Dear Parents/Carers,

We are half way through the last term of 2018. Wow, the year has flown by. Looking forward to the last few weeks of the year to have fun and celebrate the huge achievements that have occurred this year.

Goals for 2018 

You may recall at the start of the year we indicated three specific areas we were focusing on for 2018. Firstly, improving the data we collect on student's achievement and ensuring we use that data and information to inform our teaching practice. Secondly, ensuring that resourcing within the school is targeted and student centred and lastly, building the leadership within the school of both staff and students.

I am pleased to inform you all that we have made huge headway in these three areas. We have created a electronic data wall which assists us to track student achievement and ensures we are focusing on individual needs. We will continue with this next year, allowing significant amount of time for staff to analyse student achievement as a staff group  ensuring all students are being supported and challenged.

We have changed much of what we do at St Michael's to ensure both inside and outside spaces are well-resourced and engaging for students. We have also changed our approach to the additional support that classes and students receive to ensure it is used more effectively.

Lastly, all staff have taken on leadership roles within the school in specific areas and we have developed a stronger student leadership program, something we will continue in 2019. Thank you for all for your continued support and providing feedback. It is much appreciated.

Sustainability Award 

One particular area of focus this year has been to develop a culture of sustainability at St Michael's centred around Miss Jordan's Garden. A key part of this was the creation of Sustainability Leaders. On Tuesday, Damien Webb and two representatives from the sustainability group attended the ActSmart Schools Leadership Awards at the ACT Legislative Assembly. Congratulations to our Sustainability group who were nominated.

Governor General's Sport Day

Tomorrow, Damien Webb and various students across Years 3-6 will attend the annual Governor General's Sport Day. This is a great active day of fun. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Sacrament of Reconciliation 

Tonight, our Year 3 students will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. An important step on their Sacramental journey with quiet reflection and strengthening their relationship with God. Thank you to Meaghan Younger and the Year 3 teachers for supporting the students through this journey. Thank you also to the parents and family members for your support.

Staffing

We will farewell Rima Kemp at the end of the year. Rima is currently our Indonesian teacher and she commenced at the start of this year. Rima also works at another school and she has decided to finish up and focus on other things that might present leading into the new year. We thank Rima for teaching and promoting the Indonesian language and culture this year. We congratulate and welcome Jacqueline Ramesh to St Michael's who will be taking over as Indonesian Teacher for 2019. 

I am hoping to have all the pieces of the staffing puzzle completed in the next fortnight, where I will annouce what grades teachers will be on and other roles. Thank you for your patience regarding this. 

Christmas Carol Spectacular Night 

This night is fast approaching and so far we have over 170 people rsvp'd (please pray for great weather). As mentioned, this night is about celebrating the festive season and spending time together. The staff and community council would like to say thank you for all your support this year. There will be a free BBQ. Thank you to everyone who has rsvp'd for catering purposes. Could I please ask that you add to the list whether you would be wanting a burger or sausage sandwich. We want to make sure we cater appropriately and have minimum waste at the end of the night. This just gives us a rough idea of what to order. Remember, you are most welcome to bring your own food also for the outside picnic. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19zNlpFgU0MBf3_y2saFDc_4b_EmAzn4QpjBEeQ6Db2M/edit?usp=sharing

Also, information will be coming home shortly regarding providing something for our Christmas Bake Store. In the Christmas spirit, money raised at this store will be donated to some local charities in need at this time of the year. 

This night is about celebrating, having fun, giving back and spending time with our amazing school community. This is not a fundraising night, this is solely a community celebration night. We would love to see you all there!

2019 

Just a reminder to our school community that we are phasing out the Skoolbag app. In 2019, we will be only using the Schoolzine app (which is linked to our website). The Front Office has more information regarding downloading that app.

In line with our new approach to our newsletter, and being more sustainable, we will also be phasing out printing copies of our newsletter. At present we print some newsletters for the note stand, Parish and some families. In 2019, we will not be printing any newsletters. These will be only available online. Anyone can subscribe to our newsletter and they will receive an email link to access the newsletter and print it yourselves if you like. Thank you for your support with this and promoting a sustainable school. 

Enjoy the week ahead.

Regards,

Pat Ellis