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Dear Parents and Carers,
Last week I underwent my Principal Appraisal. I truly recognise the extra burden and time it takes to support the process when being asked to fill out a survey. I would like to take this opportunity to each and everyone of you who were able to complete a survey. I sincerely appreciate that you took the time to provide me with some valuable feedback.
As a part of the process I receive a summary of the key messages from all stakeholders, parents, staff, CEO personnel and students. I am very grateful for the affirmations and appreciate the constructive and productive recommendations that were gleaned from the process. I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you to provide the most purposeful, authentic and faith filled educational experiences for our students and community.
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As we draw closer to the end of term, I would also like to thank you for your continued understanding and support as we have navigated the daily challenges that have been presented in the last few weeks. Staff and students have proved to be so flexible and adaptable and I am proud to work with an amazing group of teachers and support staff who have all adapted and changed their plans to suit the needs of each day to ensure that we can continue to provide learning for our students. Parents, I am eternally grateful for your patience and compassion you have shown the school, other families, staff and myself as we have battled with staffing shortages and a steep increase in cases throughout the school.
With all this in mind I wish you a blessed Easter Break. My hope is that you are all able to take the time to reflect on the true meaning of Easter and enjoy some time with family and friends. Having some time to rejuvenate and come back ready for term 2!
God Bless
Mrs Belinda Hughes - Principal
Holy Week Celebrations
This week all grades across the school experienced the journey of Jesus. We gathered as a school community prayed and learnt about:
Palm Sunday - Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem
The Washing of the Feet - Jesus’ most powerful message about serving others
The Last Supper - Jesus’ last meal with his disciples
The Stations of the Cross- Jesus’ path to crucifixion, death and burial. I would like to thank all Staff and students' for partaking in and preparing for these special celebrations and prayers.
Easter Celebrations
This Easter season, may we all be blessed with the love of God reminding us of what is true. As we continue to make small sacrifices in daily living, may we keep in mind the biggest sacrifice that has been made for us out of love.
Please join us for an Easter prayer service hosted by Year Five on Thursday 28th April at 12.30 in the sacred space.
ANZAC Day Prayer Service
Parents, families and friends will be invited to attend our ANZAC Day service out on the top playground on Friday 29th of April (Term 2, Week 1) at 10:30am. Gates will open at 10.20am and seats will be provided for guests. In the case of wet weather the service will be held in our school hall.
Andrew Chinn Easter Concert
- Friday 6th of May (Term Two)
On Friday 6th of May Andrew will be visiting our school to conduct engaging musical workshops with all of our students during the day. All parents, friends and members of our school community are then invited to join us for a concert from 2.05pm -3.05pm in the school hall.
A prayer service for the Special women in our lives this
Mother’s Day!
As a school we will be celebrating the wonderful women in our lives with a Mother’s Day prayer service at our outdoor prayer space on Monday 9th May (Week 3) at 12:30pm . In the case of wet weather the service will be held in our school hall.
We would like to invite families to attend this prayer service with gates opening at 12:20pm. Seats will be provided for guests.
Families are invited to stay for eating time at the conclusion of the prayer service (1:00 - 1:15pm). Students will be able to have a picnic lunch with their families on the top cement / grass passive play area. Families will be asked to vacate before students go to play at their allocated playground.
If any special Mum’s, grandmother’s or carers would like to be involved in this prayer service or share a special gift or talent please notify the office by Thursday 28th April (Week One - Term Two).
First Holy Communion
Prayers of gratitude are offered to Fr Ken who worked so closely with the children and their families as they prepared for both Penance and Holy Eucharist.
Let us, as a school community, continue to keep these children in our prayers – may this day be for them the first of many meetings with Jesus in the Eucharist and may they continue to grow closer to Our Lord!
Prayer of Peace
Last week as a school community we prayed for peace. In Ukraine, sunflowers signify peace. Representing warmth and hope but, amid growing conflict with Russia, the flower is now more important than ever to the people of Ukraine. Students across the school read a story about peace, decorated sunflowers and spent time in prayer during our school assembly, remembering the people of Ukraine.
Grace and Blessings
Mrs Steph Brown - Religious Education Coordinator
Celebration of Year 2
This term, Year 2 has been working on imaginative texts.
We have had a huge focus on character traits and the structure of an imaginative text.
One focus book that we have had is called ‘One Runaway Rabbit’.
One Runaway Rabbit only has 3 words on each page, so their job was to create the story line for One Runaway Rabbit to make it more detailed.
Here are some pieces that showcase all the hard work Year 2 put into their stories!
Miss Negus and Year 2
Celebrating our Blue & Green House Captains
2023 Kinder Enrolments
The enrolment package is available from our school or online at www.dow.catholic.edu.au
RECORDING OF ABSENCES ON COMPASS
Please see communication below from the Catholic Education Office in regards to the requirements and changes to recording attendance.
The NSW Education Act (1990) and Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong (CEDoW) require Parents/Carers to ensure that children of compulsory school age attend school on each day that the school is open for instruction. If children are absent from school, Parents/Carers are required to provide the school with an acceptable explanation, within seven days of the absence.
During the next school holiday vacation period the settings in compass will be adjusted to reflect the requirements of the Education Act (1990). After seven days, absences will automatically be recorded as Absent - unexplained / unjustified if the school is not provided with an acceptable explanation from Parents/Carers. Parents wishing to provide the school with an acceptable explanation after the seven day period, will need to contact the school and the school will adjust the attendance register. Parents will no longer be able to enter the absence through the parental portal in Compass after the seven day period.
The school will continue to support Parents/Carers and frequently send home letters giving Parents/Carers the opportunity to provide the school with an explanation for absences.
Please do not hesitate to contact the school should you require further information regarding the change.
Calendar and Upcoming Events
All activities and events are advertised in the newsletter, reminders are sent out via Compass and are placed on the St Michael’s Thirroul Parent calendar. The Compass alerts and Parent Calendar are the most up to date details. Please see below instructions on how to access the calendar through compass and the school newsletter. If you have any questions please contact the school.
Term Dates and Staff Development Days 2022
Term 2, 2022
- Pupil Free Day - Monday 25 April
- Staff Development Day - Tuesday 26 April
- 27 April - First day of Term 2 (Wednesday)
- 1 July - Last day of Term 2 (Friday)
Term 3, 2022
- 18 July - First day of Term 3 (Monday)
- Pupil Free Day - Friday 26 August
- 23 September - Last day of Term 3 (Friday)
Term 4, 2022
- 10 October - First day of Term 4 (Monday)
- 19 December - Last day of Term 4 (Monday)
- Pupil Free Day - Tuesday 20 December
Contacting Students During the School Day
As a school we have a duty of care and responsibility for all students whilst they are at school. It is critical that all messages for students are sent through the office. This is also the case for students contacting parents through the day to come and pick them up. At no point should a student contact their parent using their iPad or iwatch.
If your child contacts you from school please remind them to talk to their teacher. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this matter.
Peer Support has started off with a bang!
As I checked in on all students during the sessions, I was gladly met with smiles, laughter and the most wonderful conversations between all levels of students. The engagement was overwhelming.
The Year 5 and 6 students have really shone through and demonstrated their leadership skills as they planned, organised resources and facilitated the sessions. They have drawn on the learnings made through the leadership training program and put it all into practice.
Some of the comments from the students include:
“This is so much fun!”
“I am enjoying making things with the school leaders.”
“I love helping the younger students.”
We have used the “Getting together” unit so that the students become familiar with the expectations of the program. The activities have involved a lot of ‘getting to know you’ and ‘working together’ fun activities. This has facilitated the awareness of other team members as well as using other parts of the school that some students may not have visited before (such as the mysterious Year 5 and 6 classrooms?
As mentioned in the last newsletter, we will start the new term with the ‘Keeping Friends’ module. This module will support the students in developing knowledge, skills and attitudes enabling them to make friends more readily and maintain those friendships. The students will be provided with a range of opportunities to discuss different types of friendship, the importance of friendships and how to play well together.
Mrs Ronelle Peardon and Mrs Chelsea McLeod
P&F Newsletter Announcement, Thursday 7th April 2022
Easter Hat Parade - Cancelled Tomorrow.
Easter Raffle - Staff at school will organise and draw the raffle through the day. Students who are at school will receive their prizes otherwise families will be notified via Compass and are invited to to collect from the school office.
Thank you to our Year 6 class reps who have helped organise such a wonderful event.
Raffle tickets need to be handed in by Friday. Last chance to grab some extras today! Thank you for your continued support.
P&F General Meetings
Term 2
Week 5, 26 May 2022, 6.30pm for tea and coffee, Meeting commences at 7pm
Term 2 P&F General Meeting we welcome guest speaker Sophie Sedgwick from Peer Support to discuss the Peer Support Program.
Please send through any ideas, suggestions, or questions you would like raised to pandf@smtdow.catholic.edu.au by 12th May 2022.
Mufti Day
On 25th March, P&F hosted Term 1 Mufti Day which was embraced by all. Thank you to those who provided a gold coin donation. A total of $207 was raised – Thank you again for your continued support!
In Term 2, week 10, the P&F will be looking to be holding a themed mufti day. Example themes could be ‘dress up as your favourite superhero’ or perhaps wear ‘your house colours for the day’. All ideas and themes are welcomed. Please send suggestions through to pandf@smtdow.catholic.edu.au to be discussed at the next P&F meeting, 26 May 2022.