Dear Parents/Carers,

This weekend we move into the Season of Advent. This is a time to reflect and to prepare. In coming Gospel readings, we will be reminded to be awake and to be watchful for His coming. When you are watchful, where do you find God in your everyday life?

Kindergarten Orientation and School Leadership

Yesterday we enjoyed spending more time with our new Kinder students for 2019. What a special time for parents as their little one heads off to 'big school'. My daughter is presently going through Orientation for Kindergarten (at St Matthew's in Page), so I am reminded of the mixture of nerves and excitement. Thank you to our current Year 5 students (our leaders for 2019) for spending time with them, connecting and supporting them as they transition. The buddy system is a support system we have in place for our Kindergarten students. More for a connection, especially early on in the year. I have been very impressed with who will be our Year 6 Leaders for 2019. Our Year 5s are currently writing letters to Mr Webb and myself, letting us know what leadership role they would like next year, the skills, ideas and strengths that they could bring to one of our four leadership groups. I know they will leave a lasting legacy at St Michael's. Exciting times ahead!

Uniform Free Day

Tomorrow is a Uniform Free Day. We ask that students bring in an item for their class hamper for the Fete Silent Auction next year. These items can be dropped off in the Front Office. Thank you for your support. Much appreciated.

KL - Sports theme. eg tennis racquets, tennis balls, soccer balls, totem tennis set, skipping ropes, drink bottles.

1/2F Games Pack - eg board games, puzzles, card games, chess or checker sets, for kids and adults.   

1/2M Tea/Coffee - eg fancy tea cups, coffee machine, milk frother, coffee pods, gourmet teas, biscuits, chocolates.  

3/4YM Arts and Crafts - eg art supplies, quality pencils, sketching paper, clay, play dough.

3/4W Garden – eg secateurs, gardening gloves, watering can, nursery voucher, wheelbarrow, seed packets, Bunnings voucher, worm farm.

5/6R Cooking -  eg recipe books, measuring cups, bowls, spatulas, icing sets, baking trays/tins, hand mixer.  

5/6B Gourmet - eg biscuits, chocolates, dessert wine.

5/6H Pamper Pack – items for both males and females. Eg candles, face masks, foot products, chocolates, massage voucher, facial voucher.

Community Council 

After a recent call out for nominations for Community Council for 2019, I am pleased to annouce we have secured a strong Community Council for 2019. We were overwhelmed with those interested, which I appreciated, as often in schools we struggle to find people to fill these roles. We have a great mix of existing members and new members. Our Community Council members for 2019 are; Esther Coghlan, Gabriel Walsh, Fiona Scherl, Claire Carton, Emma Bickley and Serae Love. Damien Webb and Jessica Lewis will be staff reps. I am excited to work together to continue to move St Michael's forward ensuring we are focused on improving student learning and wellbeing as well as promoting and fostering a strong, positive sense of community within the school.

We welcome our new parent members... 

'My name is Serae and I have two children attending St Michael's. Cameron is currently in Year 2 and Hannah who is about to complete Kinder. I am looking forward to being part of the St Michael's Community Council and helping our school family to grow together' Serae Love

'My name is Claire. I am a mum to four - Pat, who finishes up this year and heads to Daramalan next year, Laura currently in Year 5, Emma in Year 3 and Jimmy in Year 1. I attended St Michael’s myself - a few decades ago now! Along with Andrew Daly, my husband, we live in Kaleen and believe in fostering and developing the community we live in. For my day job, I am a commercial lawyer, heading up a firm I started a decade ago - Griffin Legal. I’ve been on various boards and committees in the past relevantly including Kaleen Primary, Daramalan and YMCA Canberra. I decided to put my hand up for the Community Council for next year, not only so I am giving back, but to help build on the many improvements the school has seen this last year' Claire Carton

Hi, my name’s Emma Bickley and this is our family’s first year at St Michaels. Next year my eldest daughter, Mallory, will be in year one and my younger daughter, Adeline, will be in Kindergarten. I really love the community feel of St Michael’s and hope that by being part of the School Council I can help out with the many great events and opportunities we’ve enjoyed so far along with any new ideas that come up. Emma Bickley 

We thank and farewell current members of council who will be stepping down at the end of the year. Anna Lutz, who has been on council for 4 years, Stuart Duncan, who has been on council for 3 years and Jeremy Lane, who has been on council for 2 years. Over the course of this year I am so thankful to have had your support and being able to work with these incredible individuals who have such dedication and passion for making a difference at St Michael's. Thank you!

In 2019 we are looking for interested parents to take the lead coordinating specific areas. Thank you to Fiona Scadden who will take the PRN Coordinator role for 2019 and Anna Lutz will take on the Fete Coordinator role. If any parents are interested to take the lead coordinating fundraising or coordinating sustainability, please let me know. These were two other areas we were keen for a parent (or two) to take the lead. These coordinator roles will work closely with Community Council. 

Staffing

At the end of the year we will farewell Simone Brennan (Rankin). Simone has secured an ongoing teaching position at Brindabella Christian College. Whilst sad to see Simone finish at St Michael's after two and half years, we wish her all the best and know that she will continue to do an amazing job in the future. We will farewell Simone later in the year.

Congratulations to Rachel McKerrow on securing a temporary teaching position at Rosary Primary at Watson. Rachel has been with us this year. Rachel's positive and calming influence will be missed. We wish her all the best. We will farewell Rachel at the end of the year. 

I am please to annouce that Sarah Anderson has accepted a transfer for 2019 to join St Michael's. Sarah is currently a teacher at St Monica's. Sarah comes to us with a wealth of experience and a strong interest in Creative Arts. Sarah will be part-time on class 4 days a week with Natasha Kapantais taking the class for 1 day. Natasha is new to teaching and is currently doing casual work with us. We are excited to welcome both Sarah and Natasha to the team for 2019. 

I also wish to inform everyone that Sarah Medway who is currently on leave, will continue this leave in 2019 and is taking another year off. We wish her all the best in the coming year. 

As staffing is close to being finalised, in next week's newsletter, I will let you all know the classes that teachers will be teaching in 2019. I thank you for your patience and support with 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. 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 next week 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!

Giving Tree 

Starting on Monday, next week, (Week 8 - 3 December), our Christmas Giving Tree will be set up in the Front Office foyer. We would ask each family to donate a little something to someone in need at this time of year. All donations will be gifted to St Vincent de Paul Society for them to pass onto those across Canberra in need of some extra support.

K-2 Swimming Program 

The swimming program is well underway. I visited the pool on Monday morning and all was running smoothly. Thank you to Erin Hardwicke for her work behind the scenes, organising and preparing this two week program. 

Uniform

As the year draws to an end, we are finding more and more students not wearing the correct uniform. Whilst I appreciate that we only have 3 weeks to go, I would ask for your support to ensure students are following our uniform code. Some students diligently wear the correct uniform every day and it is unfair to them that other students choose not to.

A reminder that school shoes should be black. They do not need to be leather black shoes, but they do need to be black. We have started to have students wear black sneakers with white ticks and stripes which are unacceptable. Sport shoes should be prodominantly white. When looking to purchase new shoes for next year, please follow our uniform code. I thank you for your support. 

Enjoy the week ahead.

Kind regards,

Pat Ellis

Principal