It has been great to see some rain falling in the ACT over the last few days. This has brought some needed relief for the fires and for the smoke. We continue to pray for rain in the coming days, weeks and months. We had minimal water issues (mainly our guttering), so we are thankful that we haven't had the issues that some other schools have had to deal with. 

Student Welfare Officer

It is with great pleasure that we welcomed Shahenie Burns last week to the role of Student Welfare Officer to St Michael's. 

Shahenie brings much strength to the role with experience in Youth Ministry, Sacramental Coordinator for South Belconnen and her youth and art backgrounds. Shahenie is spending the next few weeks just getting to know students and staff, floating in and out of rooms, connecting and building relationships. Shahenie will be working on Thursdays and Fridays. 

'Hi my name Shahenie. I am the new Student Welfare Officer at St Michael's. A little about me, my parents emigrated from Sri Lanka to Australia before I was born. I grew up in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne where I attended lovely local Catholic Primary and High schools. I studied Interior Design, Visual Arts and Fine Arts (Painting) at RMIT Melbourne City campus. After my studies, I spent a year volunteering as a member of the Youth Mission Team (YMT) in the Archdiocese of Perth. I moved to Canberra to be with my partner and worked in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn as the manager of the Catholic Youth Ministry team. I have been married for 9 years and my husband and I have 3 primary school age daughters. In addition to my role at St Michael's, I am also the Sacramental Coordinator for the South Belconnen Parish of St Matthew's and St Vincent's. I loved my first week at St Michael's and am really excited about being part of the St Michael's community. I warmly invite parents to come and speak with me if they have any questions about student welfare. I will be working Thursday and Fridays'. Shahenie Burns

CatholicCare Counsellor

Unfortunately, Carrie Coghlan, our school counsellor, has been moved to a different school this year. Carrie has been with St Michael's for a few years and helped and supported students, staff and families through a difficult period. I am waiting for confirmation of who will be our next counsellor (this is done externally through CatholicCare) and confirmation of hours and which day. Once I have this information, I will inform the community. 

In the interim, I have spoken to CatholicCare about where I can direct families to access counselling support. Any families in need can access support from Catholic Care's Family & Relationship Counselling Program. For appointments, families can ring their reception on 6162 6100. Please advise them you are families from St Michael's Primary School. Any issues with accessing this service in the short term, please let me know directly. 

Keys for Learning - Perservere 

This week our focus shifts to our 2nd 'Key for Learning' - Perservere. This is a tough one and one that I think we can all work on. 

At St Michael's, we set high expectations for everyone. We are there to support and guide all students but we want students to have some struggle with their learning. These are the prime opportunities for rich learning to occur. We focus on a growth mindset and we encourage a switch in phrasing from students saying 'I don't know' to 'I don't know it yet'. We are wanting to provide a learning environment that encourages feedback, risk taking and where each individual takes responsibility for their own learning. 

Meet & Greet

A reminder that class teachers will be in their classrooms between 3-4pm and 5-6pm tonight (Wednesday 12 February) for parents to pop in, introduce yourself and see how your child has settled into the new year. There will be no formal presentations. This is a social, informal event. There will be light afternoon tea in each block area for parents. Hope to see you there. If you wish to sit down more formally with teachers, you can organise that at another time by emailing them directly. 

Supervision Times

A reminder that students should not be at the front of the school until 8.20am. There have been a few students waiting out the front of the school from about 8.10am. Please know that students at the front of the school are not supervised prior to 8.20am. If you require care prior to 8.20am, we now have Before School Care with YMCA. This service operates from 7am and accepts casual one off bookings. 

Camp Update (Bushfires & Air Quality)

Our Year 5/6 parents would be aware that we have a planned Year 5/6 Camp to Birrigai in Week 7 (18-20 March). Of course, we have been watching closely the fire down South as this is near the camp accommodation. 

At this stage, Birrigai have cancelled Camps last week and this week, while the fire hopefully gets sorted. They have put any Camps in Week 3 and 4 on notice at this stage. Luckily for us, our camp isn't until Week 7. At this stage, they are planning March camps to proceed as normal. Nothing has been affected by the fires at this stage. 

Of course, student and staff safety is our number one priority at all times and we will follow advice from Birrigai, Catholic Education and the Emergency Services Agency as we draw closer. At this stage, we are planning for everything to run as normal and the fire down South to be extinguished. There are no other venues at this stage that would be able to hold a 2 night camp, so worse case scenario for a 'Plan B' would be for a camp night at school and local excursions and leadership experience. We will cross that path if we are advised that we can't attend the camp. 

Wendy Rix

We welcome Wendy Rix to our school for the next fortnight (starting on Monday). Wendy will be an Artist in Residence. As part of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander funding, we will have Wendy work with every class, paint some murals around the school and work in smaller groups with our Aboriginal students. Please make Wendy feel welcome. This will be a great fortnight of Aboriginal art. 

Student Information Checklist and Medical Alert Forms

Please remember to return the Student Information Checklist and Medical Alert Form (if applicable) back to the Front Office by this Friday.  Thank you for your assistance with this.

Enjoy the week ahead. 

Kind regards,

Pat Ellis

Principal