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| THIS WEEK | ||
| 27 April | First Day of Term 2 | |
| 28 April | School Cross Country Carnival | |
Please remember that copies of notes sent home are available on our website. https://www.stmichaelsps.act.edu.au/notes
Dear Parents and Carers,
I hope you were able to enjoy some family time over the Easter Break whatever your plans may have been. I have already heard many wonderful stories from your children about camping and beach visits and exciting trips! Family holidays make up the amazing experiences we share with our children and while they have their high points and challenges, they are the special memories that children retain.
COVID-19 Updates
As we return to school for Term 2, ACT Health COVID-19 guidelines have changed for schools. St Michael’s priority will be to deliver on-campus learning with COVID smart measures in place to minimise transmission of COVID-19 onsite. We will regularly review, and update where required, our approach to managing COVID-19 as appropriate. Our approach is informed by the National Framework for Managing COVID-19 in Schools and Early Childhood Education and Care Settings, and the latest advice on winter season preparedness from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.
The following is a brief outline of changes for Term 2 2022.
Check in requirements
Digital check in with the Check In CBR app is no longer required for staff and students. However, QR codes will continue to be available for voluntary use, including for allied health staff.
Masks
The use of face masks will be eased from Term 2. Staff, students and visitors are not required to wear masks on school or ELC sites. (Masks will need to be worn if a person is a close household contact of a positive COVID case – this does not apply to children under 12.)
Cohorting
Cohorting will no longer be required. However, we have been advised, where possible to minimise the length of time or number of students involved in organised activities that bring mixed groups together.
Physical distancing
Physical distancing should be maintained on school sites where possible. Density quotients no longer apply.
Close Household Contacts
Household contacts will not have to quarantine if they have no COVID-19 symptoms but will need to comply with the following requirements for seven days from the time the first person in their household tests positive for COVID‑19:
- Advise ACT Health that they are a household contact by completing a COVID-19 online declaration form. https://www.covid19.act.gov.au/stay-safe-and-healthy/exposed-to-covid19#What-should-I-do-if-I-have-been-exposed-to-COVID-19-
- Wear a face mask in all indoor spaces when outside of the home, if aged 12 years and over.
- Parents/Carers notify the school of their child being a household contact.
- Students who are household contacts must undertake COVID-19 testing and return a negative result in the 24 hours prior to returning to school and then every 48 hours if ongoing attendance is required.
Daily Reporting of COVID Cases
Schools will notify parents only if there are a significant number of cases within the community and/or a cohort.
The health and safety of students and staff remains as always, our priority. If there are high numbers of COVID-19 exposures at our school, consideration will be given to whether any of the following additional COVID-19 Safety Measures should be reintroduced, with authorisation by Catholic Education Office. These measures aim to limit the potential for further transmission and will generally be limited to a short period of time (e.g., 1 to 2 weeks).
- Additional testing recommendations such as to test before returning to school/ELC and again in 48 hours
- Masks Staff and visitors may be asked to wear a mask when indoors and when physical distancing of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained
- Limiting parents and carers on site Parents and carers may be asked not to attend a school/ELC site without an appointment
- Cancelling permitted activities Any of the planned permitted activities may be cancelled or rescheduled to another date
- Cohorting It may be necessary to cohort a particular class or year level so that they don’t mix with other students or staff across the school
- Remote learning Some or all students may need to return to remote learning. This measure will be limited as much as possible, however may also be enacted in response to workforce shortages arising from COVID-19
Rapid Antigen Tests
St Michael’s will have access to Rapid Antigen Tests for distribution as needed if the student is a close household contact. Parents are asked to contact us if RATS are required. Parents or students who are symptomatic should not attend the school to collect a Rapid Antigen Test. Those families are encouraged to access testing through an ACT Health testing facility.
Rainbow Awards
Rainbow Awards will be given out Friday at morning assembly.
Online Family Event – Family Engagement Makes a Difference
Coinciding with National Families week - Australia’s annual celebration of the importance of families, The Council of Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn (CSPACG) in collaboration with Catholic Education are hosting an online family event in Term 2.
This event is an opportunity for families to learn more about the Catholic School Parent Council and the ways it provides advocacy, leadership, representation, and support for families in our Archdiocese. There will also be an opportunity to discover some practical ways for families to engage in their child’s learning. Registration details are on the flier attached to this newsletter.
Cross Country Carnival
Information regarding our Cross Country Carnival is also included in this newsletter, we will be going ahead at this point depending on weather. Volunteers have been contacted.
Pick Up
We will confirm any changes to pick-up arrangements next week, as our Year 5/6 students will no longer need to cohort for oval pick up. Pick up will remain the same this week however in wet weather Year 5/6 can be collected from drive through. Parents who wish to park on the basketball courts in wet weather can still collect their children from the canteen gate.
Thank you for your ongoing support, hoping for good weather tomorrow.
Many Blessings
Judy Egan
Term 2 School Fee Statements
Please note that Term 2 School Fee Statements will be sent by email to your home email address. Please contact the school if your home email address has changed.
Recording of Student Absences
A notification went home via Compass reminding parents/carers to ensure the school is provided notes for absences. It is a legal requirement for schools to ensure they have documentation around student absences, and we need your help. Please follow the instructions on the Parent Portal to send an absent note or email the front office and let us know.
office.stmichaelsps@cg.catholic.edu.au
We will be sending reminders each Thursday to any families missing notes, this is a generated email from compass, please email or phone the front office if you have any concerns.
Kind Regards
Judy Egan
Principal
Special wishes to those children who will celebrate their birthday this week:
Maggie O, 3/4L, Seb R 5/6S, Trisha T, 5/6Y.
We hope you have a great day!!
Parish Sacramental Program 2022
If you have a child in years 3, 4, or 6 in 2022, this is a Sacramental year.
Sacrament of First Eucharist - will be celebrated on the weekend of 18 and 19 June 2022 (Corpus Christi Sunday) across the four Parish Sunday Masses.
5pm - 18 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt;
8am - 19 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen;
10am – 19 June at St Monica’s Church – Evatt; and
5.30pm – 19 June at St Michael’s Church – Kaleen.
Trybook for the Sacrament
The trybooking opens on 16 May 2022 and the links will be on the Parish website at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth
Registration for the Sacrament of First Eucharist will close this Friday 29 April 2022.
Registration must be made via the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Qkr! App (NOT the school app).
No late registrations can be accepted after the closing date.
Commitment Masses
Students and parents must attend one of the weekend Masses at either St Monica’s Church (5pm Saturday or 10am Sunday) or St Michael’s Church (8am or 5.30pm Sunday) on one of the dates listed below to make their commitment for the Sacrament.
Saturday 30 April and Sunday 1 May
Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 May
There will be no additional commitment masses beyond these dates.
Purchasing a stole for First Eucharist
Purchasing a stole is optional and is not compulsory. If you wish to purchase a stole, please make a payment of $20 through the Qkr! App and then send an email to sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au and arrangements will be made for delivery/pickup.
Confirmation will be celebrated in term 3, 2022.
Reconciliation will be celebrated in term 4, 2022.
For further Information regarding the Sacramental Program – please contact the Sacramental Program Coordinator at sc.belconnennorth@cg.org.au or check the parish website for updates at www.cg.org.au/belconnennorth
Religious Education in the School
I am taking leave for weeks 2-7 of this term. In my absence Miss Laura Frogley and Miss Jessica Lewis will be sharing the role of Religious Education Coordinator. I know they will do a fabulous job helping to lead Curriculum development in Religious Education as well as supporting the parish Sacramental Program this term. Please direct all questions about RE to these two fabulous, professional young ladies in my absence.
This coming term staff are reviewing our Curriculum and ensuring that our Religious Education programs and lessons demonstrate High Impact Teaching Practices in line with our ongoing journey with Catalyst. We are also working to align our scope and sequence with new units being developed by staff.
Religious Life of the School
Easter Season
In the Church calendar we are in the season of Easter. Our prayer spaces reflect this with the colour of the cloths being white and gold. This season is a joyous and yet challenging one where we remember and relive the apostles' confusion and wonder at Jesus’ resurrection. How appropriate when we are living in a very changed world today. What a comfort are Jesus’ words to Mary upon her seeing him outside the tomb, “Be not afraid.” It is times like these I am reminded that the Church tells us we are always an ‘Easter People’ – living with the miracle of Jesus’ death and resurrection. How are we facing the challenges before us at the moment? Have you remembered to lean on your God and come to God in prayer regularly?
Project Compassion
A huge thank you to everyone who raised money for Caritas through donations in the Project Compassion boxes. For anyone who has not returned these yet could you please do so promptly so we can finalise payment to Caritas. All moneys are to be returned to the Front Office or directly to the church on weekends.
ANZAC Day
On 
Monday we commemorated ANZAC Day with ceremonies, prayers and marches across Australia, New Zealand and indeed around the world. Classes this week will include prayers for those who have served our country in times of war and peace, especially for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives.
First Communion
A reminder that all candidates and their families need to be at one of the Parish Masses this weekend or next weekend to make their commitment to prepare for First Communion. Please bring you commitment cards with you.
Preparation booklets are being sent home as registration information is provided from the Parish Office. Please contact Sue Collins at the Parish Office if you have any questions about First Communion.
Cross Country Update
At this stage our Cross Country Carnival will go ahead, and we are crossing our fingers that the rain holds off for a few hours in the morning!
Students need to wear their full sports uniform. They can wear shorts to run the race if they wish. All students are encouraged to wear a hat and sunscreen. Please remember to send a drink bottle to school with your child tomorrow. If your child has asthma, they will need to carry their puffer for the duration of the run.
To minimise the amount of time that the students are outside in the poor weather, we will call age groups from their classrooms to compete in their events. As the students finish their race they will head back to class. Running the day in this format makes it difficult to give accurate times for when races will commence. The carnival will commence at 9:15 and conclude by 11:00. We will begin with the older students and conclude with our Kinder students closer to recess. Should we need to cancel the event, we will notify families via Compass and a post on our Facebook page.
Thank you to the parents and grandparents who have volunteered to assist on the day. Volunteers, please meet Erin Hardwicke at the flagpole (outside the Front Office) at 9am. A note came home to all volunteers today.
Parents are welcome to spectate and cheer their children on from the footpath adjacent to the school grounds. Please make your way to this area via the back gate between our school and the church. At this stage we cannot welcome parents onto the school grounds without an appointment.
Today the students gathered for house meetings which were run by our Year 6 leaders. Students are super excited for tomorrow, and we look forward to our first sporting event for the year!
Tennis Clinics
A reminder that tennis clinics will commence next week. K-2 lesson on Tuesday at school and 3-6 lessons on Thursday at the Kaleen Tennis Courts.
Library
Please be advised that there have been some changes to class library days for this term.
Tuesday - 5/6Y, 5/6S, 1/2H & 1/2B
Wednesday - 5/6H
Thursday - 3/4F, 3/4L, KD & KK
Thank you to those parents who kindly covered library books during the holiday break!
Author Krys Saclier will visit St Michael’s Primary School on Friday 6 May, to share her creative writing journey with Year 5 and 6. She will also provide a full set of her books to the library thanks to the generosity of the Bryan Family.
Please email author@kryssaclierstories.com if you would like to purchase a book and have it personally signed to your child on the day.
Camp Canberra - follow the students of Mt Mayhem Primary as they visit Canberra’s attractions and learn about Australian government and history. Illustrated by political cartoonist Cathy Wilcox. Suitable for upper primary. Hard cover: $25.
Vote 4 Me - learn how our preferential voting system works - just in time for the federal election. Illustrated by political cartoonist Cathy Wilcox. Suitable for upper primary. Hard cover: $25.
Super Nova - Nova has a super secret - and it’s out of this world! Illustrated by Rebecca Timmis. Suitable for early primary. Hard cover: $24; Paperback: $17.
Parent Support Network
Dear Parents
We are calling for nominations for parents to be the class representatives on the Parent Support Network.
This network would help support communication between the classroom teacher/s and the parents in the class. These networks have proven very successful in past, but with the interruptions of the past 2 years, we haven’t called for parent volunteers since 2019.
We are looking forward to getting this network up and running again and helping everyone stay connected and continuing to build our wonderful school community.
Parents on the network will receive a copy of the email address of the families in the class and there will be a short digital meeting in the coming weeks with Mr Webb to discuss the simple duties of the role and the ways that you can support the class. It is not a time consuming role, so the commitment to role is certainly not demanding
If you are interested please email Mr Webb, damien.webb@cg.catholic.edu.au and include the following information
- Your name and name of child
- Class of child
- Email address
- Best contact phone number
Once again, thank you all for the continued support
Many thanks
Mr Webb