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/

Semester 1 Reports

The Semester 1 reports will be made available on Compass this Friday 27 June. The reports are a reflection of achievement over the course of Semester one. Please note there is no general comment in the Semester 1 report. Teachers will provide an update on your child’s faith, learning and wellbeing at the parent teacher interviews on Wednesday 2 July. Thank you to the teachers for their tireless work in preparing the Semester 1 reports. 

Waste Free Wednesday Update

Week 9 Results

Kindergarten: 89%

Year 1: 76%

Year 2 :84%

Year 3: 69%

Year 4: 66%

Year 5: 76%

Year 6: 66%

So the Gold Waste free warriors are: Kindergarten

And the Silver waste free warriors are: Year 2

The overall Term 2 

We’ve had a fantastic term exploring the Gotcha4Life protective factors, and it’s been wonderful to see our students growing in confidence as they learn how to apply these strategies in challenging situations.

To continue strengthening their understanding of mental fitness and to support you as parents in helping your child navigate difficult moments, we will be hosting a Parent Workshop on Emotional Resilience.

This session will be facilitated by Psychologist Marina Bailey, with a focus on helping students stay strong at school. Please refer to the attached flyer for further information.

Please register your attendance for catering purposes through the following link: https://forms.gle/yYPQiwF4eZzw8xzn8
We hope you can join us for what promises to be an engaging and valuable session filled with practical strategies and meaningful insights. 

Peer Support 

This week, students participated in their second Peer Support lesson, focusing on the protective factor of building your emotional muscles.

Through engaging activities, students explored how to identify different emotions and emotional responses in a variety of situations. They learned that all emotions are valid, but it’s how we manage these emotions that really matters and that by recognising and naming our emotions, we are able to build our emotional muscles to help us. 

To consolidate their learning, students worked together to create a class poster showcasing a range of strategies they can use when experiencing big or tricky emotions. 

A big thank you to our wonderful Stage 3 leaders for showing great initiative and building respectful relati​​onships as they confidently led their Peer Support groups. 

​​Mrs Cheetham - Middle Leader 1

Writing Is Buzzing at St Michael’s!

There’s a real buzz around writing at St Michael’s right now! Across all year levels, students are engaged, motivated, and showing incredible growth as writers. Across the school, we are seeing a range of different genres being written - From imaginative stories to persuasive pieces to informative texts and even hybrids, the quality of student writing is on the rise—and we couldn’t be prouder.

One exciting new initiative helping drive this momentum isBump It Up Walls, which have now been introduced in classrooms across the school. These walls are visual learning tools that help students understand exactly what success in writing looks like. By displaying clear exemplars of different levels of writing, students can compare their own work and identify what they need to do to "level up."

Students are actively using the Bump It Up Walls to set goals, revise their drafts, and improve key aspects of their writing such sentence structure, vocabulary, and cohesion. It’s been wonderful to see them take ownership of their learning and feel empowered to make purposeful improvements. Please take a moment to have a look at some of our amazing Writing ‘Bump It Up Walls,’ that are starting to be used in the classrooms. 

Celebrating Our Young Writers – Write-On Competition

I’m proud to share that 74 students from across St Michael’s entered this year’s Write-On competition—a wonderful reflection of the strong writing culture growing in our school.

With so many thoughtful and high-quality entries, it was incredibly difficult to select just three to represent our school. We are thrilled to announce our finalists:

Stage 1: Elena L

Stage 2: Daisy D

Stage 3: Jemima C

Please enjoy reading the winning entries below. 

WILD GIRL

Once upon a time, there was a girl called Lavenda. Her parents didn't want her anymore. The only thing they ever gave her was her name. She was 3 when they threw her away. 

Although they were really kind, none took her as their child. One day, she came to a wonderful jungle. She met a big lion. It roared loudly! ROAR! Then it began to chase her into the middle of the jungle. The lion left her alone. Suddenly, a big white fox appeared! Lavenda screamed! Ahhhh! Then the fox did something. She didn't expect it. It talked! “Hi! My name is Snow-flake. Can you please help me? I need to find my ring! I lost it and the ring helps me stay alive. 

After 6 weeks, I will die because I don't have my ring. Oh how many weeks have passed? Ok I can help you but can you protect me? Of course! Come on! Where did you lose it? I bet it is in mermaid glow lake. Where is Mermaid Glow Lake? It is in Sparkle forest and Sparkle forest is in the south of this jungle. Here follow me. Ok. Ahhhhhhhh no! It's… It's… It's the lion that chased me. Really? That's ok! I will fight him.”

Then Snow-flake had a big fight with Mr. Big Lion. Snow-flake won! Hooray! Lavenda laughed. "I feel like calling him my poof lion." "Come on!" 2 hours went by and both of them had many fights with other animals. But finally, they were at Mermaid Glow Lake. “I see it,” said Lavenda. 

Snow-flake tried to stop her but it was too late. Lavenda jumped into the bright, shiny lake. She got hold of the ring and was swimming up when a mermaid caught her and pulled her down. She locked her in. You see since Lavenda was so pretty, the mermaid might have been jealous and caught her. 

She was losing her breath. She was going to die. But then Lavenda got an idea! There was a big gap under the door and the key was on the other side. So she put newspaper under the door, using a piece of wire she found. She took the key. The key fell onto the newspaper. Then took the newspaper back in. She unlocked the door! "I am free! She swam up! Hooray! I am alive. Here is the ring. Sorry Snow-flake, I have to leave you." 

Before Lavenda could say another word, Snow-flake left her. So Lavenda walked away too. She met the lion but this time, he gave her a bunch of fresh grapes and all the other animals gave her presents too. 

The sun started to set. Lavenda found a nice little warm crack between 2 trees and thought maybe, "I will stay here. I will like her." 

As she fell asleep, she thought maybe, "Just maybe, they were changing." Could they be changing? And Lavenda fell asleep.

 By Elena L

Four Seasons 

The wind whistles through the trees, ducking, dodging branches as sharp as knives.

Spiders spin their webs as soft as silk, dew drops the size of gum balls fall from leaves as green as clover, tickles my toes, the sun touches my skin, hugging me like a blanket. The rushing river dazzles and dances tossing over rocks and galloping past fields speckled with sunlight as yellow as butter. Birds fly as delicately as a single ballerina gliding across the stage. Bees, butterflies and ladybugs hum in unity in the sunny morning.

Summer:  

The sound of crashing waves as loud as symbols fill the crisp morning air. Swimsuits in every colour of the rainbow shimmer in the turquoise blue water and snorkels float in the refreshing calm ocean hoping to spot a turtle.

In the sunny afternoon children come to pick mangoes from my branches, juice dribbles down their grinning faces staining dresses and shirts alike.

As twilight dawns ever closer, smiling families come to picnic and tell stories.  Their bubbly conversations float into the dark navy sky and eventually I fall asleep to the sweet smell of the warm air and the melodic tune of crickets chirping in the moonlight.

Autumn:

Golden, red, orange and yellow leaves fall from my chocolate brown branches, children laugh and jump in the dry piles of pumpkin spice coloured leaves.  Tongues burn as steaming hot chocolate trickles down throats.

A wooden swing is tied to my sturdy arms and kids of every age take turns trying to touch the bright blue sky. Mist as thick as glue surrounds mountains as tall as giraffes, coats, scarves and mittens brush against my rough body.

Foxes, rabbits and snails wander throughout the forest, hiding under pine trees and running past meadows filled with sunflowers as bright as the stars in the sky.  

Winter:

Frost clings to trees as green as the evacuation light in a classroom and snow comes to rest on the damp, rich soil. I catch snowflakes on my tongue,

wind stings my eyes and the freezing cold moss under my feet squelches and squashes as I sit patiently waiting. Pink, blue, purple, cream, puffer jackets squeeze my body into tight hugs. Smoke fills the acrylic afternoon air 

and fires burn in each apartment, in each cabin, in each house. Ugg Boots and gumboots are in season, salt is used to clear each person’s driveway.

Steaming hot soup sits on each family’s table.

Spring:

Apricot, limes and pineapple juice is a household favourite,

In spring children spill it all over my clean wooden shoes.

Cherry blossoms bloom on every tree and Barbados cherries grow plump and juicy on bushes. Babies are born and sweet deer and hedgehogs come out to play, they stumble and trip. Short sleeve dresses are back in fashion and the breeze is crisp and sweet. Chocolate and fruit are on every picnic blanket and everyone is happy as could be. My hair is luscious and green again.

By Daisy D

Something Is Breaking, Something Is Forming 

The concrete floor hurts my little back. The chill seeps through my grotty clothes, making me stiff. I hate the world I'm living in. I hate running and hiding, but most of all I hate goodbyes.

“Muman, what’s happening?” I scream, and scream. My ears throb with pain; I feel the vibration running through my heels. We are getting hit. I envision my house, falling, smashing. Gone. We have made it to the harbour. I'm fully out of breath when Muman starts to speak — there is a worry in her words, something that I can’t explain.

“Kathleen, listen to me. I shall send you to a better place. No war or fighting; there will be peace and so much love. This place is called Australia.” Muman tries to smile, but the soft lines around her eyes tighten like cracks in glass. I stay silent — not because I want to, but because fear grabs hold of my throat and it won’t let go.

She continues. “You will get married to a soldier and live happily ever after.” It’s just like one of Muman’s fairy tales — beautiful at first, but you can feel something terrible coming. The boat suddenly blows its last whistle. “No time for goodbyes.” She kisses me on the cheek and whispers in my ear, “Have courage and be kind.” I slowly step onto the rocky boat. The ship was massive, bigger than any building I’ve ever seen. Battered and scarred but strong, amazingly strong. Like it has survived my worst nightmare. I believe that this huge machine will carry us away from everything we have ever known, then it will lead us into the lonely uncharted.

I quickly take my place, then I wave. Tots zeins. Too cold, too sad. I quickly slip my hand back into my pocket. Courage and kindness, a perfect match. One push, and I was gone — swallowed by the water, by the night, by fate. Goodbye, Belgium. I feel something slightly break inside of me. Is it hope?

I don’t want to remember the night of the ship, or the family I left behind. I have changed. I am a true Australian woman. I am, I am, I am.

By Jemima C

Congratulations to these students and to every child who entered. You should be proud of your achievement. We now await to hear how our finalists go!

We’re so excited to see the writing culture at St Michael’s continue to flourish. Stay tuned—there’s lots more writing to come!

Reminder: ICAS Competitions 2025 – Register Now!

This is a friendly reminder for families of students in Years 2–6 to register for the 2025 ICAS Competitions if you haven’t already. These optional assessments offer a wonderful opportunity to recognise your child’s academic strengths in Digital Technologies, English, Mathematics, Science, Spelling Bee, and Writing.

ICAS provides valuable feedback and a chance for students to extend their learning through challenges. You can select which subjects your child will enter based on their interests.

Please check the Compass post for registration instructions, key dates, and deadlines. Don’t miss out on this chance to support your child’s growth and achievement!

STEM across St Michael’s

Earlier this week, Mr David Ryan and I had the privilege of attending the STEM Enrichment Academy at the University of Sydney. It was an inspiring two days, and we’re excited to bring back new ideas to enhance STEM learning across our school.

We have some exciting plans in the areas of STEM for Semester 2, with engaging tasks planned for all year levels. These will provide students with opportunities to problem-solve, design, and think creatively. We’ll keep you updated as these exciting new STEM initiatives roll out across the school—watch this space!

This week we’ve already seen some wonderful STEM learning happening, with Stage One students designing and building birdhouses. We definitely have some budding engineers in the making! Please take a moment to have a look at some of the amazing birdhouses they created. We’re so proud of their creativity and effort.

Celebrating Our Years 5 and 6 Students at the Sacred Sparks Octathlon

Today, some of our Years 5 and 6 students proudly represented St Michael’s at the Sacred Sparks Octathlon held at Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School in Fairy Meadow.

Our teams competed against three other schools in this exciting inter-school gala, participating in eight academic disciplines: Mathematics, Code Breaking, Religious Education, Science, Engineering, English, Cartography, and Dramatic Interpretation.

The theme for this year’s Octathlon was “Beacons of Hope.” Students worked through three sessions of challenging tasks designed to encourage higher order thinking skills like analysis, synthesis, and creativity.

We are extremely proud of how well our students collaborated and supported one another throughout the day. Their teamwork and dedication truly shone.

Congratulations to all who took part. You have made St Michael’s proud!

Chelsea McLeod -  Instructional Coach