Rainbow Family Walkathon 

Tomorrow is our Rainbow Family Walkathon. We would love to see as much rainbow on display as possible. For parents and family members coming along, we will start our walk at 1pm. Lunch will be earlier for students. Thank you to all the parents and family members who will be helping on check points and/or cutting up fruit. Please send any more money into school tomorrow morning. Lisa will ensure all money is counted and raffle tickets are written by recess. Looking forward to a great afternoon! Don't forget water bottle, hat and sunscreen. 

2019 Planning

As mentioned previously, we have started planning for 2019. At this stage we have a few items to share.

• Fees - 2019 School Fees have been taken to Community Council for approval and will be distributed next week. As you can appreciate, we have slight increases in our school levies to keep with rising costs across most items especially electricity, water, furniture and technology. The Catholic Education Commission and Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn set the tuition fee component. After fighting for the past 18 months to save Catholic schools from funding cuts totalling hundreds of millions of dollars, Catholic education welcomed the Morrison government’s commitment to largely restore the funding to Catholic schools. There is still uncertainty around exactly how much government funding our school, therefore to ensure we can continue to provide quality Catholic Education at St Michael's these tuition fees have increased along with our local levies. 
• Appointments - After a recent interview process, we are pleased to announce that Mrs Bridgette McCann has been appointed as a classroom teacher on a permanent basis. Bridgette comes to us from St Monica's at Evatt, where she has been Acting Coordinator and Literacy Leader. Bridgette has 22 years experience with expertise in Literacy. We congratulate Jessica Lewis being appointed as a classroom teacher in a temporary capacity. Jessica is currently on Kindergarten and she will continue this role into 2019 along with continuing the Aboriginal Education Contact Teacher. We also welcome Jessica Figura in a part time capacity for 2019. Jess comes to us from St John's at Florey, where she has been Technology Leader, a role she held previously at
  St Monica's along with an Acting Coordinator role. Jessica Figura is currently doing some casual work with us this term. We congratulate Bridgette McCann, Jess Lewis and Jess Figura and welcome them all to the St Michael's Community. 
• Resignation - After much thought, Cathy Holland has decided that she will finish up at the end of the year. Cathy is currently our Teacher-Librarian. Cathy will be accessing Long Service Leave from Week 6 until the end of the year. Cathy's last day with us will be Friday 16 November. Cathy has been teaching at St Michael's for 19 years. Next year, Cathy intends to do some casual teaching around the place. We thank Cathy for her years of service and dedication to our school and wish her all the best in future endeavours.  
• Erin Hardwicke will take over the Teacher Librarian role for 2019 along with her continuing Sports Leader role.
• As mentioned previously, Jo Krippner will return on a part time capacity as Classroom Support Teacher. 
• Damien Webb will continue to be our Assistant Principal in 2019, lead Sustainability and will return to an 'on class' position sharing with Jessica Figura.
• Specialist Curriculum Areas - Next year we are looking to change the RFF (Release from Face-to-face teaching) subjects that are offered to our students. This year it has been Library and Languages (Indonesian). In 2019, this will continue, however we will shorten those lessons so we can continue Sustainability lessons as well as introduce Arts which will be led by Jane McKeough and will focus on some elements of Arts. This will also involve an Art Show being held toward the end of 2019 to showcase student work through the year.
• BYOD ipad information pack will be coming home to parents in Year 4 in the coming fortnight. Any questions, please contact Maria at the Front Office. We will be holding Parent ipad Bootcamps at the start of 2019 along with student bootcamps during class time to bring everyone up to speed with the most effective way to utilise an ipad for learning. Teachers will continue to develop in this area also. In 2019, along with continuing STEM Clubs, we will be looking to introduce a Coding Club and Robotics Club to complement the tech being taught in class. 
• This year our Year 6 Leadership shirts for 2019 will be ordered this term ready for Week 1 next year. Apologies to parents this year where leadership shirts weren't ready for the start of school. I'm conscious that paying for a Year 6 Leadership Shirt for one year means you want to get the most wear out of it. Current Year 5 students are discussing shirt design options.
• In the coming weeks, Year 5 students will be writing a letter to Mr Webb and myself detailing what leadership group they would like to belong to in 2019. This will be decided before students finish school this year.
• Year 5/6 Camp has been booked for 2019. Students and teachers will be attending a Leadership Camp at Cooba Sport and Education Centre. This will occur in Term 1, Week 5. Information regarding this camp will be coming home shortly. 

I will continue to keep you up to speed with any plans or developments regarding 2019. 

Fete News 

Thank you to those parents who attended our first Fete Committee Meeting last week. We had a great group, enthusiastic with fantatsic ideas. More information will come out in the coming weeks with how we can all help. Remember to save the date - Saturday 16 March 10-2pm.

Kinder Orientation - Wednesday 7 November (9.15-10.30am)

Next Wednesday we welcome 20 preschoolers who will be attending St Michael's in 2019. They will visit for the morning with their parents staying at school for a coffee and information session. 

# Please note - Before School Care - start date will be Monday 5 November 8am (Week 4)

Thank you all for your continued support and providing feedback with how your child is going at school, what we are planning and overall thoughts about the direction the school is heading. What makes St Michael's so special is that home and school work so closely together. It makes a massive difference. Thank you!

2018 Fundraising Summary

This year we have focused on fundraising events for the school which focus on Building Community/Relationships as well as raising funds. All events this year have been extremely successful and I truly thank everyone for your support. We have raised...

Trivia Night - $2500

Movie Night / Raffle - $3800

So far....Walkathon - $4500 and counting!!!

Money raised has contributed to us purchasing the playground game markings, outdoor table tennis, running of the Greenhouse and the upcoming upgrade to the infants play equipment (watch this space). Money raised also supported our community breakfast and will support our Yr 6 students at their Graduation celebrations. As a thank you, Community Council will be putting on a free BBQ for the upcoming Christmas event. Further information will follow.

Morning Arrival

A reminder also to please ensure children are at school for the start of the day (8.50am). I understand there are occassions where things are a bit hectic at homes in the morning, however, by a child starting the school day right from line up in the morning, tends to mean that we have a settled and calm start to the morning. Resources are also allocated to different rooms first thing in the morning, so children coming late can end up missing out on extra support and assistance particularly with reading and writing. They also miss important explicit teaching and therefore need to catch up. If at any time you need support with getting children to school on time, please let me know what we can do as a school to assist further in this area. 

This week I have reflected upon the story of Bartimaeus from Sunday's Gospel. As educators who have the privledge to make a difference in the lives of the child trusted to our care, this Gospel reading reminded me of the importance of being aware of those around us. At times, we may feel like Bartimaeus, waiting desperately for someone to help. Sometimes, we may be so concerned with ourselves, our needs and lives that we ignore that person or people in need who are calling out for support. At other times, and hopefully we are instilling in our students, that we respond to those who are in need, stretching out our hands in love to include all around us. 

Enjoy the week ahead.

Kind regards,

Pat Ellis

Principal