Dear Parents and Carers,

Hooray!

It’s been a long journey for everyone, but finally we were able to welcome back all our students to St Michael’s on Monday. A huge thank you to all our families for their amazing contribution to the support of home learning and to our staff for their dedication and focus. Thank you to parents for supporting a really calm and balanced transition.

Award Winner

Each Year as part of Children’s week there is an opportunity to nominate staff for the contribution they make to children and young people. This year I nominated Shahenie Burns our Wellbeing Officer, for her dedication to the care and wellbeing of our students. The ACT Children’s Week Committee has endorsed the nomination and at our World Teacher’s Day Morning Tea on Friday I presented this award to Shahenie. Well done Shahenie and congratulations from everyone at St Michael’s.

Staffing News 

We were thrilled to learn this week that CECG have advised they will support the allocation of two Kindergarten classes for 2022. This impacts positively in many areas of school life and we are now looking to allocating classes and teachers.

In other staff news, we are excited to welcome Victoria de Mattia, currently working at St Patrick’s Griffith to join us in 2022. Victoria is a passionate young teacher who will be a wonderful asset to our community.

Our amazing Office Manager Lisa Monro will be leaving us in February for a sea change. Lisa has made a huge contribution over her many years at St Michael’s and we are happy for her as she starts a new adventure.

Yvette Whalan who has also been a staff member for many years will be retiring this year.

We thank Lisa and Yvette for their magnificent contribution to St Michael’s and we celebrate their achievements and dedication to Catholic families and Catholic Education in our archdiocese.

School Fees

CECG (Catholic Education Canberra/Goulburn) have recently released information regarding School Fees for 2022. On Wednesday night the Community Council met to discuss and approve the fee schedule for St Michael’s. When looking at the breakdown of the fee structure it is important to recognise that the Tuition Fee and the Canberra/Goulburn Building Fund are set by CECG. These increases reflect the need to fund a high-quality Catholic Education while keeping increases manageable and fair for families in the current economic environment.

The school levies are set by the school to cover operational costs, including utilities, buildings, maintenance, furniture, teaching/learning resources, excursions, and the continued need to update Information Technology resources such as i-pads and Chromebooks. The community council acknowledges that this has been a financially challenging year for many families. As such, our school levies for 2022 have only increased by $12.

CECG provide discounts for tuition fees to lesson the costs for families with multiple siblings. St Michael’s also support and encourage families to put in place a Direct Debit payment plan spreading your costs over the year. This year CECG, offered fee Remissions around COVID and we are committed to supporting families at a local level if there are concerns or changes to family circumstances regarding the payment of school fees.  We are conscious everyone in our community does their best to pay fees regardless of circumstances and we would love to continue to support you and your family. 

If you have any questions or would like a more detailed explanation of the way Catholic Schools receive funding, the Catholic Schools Parents Australia is a good site to visit.

https://www.cspa.catholic.edu.au/school-funding

The fee schedule is attached to this newsletter. Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding fees for 2022.

Thank you for your continued support

Many blessings

Judy Egan

Principal