At St Michael’s we strive to create a vibrant Catholic school community where every student finds meaning and purpose in their life through experiencing continual growth in faith and improvement in learning. In doing this, we provide a caring teaching and learning environment that addresses the learning and wellbeing of students, including those with additional learning, wellbeing and health needs. 

Regular attendance at school for every student is therefore essential for their improvement in learning, development and social emotional wellbeing. Every minute matters and there is no safe level of absenteeism.

While parents are legally responsible for the regular attendance of their children at school, school staff, as part of their duty of care and legal obligation must keep an accurate enrolment and attendance register in the form approved by the NSW Education Minister. 

Parental responsibilities include:

• enrolling their children of compulsory school age (between the ages of six and seventeen) in a government or registered non‐government school or registering them with the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) for home schooling;

• ensuring that their children attend school every day the school is open for instruction;
• explaining the absences of their children from school promptly by means such as a telephone call, written note, text message, email to the school or via the compass portal within 7 days from the first day of any period of absence;

• working in partnership with the school to plan and implement strategies to support regular attendance at school, including communicating with the school if they are  aware of issues impacting on their child's attendance or engagement with school. 

The Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) supports schools to maintain the enrolment and attendance register that includes; Daily attendance, absences, reason for absence, correct use of the attendance codes and documented records of the Minister’s delegation under section 25 of the Education Act.

An effective means of restoring and maintaining regular school attendance includes sound attendance monitoring practices and regular follow‐up of unexplained absences by contacting parents promptly.

As part of attendance monitoring practices and regular follow-up of absences I would like to highlight the following school processes.

• Daily notifications via compass of absences.
• Letters regularly sent to parents to follow-up unexplained absences.
• Repeated and ongoing late arrivals or early departures recorded as an absence.
• Family Extended Leave (Travel and Holidays) to be taken during school vacation periods.
• An Application for Extended Leave (Travel / Holiday) must be completed and submitted to the principal prior to the travel or holiday period.
• For students participating in elite arts or elite sporting programs who are required to attend regular activities/training during school time an Application for Exemption from Attendance / Enrolment at School must be completed and submitted to the principal for approval prior to commencing the program. 

Please note: 

• Elite Arts is defined as an opportunity for a student to participate in an event or program that is beyond the gifted and talented opportunities that CEDoW offers. 
• Accredited Elite Sports programs include national and international sports organisations which run camps for athletes and national sports squads in which students have been selected to participate.

Regular attendance is important and the school, in partnership with parents, seeks to support the regular attendance of students at school. Please contact the school to discuss any attendance matter as required. 

God Bless

Mrs Belinda Hughes - Principal

SRI - Differentiation  

This year one of our school priorities is differentiation. Our focus this year is to engage, challenge and extend students at St Michael’s. This term, each class’ Religious Education ‘Easter’ unit used contemporary effective teaching strategies which promote student engagement and provide students an opportunity to have ownership over their learning. Students developed their skills to work collaboratively and be critical, creative and innovative thinkers. 

Here are some work samples which showcase the wonderful work from Kindergarten to Year 6. Please click the links to take a closer look! 

Kindergarten

Year 1 

• https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRwiGMH-HGVCYpyBxgMNoane1upS_jifEmhQJtMkVIYjSFsZCnywhMkpVEAZYRVm4u9CoBj0UkT75IU/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=3000 

Year 2

 Year 4 PB4L

Year 3

Year 5

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F2dYMpu1suluKOFzowQFguURdJclLaUn/view?usp=sharing 

Year 6

• https://anchor.fm/lodi-nettle/episodes/EPISODE-1The-Host-Understanding-e110sr3 
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/19gc9f39Ot6mc9ap0gXjcOfGhY3y0HKQ_/view?usp=sharing

RE Inquiry Groups

Miss Emma Riolo - Middle Leader 2

Please see the latest video of the wonderful things that are happening in Year 6 White.

Class Learning News

With the introduction of Seesaw and the continual communication of learning via this means, we will no longer be sending home a separate Class Learning News at the beginning of each term. Important information or organisational information will be communicated via Compass and at the end of the year parents will be provided with a list of requirements for the following year. As always if you have any questions about the learning in your child’s class please contact the class teacher via the school office.

St Francis of Assisi Award - For love of and appreciation for all of God’s creation

This year we are introducing a new award at St Michael’s. It is an Environmental Award that will be presented to students who have exemplified themselves by contributing to a range of the criteria listed below. One student per class will be nominated by their teacher. This award will be presented on 1st September when the school community comes together for a liturgy to celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. 

Criteria

• Aligns their environmental beliefs with Gospel Values through their words and actions, at school and at home.
• Reflects St Francis' devotion to God through their love and appreciation for all of God's creation. This includes showing care / concern for those less fortunate, the poor or sick.
• Exhibits the naturalist intelligence. Students with naturalist intelligence are those who seem to be in love with the natural world. They like to spend time there, they thrive there, they are skilled and confident and comfortable there, and they learn best there — in short, they are nature smart.
• Demonstrates great interest in nature, the environment, conservation, stewardship, ecology, and/or sustainability and sustainable development.
• Exemplifies enthusiasm, energy, initiative, and commitment toward the natural environment, and serves as an inspiration to other students.
• Has perhaps put their interest into action through an ongoing campaign or one-time project (of age/grade-appropriate scale) that has raised environmental awareness or led to environmentally friendly discussion, reaction or change in the student's class, school or community. 
• Demonstrates commitment in being part of the Green Team and taking care of the gardens on a regular basis.
• Assists with the waste management within the classroom and the playground  by making sure the 4 coloured bin system runs smoothly.

We look forward to sharing this opportunity with our students and hearing about the great things they are doing for God’s creation. 

Mrs Katie Kelly  - WEN Representative

How to read my child’s Academic Report

Reports are written in line with the requirements of the new NSW K-10 syllabuses for the Australian Curriculum in English, Mathematics and Science. In addition, St Michael’s follows Diocesan guidelines in the writing of reports. Grades are awarded to students following the Common Grade Scale. At the Parent Teacher Interview your child’s class teacher will be able to explain how the grade awarded reflects the level of work your child is currently demonstrating. It is a requirement of national legislation for primary schools to provide twice-yearly written reports for students in Years 1 - 6 to parents for ten years of schooling. These reports are to be standards-referenced which in NSW means reporting based on the Common Grade Scale. Standards-referenced reporting requires teachers to consider the performance of each student according to the standard detailed at each level (A-E) of the Common Grade Scale for each Key Learning Area (KLA). Students are then awarded a grade based on the evidence teachers have of their learning in that particular KLA and the standard it reflects. According to the Common Grade Scale a ‘C’ grade is considered sound. That is, if awarded a C in a particular KLA the student has demonstrated that they have gained the knowledge, skills and understanding expected of them at that point in time. Some features of the report include: Overall grades Each KLA has an overall grade that is determined by the teacher by considering the evidence of each student’s learning and the standard on the Common Grade Scale it reflects. Overall grades are not determined by averaging performance on strands within a KLA. In many cases more time has been dedicated to learning in one strand over others and this contributes significantly to the balanced judgement a teacher is required to make in order to award an overall grade. It is not unusual for a student’s overall grade to change from one reporting period to the next as the knowledge, skills and understanding they encounter in each KLA will vary from one reporting period to the next.

Sixteen of St Michael’s girls participated at the South Coast Netball Gala Day on Tuesday 15^th June. We had 1 junior girls’ team and 1 senior girls team attend. The girls from both teams had an awesome day!

The gala day is focused on participation, giving everything a go and having a day of fun and our teams did exactly that! They all had a turn at multiple positions and by the end of the gala day they were all very familiar with the rules and techniques required to play an efficient game. The girls showed great team spirit and often cheered the other team on when they had breaks!

We would like to say thank you to the parents that came and helped out as team managers. Your assistance was greatly appreciated in cheering on the girls and keeping the day and the teams running smoothly.

Overall, it was a great day. Everyone should be very proud of how they represented their team and our school!

Miss Negus and Mrs Aguilera

NSWCPS Cross Country

Two talented runners from St Michael’s were selected to represent the Wollongong Diocese at the next level of representation on Tuesday 8th June at Sydney Motorsport Park. Giselle B and Clancy M atuned their motors in preparation for the challenge ahead. For two young runners that have had very limited experience in this domain, they did an outstanding job at not only representing our community but also the Diocese. We also congratulate the support given by their parents, who took the time to escort them to the event and provide that extra bit of encouragement to get them over the line. Clancy came in at a commendable 30th place and Giselle coming in at an equally commendable position of 13th. Well done!

Mrs Ronelle Peardon - Middle Leader 1