Dear Parents and Carers,

This year we have launched and are ritualising the school’s new Vision and Mission statement across the school. It is an exciting opportunity to reconnect with our core values and continue to live out what St Michael’s is truly about.

A part of the implementation journey of our new Vision is the introduction of an award at the end of every term for each class based on the three pillars of the Vision statement. The final term’s assembly will be dedicated to the awards to emphasise their significance. The awards are about acknowledging and celebrating leadership and a genuine expression of our Vision.

Inspired by Christ, we aspire to excellence in learning, living life fully in community.

Each newsletter one of the three awards will be fully explained so that you can also continue the discussion at home. We have begun to explore these awards also at our fortnightly assembly. Each award will count as a Principal’s award and will contribute to the accumulation for a Gold Award.

We look forward to sharing, celebrating and recognising the leaders of our school who live out our school Vision.

God Bless

Mrs Belinda Hughes - Principal

Our Lady Help of Christians

On Monday we gathered to celebrate the Solemnity of Mary Help of Christians, the patroness of our church in Australia. Thank you to Year Four for sharing the reflection of how Mary helped encourage others to follow God’s word.

O Mary Help of Christians, in our need we turn to you with eyes of love, with empty hands and longing hearts. We look to you that we may see your Son, our Lord.

O Mary Help of Christians

Pray for us.

Confirmation

The Confirmation programme offers a wonderful opportunity for parents to strengthen their relationship with their children by sharing the faith. 

Parents/Guardians need to attend the

Parent Meeting                              Tuesday, 31 May 2022, 7.00pm

Classes 1 and 2                             Tuesdays, 7 and 14 June, 3:45pm to 5pm

Confirmation Practice                     Monday, 20 June, 7:00pm

Sacrament of Confirmation             Tuesday, 21 June 2021, 7.00pm

Upcoming Dates

Pentecost Liturgy - Friday June 3rd, 2.15pm

Friday June 3rd - Yr 6 Grade Mass 9.30am

World Environment Prayer Service - Thursday June 9th 2.30pm

Friday June 10th  - Yr 4 Grade Mass 9.30am

Grace and Blessings

Mrs Steph Brown - Religious Education Coordinator

Assessment:  This year we will be working on creating a common understanding of quality assessment practises. What are they? How they should inform practice and how they can be used effectively to share progress on learning and identify next steps in learning.

Here's a short clip about self-assessment and peer assessment. It includes an explanation of some specific assessment strategies that teachers use at St Michael’s to empower your children to grow in their learning.

We invite you to respond to this short google form to collect your thoughts around assessment. Please click on this link https://forms.gle/12rx1Qrqvn3ZWX4g9. 

I apologise that this link didn’t work in the last newsletter, however this has now been fixed and we would love to hear your thoughts! 

Online Safety

Learn about the latest games, apps and social media, including how to protect your child’s information and report harmful content. https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues/esafety-guide 

eSafety Webinars: These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.They cover a broad range of topics that will be delivered by an expert education and training team. See some upcoming webinars below: 

Parental controls

Find out how to set up devices and apps to help keep young people safe online.

This webinar will include practical tips, demonstrations and advice - designed for parents and carers of kids aged 4 to 13 years old.

The presentation will cover:

• the benefits and limitations of parental controls

• how to safely set up iOS and Android devices

• how to safely set up popular games and apps, like YouTube and Roblox

• family tech agreements and other parenting strategies to manage online risks

• how eSafety can help you when things go wrong.

Dates

• Tuesday 31 May 12.30 – 1.30 pm  

Register here https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/8442552073867182349 

 Safer online gaming

Help your kids stay safe by learning about the benefits and risks of online gaming.

This webinar is designed for parents and carers of young people aged 8 to 13 years of age.

It will cover:

• the games young people are using and how they are engaging with them

• the benefits of gaming and how to mitigate the risks

• practical strategies to use at home and where to find help and support if things go wrong.

Dates (Australian Eastern Standard Time)

• Thursday 9 June 12.30 - 1.30 pm
• Friday 17 June 12.30 – 1.30 pm
• Tuesday 21 June 7.30 – 8.30 pm

Register here https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/4934585514215344653 

Miss Emma Riolo - Middle Leader 2

The enrolment package is available from our school or online at www.dow.catholic.edu.au

St Michael’s Merit Award System

The awards are all recorded in Compass and electronically monitored. 

School Calendar

A reminder that you can sync the school calendar from Compass to your personal calendar. The most up to date times and days for events is maintained on this calendar. If you have any issues or questions on how to do this please do not hesitate to contact the school office for assistance.

Kindergarten Enrolment Interviews

This week I have begun the process of Kindergarten enrolment interviews for 2023. I look forward to this time of year as it is an opportunity to meet new families and to continue the journey with existing families. To meet all the young children and families is a true privilege. 

The St Michael’s community is truly respected and the sense of community is a constant theme throughout the interviews. Thank you for your contribution to that and for welcoming our new families to our school with open arms and a helping hand.

National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week

This morning as a school community we came together in morning prayer to recognise National Sorry Day. National Sorry Day is a time when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The prayer was beautifully led by our Year 6 Living Fully in Community leaders, who also presented each class with an artwork by Riki Salam titled ‘Healing Country’. The artwork represents the resilience of the human spirit and Aboriginal Peoples connection to the land and country. It represents their trials and tribulations but also the strength,endurance and determination of the People of the Stolen Generations and their families. 

Each year National Sorry Day leads us into the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation and National Reconciliation Week which is held  between 27th May and 3rd June.  The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2022 is Be Brave. Make Change. Our students will participate in a variety of classroom activities throughout Reconciliation Week to learn about Australia’s shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. 

Parents and friends are also invited to join us for a National Reconciliation prayer which will be held on Monday 30th May during our morning assembly.

Mrs Shari Mayo and Miss Madeline Negus

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered on Saturday to run the election BBQ. It was a roaring success and it could not have happened without your support and organisation.

We introduce our Inspired By Christ team 2022 in the video clip below;

Kindergarten

This term we are covering an integrated unit titled ‘Saving Humpty Dumpty’. Throughout this unit students will be involved in a range of scientific investigations. The scientific investigations will engage students in understanding sorting and describing materials, physical characteristics of objects and the effects of these on how they move, and building strong structures. One of the activities is designing a mode of transport to get Humpty to the hospital safely. 

Their own personal safety is a big focus in the unit too where the students have been learning about the importance of wearing a seatbelt when travelling in a vehicle and the importance of wearing a helmet when riding their bike or scooter. Kindergarten have also enjoyed learning about the Emergency Services. Students have learnt their personal information such as their address and phone number and we have practised using this information in role play situations.

In English they have been working hard on their writing where they have been using a variety of scaffolds to support them with developing their oral language before writing. At present, the students are using a scaffold that focuses on their personal writing goal.

We have been learning about writing Procedures and the most exciting one for Kindergarten was working on a procedure to make Humpty Dumpty biscuits. As a whole class we made the biscuits following the steps of the written procedure and then the students were happy to eat them at the end.

It has been a great start to Term 2 and we are very proud to celebrate our Kindergarten students.

Mrs Katie Kelly & Mr David Ryan - Kindergarten Teachers

This term St Michael’s applied for a Commonwealth Sporting Grant, we were fortunate to be awarded the Sporting Schools grant for this term. The grant is an opportunity for the students to be exposed to and learn about a sport they may not be familiar with. This term the school has chosen Lacrosse. The students will be given the opportunity to learn Lacrosse by professional coaches on the school grounds. In June, Lacrosse Australia will be running coaching sessions for all St Michael’s students, Kindergarten to Year 6. This will be an exciting opportunity to get the students involved in a sport that they may otherwise not do.  

The coaching sessions will begin on Thursday 2nd of June for Years 3, 4 and 6 and Friday 3rd June for Kinder, Year 1, 2 and 6. The students will need to wear their sports uniform on these days. All classes will engage in four coaching sessions over four weeks. We have also purchased a Lacrosse set so the students can practise their new skills through the year. 

Timetable for Lacrosse Coaching Sessions 

Diocesan Cross Country 

On Tuesday 24th May, 17 of our St Michael’s students competed at the Diocesan Cross Country at Narellan Sports Hub. 

The rain held off all morning and everyone had a great time cheering on each participant! 

Well done to all students who competed! It is a great achievement to make it to the Diocesan carnival. Our school placements are as follows:

8/9 Year Boys:

Jack Mc 10th 

Oliver W 16th 

Tye F 18th 

8/9 Years Girls:

Milla B 5th 

Jemima C 14th 

10 Years Boys: 

Clancy M 7th 

Flynn S 10th 

Xavier K 29th 

10 Years Girls:

Lila H 5th 

Mahli D 21st 

11 Years Boys: 

Oliver F 24th 

William H 25th 

11 Years Girls:

Giselle B 8th 

Hazel G 15th 

12/13 Years Girls: 

Isla O 13th 

Amelia Mc 20th 

Ari C 28th

Congratulations to the following students who will be attending the MacKillop Cross Country. We wish you all the best!

8/9 Year Girls: Milla B 

10 Year Boys: Clancy M

10 Year Girls: Lila H

11 Year Girls: Giselle B

Thank you to all the parents who were able to help out with setting up, warm ups and encouragement. Your assistance is greatly appreciated! 

Hawks Visit

Today the students in Years 4 and 6 engaged in a session with the Illawarra Hawks. The students had a great time enjoying a range of basketball drills and games run by The Hawks. 

In Term 3, we are lucky enough to be having the Hawks come back to St Michael’s to run a ‘Healthy Habit’s Program,’ with the students in Years 1-6.  

The goal of these sessions will be for the students to have a better understanding of what it means to live a healthy lifestyle. It encourages positive, healthy changes that make them a better person physically, mentally and socially. These sessions will begin with a discussion in the classroom and then the students will be involved in a range of basketball drills and games. 

We look forward to this experience for our students next term. 

Mrs Chelsea McLeod - Yr 4 Teacher

Term 2 P&F General Meeting 

We would love to see lots of faces at the school hall tonight and welcome the school community to come in and mingle over a hot beverage and treat at 6.30pm before the meeting commences at 7pm. The opportunity to be together again post-covid restrictions is very exciting. 

St Michael’s are very fortunate to have guest speaker Sophie Sedgwick come in to the school to discuss the Peer Support Program and how this has been working with the children.

Thank You and we hope to see you there!