policy
Zooming in on: school based attendance monitoring

In alignment with our new attendance policy, we have made some amendments to our attendance monitoring. We have organised an attendance team that consists of the following team members: Amy Sammut, Chelsea McLeod, Claire Ryan, and James Bryce. Each fortnight we will meet to review whole school attendance data and identify any emerging patterns or concerns. Please do not be alarmed if you receive a phone call from one of the team members regarding attendance. Our intention is to better understand the emerging attendance concern, and work alongside you to assist in improving the attendance of your child. Late departures or frequent days off may not appear to be a concern, but this can quickly add up and have a significant impact on the learning and wellbeing of the child. 

Child development, early childhood intervention services, and disability support questionnaire 

A NSW Parliament select committee has been established to inquire into and report on child development, early childhood intervention services, and other foundational and disability supports available for children and young people with developmental concerns, delays, differences, or disabilities in New South Wales.

Further information about the inquiry, including the terms of reference, can be found on the committee's website here. 

As part of the inquiry, the committee is seeking online submissions from NSW residents through the following questions. Responses are due by Monday 31 March 2025.

Responses may be used in the committee's report. Names and contact details of respondents will not be published. The questionnaire will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Individual contributors can complete an online questionnaire. 

Terms of Reference.

Calendar overview 

Pupil Free Days

Mr James Bryce - Principal