Dear Parents and Carers,

Congratulations to all our students who received their First Holy Communion on the weekend and sincere thanks to families and all those who prepared and assisted them.

It was wonderful witnessing how well prepared these students were. I sincerely thank Fr. Mick for the way he so beautifully attended to the parents and students assisting them to understand and appreciate the grace and symbolism of the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Tuesday 27^th June)

To mark the Feast Day of Our Lady of Perpetual Help St Monica’s and St Michael’s will share some time together to reflect on our wonderful relationship and the importance of our schools and Parish.

Yr. 3-6 St Michael’s students will visit St Monicas – Depart on bus at 9:10am Return at 1:30pm (Parent consent Information has been posted on COMPASS).

K-2 St Monica’s students will visit St Michael’s.

Students will complete some short activities deepening their understanding of Our Lady and participate in a liturgy which Father Mick will share at different times of the day.

Parents and family are most welcome to join us for both liturgies:

Liturgy K-2 at St Michael’s Church- 10:15am

Liturgy 3-6 at St Monica’s Church- 12pm

In other news…

Huge congratulations to Mahlia G for an incredible result winning the 10 years Canberra Region Cross Country- she is now state champion and will represent at next levels, all with a broken finger- what an effort!

We are looking forward to our Athletics Carnival tomorrow Thursday 22nd June- All welcome!

This week we also learnt that Tiwa O and her Dad have become Australian Citizens. Well done Tiwa - we are thrilled that you and your family are part of our community at St Michael’s.

Important NAPLAN updates

ACARA (Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority) has released information that NAPLAN reports for 2023 will be based on Proficiency Standards instead of the previous Band Levels. Education Ministers agreed on the changes and the change of assessment time to take place in March each year. Proficiency Standards were developed by panels of teaching experts, with feedback from national parenting bodies. The reason for the change was to provide simpler, clearer, and more helpful information for parents and carers at a glance. It is also important to realise that 2023 NAPLAN results cannot be compared to previous results as a new measurement scale was developed for the online component. NAPLAN is only one measure of student performance, while we value the data, we also gather assessment data in many other important ways, e.g., anecdotally, teacher observations notes, student workbooks/ whiteboards, checking for understanding, student speeches, reading journals etc. Please read the information attached which provides more details and visit the website. https://www.acara.edu.au/ . We expect NAPLAN reports to arrive mid-July. 

Internet Safety

Do you want to learn more about the 5 Principles of Internet Safety? Visit this website and enrol. This course is free.

https://pd.generationnext.com.au/courses/the-5-principles-for-internet-safety

Finance Transformation: Notice of Finance System Changes

In partnership with Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG), St Michael’s Primary is migrating to a new finance system, that will integrate with the Compass Parent Portal and Compass App. It is anticipated that St Michael’s Primary will begin to use this system in August 2023. Changes to school fee payment options available to Parents can be found in the attachment below.

Congratulations to these students who are our Rainbow Award winners for Term 2- these packs will be presented at morning assembly on Friday 30^th June- All welcome!

KD       Dominic K & Olivia C

1/2K    Maria C & Xavier K

1/2T    Ivy-Rose G & Angus H

3/4B    Grace S & Allegra B

3/40    Ruby C & Annika S

5/6H    Desan P & Madeleine B

5/6M    Vanessa C & Alessia C

5/6S    Jahzara G & Alexander F

Here’s hoping that the weather remains clear for our carnival tomorrow!

Thank you for your continued support.

Many Blessings,

Judy Egan

Principal