World Kindness Day

On Monday our school was awash with smiles and a sea of colour as our students participated enthusiastically in activities for World Kindness Day. Thank you to Sierra T and Mrs Tokich who coordinated the day. 

During the day we had a visit from Simon from Global School Partners, and he updated students on his recent trip to Kenya. Our students raised $300 for our partner school in Kenya. Simon told our students that their $1 donation to the school is equivalent to a day’s wage! He shared a typical day in the life of students, including walking 3-4kms to get to school, typically drinking tea for breakfast, only having one meal a day and the class having to share one exercise book and one desk with the whole class! Thank you to families for your kind donations.

We are now partners with a school in Kericho called Saramek-A, as Jariah closed during Covid and the remaining students moved to this school. GSP calendars are available to purchase at the front office for $20. Simon from GSP took all the photos for the calendar and all funds raised go directly to the new school.

2024 Annual Improvement Planning

This Thursday our Leadership and Curriculum team will meet to review our data and ‘School Improvement Review’. We will begin the process of planning key improvement goals, strategies and measures to ensure a cycle of ongoing reflection and improvement. This will be communicated and shared with our Community Council in 2024.

Community Council

Community Council met recently to discuss the newly endorsed Community Council model. It was decided that current positions would be declared open for re-election early in Term 1. Positions for Community Council are established after nominations are put forward and an election for Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and general members are held. Our Principal, Assistant Principal, Parish Priest and a Teacher Representative are also part of the Community Council. If you would like to know more about these positions, our current chair Evan is happy for you to contact him for a chat. evanjt@hotmail.com

Our Community Council is always happy for parents to join sub committees called ‘working groups’ to help organise events across the year such as a disco, twilight fair, Mother’s and Father’s Day stalls etc. These members do not need to attend all meetings which are held twice a term but rather join a meeting or liaise with Community Council representatives as the need arises. In 2024, we will be looking at ways to fundraise to further support initiatives across the school.

Our Community Council has recently generously approved the purchase of new shade tents for carnivals and sporting events. They are also supporting the end of year Graduation Dinner for students.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude and thanks for our 2023 elected members. Thank you to our Chair, Evan Thomas and general members Shane Love, Caitlin Blackford, Hannah McNamara and Julie Halley. A huge thank you to Shane as he will be resigning from his position on the Council and has been a great support over many years.

Reports & Interviews

Semester 2 reports will be issued via Compass in Week 9, Monday 4 December. Your child’s teacher may request an interview to discuss progress after the reports are released. Parents can book an optional appointment for an interview between 5-8 December through the Compass portal. Once the interview booking system is live in Compass, we will advise via a Compass post.

Classes for 2023

We have formulated class groupings for 2024, based on the formative assessment and observations of staff and other professionals. We ensure that we cater for the best learning outcomes and wellbeing of all. In schools today, classes also engage in a variety of cooperative learning and curriculum groupings where cohorts are blended, and the class structure is a more fluid arrangement. I’m proud to say our teachers put your child first in every decision they make about wellbeing and learning and have made sound professional judgements around class groups.

Personalised Plans and Parent/Teacher Handover meetings

Teachers are currently updating Personalised Plans and beginning to make transition plans for students that require additional adjustments. Robyn O’Rourke our Classroom Support Teacher will be in contact shortly to organise meetings and handover discussions.

Lunch Orders

Thanks to Ready2Munch for providing lunch orders to St Michael’s this term and thanks to families who supported this trial. There will be no further lunch orders this term. The students enjoyed the opportunity and our community leaders did a great job of delivering the orders. We will investigate lunch order options again in 2024.

End of Year Events

There are several events coming up at school which we will keep advertising via newsletter, Compass and Facebook. Updates and details will be provided on our website, Facebook and for specific events, teachers have sent home information on Compass.

Further Reminders:

We greatly appreciate families paying school fees to ensure we are up to date financially before the start of a new year. The preferred payment method is using your new BPAY details in the top right hand corner of your fee statement. Please contact Lynda if you have any questions/concerns.

Please let us know if you have had a change of circumstances and will not be returning to St Michael’s in 2023.

Please be aware that many of our students and staff have been unwell this term. If your child is displaying virus symptoms, please keep them at home. We appreciate your patience and understanding as staff are under pressure during this busy time of year and managing with staff shortages.

Many blessings,

Bridgette McCann

Assistant Principal