Principal's Page - Pat Ellis
What a beautiful day we had on Friday, celebrating Our Lady of Perpetual Help with St Monica's Primary School. I was fortunate to attend both the K-2 Liturgy at St Michael's, and the Years 3-6 Liturgy at St Monica's. Both reflective and celebratory. The day was filled with meeting new friends, having fun and checking out each other's schools. Thank you to all the parents who attended, Fr Loi and Sr Kate for celebrating with us and to the staff from both schools, especially the RECs for their work coordinating the day.
Such an amazing Trivia night on Friday! So much fun! A huge thank you to Serae Love, Fiona Sherl, Lisa Monro and Damien Webb for all their doings behind the scene. Thank you to everyone who donated prizes and gifts, especially our school families who organised donations through their workplaces and connections. To run the Trivia Night it approximately cost $55 and we collected $2230, meaning we made a profit of $2175. Exact figures will be provided by Council Treasurer at a later date. This money will be used to continue to run our Greenhouse and upgrade the area around the greenhouse and watertank, including purchasing additional play space resources and equipment. Thank you! If you have any photos to share, please send them through to Lisa at the Front Office. We would love to include a page in this year's end of year school yearbook.
As mentioned last week, Shannon Blakey will be taking Term 3 off for Long Service Leave. We are fortunate to have Catherine Beckett joining our staff for the term to take the lead with 5/6B. Catherine comes to us from Brindabella and Canberra Grammar. Catherine will teach 5/6B Monday-Wednesday, Damien Webb will take 5/6B each Thursday and Jo Krippner and myself will share Fridays. Jessica Figura will be extending her teaching load taking 5/6FW each Thursday. I am very excited to expand the team in 5/6 to further develop collaborative and team teaching experiences, that will support our senior students as they move towards high school. Catherine spent some time planning with the team today and met students.
Tomorrow, we have our RoboCup team in Sydney attending the RoboCup International. How exciting for these students to travel with the team from SFX. Thank you to Mrs Figura for all your work with the team and igniting their passion further for all things tech.
Reports came home on Monday. If you didn't receive your child/ren's report, please contact the front office. Reports are sent home with the children. Parent-teacher interviews will be held in Week 2 next term. We will be trialing booking these through SchoolZine for the first time. The bookings will open on the first day back next term. You can book an interview time by following this web address and entering in your details https://stmichaelskaleen.schoolzineplus.com/view-session/2 Any problems, please email me directly and I can sort out your booking patrick.ellis@cg.catholic.edu.au Thank you in advance for your patience, as this system takes a little while to get used to.
Week 1 next term we will celebrate NAIDOC Week. NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
The theme for this year's NAIDOC Week is Voice, Treaty, Truth. 2019 is the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages. For generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have sought recognition of their unique place in Australian history and society today, looking for significant and lasting change. Voice. Treaty. Truth. were three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. These reforms represent the unified position of First Nations Australians. I encourage you to get out and about in Canberra next week in the holidays where various events are being held to officially celebrate NAIDOC Week. At St Michael's, we will celebrate together in Week 1 next term.
Our Reconciliation Action Group met yesterday to begin development of our School Reconciliation Action Plan. Exciting times ahead!
Early next term we are looking at options to fence our school oval. To ensure overall safety and wlelbeing of staff and students, a fence would provide added safety reassurances. We have also had lots of feedback from potential enrolments, that fencing is very important to their choice of school. I will provide update at the start of next term, hoping to get something sorted in the first few weeks. Community Council fully support this decision and I trust the parent community would support us in ensuring this safety measure is in place.
As we draw to the end of the term, I would like to take this oportunity to thank the whole St Michael's School Community. The parents, carers, students, teachers, support staff, parish and community members. We truly have a fantasic school, one that is supportive, inclusive, passionate and involved. I appreciate the opportunity to lead and feel very fortunate to love my job each and everyday!
Enjoy the next two weeks.
Regards,
Pat Ellis
Principal